Identity, Diversity, Justice & Action

Conflict is inevitable. This is one of those deceptively simple statements, a truism we may have nodded along to without fully absorbing. The first time I truly unpacked the idea that "conflict is inevitable," I realized that I had held the belief, as an educator and school leader, that I could eliminate conflict entirely by creating a perfect environment. It sounds laughable now, but that kind of magical thinking had taken root in my heart. Maybe you can relate?

I call it magical thinking because it's an impossible task. A school is a collection of individuals of all ages, striving to align in a common purpose, within the confines of time, space, and resources. There are countless ways for conflicts to emerge.

The liberating truth is that conflict is indeed inevitable. As educators and school leaders, our role isn't to shield everyone from conflict but to prepare our students and ourselves to address the consequences of conflict in a way that restores and strengthens relationships, rather than degrading them. Trust is the foundation of this school. If we can trust students to learn how to use tools safely, we can certainly trust them to navigate conflicts, assert their needs, and mend relationships when harm occurs.

This year, during our staff meetings, we're concentrating on Restorative Justice practices that help our students learn to manage conflicts. We're acquiring new techniques, sharing successful approaches, and examining areas where we can grow. As a staff, we're addressing growth areas related to the consistency of language and approaches across the school. We're also striving to make our restorative efforts more visible to students who may not be directly involved but still feel the effects of a conflict.

Many people associate Restorative Justice solely with addressing hurt feelings or broken agreements, but it extends far beyond that. It encompasses understanding white supremacy characteristics and how those shape and limit our perceptions, learning anti-bias/anti-racist education, community building, self-awareness, and, of course, conflict resolution. How can we restore relationships if there's nothing to restore? How can we build relationships without empathy and self-awareness? How can we address conflicts without understanding our own biases?

When a conflict arises, causing harm between two or more individuals, we conduct separate interviews to comprehend the harm, feelings and needs involved. We ask “what are the needs?” both of the one who was harmed and the one who may have caused harm, then look at how we can repair the harm and meet those needs. Sometimes, if all parties are willing, we hold a restorative conversation where each side can share their feelings, needs, and potential solutions. Importantly, this conversation is voluntary; we don't compel apologies. If students choose not to engage in the repair process, we may need to consider alternative consequences.

Nonetheless, our approach always centers on understanding the needs that surfaced and ensuring they are met without causing harm in the future.

As we all learn and practice restorative justice, we will gain greater insights and fluency. 

If  you have any questions related to Restorative Justice at Brightworks, please reach out to Michlene.

The Brightworks Power & Privilege Committee meet bi-weekly to plan community wide events, coordinate guest speakers/educators, organize events specific to BI&PoC community and address any issues of belonging.

Our goal is to share resources and information that highlight our truth and current efforts in creating an environment of care, representation, and resilience. 

In addressing diversity, it’s important to acknowledge and face our deficiencies with full humility – only then can we begin to hold ourselves accountable and move away from a space of inactivity and performativity, and towards a space of social justice. 

As a predominantly white institution Brightworks continues to uphold and preserve structures and ideologies that celebrate and emit characteristics of whiteness. Therefore, we accept and admit that our negligence in addressing racial inequities at Brightworks is a functionality, and preservation of white supremacy. 

With a commitment towards mitigating the dominance of whiteness at Brightworks, we are implementing various strategies to begin thwarting and challenging our ideologies and frameworks that inhibit us from achieving social justice.

These strategies are a three-pronged approach and serve as a collectivized system to support our overall commitment towards DEI. We view and define the Brightworks community as faculty, students and families - in other words - our DEI strategies work towards supporting each of these groups with distinct initiatives and outcomes.

To learn more about these efforts and how each facet of BWX is working towards a more just and equitable learning environment, please visit our DEI Strategic Plan page for more information.