Reclaiming Care: From Self-Focus to Restorative Community

Outline

1. Welcome and Grounding Exercise
Begin with a short mindfulness or breathing exercise to ground and center everyone.
Briefly introduce the purpose of the session: shifting from self-care as an individual practice to embracing community care, inspired by Indigenous wisdom.
Facilitators briefly explain the format of the restorative justice circle and the collaborative nature of today’s session.

2. Establishing Community Norms
Co-create circle norms through group discussion.
Prompt: "What do we need from each other to feel safe and fully present in this space?"
Example norms: active listening, confidentiality, valuing all voices equally, one person speaks at a time.
3. Guided Discussion: Decolonizing Self-Care (15 minutes max)
Facilitator introduces the shift from self-care as an individual responsibility to community care, highlighting Indigenous wisdom.
Discussion Prompts:
"How can we redefine care as a communal responsibility in classrooms and schools?"
"What challenges or barriers might prevent us from practicing community care?"
Participants share experiences, ideas, and reflections in a round, where each person has a turn to speak.
4. Collaborative Activity: Collective Self-Care Planning Circle (15-20 minutes)
Participants will collectively create a Community Self-Care Plan, focusing on ways to support one another in their educational roles and foster ongoing self-care practices as a group. This exercise centers on building a sustainable community network for care.
Steps:
-Personal Reflection
Begin with a brief mindfulness exercise to help participants reflect on their own self-care needs.
Ask participants to write down (privately) two things they currently struggle with regarding self-care and one aspect of their life where they feel they are thriving.
-Community Self-Care Brainstorm
In small groups of 4-5, participants share what support they would need to enhance their self-care within the educational environment (e.g., time management, emotional support, professional collaboration).
Groups brainstorm practical ways the larger community (schools, districts, or even among their peers) can help meet these needs.
Encourage them to focus on collaborative solutions, such as peer support groups, mentorship, co-planning time, or shared wellness initiatives.
-Collective Self-Care Agreement
After brainstorming, reconvene as a full circle. Each group shares one or two key ideas from their discussion that could be implemented immediately.
The facilitator captures these ideas on a board or digital platform, creating a “Collective Self-Care Agreement” that the group will commit to.
As a closing, participants are invited to each offer one small action they will take to improve community care within their space (e.g., offering weekly check-ins with a peer, organizing a shared planning session, or simply committing to listening without judgment).
Purpose:
This activity directly improves community self-care by identifying individual needs and translating them into group actions. It fosters a sense of accountability and support within the circle and provides tangible, actionable steps that participants can take back to their schools or districts.
5. Key Takeaways and Integration:
Facilitators lead group reflection:
Participants share one actionable step they can take to integrate community care.
6. Closing the Circle
Facilitator shares a brief reflection, thanking participants for their contributions and honoring Indigenous wisdom.
Each participant shares one word describing how they feel as the circle concludes.
Close with a brief gratitude or grounding exercise to honor the shared space.

Supporting research

https://www.cdacollaborative.org/blog/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-and-supremacy-neo-colonialism-and-international-development/
https://shanesafir.com/2020/12/before-maslows-hierarchy-the-whitewashing-of-indigenous-knowledge/
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/impact-restorative-practices-report
https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/do-restorative-practices-work
https://blawg401.com/collective-care-vs-self-care-why-collective-care-is-key-to-overcoming-workplace-burnout/#:~:text=Self%2Dcare%20says%2C%20%E2%80%9CI,%2C%20and%20physical%20well%2Dbeing.