Michigan Department of Education Segment 7: Circle Process

Michigan Department of Education
Segment 7: Circle Process
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Introduce the Circle Process
Show an example of how a restorative circle can
be used to resolve common situations in
schools.
Engage in a circle role play.
NOTE: This is a longer session than others
in this training, so please review its content and
plan accordingly. You may want to break it into
two units if you want to engage in the role plays at
the end.
You must answer YES to the following questions to
successfully use the formal restorative justice (RJ)
interventions.
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Are at least some of those harmed willing to talk
with other affected parties to resolve the issue?
(Willing participation is ESSENTIAL!)
Have any of those who caused harm taken
responsibility for their actions, and are they
interested in making things right?
If criminal charges are pending, do not schedule
the restorative circle until after the case has gone
through the justice system.
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Can you keep everyone physically and emotionally safe
throughout the process and treat all parties with equal
respect?
As you prepare and learn about the nature of the incident, be
sure you feel comfortable addressing this situation restoratively
and that you can feel and act completely neutral.
If you cannot feel confident that you can hold all participants
safely in circle, consider co-facilitating with someone who
has experience in this area or finding another facilitator who
can.
Some people, for example, have experience counseling
survivors of sexual violence and would feel comfortable
facilitating a conference on this issue, but many do not.
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Other situations that can be considered risky include
mental health problems and/or low cognitive function
of one or more participants, or (as noted previously)
domestic violence and severe bullying.
“Circles intentionally create a sacred space
that lifts barriers between people,
opening fresh possibilities for connection,
collaboration and mutual understanding.
The process works because it brings people
together in a way that allows them to see
one another as human beings
and to talk about what matters.”
--Kay Pranis
The Little Book of Circle Processes: A New Approach to Peacemaking
Developed
by Kay
Pranis
Restorative
Circles
Training
March
2009
Solution
 How do we
make things right?
 What must
happen for all to
move forward?
 Closing
Issues
• What
happened?
• Who was
affected and
how?
Introduction
 Meet as
human beings
 Use ritual
to establish
safe space.
Trust Building
• Share traits,
values or personal
contribution
• Establish
respect for each
other.
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Native American cultures use the Medicine Wheel
(previous slide) to represent a variety of aspects of
life from the seasons and winds to the ages of human
life.
Kay Pranis lays out the four essential stages of a
conflict resolution circle in this medicine wheel,
beginning in the yellow quadrant with introductions
then moves into Trust building (red).
Once all have met as human beings and established
trust in each other and the process, participants can
then discuss the incident/conflict that brings them
together (the gray/black quadrant titled “Issues”).
Finally, once they have discussed the issue and heard
everyone’s story and perspective, participants move
into the “Solution” phase (white quadrant).
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This phase is essential
to help prepare
participants work
together constructively
toward a resolution of
the conflict or incident
of harm.
Use the steps outlined
in the following slide to
set the stage for
success and to help
participants engage
safely and fully in the
circle.
Introduction
• Meet as human
beings.
• Use ritual to establish
safe space.
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Gather participants in a circle so they are all at the same
level (height) and facing into the center. All can see and
hear each other and no one is left out, hiding behind a
barrier, using technology or writing.
There are many exercises for introductions! Some
options include:
o Introduce selves and say why they are in circle;
o Introduce selves and tell others one thing no one in
the circle knows about them;
o Introduce selves and tell others what keeps them
coming back to school every day;
o Introduce selves and tell others one important person
they would like to honor by imagining they are in
circle with them.
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Establish ground rules. Two fundamental rules are:
treat each other with respect and we use a talking
piece. Include more if needed for the situation.
Introduce talking piece and imbue it with meaning to
help participants speak only when they are holding
it. When they are not holding the talking piece it’s
their turn to listen.
Facilitator will ask one question then will hand talking
piece to person next to him/her. Each participant
answers the same question in turn then passes the
talking piece to his/her neighbor. (No handing
across the circle or changing the question without full
agreement.)
 Anyone has the right to pass if s/he chooses not to
speak when the talking piece comes to him/her. Just
silently pass it on to the next person.
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“The feather provides a wonderful metaphor for
students. If the tines of the feather are ruffled, and
messed up the bird cannot fly. Just like if there is
hurting in a classroom or the students are not working
together with their teacher, they cannot learn. But if
the tines are in order, smooth, and going upward, then
the bird can fly all the way from the Arctic Circle to
Antarctica. As the feather goes around the Circle
students can ruffle it or stroke it to smooth it out. This
is a metaphor for how they can talk and put a class
back together.” (p.78)
Other good choices for talking pieces include Fidgits,
soft stress balls, small awards or statues, stuffed
animals, drift wood, shells, a small piece of sports
equipment or anything
Nancy Reistenberg, Circle in the Square, pp. 78, 80-81
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Participants are often
enduring a mix of
negative emotions at
this phase—anger,
fear, shame,
uncertainty. By
helping them establish
trust in the process
and in each other they
will see each other as
human and can more
easily listen to and
begin to work with
each other.
Use some of the
suggested activities on
the next slide to help
build trust and foster
participants’ success.
Trust Building
• Share traits, values
or personal
contribution
• Establish respect for
each other.
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Important step! Be sure to give everyone a
chance to share/participate in this if they
choose.
Possible activities to build trust:
◦ Introduce selves and say one thing they admire
about the person next to/across from them;
◦ Introduce selves and share one trait or value they
bring to this circle to help work toward resolution;
◦ Share a hope or goal for today’s circle.
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These exercises help foster participants’ working
together as they explore and address
the situation of misconduct and/or conflict.
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In this video, watch how Mr. Tims prepares the
circle to help Charlie and Tony get to know
each other better so they can participate more
effectively.
Remember that he has already completed all the
pre-conferencing steps. Based on those
conversations, Mr. Tims selects meaningful
center symbols, opening exercise and talking
piece to use.
He also prepares the questions and decides on
the order for asking them in circle.
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Issues
• What happened?
• Who was affected
and how?
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Once you have laid the
foundation for a safe and
constructive circle and helped
participants establish trust in
the process and in each other,
you are ready to get into the
meat of the circle.
This phase is designed to get a
common understanding of:
◦ What happened to create the
need for the circle? and
◦ Where is the harm
participants must heal in
order to resolve the
situation?
Ask as many questions as you need to help the group come to
consensus on determining what happened and identifying the
harm. For more question ideas consider the affective
questions on the next slides.
When Challenging
Negative Behavior
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What Happened?
What were you thinking at
the time?
What have you thought
about since?
Can you think of anything
you could have done
differently?
How can you make things
right?
To Help Those
Affected
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What Happened?
What did you think when
you realized what
happened?
What has been the hardest
thing for you?
What would you like to see
from today’s circle?
How can we make things
right?
Do you accept ______’s
apology?
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Solution
 How do we make
things right?
 What must happen
for all to move forward?
 Closing
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Once they have a common
understanding of what happened
and who was affected and how, the
group decides what steps they will
take to heal the harm and make
sure the situation doesn’t happen
again.
When developing an agreement, all
participants must concur on each
element of the agreement or it
cannot be written into the final
draft. If one or two people disagree
on a condition or other element,
the entire group must discuss
possible alternative options until
everyone agrees.
Often the closing is a signing ceremony followed by
light refreshments all participants share.
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When we last saw Charlie and Tony, they were getting
ready to engage in circle to address their hallway collision.
Watch this new episode that takes us through their circle
with them.
As you watch the circle between Tony and Charlie, watch
how Mr. Tims uses the power of the circle to help the
students resolve their situation. Pay special attention to:
◦ The questions asked;
◦ How the students responded to the facilitator and to
each other;
◦ How Mr. Tims addressed some issues that could have
derailed the circle—mandated reporter status,
confidentiality, others.
Did you accurately predict whether Charlie and Tony could
resolve this using RJ?
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The best way for you to build familiarity with the circle
process is to use it. Role playing is the easiest and
best way to get a sense of how it feels to participate in
circle, and to develop your comfort level with
facilitating from setting the conditions through signing
the agreement.
If you are taking this training with others, break into
groups of 5 (4 participants and 1 facilitator) to work
through the next two slides in circle. Assume the
facilitator has already done the pre-conferencing work.
If you are following this training alone, use the slides
as case studies and try to imagine what each person is
experiencing in this situation and how they might
participate in this circle.
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Before you begin asking questions in circle, consider
who you want to ask first. You will probably want to
choose the person who is most likely to respond in a
way that moves the discussion forward. Think of who
that might be and seat him/her next to you so you can
hand him/her the talking piece first.
Send the talking piece completely around the circle for
each question rather than handing the talking piece
from person to person out of order. This gives
everyone a voice in addressing the issue and
answering each question. It also helps keep the entire
group engaged in developing the solution.
Remember consensus in developing the agreement
and keep track of your time. If you must set a limit,
tell everyone you will end circle after ___ minutes even
if they haven’t reached an agreement yet.
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A fire alarm results in the middle school being evacuated.
Two fire trucks, an ambulance, and two police cars
respond before it becomes clear this is a false alarm.
The principal’s office receives a tip from a teacher that
Drew Abbey, a student at the school, may have pulled the
fire alarm on a dare made by friends.
Upon questioning, Drew initially denies having pulled the
alarm, but eventually admits to doing so while one friend,
Syd Lansing, watched to verify.
The principal calls both Drew’s and Syd’s parents and
sends both students home with the understanding that
discipline, which has yet to be determined, is certain to
follow.
The administrative team decides to
address this with a restorative circle.
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Leslie Rubner, a freshman, reports to the principal’s office
that a Swastika is written on her locker.
Security video shows Johnny Schwartz, a class clown and
football player, drawing the symbol and laughing with two
other students.
The police are called to take pictures of the graffiti before
custodian, Rachel Smith, wipes the locker clean.
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The next day, Leslie’s parents call to find out what the
school is doing to keep their daughter safe. They explain
they do not want this incident public in the courts, but
want Johnny to learn from this.
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In the days that follow, a number of other
parents call with similar concerns.
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If you are taking this training alone, skip to the bolded questions at
the bottom of this slide and think about their answers. If you are in
a group, arrange your chairs in a circle with everyone facing into the
center.
Taking turns so that only one person speaks at a time, go around
the circle so that each person answers the first question listed in
bold below.
Once everyone has answered the first question, follow the same
process to answer the remaining two questions. Keep track of the
time you have—if necessary apply time limits to each answer so
everyone has the same amount of time to speak.
◦ How did you feel as you played your part in this restorative circle?
◦ Provide feedback to your facilitator on how well s/he showed
respect for all, followed the circle stages, brought groups to
consensus.
◦ Share your thought about whether RJ is the best way to address
this form of misconduct, or whether it should go through the
traditional discipline process.