SACSC Restorative Justice Program

Resources:

An Approach to Restorative Justice in Schools

Restorative Justice Booklet

Restorative Justice for the Classroom Lessons

NOTE: Resources for workshops are distributed through the SACSC office only.

Program Description
This program was developed through funding from the Alberta Solicitor General and Ministry for Public Security.

Restorative Justice is a philosophy of healing relationships that have been broken by conflict and crime. In this approach, crime is considered a violation against individuals, families, and communities, as well as against society.

The SACSC restorative justice approach to group conferencing is an integral and fundamental component of the Society's safe and caring programming. It offers knowledge and skills for educators, parents, and community helpers to respectfully work with children in a safe, non-coercive environment to help them learn self-discipline and become productive, principled citizens. This restorative approach helps participants understand why they behave and provides problem-solving skills that strengthen people as they learn to fix their mistakes, repair relationships, and return to balance. Self-discipline results in improved self-esteem, healthier relationships, and increased achievement. In schools where the SACSC Restorative Justice approach is implemented as a part of the SACSC comprehensive program, it is expected that discipline incidents will continue to decline, school attendance increase, grades improve, and students, staff and parents enjoy a more caring school community. Negative behaviour does not need to be criminal to benefit from this approach, but simply cause an issue that negatively impacts individuals, classrooms or the school as a whole.

Many of the steps of the SACSC Restorative Justice Process require continual use in order to successfully build and sustain a safe and caring environment where all student s can learn. School staff members create their own appropriate timeline and employ action research to determine which activities and teaching practices are most appropriate for their school. Society staff supports school staff during the first years of implementation. Following initial support, each school has the training and resources to sustain the programming independently. Teachers use curriculum resource materials as an introduction to restorative justice—definition, philosophy and process. Year one focuses on classroom meetings, using the SACSC resource booklet Class Meetings for Safe and Caring Schools. Year two includes training for staff and student facilitators, a script for conferencing and further information about the approach as well as traditional healing circles and other restorative justice programs.

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