Building a safe school environment through the introduction of restorative practices is a new initiative of the Partners Bulgaria Foundation, which aims to increase the capacity of schools to combat violence and bullying.
The project aims to introduce restorative practices, school mediation and other forms of non-violent problem solving to become common approaches in schools as part of the system for combating violence and bullying. The goal of the project is to prevent violence in schools, prevent conflicts and minimize aggression, violence and bullying and other behaviors identified as risks in the school environment.
The methodology of restorative practices includes the use of informal and formal processes aimed at more actively building relationships and a sense of community.
The project team will work to introduce restorative practices as a system of processes and values that create an atmosphere of belonging and care. It is also important to create a cadre of specialists to spread restorative practices in school.
The following activities are planned:
- Development of a curriculum and manual “Restorative Practices in School”.
This activity will include the development of learning materials that will be consulted with teachers and specialists. The manual will have eight topics organized into modules, provided for direct use by educators in schools.
- Three-day training for 20 specialists in restorative practices in Sofia with the participation of an international lecturer trained to work with school professionals, who, together with the team of trainers of the Partners-Bulgaria Foundation, will conduct the training.
The training will bring specialists from the country in Sofia.
- Workshops for teachers in each of the target cities (Montana, Burshets, Blagoevgrad and Gotse Delchev) on the implementation of restorative practices in school.
Two-day workshops will be held in each city with educators and specialists – 15 from each city or a total of 60 people. At the workshops, local experts, educators, principals, municipal employees and other specialists will also develop a plan for implementing the model in school. A total of 6 Plans for introducing restorative practices in school will be developed.
- Final conference – a one-day conference for 40 participants in Sofia, where the model for teaching conflict resolution skills in school and the restorative practices program will be presented.
Recommendations for introducing restorative practices in school will also be presented.
- Certification of the curriculum “Restorative Practices at School” by the Ministry of Education and Science and dissemination of the project results.
The project is implemented within the framework of the INSPIRE project: Improving national support for prevention, intervention, and response to violence against children and empowering victims. It is co-funded by the European Union and the Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation.
