Collaborative Conversations: Skill-Building Restorative Discipline
November 2024
Summary
This implementation guide provides information about a novel approach to restorative discipline, Collaborative Conversations. This practice was developed at Lumen High School in Spokane, Washington. We provide step-by-step guidance for how to implement Collaborative Conversations in your school.
Collaborative Conversations use a structured dialogue process between an adult and a student to address disciplinary incidents. A type of restorative practice, Collaborative Conversations help students acknowledge the impact of their behavior and empower them to co-create a plan for moving forward. Through the process, staff identify social-emotional skills, like frustration tolerance, at the root of the student’s challenging behavior. Staff use the dialogue process to identify additional interventions, like counseling or tutoring, that can help students meet behavioral expectations.
Recommendations
Collaborative Conversations, like all restorative practices, require considerable dedication, time, and resources. Intensive implementation — which includes community-building activities across school, consistent application, and integration into broader systems of support — can result in dramatic improvements.
However, restorative practices often do not work as a disciplinary approach without an underlying commitment to belonging, equity, and positive relationships. Schools can develop a positive school culture through social-emotional curriculum, community building events, or community-building advisory models.
One criticism of restorative practices is that they can be poorly defined and not implemented systematically enough to be a true alternative to other disciplinary approaches. To avoid this, we recommend having the following in place:
A team who conducts Collaborative Conversations
Protocols to consistently guide the process
Clearly defined responses to student behavior
Integration into other systems of support
Regular data analysis (e.g., monthly)
See our implementation guide for how your school can successfully implement Collaborative Conversations.