“Schools&Solutions” – Upscaling school restorative approaches to foster school climate and improve students’ competences on managing conflicts. Erasmus Project

Project Title

“Schools&Solutions” – Upscaling school restorative approaches to foster school climate and improve students’ competences on managing conflicts.

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

School should be THE PLACE where students have access to quality education, training and lifelong learning. This should occur in safe places, where students learn how to become full citizens. Unfortunately, for some children, schools are also a place where they feel stigmatized and experience social exclusion (e.g.bullying). It is a fact that teachers have difficulties dealing with disruptive students and finding solutions to restore the damage. These difficulties have not only a direct impact on their level of satisfaction (and consequently affects negatively the quality of the education offered) but also impacts on pupils’ educational achievement (that, at long-term, results in ESL, school-prison pipeline and society alienation). To support teachers and help students succeed in school and reduce exclusionary discipline incidents that can ultimately lead to drop out school, restorative practices can be part of the solution.

Building on these assumptions and envisaging the consolidation of a model that allows for the usage of restorative practices in a school context through the establishment of dedicated Restorative School Center, our proposal will implement trough a time frame of 30 months, three Intellectual Outputs and within them a set of activities to be carried through the project lifetime. In IO1 we’ll map current practices within the schools and communities to address problems, will collect data about it, we’ll design a screen tool and involve other schools and stakeholders in the process engaging into the project. In IO2, and complementary to the previous research, a benchmark of existing best practices of restorative practices to support the definition and fine-tuning to the schools needs of our model. Within it, we’ll pilot the model in each country to consolidate a replicating model. In IO3, we’ll build the Restorative School Centre through the establishment of its operating methodology, implementation process, timetable and correlated activities. Again, a pilot will be implemented through the six partner countries and, as result, the Guide to Implementing Restorative School Center will be delivered. To complement the outputs, three STJST, correlated to each of the IOs will be implemented to train those directly in the usage of the tools and methodologies in each IO. Complementary, six Multiplier events will also be carried out during the project. Here the goal is to disseminate and trough it, share our findings, outcomes and results and, therefore enforce the sustainability and replication of our model.

To achieve the aforementioned, we’ll involve throughout the project life cycle, three different groups to enrich, support, validate and disseminate our activities: pedagogical and technical teams inside the schools; learners within the devised specific target group of each school/country and direct and indirect stakeholders, being these parents and parents organizations other organizations that are directly related with the schools day to day operations, the community in which the schools are inserted and indirect stakeholders namely public and private organizations and policy makers.

To implement the project, a consortium was established, comprising 6 countries: Romania, Latvia, Turkey, Portugal, UK and Spain, and 8 partners were enrolled: Scoala Gimnaziala Nr.28 (Romania); EaSI (Romania); Aproximar (Portugal); Bursa School (Turkey); International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) Europe (UK); Amadora Inova (Portugal); Slampe School (Latvia); Alicante School (Spain).

In conclusion, Schools&Solutions proposes to develop an innovative and interactive way to include the school community (students, teachers, principals, parents, community NGO, etc.) in creating solutions for problems, upscaling existing restorative approaches by training teachers to deal with complex school realities, using restorative practices, creating mechanisms for improving student behavior and reducing the need for suspensions helping to respond to conflict in ways that repair damaged relationships, stem the pipeline school – juvenile justice system, convert damage on opportunities for students to take responsibility and accountability for their actions, and face the impact of their behaviour on others.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 266826 Eur

Project Coordinator

Scoala Gimnaziala Nr.28 & Country: RO

Project Partners

• SynRJ Limited
• ASOCIATIA EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR SOCIAL INOVATION
• AMADORA INOVATION EM UNIPESSOAL LDA
• APROXIMAR- COOPERATIVA DE SOLIDARIEDADE SOCIAL, CRL
• IES María Blasco
• Zemgales vidusskola
• Sehit Polis Ismail Ozbek Ortaokulu