RESTORATIVE PRACTICES AND PEACE CIRCLES. AN EXPERIENCE IN THE SCHOOL CONTEXT

Abstract

Restorative practices are an approach based on restorative justice which sought from the beginning to work with youth at risk. However, since its opening in other continents and the impact obtained in its application, it has migrated to other areas, including education. From this point of view, restorative practices are approached and in them one of its relational tools called “Peace Circles”, which gather elements to strengthen social capital from affective statements and attention to the needs of the participants, as well as the modeling that the co-regulator vigilant of his own interactions identifies and manages to modulate, to guide the participants to the development of relational skills strengthening regulation processes, self-worth and community empowerment. The experience in the implementation in the educational context allowed to experience the collective construction that favored the respect for the other by giving their point of view, expressing their needs, which in turn generated deep collective constructions, finding an identity reflected in the values of each member of the circle, which in turn was part of the reference of collective values that represent agreements.