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[MUSIC]
West Philadelphia High School was considered one of the worst schools
in the city of Philadelphia.
We were on the 'Persistently Dangerous' list, and there is very few of those schools in Pennsylvania.
And we were on that list, justifiably so, because of violence, because of crimes,
and just general problems here at the school.
A number of things have changed. I said earlier,
one of the things that changed is the climate and the attitude.
That's the first thing that has to change on the road to recovery, and that has done so.
As a result, at the end of last year our violent acts and serious incidents were down 52%,
the largest change in the city.
This year, so far, we're down an additional 45% over what we ended up with last year.
This year, I know for a fact, based on what has been reported as far as
serious incidents in the school, I know that we're going to get off that list of being a
Persistently Dangerous School. For instance, we had numerous fires last year.
This year, I don't think we’ve had one fire.
This climate of disrespect is one of the problems at West Philadelphia High School,
and that no one is teaching students the social skills that my kids, for the most part, don't have.
And so they understand that 'I shouldn't break this rule'
but I only understand it as far as "because you said so."
We need something besides what we have in terms of punishment.
We punish kids, but we never really talk to them, and I personally have an issue with that as a teacher.
Sometimes, you need to talk, and that's what I think Restorative Practices gives us.
You have to deal with these young folks on their level.
And, really what I'm dealing with now is,
to understand the issues that they bring with them into school--those are the main things,
the issues that they bring with them into school that prevent them from getting a good education.
So that's the reason why I use this.
As a school that has a lot of social climate issues,
utilizing Restorative Practices and building culture-- positive, social culture--
is essential to the functioning of any school. It's essential.
Content and material mean nothing without relationships.
I needed to find something that would help me have a different kind of interaction with my students.
And the main thing I liked initially about Restorative Practices was that whole idea of building a community.
So, in September when we started school, the principal encouraged us to use the circles,
kind of just to build a family.
So I started doing it in my classes, and I liked it, and I found that my students
liked it as well. And I can feel that we have more of a family interaction this year.
I can see the difference in my students, and I also see the difference in my behavior.
Because, I can be very aggressive.
And I am very aggressive with my students, but I needed not to be.
There was sort of a looming conflict between two groups of girls.
It was pretty evident that something physical was going to happen.
And so, myself, and another teacher, and a security guard took it on ourselves
to try to reach an agreement between the girls, and really get to the bottom
of why this was happening. So, we used a circle and
and some of the other conference training we received from Restorative Practices,
and so we implemented the circle and the girls never fought.
We had two different cliques.
Basically, it boiled down to one girl looking at the other girl wrong, and,
"why you bothering me," that kind of thing. We sat them down--
it must have been about six or seven young ladies, in this particular circle--
sat them down, and we allowed each of them to tell exactly how they were feeling about
what was going on in the school. When it was over with,
they found out that it was really a misunderstanding.
Everybody felt good, and we went on about our business in a positive way.
95% of the problems we have are miscommunication.
And so, the act of communicating without using violence is a powerful act.
Before we had circles in our schools, a lot of fights,
riots, problems, there was just a lot of confusion.
I think circles helped because they expressed a student’s feelings more, instead of violence and stuff.
Just talking in a circle could just--all but one talking in a circle, can just avoid violence.
Before we had circles in our school, our school was always just crazy, wow.
And there was nothing else to do.
Now that we have circles at our school, it's just like more calm and collective,
and we get to talk around our peers instead, respectfully, and tell them how we feel, what’s the problem.
Kids aren't so much afraid. They listen to
one another has to say now, and they kinda agree with one another.
Circles have changed our class because we've had to talk to one another.
It’s not just the teachers--all of us, together. We've kind of had to come as a team and talk.
When something's bothering me, circles help me relax because I’m talking to somebody.
With me, when I am frustrated, sad, and all these other emotions, I need to talk to somebody.
I think the turning moment--and I could see it in the students’ faces--
They realized they were participants, that they were going to be listened to. They could have input.
We tried a Restorative Practices conference where we asked a teacher,
"Could we put the kids in a circle, and could we have them share their perception
about what’s happening in your class, and would you be open to hearing that?"
And so the teacher was very good about being comfortable and being vulnerable in that way.
And the kids took it very seriously and they had some very clear and concrete things to say
about their role in the class, and why they maybe weren't doing the things they should have been doing,
what they saw as the teacher's role and why things weren't going the way they should go in the class.
And to the teacher's credit, she took notes and she really did try to make corrections
in terms of what the kids had talked about.
Circles help you behave because, like
you get to tell her about you, like what's going on.
You get to express your feelings, your emotions, anything that you got wrong.
Anything that's wrong, you get to tell 'em, tell the students, you get to tell the teachers,
and you ain't got to be afraid because you know that now,
since we all in a circle, you get to talk about whatever you want.
The PFT should encourage the use of Restorative Practices and support it in the schools.
And it seems to work. Every time we've used circles in the ROTC program we've had positive results.
Circles have helped this school because now we don't have as many conflicts and fights and stuff like that.
Everybody has their own opinion and you can get to hear what everybody has to say.
My advice to people would be to try it. What I like about Restorative Practices,
I don’t think it's just a new thing on the block.
Most teachers have--we've all been down the road, we're looking for different things,
you find different things, they're in, they're out--Restorative Practices to me, is really like a way of life.
I believe very strongly in Restorative Practices.
I have seen a change here in this school, West Philadelphia High School, since we’ve been using it.
And I believe Restorative Practices is useful. Not only in our school, but in any school.
I think it's one of the best things since, probably sliced bread.
Restorative Practices can work in tough urban schools,
and it doesn't get any tougher than West Philadelphia High School.