I ran an online workshop recently for school leaders called “The Restorative Readiness Framework” where I spoke to five problems in many schools where the solution has routinely proven to be a restorative one.
Those problems are:
- Friction is rising – staff-to-staff tension, adversarial parents and student defiance are eroding goodwill.
- Burnout is spreading – teachers are increasingly weary, reactive and stuck in unhelpful cycles of behaviour management.
- Inconsistency – responses to behaviour differ – sometimes wildly – between classrooms, leaving staff frustrated and students confused.
- Trust is dissolving – low psychological safety and fragmented staffrooms signal a culture where people don’t feel supported.
- Behaviour is dominant – too much time is spent addressing antisocial behaviour and not enough on engaging teaching.
The last thing I want any school leader to do is tackle each of these problems separately. I’d rather your laser-focused attention on building a culture where each of these problems gets smaller.
After all, it stands to reason that getting the culture right makes everything better.
It’s also something of a depressing list, so I couched it with five positive signs that your school is ready for a restorative future. It became our “Restorative Readiness Checklist” and you can click here if you’d like to have it.
Keep fighting that good fight,
P.S. Recent data released by OECD shows that Australia’s teachers are now among the most stressed in the world, with nearly 60% saying they feel constantly under pressure. Most point to the same issues: workload, admin, and managing student behaviour.
That’s exactly why we created The Student Behaviour PhD. It’s practical, online, and built to give teachers the confidence and calm they’re craving in the classroom. Term 4 enrolments are open now. Click here to take a look if you’re ready to lighten that load.
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