Restorative Justice at Oakland's Fremont High

This video outlines three tiers of Restorative Practices: 1. Community and relationship building, 2. Community and relationship repair and conflict resolution, 3. Reintegration after a removal or other kind of absence.  

 

 


Focus: 3 Tiers of Restorative Practices 
Time: 6:20
Who & Where: Oakland Fremont High
Grade Level: High School

Description:

This video outlines three tiers of Restorative Practices.  

  • Tier one: Practices that everyone should be doing all of the time to build community and connect with each other; to practice speaking and listening in a different way; and to ensure that everyone in the community feels like they’re part of the community.  “Relationships are the glue that hold us together and when things break down we do tier 2.”
     
  • Tier 2: Interventions like mediation, harm circles and conflict circles so that everyone can “hear… everyone’s side of the story” and relationships can be repaired, issues can be resolved.
     
  • Tier 3: These are about reintegrating a student after a removal or other kind of absence, though a welcome and re-entry process.  Restorative Discipline is explained and juxtaposed with punitive discipline.  Ideas of taking responsibility and rather than pushing students out when they’re in conflict, bringing them in and supporting them through the conflict. Students talk about their experience with Restorative Practices and one student in particular talks about his experience in a grief circle.