Restorative Practices 102 Youth Led Circles Anita Wadhwa

Restorative Practices 102: Youth Led Circles Anita Wadhwa, Ed. D Kasandra Aviles Leslie Lux Beatriz Macareno Esmeralda Rocha Support for this training series provided by 1

Who we are 2

Objective Introduce you to restorative practices, and how to train youth to lead a talking circleto address issues important to them. 3

Agenda 1. Overview 2. Breakout rooms - script writing 3. Debrief whole group 4

Requests 1. Mute your microphone 2. Drop questions in chat (also in breakout rooms) 3. Snaps of affirmation 4. Stay *We will give you the benefit of the doubt 5

Pulse check (Poll) How familiar are you with restorative justice? 7

*Social Discipline Window (International Institute for Restorative Practices) Restorative justice: An indigenous philosophy of building community and repairing harm to hold each other in our 8

When we say justice, we mean justice (not discipline, not practices, etc. ) 9

Transformative justice: Macro level Our goal is not to just bring healing to individuals in conflict, but to try to repair harm caused by institutions that contribute to oppression. In schools this can look like: 1. Dress codes which punish Black students for wearing natural hair. 2. The presence of police in schools and the criminalization of behaviors that used to be handled by administrators. 3. A Eurocentric curriculum. (i. e. in many places, Juneteenth is only now being recognized as a holiday and worthy of in-depth study) 10

Circles of all Kinds TIER 1: 100% of students do this – this is the foundation. Community Building- Creating trust, accountability, and relationships Academic - Academic instruction, used to enhance student engagement TIER 2: 15% of students Accountability- When students fail to follow school rules/agreements Healing - When people want to improve their relationship TIER 3: 5% Support - Preventative circles to address trauma or general concerns of a student Reentry - Reintegrating students into school/classroom 11

Defining a “Community Building Circle” (p. 18) Taken verbatim from San Francisco Unified District’s packet Teaching Restorative Practices with Classroom Circles AGREEMENTS: Provide students opportunity to get to know each other and establish positive connections, including agreements about how they ought to treat each other. TEAM BUILDING: Every circle includes community building activities in the beginning. Some circles focus exclusively on this task. MINDFULNESS: Meditation, Breathing, etc. AGENCY: Support students in whatever process they are feeling; give permission to “come as you are. ” 12

Why youth led circles? 1. Creates buy in from other youth 2. Develops leadership and empathy skills in students 3. Creates buy in from adults (who see the leadership of youth in action) 4. Creates more equity of voice (Power dynamic) 13

How do you train youth to lead circles? 14

Breakouts 15

Circle Up! (Community Building Circle) Mindful Moment 16

Teambuilder Camera on, camera off 17

Debrief In the chat write one thing you learned from the teambuilder. 18

Lighting Round Check In How are you feeling from 1 to 5, 1 being the worst, 5 being the best? (Put up the number with your fingers and keep it there) 19

Film clip of a youth led circle 1. Opening 2. Teambuilder 3. Circle Rounds 4. Closing 20

We’ll address this scenario…. A group of 5 young women who have sat in circles for six weeks every Friday come to you, their History teacher, after a lesson on the school to prison pipeline. They are concerned about the exclusionary treatment of girls of color and would like to craft a circle in response. They would like to lead the circle during one 45 minute class period. You are meeting with them after school for an hour tomorrow to prep them to facilitate that circle. 21

YOUR TASK: ● ● Now you will write a CIRCLE PLANNING CIRCLE SCRIPT [template provided]. To be clear, this is NOT a script for the circle about the STPP - this is a circle YOU are leading with the young women to help prep them to facilitate the STPP circle. You will get 10 minutes to silently start writing your own circleplanning circle. You may not finish – and that’s 22

As you write for 10 minutes, consider. . . 1. What are your immediate concerns/questions/suggestions about the circle topic (school to prison and girls of color)? 2. What supports do your youth need to lead the circle? How will you help them break down the logistics of circle that they must consider? (What resources will you provide) 23

Debrief ● What was hard about writing the script? ● What concerns do you have about training youth? 24

It has been a pleasure working with you! Feel free to reach out: Dr. Anita Wadhwa restorativeempowerment@gmail. com Your feedback is appreciated! 25