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Circle Forward - 2020 Revised Edition: Building a Restorative School Community
Circle Forward is a resource guide designed to help teachers, administrators, students and parents incorporate the practice of Circles into the everyday life of the school community. This resource guide offers comprehensive step–by-step instructions for how to plan, facilitate, and implement the Circle for a variety of purposes within the school environment. It describes the basic process, essential elements and a step-by-step guide for how to organize, plan, and lead Circles. It also provides over one hundred specific lesson plans and ideas for the application of Circles in the following areas of school life:
• Learning and establishing a Circle practice
• Establishing and affirming community norms
• Teaching and learning in Circle
• Building connection and community
• Promoting social-emotional skills
• Facilitating important but difficult conversations
• Working together as adults
• Engaging parents and the wider community
• Developing students as leaders in peer Circles
• Using Circles for restorative discipline
WHAT EDUCATORS ARE SAYING ABOUT CIRCLE FORWARD:
"Seeing the announcement about the ebook version of Circle Forward prompts me to drop you a line to say what an outstandingly excellent book it is. I took it away on holiday with me, and have been working more closely with it over the past two days – and I am so hugely impressed by it. The theoretical discussion (especially in the Appendix) is brilliant, and the practical guidelines for employing circles for a wide array of issues are invaluable. It presents itself as a kind of cook book for delving into when needed, and that is how I am sure I will use it in the time ahead. But I am already recommending it widely.
"Please convey my deep appreciation to Carolyn and Kay. They have produced a masterpiece."
—Professor Chris Marshall, The Diana Unwin Chair in Restorative Justice, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington
I am very grateful to Kay and Carolyn for their commitment to creating healthy communities for all young people, for their wisdom, and for their generosity. I cannot wait to share this wisdom with our schools—the teachers, administrators, students and their families, student support staff, educational assistants, volunteers, cooks, janitors, bus drivers, and school board members. This book is such a gift!
— Nancy Riestenberg, author of Circle in the Square, School Climate Specialist, Minnesota Department of Education
It takes skill to author a book that is both inspiring and practical. Kay and Carolyn provide a strong theoretical foundation for Circles and include extensive information about how teachers might utilize Circles in their schools and classrooms. The modules containing models for various types of Circles are extremely helpful and the appendix contains so many valuable resources. As a teacher educator looking to assist teachers as they develop both the knowledge and skills needed to effectively facilitate Circle processes, I am so excited about this book.
— Kathy Evans, Assistant Professor of Education, Eastern Mennonite University, active in furthering Restorative Justice in Education (RJE), Harrisonburg, Virginia
As a former schoolteacher and school administrator, I see this book adding positively to literature being written on this topic. You have given our teachers practical methods for using Circles in their classrooms and for creating an Ecosystem of Care in schools. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with our educators!
— Robert Spicer, Restorative Justice Consultant and Community Activist: Restorative Strategies, Chicago, Illinois
• Learning and establishing a Circle practice
• Establishing and affirming community norms
• Teaching and learning in Circle
• Building connection and community
• Promoting social-emotional skills
• Facilitating important but difficult conversations
• Working together as adults
• Engaging parents and the wider community
• Developing students as leaders in peer Circles
• Using Circles for restorative discipline
WHAT EDUCATORS ARE SAYING ABOUT CIRCLE FORWARD:
"Seeing the announcement about the ebook version of Circle Forward prompts me to drop you a line to say what an outstandingly excellent book it is. I took it away on holiday with me, and have been working more closely with it over the past two days – and I am so hugely impressed by it. The theoretical discussion (especially in the Appendix) is brilliant, and the practical guidelines for employing circles for a wide array of issues are invaluable. It presents itself as a kind of cook book for delving into when needed, and that is how I am sure I will use it in the time ahead. But I am already recommending it widely.
"Please convey my deep appreciation to Carolyn and Kay. They have produced a masterpiece."
—Professor Chris Marshall, The Diana Unwin Chair in Restorative Justice, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington
I am very grateful to Kay and Carolyn for their commitment to creating healthy communities for all young people, for their wisdom, and for their generosity. I cannot wait to share this wisdom with our schools—the teachers, administrators, students and their families, student support staff, educational assistants, volunteers, cooks, janitors, bus drivers, and school board members. This book is such a gift!
— Nancy Riestenberg, author of Circle in the Square, School Climate Specialist, Minnesota Department of Education
It takes skill to author a book that is both inspiring and practical. Kay and Carolyn provide a strong theoretical foundation for Circles and include extensive information about how teachers might utilize Circles in their schools and classrooms. The modules containing models for various types of Circles are extremely helpful and the appendix contains so many valuable resources. As a teacher educator looking to assist teachers as they develop both the knowledge and skills needed to effectively facilitate Circle processes, I am so excited about this book.
— Kathy Evans, Assistant Professor of Education, Eastern Mennonite University, active in furthering Restorative Justice in Education (RJE), Harrisonburg, Virginia
As a former schoolteacher and school administrator, I see this book adding positively to literature being written on this topic. You have given our teachers practical methods for using Circles in their classrooms and for creating an Ecosystem of Care in schools. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with our educators!
— Robert Spicer, Restorative Justice Consultant and Community Activist: Restorative Strategies, Chicago, Illinois
683 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 22, 2015
47 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Carolyn Boyes-Watson
13 books1 followerCarolyn Boyes-Watson is the founding Director of Suffolk University’s Center for Restorative Justice and Associate Professor of Sociology at Suffolk University. Professor Boyes-Watson has been on the faculty since 1993. She is also currently Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, the prisoners’ rights organization of Massachusetts.
She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's and Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband, Mark, and her two children, Emily and Matthew.
Her current research interests include restorative justice and criminal justice policy and she teaches in the areas of criminal justice, juvenile justice and restorative justice. She has published in the area of restorative justice, criminal justice, technology and social control and drug policy. Her most recent book is Peacemaking Circles & Urban Youth: Bringing Justice Home (Living Justice Press, 2008).
- Compiled from The Ikeda Center and Living Justice Press
She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's and Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband, Mark, and her two children, Emily and Matthew.
Her current research interests include restorative justice and criminal justice policy and she teaches in the areas of criminal justice, juvenile justice and restorative justice. She has published in the area of restorative justice, criminal justice, technology and social control and drug policy. Her most recent book is Peacemaking Circles & Urban Youth: Bringing Justice Home (Living Justice Press, 2008).
- Compiled from The Ikeda Center and Living Justice Press
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 18, 2021
EXCELLENT resource for any organization looking to implement Restorative Practices.
July 17, 2025
Read this for a grad class
Loved all the specific lesson plans geared toward different circles and when to use/implement them
Looking forward to implementing more circles
Loved all the specific lesson plans geared toward different circles and when to use/implement them
Looking forward to implementing more circles
July 8, 2020
This needs to be taught in every Teacher Prep school in the world.
The Circle Method needs to be used in every level of education.
I’ve learned and used a condensed version, but this text is comprehensive and provides a lot of support.
The Circle Method needs to be used in every level of education.
I’ve learned and used a condensed version, but this text is comprehensive and provides a lot of support.
July 23, 2023
An AMAZING book and an AMAZING resource.
If you're studying Restorative Justice in Education and Restorative Practices, you NEED this book.
You NEED it. NEED.
Please consider ordering from www.livingjusticepress.org
If you're studying Restorative Justice in Education and Restorative Practices, you NEED this book.
You NEED it. NEED.
Please consider ordering from www.livingjusticepress.org
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June 7, 2019371.207 B7918 2015
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews