One of the meetings that I attend on regular bases for the Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition is the Safe School Coalition meeting, the coalition is made up of state agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) and is led by the Connecticut Department of Education and we meet at the Chief State’s Attorney’s office. For the last couple of meetings we have been working on vetting a statewide model School Climate policy modeled after Westport’s policy.
But yesterday’s meeting was different; instead we had a workshop on Restorative Practices in schools. Restorative Practices is about schools becoming proactive instead of reactive and is aimed at breaking the “school to prison” pipeline. It is based on having a positive school climate and developing character in students, it is about problem solving and conflict resolution and one of the key features is for the students to develop the program and not forcing a policy on them. Also all levels must buy into the program that includes the school board, the administration, the teachers, the staff, and the students.
One of the tools is conflict resolution circles to try to settle differences peacefully and within the school instead of running to the “school resource officer” otherwise known as the police officer.
In school systems where they are using this method they have seen a drop in bullying, fights, detentions, and expulsions and an increase in scholastic achievement, graduations rates, better attendance , and an improvement in school climate.
Back in 2010 when I was a graduate student I did literature review on school climate and bullying and there are numerous studies that found a direct correlation between school climate and scholastic achievement.
I am sold on it.
When you look at it through the “trans” lens you see that when bullying goes on unanswered it is usually the trans student who gets punished when they fight back against bullies and harassment. The school is reactive instead of being proactive. When the school has a positive school climate bullying is reduced and handled not by expulsion but by conflict resolution.
The meeting ended on with “never give up on school climate.”
But yesterday’s meeting was different; instead we had a workshop on Restorative Practices in schools. Restorative Practices is about schools becoming proactive instead of reactive and is aimed at breaking the “school to prison” pipeline. It is based on having a positive school climate and developing character in students, it is about problem solving and conflict resolution and one of the key features is for the students to develop the program and not forcing a policy on them. Also all levels must buy into the program that includes the school board, the administration, the teachers, the staff, and the students.
One of the tools is conflict resolution circles to try to settle differences peacefully and within the school instead of running to the “school resource officer” otherwise known as the police officer.
In school systems where they are using this method they have seen a drop in bullying, fights, detentions, and expulsions and an increase in scholastic achievement, graduations rates, better attendance , and an improvement in school climate.
Back in 2010 when I was a graduate student I did literature review on school climate and bullying and there are numerous studies that found a direct correlation between school climate and scholastic achievement.
I am sold on it.
When you look at it through the “trans” lens you see that when bullying goes on unanswered it is usually the trans student who gets punished when they fight back against bullies and harassment. The school is reactive instead of being proactive. When the school has a positive school climate bullying is reduced and handled not by expulsion but by conflict resolution.
The meeting ended on with “never give up on school climate.”
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