Workshops & offerings
Explore. Discover. Circle In.
Our circle-based workshops, trainings, facilitation and resources are designed for educators, families, organizations and individuals who are seeking tools to navigate complexity, and build trust and dynamic inter-connection.
For schools - start here
A taste of circle ways
A Taste of Circle Ways: Staff buy-in for training is critical. Circle Ways will come to your school (in the Los Angeles area) or offer a 90-minute online professional development that will give staff experiences of a circle-based pedagogy for content delivery, SEL, and to address student and staff felt-needs. An enjoyable, enlightening experience!
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Adminstrators, sign your staff up for a 90-minute taste of what we do—live in the Los Angeles area or online if elsewhere.
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A 90-minute experience that will help your staff choose to go forward with full, systemic program implemetation.
for teachers & facilitators
Introduction to Circle Ways
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Live workshops: 2 Saturdays from 9-4 pm. July 27-28, 2024 and Jan. 18 & 25, 2025. Meet in-person at Temescal Gateway Park in Pacific Palisades.
Online workshops: 8 Saturdays from 10-11:30 am; June 22, July 6, 20, Aug 3, 17, 31, Sept. 14, 21 2024.Salary Point credit is available for staff in the LAUSD.
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Introduction to Circle Ways immerses participants in a variety of circle experiences, grounds them in the history of circle practices and the elements of circle facilitation, and arms them with a copy of our Circle Facilitator’s Manual.
As participants turn toward one another and what’s at the center of their circle, this workshop elicits authentic sharing, non-judgmental listening, new perspectives, and feelings of respect, gratitude, and affection.
Upon completing this workshop, participants are prepared and inspired to begin facilitating circles with students, colleagues and parents, and to connect academic and social-emotional learning. We are now offering this highly experiential workshop online!
Foundations of rEstorative practices
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Now offering this experiential one-day workshop live in Los Angeles.
Or, online workshops run 2 consecutive Saturdays. Email us to learn more.
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A workshop for all school staff, Foundations of Restorative Practices introduces educators to the restorative justice-based practices that are the responsive complement to the proactive, community-building circles introduced in our Introduction to Circle Ways workshop.
This workshop grounds participants’ understanding of the history, philosophy, and principles of restorative practices and engages them in experiences of restorative practices they can then apply in their classrooms, schools, and personal lives. Participants will gain insights and skills to improve communication and strengthen relationships with students and colleagues, to foster discipline, to address behavior issues and conflicts effectively and equitably, and to increase social-emotional (SEL) and academic learning.
New Workshop!
Circle-Based Value Formation
Every school, organization, and family embraces and seeks to model and promote certain values: integrity, collaboration, resposibility, empathy, persistence, etc. Often, these values are listed on a sites walls. Although there is an expectation that stakeholders will abide by them, how do we actually engage in a process that brings about intrinsic motivation to adopt them? We certainly can’t motivate a person to be empathic by simply telling them to be kind. This one day live workshop or three 90-minute sessions will give you the tools to create a context where students and others deepen their understanding of universal human values.
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Three 90-minute online sessions
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Learn to lead circles where participants discover and become motivated to adopt univesal human values.
online educator circle (Free)
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This free online circle is for educators (and the circle curious) who wish to support one another in circle practice.
Circles are 90 minutes, the first Thursday of every month from 5-6:30 pm PST
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Get support for your practice or just join to see what this circle thing is all about!
International educator circle (free)
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This monthly free online gathering is scheduled to allow our friends in Europe and the Middle East to receive support through circle practice with other educators trying to bring circles to their schools and classrooms.
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Free and online! The first Thursday of every month from 9-10:30 am PST (Check the time in your zone!)
primary grades facilitator practicum
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A hybrid model that can be offered live or online.
The workshops are scheduled on Sundays.
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Prerequisite: Introduction to Circle Ways. This practicum is for primary level teachers who are already implementing circles in their classrooms. Each practicum is unique based on the needs of participants. A week before the event, teachers submit questions, concerns, or situations that have arisen in their classroom practice. The “curriculum” of the day is determined by these immediate needs.
secondary grades facilitator practicum
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Professional development for educators. These workshops are scheduled on Sundays and are available live or online.
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Prerequisite: Introduction to Circle Ways. This practicum is for secondary level teachers who are already implementing circles in their classrooms. Each practicum is unique based on the needs of participants. A week before the event, teachers submit questions, concerns, or situations that have arisen in their classroom practice. The “curriculum” of the day is determined by these immediate needs.
Circle games and movement
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This professional development (PD) is offered online, quarterly on Tuesday evenings from 6-7:30 PST
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Using play and movement in the circle activates “mirror neurons,” stimulates spontaneity, elicits laughter, and attunes the participants to one another – even when the circle is online and virtual. In this PD, participants will learn how to engage students from the confines of a home screen to notice and connect with one another more fully, using movement, imagination, theatre, and art.
The circle invites them to reflect on their experiences or provides a springboard for a story prompt. These activities can also be used as a break when needed and as part of a closing or transitioning, allowing students to more fully embody their experience.
Youth Leadership
As students become familiar with circle processes, they move toward competence in guiding circles themselves. They learn the essential, portable skills of convening groups, determining group needs and norms, and facilitating in service of those needs, valuable assets in any field. Customized workshops are delivered via a hybrid model that can be offered live or online. Customized to suit your groups’ needs.
circle based Wellness
Using a model developed in our three-year study in collaboration with the USC Keck Medical School, we train any iteration of school or community stakeholders to peer-lead and sustain circles that promote healthy lifestyle choices. In some instances, we bring in health educators to assess community needs, but real healthcare is a product of the circle, where participants set manageable intentions for their lifestyle choices and the group provides accountability.
Nature based experienceses
Off-campus, nature-based experiences offer educators and students opportunities to strengthen their relationships, resource their well-being, and deepen their circle practice. Circle Ways designs and leads nature-based retreats and rite-of-passage experiences for adults and youth.
For parents and families
PARENT circles
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Offered online monthly. Each event is 90 minutes and free of charge (donations gratefully accepted.)
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Circle Ways has been offering parent “councils” for over 25 years. This virtual circle is an opportunity to connect with other parents to explore the mysteries of parenting and to learn the art of peer-led, self-sustaining circles.
Family circle training and facilitation
Family health requires ongoing communication. Like individuals, families go through developmental stages, and communication must evolve in tandem. Circles can make this possible as the group learns to assess and respond to the needs of the relationship itself rather than just the needs of the individuals.
Family mediation
For couples, “nuclear,” and extended families, we train all members to engage in and sustain productive communication to meet the changing needs in a family life cycle. From celebrations of birth, rites of passage, and accomplishments to inevitable losses and grieving, all family members—even the youngest—learn how regular circle practice can bring joy and resilience through all of life’s stages.
For Organizations
Circle based team building
Organizations need team building for collaboration and productivity. Circle Ways provides day-long onsite or weekend retreats for employees that deepen relationships and bring joy, wellness, and accountability to the organization.
circle training
To sustain a relevant circle practice in a community or organization, home-grown facilitators must emerge. This 16-hour training gives a group of employees tasked the climate and wellness the skills they need to begin facilitating circles within the community, keeping the circles relevant and responsive to the changing needs of members.
circle based conflict resolution
For schools and organizations developing their own restorative practices, Circle Ways trainers will work with individuals and groups experiencing conflict.
For everyone
circle celebrations
Circle Ways designs and facilitates gatherings when there is a need to honor a person, an event, or a collective purpose. In collaboration with the hosts, we create memorable experiences that are completely unique.
circle spaces
We design and build circle spaces in schools and elsewhere. From simple circular or spiral outdoor spaces to council gardens and huts, we create spaces that invite listening and speaking from the heart.
“There are so many benefits. First and foremost, council has made barriers to honest communication virtually disappear. Being on equal footing has inspired my students to take risks. I have been trying for years to remove that barrier; now I have a way to do it.”
—Susan Zakarov, Berenece Carlson Home Instructional Program and Hospital School
Get in touch.
Reach out to discover how Circle Ways can assist your school, organization, family or community in developing Circle Ways council. We facilitate council and also offer training for others to learn this transformative way of being human, dealing with conflict, and co-creating futures, together.