Restorative Practices 101: A Framework for Relationships and Repair Toolkit

Restorative Practices 101: A Framework for Relationships and Repair Toolkit

ADAC’s Restorative Practices 101 Toolkit is designed to support educators in shifting from reactive, punitive approaches to behavior management toward a proactive, relationship-centered framework grounded in the core principles of dignity, compassion, and community. Rather than asking “What rule was broken and what is the punishment?”, restorative practices ask “Who was harmed, what do they need, and how do we make it right?” This toolkit provides five practical tools educators can begin using immediately, individually or as a team, to build trust, respond to conflict, and strengthen the school community from the inside out.

Rooted in the work of the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), CASEL, and the Restorative Practice Consortium, this toolkit bridges research and daily classroom practice. It is explicitly aligned to Catholic Social Teaching and the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools (NSBECS), making it an ideal resource for Catholic school educators seeking a discipline framework that reflects their mission and values.

Key Features:

1. Defining Restorative Practices (RP) Framework: A clear, accessible introduction to what restorative practices are, and are not, including a research-grounded definition, a side-by-side “are/are not” guide to distinguish RP from common misconceptions, and a connection to Catholic Social Teaching through the Catholic Mobilizing Network’s framing of human dignity and inherent worth.
2. RP Tool 1: The Social Relational Window: An introduction to the foundational Social Relational Window framework, which maps four approaches to behavior (Neglectful, Permissive, Punitive, and Restorative) across two axes: expectations and support. Includes a full explanation of each quadrant, a sample classroom scenario with a completed worked example, and a reflection protocol for individual or team use.
3. RP Tool 2: Affective Language: A structured, five-step formula for communicating feelings, impacts, and needs in response to both positive and challenging behavior, without blame or judgment. Includes side-by-side examples and non-examples, research from Princeton University’s Logic of Emotion Lab on how affective language supports regulation and empathy, and a link for deeper learning.
4. RP Tool 3: Community Circle: A step-by-step guide to facilitating proactive community circles that build social capital and trust before conflict arises. Includes setup guidelines (forming the circle, talking piece protocols, establishing norms), a five-stage circle process from Welcome and Opening through Check-Out and Closing Ceremony, and sample prompts for each stage. Links to CASEL’s Community-Building Circles Resource for further support.
5. RP Tool 4: Check-In & Check-Out: Ready-to-use protocols for daily emotional pulse-checks at both the whole-class and individual level. Includes quick community circle-style check-ins and check-outs with sample prompts, a daily morning goal-setting and end-of-day reflection protocol, and a focused one-on-one check-in protocol for students needing additional support — with a three-step Connect, Clarify, Empower structure.
6. RP Tool 5: Restorative Questions: Two distinct sets of restorative questions, one for those impacted by others’ actions and one for responding to challenging behavior, along with facilitation guidelines covering non-verbal engagement, listening to understand, and the integration of affective language. Designed to shift conversations from rule enforcement to harm repair and accountability.
7. Research and Resources Page: A curated overview of three key external resources: the Restorative Practice Consortium’s Resource Project, CASEL and IIRP’s Restorative Practices and SEL Alignment guide, and IIRP’s Guides for Implementing Restorative Practices, giving educators clear pathways to deepen their learning and implementation.
8. NSBECS Alignment Quick Reference: A ready-to-use alignment page connecting the toolkit directly to NSBECS Standard 7 and Benchmarks 7.2, 7.8, and 9.2, with three deep reflection questions explicitly linking restorative principles to Catholic Social Teaching, including the balance of accountability and mercy in the Catholic approach to justice.

Perfect for classroom teachers, school counselors, administrators, and professional learning communities seeking a practical, values-aligned approach to discipline and community-building. Download the Restorative Practices 101 Toolkit today and take the first step toward a school community where relationships are the foundation, and repair is always possible.