“Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.”
Restorative Justice Praxis
Our Mission at ARISE is to empower ourselves with the knowledge, skills, and agency to become highly educated, humanizing, critically conscious, intellectual, and reflective leaders in our community.
At ARISE High School we use a Restorative Justice Praxis to support the way in which we conceptualize and actualize our mission. Restorative Justice in an ancient indigenous concept that has been used for centuries all over the world. Restorative Justice is a philosophy that centers community and relationships as paramount. When a wrongdoing occurs we recognize that this creates a break in relationship that will generate needs and obligations. Our goal then becomes to repair the harm through addressing the needs and obligations created with the involvement of all stakeholders. Restorative Practices are the set of practices we use to build and sustain a safe and inclusive community, to develop and strengthen relationships, and to repair relationships when a fracture has occurred.
Our foundational practices support safety, joy, and belonging for all through building community and positive relationships. Some examples are:
Whole school level:
The physical space
Systems and policies that are restorative in nature
Team hooks initiatives
Classroom Level (Creating safety, joy, and belonging):
Classroom Circles
Playing games
Routines and Rituals
Warm Demander classroom engagement
Utilizing support services
Break space
Individual Level:
Building relationships
Humanizing each other
Self care
Self reflection: on how our identity/privilege/power dynamics shape how we show up in the classroom
Family & Culture: understanding and honoring the strengths of the community
Authenticity: modeling vulnerability, humility, and the Codes of Respect, being an ally
Growth Mindset: believing in the “impossible”, embracing failure
A Restorative Justice Praxis requires that all of us support a consistent practice rooted in the philosophy that we all belong, we all are valued, and that we all can and should uphold the Core Values (Respect, Persevere, Build, Lead) and the Warrior Intellectual Codes of Respect: Respect Self, Respect Others, Respect Your Word, Respect Space. School discipline is often reduced to a punitive system that has students pay consequences without the guidance to identify the root cause or develop a solution. In practicing this Restorative Justice Praxis, we strive to create the conditions of safety, joy, and belonging that allow our community to thrive. We also recognize that there will be harm to our community and violations of our Codes of Respect.
Through Restorative Justice Praxis, it is our responsibility to consistently take those moments, in which harm and violations are created, as teaching & learning moments and opportunities to restore relationship. When we are inconsistent, boundaries become unclear and we are more likely to unintentionally cause harm. We must have consistent practices and consequences so that the community is clear about our commitment to purpose of developing ourselves as Warrior Intellectuals.
Practices to restore harm:
Restorative conversations
Reflection forms
Harm Circles
Family conferencing
COSAs