RELATIONSHIPS
RESPECT
RESPONSIBILITIES
RESTORATIVE APPROACHES IN SCOTTISH
SCHOOLS
Three Rs for the 21st Century?
‘Improving Relationships and
Promoting Positive Behaviour in
Scotland’s Schools’
“Good relationships and positive behaviour across
whole school communities are fundamental to the
successful delivery of Curriculum for Excellence”
“The Scottish Government is committed to building
upon this work and will continue to support this
through the Positive Behaviour Team”
WHY RESTORATIVE
APPROACHES?
• They work - (dependent upon buy in!!!)
• Qualitative and quantitative evidence of
progress.
RESTORATIVE APPROACHES THE RESEARCH
•
Pilot councils – Fife, Highland, North Lanarkshire
•
Evidence of positive impact upon relationships and behaviour
•
Evidence of development of essential life skills
•
Evidence of calmer learning environments
•
Young people making more good choices more often
•
Promotes emotional well being for all
•
Supportive of Children’s Services approaches
SOME BACKGROUND AND
TERMS
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Restorative Justice
Restorative Conferencing
Victim/Offender Mediation
Family Group Conferencing
Mediation
Circles vs Circle Time
Real Justice
IIRP - Safer Saner Schools
Transforming Conflict
“Restorative Practices (Approaches)
are fundamentally rooted in a
philosophy. They are not templates. It
is this philosophy which ought to
guide the way we act in our dealings
with others.”
(Ted Wachtel)
THE UNDERPINNING MODEL
PROCEDURES
PRACTICES
SKILLS
PHILOSOPHY
VALUES
ETHOS
PHILOSOPHY
Restorative Approaches build upon the notion of positive regard which
is based on the premise that we all need to be regarded for who we
are. This moves our thinking away from only our actions /
achievements having value.
It also helps us differentiate between the person and her / his
behaviour.
Significantly restorative approaches are grounded in the understanding
that individuals are responsible for their actions, and within our
communities when an action has caused harm, those involved have a
responsibility to put things right. – This moves us on from the language
and culture of crime and punishment.
Restorative approaches are fundamentally grounded in ‘relationships’ and in
repairing, restoring and consolidating relationships when they have been
harmed.
TWO KINDS OF DISCIPLINE
RESTORATIVE
TRADITIONAL
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Harm
Problem solving
Dialogue + negotiation
Restitution/ reparation
Interpersonal
Empowerment
Accountability = put
things right
Rule breaking
Blame or guilt
Adversarial
Punish to deter
Impersonal
Affected ignored
Accountability =
being punished
THE SOCIAL DISCIPLINE WINDOW
HIGH
To
With
punitive
restorative
Not
For
Control
(Limit Setting
Discipline)
neglectful
permissive
(Wachtel
and McCold)
LOW
Support
(Encouragement, Nurture)
HIGH
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF
NEEDS
Universal
Levels of
Human
Need
Selfactualisation
Self-esteem
Love,affection and
belonging
Safety /Security
Physiological (Survival)
HUMAN NEEDS
• To be respected
• An understanding listener
• To be allowed to have emotion and to talk about
them
• The other person to really understand what has
upset me
• A genuine apology
• Amends made
• Support and positive reinforcement
• Reassurance it won’t happen again
• To draw a line underneath it
WHAT IS NEEDED TO REPAIR
HARM?
If I have been harmed I need:
• time to calm down
• time to think
• to be listened to
• a chance to ask
“Why me? What did I do to
deserve that?”
• the other person concerned to
acknowledge the effect their
behaviour has had on me and
how I feel
• a sincere, spontaneous
apology
• if possible, things put right
• reassurance that it won’t
happen again
If I have caused harm I need:
• time to think
• to be listened to
• a chance to explain to myself
and the other person why I did
it
• an opportunity to apologise
• a chance to make amends
• reassurance that the matter is
dealt with and I can move on
• hope that there is no
continuing resentment
Restorative Approaches
• Are about developing and maintaining and repairing positive
relationships
• Are about helping young people (and adults!) learn and develop the
skills to make good choices now and throughout their lives – if we’ve
learned these skills, they can be taught
• Enable us to acknowledge when we have harmed someone and think
about what to do to put it right
• Encourage us to consider our feelings and those of others (emotional
well being)
• Encourages us all to consider our behaviour and the effect it has on
others
THE CHALLENGE OF
CULTURE CHANGE:
EMBEDDING RESTORATIVE
APPROACHES IN SCHOOLS
STAGES OF CHANGE
A Trans-theoretical Model
• Pre-contemplation
not ready to change behaviour, and may be unaware
of the need to change
• Contemplation
thinking about starting new behaviour in future
• Preparation
ready to start changing their behaviour soon
• Action
changed behaviour within the last 6 months, and are
aware -- as are others -- of moving ahead
• Maintenance
ongoing support for changed behaviour 6 months +
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”