Blogging is great, I really encourage you to try it. You get to share your own story and perspective. You type like you are talking to someone. You get to speak from the heart, really.
If you want to type up a blog post, please do. Email me your post and I will add it in. Hopefully you’ll have a link to Restorative Justice and/or Circles : ). This is a personal/professional blog so other than inappropriate content, the invitation is open. You can send it right in an email or as a word document, I will cut/paste and post. 
I have to share what I think a Restorative Justice Circle is. Yesterday I was being interviewed, and was asked “which RJ process do you most often employ?” My answer was a Circle, and the follow up question was “do you use a talking piece”. Let me clarify that I REALLY enjoyed the interview. Taking time to talk to students/researchers is beneficial – (remember all relationships are bilateral). It gives me a chance to process openly, practice explanations and generally contribute to the field. I enjoyed the interview, the interviewer, the follow up question reminded me, that “Circles” are very loosely defined.
I have embraced Circles, and practice them so much, I have to be reminded that they aren’t the same to everyone. I used to have a harder time accepting that. I’m embarrassed to say, it used to make me a little mad. People would mention Circle experiences and I would be delighted and upon further discussion, learn that it meant they sat around in a circle. My Grandma was part of a Church Circle, it was a social women’s club.
What I mean when I say a Circle: 1.) Values 2.) Talking Piece 3.) Diversity 4.) Four Stages
1.) Relationship Values – - we take time to identify what works in relationships and we commit to these in our Circle.
2.) Talking Piece – we agree to respect each voice individually, to speak and listen from the heart. Years after reading Kay Pranis’s Book – Peacemaking Circles, a student approached me after class, to comment on the 14 pages dedicated to the Talking Piece. He reminded me that my use of the talking pieces, was natural and a part of my Circles, and yet in teaching Intro to Restorative Justice for college credit, holding the class in Circle, I had forgotten to ‘preach’ this element.
3.) Diversity – I believe this to mean the inclusive piece of RJ – victims/offenders/community members. I try to balance the process. I love inter generational groups, and people from opposite sides of an incident. There is so much to be gained from others in Circle. Especially with those who opinions begin so differently from our own.
4.) Circle Stages – just as the season’s pass in four, the sections of the Medicine Wheel, and the four directions, four phases in Circle. I use the energy of each stage to move the next. One cannot come before the other, and equal time should be spent in each. Sometimes you learn that when I group meets again and again, the first few Circles were really just at the ‘getting acquianted’ stage.
I usually tease . . . “don’t ask me the question, because the answer will be: a Circle”. I really, really find this process to be aligned with who I am. Circles answer my calling. Circles give me purpose. I feel most connected to the core of who I am and why I am when I am doing something relevant to Circles.
So . . . given that, remind me to do a post on the limits of a Circle – - just so I stay in balance!
Peace – Kris
3 Comments
January 9, 2009 at 9:55 am
Hi Kris,
Thought you and your readers might be interested in the upcoming Introduction to Restorative Practices training to be held March 25 in Detroit.
Here is the link to the flyer; http://www.iirp.org/pdf/OneDayConfFliers/1DayConfFllwUP_Detroit.pdf
Thanks and Happy New Year.
Sue
January 10, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I totally agree with your comments that everyone has their own idea of what a circle should or shouldn’t be.
In addition to that I have found that my classroom circles tend to change according to circumstances. If someone in my own classroom asks to “bring” an issue to closing circle I know we can have the circle opened and closed within 15 minutes. I can shorten up certain parts because the process is embedded into the classroom practice for all the students. An example is the stage of committing to values. Again, this is only if there are no outside members in the circle that day, then I simply ask someone to read aloud agreed upon circle values (posted on the board) and ask everyone to give me a thumbs up if they can abide by the values listed. This takes only a minute and gives the children a quick moment to committ without taking up precious time to talk about the the reason for having the circle that day. Or another quick way to committ to the values is pass the talking piece and the ask the students to pick one of the posted values they are really going to to well today. (All the posted values were agreed upon by the entire the first day of the school when I was introducing circles)
The exact same thing can happend for the “getting acquainted stage”. We have two circles everyday and if the closing circle is a “problem solving” one, then we skip the “getting acquainted stage” just that once. Every single morning we have an opening circle where we never skip the opening or getting acquainted stages. So skipping it once in a while due to the time contraints in the classroom works out fine for me.
This story could go on and one describing the every changing circle in my classroom. The KEY….have circles daily and make them a fun part of your classroom. You can start changing the circles around to fit individual needs AFTER the students and you have fallen in love with them.
May 19, 2009 at 10:07 pm
[...] If you have been doing, what you think is a Circle – they you call it Circle. Maybe that is the best word to describe it. If a ‘Conference’ is between a victim and an offender, what if you have other people attending. Even more complicated, you can add a ‘talking piece’. To me, that is bringing a tool from Circle into the ‘Conference’. I think Circles have some key elements – I did a post on that here. [...]