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5 Things That Restorative Schools Do Differently: Essential Shifts for a Dysregulated Era

A book that expands on the work being done within the restorative practices movement and challenges educators to rethink discipline.

Ignite lasting change–your schools are waiting.

In an age of chronic stress, digital overload, and dysregulated youth, traditional approaches fail—zero tolerance breeds exclusion, and permissiveness erodes safety.

This groundbreaking book by Carlos Alvarez and Will Pulgarin (Ed.D.) reveals the five core distinctions of truly restorative schools: articulated values, a focus on relationships, a paradigm shift in discipline, culture-first leadership, and data-driven learning and analysis.

Rooted in Right-Brain Restorative Practices (RBRPs) from the Los Angeles Institute for Right Brain Practices Research (LAIRP), this book harnesses neuroscience to forge the key links between the "why" and "how" of restorative practices.

What are restorative practices?

While Restorative Justice (RJ) has its roots in the victims’ rights movement that arose during the 1970s, and while has been predominantly associated with the criminal justice system, Restorative Practices (RP) emerged in Australia, where it was first implemented in schools during the 1990s (Blood and Thosborne, 2005). The rise and implementation of RJ helped spread and multiply the use of restorative practices (RP), such as the approach to repairing harm, community conferencing, and using dialogue and empathy to strengthen relationships. RP includes any response to wrongdoing that aligns with the parameters of support and limit setting (Wachtel, 2000). Unlike traditional discipline policies that remove the offender(s) from the school community, RP is designed to bring together both the victim(s) and offender(s) where they can take turns speaking and actively listening (Marsh, 2017).

What are Right-Brain Restorative Practices (RBRP)?

Right-Brain Restorative Practices (RBRP) is an approach to discipline, school culture, and conflict resolution that’s rooted in neuroscience and trauma-informed care. Instead of relying mainly on punitive systems or purely left-brain (logical, procedural) strategies, it emphasizes the brain’s right hemisphere, which governs emotion, memory, relationships, and self-regulation. RBRP blends brain science, restorative justice, and social-emotional learning. They shift the focus from “What rule was broken?” to “What need is unmet, and how do we restore connection?

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What is the RBRP approach?

The Right-Brain Restorative Practices (RBRP) approach is a way of addressing student behavior, relationships, and healing that is grounded in neuroscience, trauma-informed care, and cultural responsiveness.

At its core, it recognizes that the right hemisphere of the brain develops early in life and is responsible for emotions, nonverbal communication, implicit memory, and social-emotional attunement. When students experience stress or trauma, their right brain often becomes dysregulated, which can show up as anger, fear, shame, withdrawal, or shutting down. Traditional, punitive discipline approaches target logic and compliance (left-brain strategies), but these often fail because they don’t address the root of the student’s emotional state.

Instead, RBRP emphasizes relational, right-brain to right-brain interactions—such as empathy, attunement, co-regulation, and restorative dialogue—that help students return to a calm, moderate emotional state where they can think, learn, and engage. In this approach:

Safety and connection come first. Students need to feel understood and supported before they can process mistakes or conflicts.
Emotional regulation is central. Restorative practices focus on helping students calm their nervous system and re-integrate their sense of self.
Healing relationships are the goal. Conflict, accountability, and repair are addressed through dialogue and restorative circles, not punishment.
Cultural responsiveness matters. The approach honors students’ lived experiences, especially those affected by trauma, poverty, or systemic inequities.

Ultimately, Right-Brain Restorative Practices create school cultures where discipline is not about control but about healing, accountability, and belonging.

What is the guiding premise of the RBRP approach?

Right Brain Restorative Practices is a modality within the Restorative Justice spectrum that emphasizes addressing emotions often overlooked during conflict, burnout, or negative institutional culture and climate. By focusing on these core aspects of human connection and communication, this approach fosters a more supportive environment. When emotional needs are properly addressed, it paves the way for enhanced student creativity, self-expression, and alignment. This method promotes a more holistic and emotionally intelligent approach to conflict resolution and personal growth, particularly in educational settings.

Helping individuals heal or process an event via restorative practices solicits information from specific brain regions, specifically domains that respond to danger or a perceived threat. As restorative practitioners, the quality of our understanding and awareness of our client's history is critical to explore. The complexity of every emotional and cognitive block that surfaces is where the real magic and true healing can unfold. Recalling what happened for many can become a grievous and transformative process when the pain and trauma are connected to their narrative.

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What are the contributions of operating under a Right-Brain Restorative culture?

Operating under a Right-Brain Restorative culture allows institutions to foster environments where individuals can truly thrive. When equitable values, policies, and disciplinary objectives are in place, people are better able to optimize their skills. From a neuroscience perspective, a calm and congruent brain supports healthy emotional regulation and cognitive functioning, making individuals more receptive to institutional goals, expectations, and norms. This culture contributes in four key ways: it encourages innovation, promotes fairness, builds awareness, and supports restorative practices. Together, these elements create a balanced environment that nurtures growth, equity, and emotional well-being.

How can Right-Brain help K-12 educational systems thrive?

School systems are progressively shifting towards the idea of relationship-building and social-emotional awareness as essential pathways to academic success. These efforts foster a strong student growth mindset and help create robust institutions where character development can thrive. Furthermore, a culture of connectedness is cultivated, which profoundly impacts the daily school climate. Unfortunately, recent events—such as school shootings, mental health crises among students, and rising incidents of bullying—have instilled fear in our youth, causing many to view school as an unsafe environment. This mindset can activate different regions of the brain, leading to heightened stress responses and exacerbating problematic behaviors in the absence of proper emotional regulation.

Right Brain Restorative Practices (RBRP) provide schools with tools to build an adaptive and socially-emotionally competent environment. Adolescence, a critical developmental period, presents challenges like abstract thinking, which requires students to understand the deeper "why" behind school policies, teacher directives, and their own motivation for learning. RBRP exists within the broader community, fostering growth and emotional awareness.

What is the CALMER method for De-escalation?

De-escalation involves intentionally calming a tense or emotionally charged situation to reduce the risk of conflict, harm, or further distress.

It involves using non-threatening communication, empathetic listening, and regulated behavior to help someone move from a dysregulated state toward a sense of safety and control.

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What is the Restorative Alliance?

A restorative alliance is built through right brain–to–right brain interactions that help maintain students in a moderate emotional state where they are open and able to co-regulate. When students remain in this zone of tolerance, they can process and manage emotions without tipping into extremes of hyperarousal—such as rage, fear, or panic—or hypoarousal, like shame, despair, or dissociation. This balanced state fosters healing and resilience. Research shows that restorative alliances are five to seven times more effective than other modalities (Safran & Muran, 2000), making them a powerful tool for helping students regain their sense of self and stability.

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