Our school staff were assigned to read The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education last year. Unfortunately, there were no students physically in school, so there were no opportunities to practice the lessons. There has been no follow-up this year. This lack of follow-up feels all too familiar. Our School Improvement Plan has African American Students as the focus group for Improving School Quality. “Relationship building” is the focus action. But without instruction to staff, there is no understanding of the “how” to do this. This “saying the right thing” but not following with action feels familiar. So I feel hope, but want to learn how to help push these ideas into action.
