Restorative Practices

Respect - find out what it means to me!

We talk a lot about respect in education. It seems like it has become a buzzword or a slogan, but how do we ensure our students are respectful?

At St Mary’s, Respect is one of our graduate outcomes and we teach our students to show respect for self, others and the environment. We refer to this as Respectful ROSE. 

We teach how to show respect for others by using our manners, speaking kindly and valuing others.

We teach our students to show respect for themselves by teaching a positive growth mindset, to care for their belongings and to always do their best.We teach our students to show respect for the environment by taking their rubbish home, keeping spaces tidy, recycling and composting our food scraps.

Respectful ROSE underpins our classroom expectations, setting positive classroom environments and helping our learners understand the behaviours that are respectful. Are we always respectful? Of course not. We make mistakes, but using Respectful ROSE helps us understand what went wrong and restore it.

What does respect look like in other contexts? How can we best teach our learners to show respect in the community? On the bus? At a family dinner? What values do you and your family bring to the word “respect?”  What do these behaviours look like? 

Understanding what constitutes respectful behaviour gives it context, moving it from a word to an action. Once this is understood, we can use the word respect and our learners understand what that means, creating responsible, respectful citizens, and that’s a win!