THE CHALLENGE OF
CULTURE CHANGE:
EMBEDDING RESTORATIVE
PRACTICES IN SCHOOLS
Based on presentation by Margaret Thorsborne
Manchester, 2005
and
paper by Blood and Thorsborne - IIRP website www.iirp.org
(follow links to IIRP conference papers “Building a Global
Alliance”, Sydney, 2005)
Organisations with a traditional culture no
longer produce anywhere close to the
results required….and these cultures are
extremely resilient…….highly resistant to
change
Lee, 2004
Culture is the result of messages that are
received about what is really valued. People
align their behaviour to these messages in order
to fit in. Changing culture requires a systematic
and planned change to these messages, whose
sources are behaviour, symbols and systems.
Taylor, 2004
MESSAGE MANAGEMENT
• Messages from behaviour:
The management team and those considered important
are watched by others
• Messages from symbols:
Actions, decisions and situations visible to a large
number of people - and to which they attribute meaning
• Messages from systems:
How your organisation rewards, measures, manages
and communicates what is important
Taylor, 2004
TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE
The most significant determinant of your
organisation’s culture will be the leadership style
of managers at all levels
Lee, 2004
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESS
….will change mind-sets, target values and build
a culture which can truly support new strategies
and organisational aspirations.
However it can only be driven by passionate and
persistent leadership at the top.
Therefore, transformational change begins
with transforming the mind-sets of
managers.
Lee, 2004
STAGES
1. Gaining Commitment
2. Developing a Shared Vision
3. Developing Responsive and Effective
Practice
4. Developing a Whole School Approach
5. Professional Relationships
MAKING A CASE FOR CHANGE
Building the case for investing in cultural
improvement requires a thorough
understanding of the cost of the current
culture
Taylor, 2004
FIVE FUNDAMENTAL
LEADERSHIP PRACTICES
•
•
•
•
•
Challenging the process
Inspiring a shared vision
Enabling others to act
Modeling the way, and
Encouraging the heart
Kouzes & Posner (1997)
BUILDING A CASE FOR CHANGE
Identifying the need
(the cost of current practice):
•
Qualitative data - wide dissatisfaction with the
ineffectiveness of current practice - conversations in staff
rooms and staff meetings, student and parent feedback,
school reviews, union involvement
•
Quantitative data -survey data e.g. bullying, student
safety and well-being/mental health; exclusion and suspension
rates, detention rates, overuse of time-out facilities, student
absences, staff absences, stress/sick leave, measures of
student engagement/disengagement, academic results,
retention figures………need to unpack data for meaning
ESTABLISHING BUY-IN
• Share school data and RJ research with senior and
middle managers, student support services, governing
bodies, parent bodies, local government and other
agencies
• Engage senior levels in the department (at state,
regional and district offices) professional bodies e.g.
principal’s associations, unions
• Identify schools which are ready to take up
organisational change - negotiate an MOU regarding
obligations, accountabilities, support mechanisms
• Identify dedicated leadership team within the school to
anchor the change program
DEVELOPING A SHARED VISION
Key people must be clear about the organisational goals
- what the organisation will look like when they get there
- and being very clear about what they want to measure
and how that will happen and why it is important
But more than anything, they must understand that
this will mean, in all likelihood, a change in the
culture - that is, “how we do things around here” or
“how we do everything around here”
PREFERRED OUTCOMES
• Shift towards positive relationship
management
• Balance between prevention, intervention and
crisis management
• Improvement in statistics (detention, time-out,
suspensions, exclusions, absenteeism,) &
increased options for managing behaviour
• Staff who are struggling with discipline are
identified early and supported in meaningful
ways
• Quality and nature of the dialogue about kids
is supportive
PREFERRED OUTCOMES
(CONTINUED)
• Case management approach to problemsolving
• Classroom teachers solve more issues
themselves
• Students are self-regulating and better
problem-solvers
• Survey data shows improvements over a
variety of measures (e.g. safety, wellbeing,
school connectedness, staff morale and
stress levels, parent satisfaction)
• Greater engagement in curriculum, increased
retention rates
TRAINING, MAINTENANCE AND
SUPPORT
• What model of training is to be used (given adult learning
needs)?
• Who gets trained and in what order?
• Costs of training? Funding sources?
• Managing staff turnover and relief teachers, and
induction for new students and their families
• Collegial support and supervision
• Ongoing CPD and access to latest research
• Increasing the range of options
• Networking
MONITORING FOR QUALITY
STANDARDS
The acquisition of new skills requires coaching
in a climate of encouragement, honest
feedback and support particularly when we
are shifting from ingrained traditional
approaches………….data collection,
continuous improvement loop and
professional dialogue
MONITORING AND SUPPORTING
BEST PRACTICE
• RP coordinator - staffing implications
• Integrity of practice amongst senior and middle
managers
• Collegial support and resourcing for preparation,
facilitation and debriefing for high level interventions
e.g. conferences
• Supportive approach to supervision of Restorative
Practice
• Access to latest research/reading
• Provision of high quality ongoing PD
Hierarchy of Responses
(proactive-reactive)
System and School
Imperatives
Whole School
(Big Picture)
Preferred Outcomes
Relational/Restorative
Philosophy
Behaviour Mgt Policy
Review & Development
Best Practice
VERTICAL CONSISTENCY
• PHILOSOPHY
• POLICY
• PROCEDURES
• PRACTICE
MANAGING THE TRANSITION
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify core group to lead
Keep up the dialogue
Take a long term strategic approach (3-5 years)
Understand the tensions
Work first with interested staff
Leave old structures/processes in place in parallel
Involve as many staff as possible in restorative processes
Explain decisions, share improvements in data, stories
Use a restorative approach for staff matters
Walk the talk and hold steady in the face of criticism
Participate in professional forums and networks
TIMEFRAME & INDICATORS
OF CHANGE
12-18 Changing dialogue.
months Pockets of practice.
Improved statistics.
Gaining Commitment.
Increased options for managing
behaviour.
12-24 Altered dialogue & processes.
months Alignment of policy & procedure.
Increased skill development.
School community commitment.
TIMEFRAME & INDICATORS OF
CHANGE (Continued)
24- 36 Embedding of practice at all levels.
months Altered operating framework.
Reviewing policy and procedure.
Creative solutions emerge.
4-5 years Best Practice.
Behaviour change embedded.
Cultural change across school
community.
WIDENING THE LENS
By thinking more broadly
within a whole school approach
it becomes possible to see where else
restorative philosophy can be applied
PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
• Promote openness, honesty, transparency and
fairness
• Use Restorative Approaches for managing staff
issues
• Challenge practice & behaviour in a supportive
way
• Engage whole staff and wider school community
• Management walking the talk
DIFFUSION MODEL OF
INNOVATION
3%
Innovators
13%
34%
34%
Early
Adopters
Early
Majority
Late
Majority
16%
Laggards
Rogers, 95