Linking Restorative Practice with Emotion Coaching
Dr Sarah Modi, Lead Practitioner for Emotion Coaching UK, has been working with a mainstream secondary school and an alternative provision (KS2-4) supporting the implementation of Emotion Coaching.
Both schools had received at least one days full training and attended regular follow up sessions throughout the year.
In order to further extend the implementation, a further training extension of Step 4 (Problem Solving) was developed and delivered to both schools.
With a move away from 'forced consequences' and ‘punishment’, possible alternative suggestions were provided, including an introduction to the ideas regarding Restorative Practice in schools (it is important to note that it would be ideal for schools to receive more formal training in this area).
One school has since developed a menu of alternatives to detention and missing break time. They have moved towards repairing and restoring relationships following conflict. For example, using a ‘reparation menu’ - a list of actions that children and young people might choose to repair the damage that their actions had caused.
"We had a situation which traditionally would have been an exclusion for us - a child hitting another child in the face. We managed to resolve this without exclusion through a purposeful restorative meeting between the two students. It concluded with the central protagonist opting to spend some of his house points in the 'rewards shop' to buy something as a 'sorry' gift for the child that he had hit. Both sets of parents were supportive of this action which is definitely a big step in the right direction for us!"
The training package includes a half day training course, followed by one 90 minute follow up session. If you are interested in finding out more information regarding this extension training and supporting implementation of Emotion Coaching in your organisation, please get in touch with Emotion Coaching UK.
“At their best, schools can function as islands of safety in a chaotic world. They can teach children how their bodies and brains work and how they can understand and deal with their emotions. Schools can play a significant role in instilling the resilience necessary to deal with the traumas of neighbourhoods or families.”
Van der Kolk (2015) P. 351
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