What Does A Restorative Classroom Look Like?
Creating a truly restorative school environment means shifting away from traditional classroom management approaches and towards one that prioritizes relationships, accountability, and meaningful conflict resolution. A restorative classroom isn’t just about responding to behavior—it’s about proactively building a culture where both students and adults feel a strong sense of ownership, connection, and shared responsibility.
In this blog, we’ll explore what a restorative school looks like, what restorative practices training look like in the classroom, and how this approach impacts school climate and discipline.
Overview of Restorative School Culture: What Does a Restorative School Look Like?
Schools have traditionally operated with a top-down approach to discipline, where rules are enforced through punishments, detentions, and suspensions. While this system may create short-term compliance, it does little to address root causes, repair harm, or strengthen relationships. A restorative school culture shifts this mindset.
Instead of prioritizing control, a restorative school is designed to build and maintain strong relationships first, ensuring that when conflicts arise, they can be resolved through accountability, repair, and understanding. In a traditional system, students may receive consequences with little discussion of impact or opportunities for repair. In a restorative system, students may still receive disciplinary actions, but they will also engage in meaningful conversations about their behavior, the harm caused, and the steps needed to make things right.
And this shift doesn’t just apply to students—it’s just as necessary for adults. A restorative school also prioritizes staff relationships, providing regular opportunities for teachers and administrators to connect, feel valued, and get support. Many schools fail to address the importance of adult culture and trust, yet this directly affects implementation. A school that models strong relationships and healthy conflict resolution among staff is far more likely to successfully implement Restorative Practices with students.
So, what does this look like in action?
Proactive circles that build relationships and community are embedded into daily routines for both students and staff.
High accountability AND high support are valued equally
Adults model the same restorative principles they teach students—building social capital, engaging in Fair Process Decision-Making, and practicing conflict resolution
What Does a Restorative Classroom Look Like?
A restorative classroom is more than a list of strategies—it’s a fundamental shift in classroom culture that influences how teachers interact with students and how students interact with one another.
A few key characteristics of a restorative classroom include:
Proactive circles that build relationships and community—Circles are used not just for problem-solving, but to create a foundation of trust and connection. Teachers facilitate daily or weekly circles where students can share thoughts, reflect on learning, or simply have fun together.
Teachers and students take measures to calm down first. Using bottom-up brain strategies, teachers regulate themselves first, then help students co-regulate before engaging in discussion and problem-solving.
Clear, shared expectations—Class agreements, norms, and expectations are developed collaboratively and posted where everyone can see them.
Restorative language is used consistently—Instead of punitive, controlling language, teachers use affective statements such as, “I feel worried when you interrupt that the person speaking won’t get their time to share.”
Opportunities to reflect and repair—When conflict happens, students engage in restorative conversations, curbside discussions, or reflection rather than just receiving automatic consequences.
Visuals and anchor charts support a restorative culture. In a restorative classroom, you might see the class’s shared agreements, affective statement sentence starters, emotion wheels, calming areas/tools, and Compass of Shame and Engagement Window visuals.
What Are Examples of Restorative Practices in the Classroom?
Restorative Practices provide clear, actionable tools for fostering connection and repairing harm. In the classroom, examples include:
Proactive circles that build relationships and community—used for morning meetings, advisory periods, or academic discussions.
Affective statements—teachers and students express concerns or emotions in a constructive, non-blaming way.
Curbside conversations—quick, informal one-on-one discussions to address small issues before they escalate.
Restorative conversations—more structured conversations used for conflicts, bringing together all parties to ask a series of questions and find a resolution.
Classroom re-entry plans—when students return from removal or suspension, they engage in a restorative conversation to repair with the teacher and reintegrate into the community.
What’s the Impact on School Climate and Discipline
When Restorative Practices are implemented with fidelity, schools experience:
Reduced suspensions and detentions—schools that use Restorative Practices see fewer exclusionary discipline actions (Chicago Public Schools, 2023)
Improved school climate—students report feeling safer, more connected, and more engaged in learning (RAND Corporation, 2018)
Stronger student and staff relationships—teachers feel more supported, and students feel more seen and valued
A restorative classroom is not just about behavior management—it’s about culture building. It ensures that students and staff feel safe, valued, and empowered to engage in meaningful learning and relationships.
If your district or school is ready to consider implementing Restorative Practices, reach out to Collaborative School Culture to discuss how you can get started.
