Managing Conflicts in Schools: 5 Restorative Strategies for Workplace Harmony
What Contributes to Workplace Conflict in Schools
Conflict at work is inevitable, and in schools, it’s amplified. The pace is fast, the demands are high, and there’s often little time or space to repair the micro-fractures that happen in relationships. Add in the emotional nature of education and the layers of collaboration required across teams, and it’s no wonder that conflict bubbles up. Despite this, these conversations are often avoided. But many schools lack clear strategies for how to navigate them.
When workplace conflict is ignored or handled poorly, it fractures trust and impacts everything from morale to retention. At Collaborative School Culture, we believe that managing conflict is more than a leadership skill—it’s a community skill. Restorative Practices offer a way forward, grounded in relational trust, emotional regulation, and shared accountability.
What Are 5 Restorative Practices Strategies for Workplace Conflict Management?
Here are five strategies rooted in Restorative Practices that help school teams navigate—and even prevent—workplace conflict.
Strategy 1: Regulate Before You Respond
Most of us know the feeling: tension is rising, a comment hits the wrong nerve, and suddenly we’re reacting instead of responding. That’s why our first strategy is to regulate before you engage.
Using bottom-up brain strategies helps calm the nervous system before a conversation. At CSC, we teach strategies like paced breathing, grounding exercises, physical movement, and sensory tools. These strategies help shift brain activity from the lower, reactive regions to the more reflective, relational parts of the brain. When adults feel dysregulated, they’re less able to communicate clearly or listen openly. Regulation is the foundation for conflict resolution, and it must come first.
Strategy 2: Use the Engagement Window to Guide Your Approach
When addressing workplace conflict, it’s not just about what you say—it’s how you show up. The Engagement Window helps us recognize whether we’re operating in a way that is high in both support and accountability—the sweet spot we call the "With Box."
If you’re leaning too far into control without relationship, you’ve slipped into the "To Box,"—which can feel shaming or punitive. If you’re offering support without clarity or accountability, you’re in the "For Box." Restorative conversations live in the With Box. They’re honest and direct, but also relational and grounded. The Engagement Window is a helpful tool to recalibrate when we slip out of balance.
Strategy 3: Start with Curiosity—Use Restorative Questions
Conflict resolution is not about convincing someone you’re right. It’s about understanding what happened and how to move forward. Restorative Questions provide a structure for doing just that:
What happened from your perspective?
Who was affected, and how?
What’s needed now to make things right or move forward?
These questions create space for reflection, accountability, and empathy, without blame. They help surface assumptions and invite shared problem-solving. Starting with curiosity shifts the conversation from confrontation to collaboration.
Strategy 4: Build Daily Relationship Practices to Prevent Conflict
Most workplace conflicts don’t come out of nowhere. They simmer in the absence of trust, communication, or shared understanding. That’s why proactive relational practices matter.
At CSC, we teach school teams to invest in daily practices like:
Affective Statements to express appreciation or concern
Brief check-ins before meetings
Curbside Conversations to address tension informally
Affective Statements, in particular, help staff communicate how behaviors impact them without assigning blame. For example, “I felt frustrated when the plan changed without notice” is more likely to open a dialogue than a reactive response. These low-lift practices build the relational capital needed to weather disagreement. When trust is high, feedback feels less threatening, and people are more likely to stay open.
Strategy 5: Use Curbside Conversations to Address Tension Early
Many conflicts don’t need a formal meeting. In fact, some of the best conflict resolution happens in the hallway, the copy room, or just before dismissal.
Curbside Conversations are informal, timely, and relational. We teach staff how to:
Get grounded before speaking
Be clear about purpose and tone
Start with shared values and shared impact
When done well, a curbside conversation can clear tension, repair misunderstanding, and reset expectations—without escalation. They’re one of the most powerful tools schools can use to keep small issues from becoming big ones.
Why Restorative Practices Work for Adult Culture
Restorative Practices are often seen as tools for student behavior, but they’re just as powerful for adults. When we bring a restorative lens to our staff culture, we:
Increase trust and team cohesion
Reduce misunderstandings and resentment
Build shared language and norms for navigating hard moments
Research shows that employee engagement and retention improve when adults feel heard, valued, and supported in conflict, not avoided, blamed, or dismissed. In education, where burnout and turnover remain high, creating systems that support relational repair is not just helpful—it’s necessary.
Implementing Restorative Practices for Effective Conflict Resolution
Incorporating Restorative Practices into your school’s systems for addressing adult conflict can have lasting benefits. These strategies emphasize connection over correction and clarity over control. Schools that normalize regular reflection, shared accountability, and honest dialogue see fewer grievances, stronger staff relationships, and higher retention.
When Restorative Practices are woven into staff culture, not just student discipline, conflict becomes a catalyst for growth rather than a source of division.
Understanding Restorative Practices
At their core, Restorative Practices are about building a strong sense of community. By focusing on relationships, they equip school staff with the communication, regulation, and empathy skills needed to resolve and prevent conflict. This approach emphasizes both accountability and support, creating space for people to express their perspectives and needs in ways that foster lasting resolution.
Incorporating Restorative Practices in Team Dynamics
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing RP in school teams. Strong team dynamics start with building relationships with your team. Relational circles, norms for giving feedback, regular staff check-ins, and modeling affective language all contribute to a culture where communication thrives. These practices build psychological safety and trust, key ingredients for reducing reactivity and improving school culture.
The Role of Restorative Justice in Workplace Harmony
Restorative Justice complements Restorative Practices by providing a structured approach to addressing and repairing harms when they occur. Encouraging open dialogue and mutual understanding helps restore balance and trust within the workplace. Implementing Restorative Justice measures can reduce employee turnover, increase satisfaction, and bolster a harmonious working environment.
To successfully implement these strategies, engaging with experts who possess a deep understanding and experience in Restorative Practices is crucial. Collaborative School Culture offers tailored training programs that delve deep into these practices, ensuring educators and administrators can apply them effectively in their environments.
Training That Builds Confidence and Capacity
Handling conflict isn’t intuitive. And most educators were never trained in how to navigate it well.
Our Restorative Practices for Educators training includes:
Real workplace scenarios
Practical language and tools
Time to reflect on how each person shows up in conflict
We help school teams build muscle memory for addressing tough moments in a relational, respectful, and productive way. And we coach leaders to create systems for feedback and repair that don’t rely on charisma alone.
The Path to Lasting Workplace Trust
Conflict doesn’t need to erode school culture. In fact, it can strengthen it—if handled with care. By building shared strategies rooted in Restorative Practices, schools can transform tension into trust and disagreement into growth.
Contacnt Collaborative School Culture and let us help your team get there. We’ll provide tools, language, and training to help your staff navigate conflict in a way that builds—not breaks—relationships.