Last Monday, something powerful happened.
It wasn’t loud.
There were no fireworks.
Just one room.
A bunch of teachers.
And a single, shared question:
“What behaviours do we want more of and,
what behaviours do we need less of, to be the team our kids deserve?”
Now, you’d think the answers would be simple, maybe even obvious.
More kindness.
Less gossip.
More teamwork.
Less finger-pointing.
But the beauty of working with people – real people – is that it’s never that tidy.
Sometimes what surfaces instead is bravery. Sometimes it’s denial. Sometimes it’s the tension between the two.
In that room, something unexpected bubbled up – not just truth, but also a kind of collective discomfort. Some groups danced around the hard stuff. Some looked outward instead of inward. And a few bravely admitted the gap between what they wanted and what they were actually doing.
But here’s the thing:
Even in that, it was perfect.
Because being restorative doesn’t mean being polished. It means being willing – to see yourself clearly, to name what’s not working, and to try again.
And what happened the next day?
Smiles.
Chats in the corridor.
People asking for the book.
Leaders noticing, “This is the most positive I’ve seen our team in years.”
No dramatic interventions.
Just an invitation to reflect.
A shared language.
A room full of educators choosing to care about the culture they’re creating.
That’s RP2.0.
Not a strategy.
A shift.
From performance to presence.
From reactivity to reflection.
From, “What’s wrong with them?” to, “What am I bringing into the room?”
It’s tempting to think that big change needs big tools.
But sometimes…
It just starts with a room full of people, saying,
“We want more of this.”
Check out other articles Cassie has written here.