BETTER BEHAVIOUR: PROMOTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS
Repairing Relationships - managing conflict the restorative way
Two pupils fight in the playground and the classroom teacher experiences the knock-on effects of excitement, gossip and accusation as soon as she tries to settle class 6 after break. In order to achieve calm, she sends both pupils involved to the headteacher and tells the rest of the class she will hear no more about it.
Busy and late for a meeting, the headteacher quickly delivers stern warnings and a punishment exercise to both pupils for completion at home.
The next day, her early morning task is to pacify an angry parent of one of the pupils who is accusing the teacher of failing to deal with the 'bullying incident'. The parent accuses the family of the other pupil of holding a vendetta against his own family.
Meanwhile, class 6 is buzzing with whispers of revenge and counterplot.....
Will the story drag on through ongoing troubles in class 7 and repeated conflict with the parents? Or will the story end with complaints and withdrawals of pupils?
Or will a solution be found in which all parties feel they have been heard and understood and that the situation has been put right with everyone's dignity intact?
What many pupils say that they want from adults when dealing with disciplinary issues is fairness. Whether they are a perpetrator or a victim, their focus is not on winning or losing, blame or revenge, but on trusting in a fair process. Restorative practices are helping teachers to ensure that pupils, staff and parents can be part of a fair process while helping all involved to learn from the harm that has been done, and particularly to understand the impact of behaviour on others.
Restorative practices describe a range of approaches which many in schools will already be familiar with. The practices range from developing a restorative climate in schools with activities such as circle time and peer support; through 'restorative conversations' when teachers or peer mediators intervene in a situation; to the more formal restorative conferencing involving all those affected by an incident, including families where appropriate. The approach is being used in many different countries, and those involved suggest that restorative practices become an aspect of school culture which transforms the way day-to-day conversations and relationships are conducted, as well as the school's response to major incidents, which decrease as the school climate improves.
Restorative practices depart from traditional approaches to discipline. So, how does a restorative approach work?
Restorative practices in the UK have been swiftly adopted in the youth justice setting and as well as being involved in offender reparation and mediation, links to other approaches such as family group conferencing and other methods of resolving conflict and arriving at solutions. In schools, restorative practices are being considered as effective responses to discipline and bullying incidents, and as a process that may prevent exclusion or assist reintegration into school following an exclusion.
Colleagues at the International Institute for Restorative Practices in Philadelphia pioneered the Safer Saner Schools Programme and gave Scottish authorities advice on the approach. They describe this approach as helping children understand their behaviour without condoning or tolerating inappropriate behaviour. They assert that restorative practices place even more responsibility on students themselves to resolve the effects of wrongdoing, and that in the long term this builds a much stronger sense of community in the school, and children become skilled in solving their own problems which in turn, empowers them as individuals.
Restorative Approaches in Schools
Three Scottish local authorities, in partnership with the Scottish Executive, are piloting restorative practices in schools. North Lanarkshire, Highland and Fife Councils are each taking the principles of restorative practices that have been developed in the USA and in some LEAs in England, and supporting a selection of their primary and secondary schools to adapt and refine the approaches to meet their own needs.
Each of the authorities is embarking on a two-year piece of action research, with support from the Scottish Executive. An evaluation team from Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities, led by Sheila Riddell, Gwynedd Lloyd and Jean Kane will work with the projects as they develop, and share what is being learned with the education community throughout the pilot, via www.betterbehaviourscotland.gov.uk. This action learning approach is an important feature of the partnership with the authorities, as each authority and school has its own circumstances and local factors that will shape their development of restorative practices.
An important feature of the pilots is to explore what kind of support and training is necessary for teachers and headteachers to take restorative practices forward in their schools and classrooms, to find out in what kinds of situations the approaches are most useful, and not least, to assess the benefits for all of the different participants.
All of the pilot authorities are keen to emphasise that their pilot will mean adding a new piece to the existing jigsaw of practices for schools to achieve inclusion. It will not be a separate initiative or a departure from the direction many schools are going in already. While wishing to avoid initiative overload, the authorities are excited about the potential of restorative practices to provide teachers with support and renewed confidence in dealing with day-to-day conflict.
Transforming Conflict is a UK-based organisation that has already introduced teachers in North Lanarkshire to the principles of restorative practices. Belinda Hopkins, of Transforming Conflict, believes that when assessing the benefits of the approach, the hard edge of reducing exclusions, decreasing truancy and bullying can be clearly observed among softer indicators of increased staff confidence, a more caring school environment and greater involvement of young people in taking responsibility.
In each pilot authority, preparations are underway, or have already taken place, to introduce restorative practices through staff seminars. Initial reaction has been positive, and training and putting approaches into practice in schools will develop during 2004/05. Those interested in finding out more on restorative practices can search on www.transformingconflict.org or www.restorativepractices.org. The Scottish pilots will share their learning through www.betterbehaviourscotland.gov.uk section, as the pilot develops.
