• I am proud now that I have changed the way I am at school (Student). 
• It has helped us to communicate better with our children at home too, trying to listen more instead of blaming.(Parent) 
• The ‘blood-pressure’ of the school has gone way down (Principal) 
• Students are aware – they notice that teachers are friendly/calmer and there is something different (Teacher)
• It is like a journey from the head to the heart and back to the head again (Student) 

These are comments from students, teachers, parents and principals less than one year after beginning to implement Restorative Practices. In 2004 seven Post-primary schools in Donegal and Sligo introduced Restorative Practices as a process for managing challenging behaviour and building positive relationships in the school community. The project was supported by Health Promotion, HSE North-West. 

The restorative philosophy has grown out of the Restorative Justice work in Youth Offending originating in Australia and Canada. The fundamental concepts of RJ are that - 

• misconduct/crime is viewed as a violation of people and relationships 
• these violations create obligations and liabilities 
• the way forward is through healing the harm done and making things right. 

This involves a paradigm shift from the culture of blame and punishment to one of taking responsibility in a supportive environment, moving towards resolution and relationship building. 

• “The fundamental unifying hypothesis of Restorative Practices is 
• disarmingly simple: that human beings are happier, more cooperative 
• and more likely to make positive changes in their behaviour when those 
• in positions of authority do things with them, rather than to or for them. 
(Wachtel, T. 2004) 

Department of Education Guidelines towards a Positive Policy for School Behaviour and Discipline requires that “Codes of behaviour in schools should be considered in the context of the school being a community of which mutual respect, co-operation and natural justice are integral features”. (Circular M33/91) 

Can restorative practices help towards developing this milieu of respect, co-operation and natural justice? These schools would say ‘Yes’. 

What is meant by Restorative Practices? 

The first question is what is a restorative school? According to Belinda Hopkins (Transforming Conflict) ‘in a school community run along restorative lines, people on a daily basis use restorative and relational skills to – 

• interact with each other informally and formally, 
• enhance and inform teaching and learning, 
• have those more challenging conversations, 
• tackle problems, conflicts and discipline issues (involving young people or adults) 
• structure meetings’ Restorative Practices allow these skills to be practiced and embedded into the culture of the school, through a continuum of practices that many schools are involved in already.

 These range from informal to formal and include –

• Restorative statements / questions / discussion 
• Mediation 
• Circle time 
• Impromptu conference 
• School group conference. 

Conferencing, at the formal end of the continuum, is about bringing all concerned in an issue together with a trained facilitator, working towards an acknowledgement of harm done and a resolution which involves an agreed and clear way forward. This can be an emotive experience which is about getting real with each other. A basic language or set of questions is the underlying tool that simplifies this process in a very practical way. 

This set of Restorative questions is as follows :

 Comments about the use of questions; 

• Using the questions gets more information and less confrontation (teacher) 
• As Principal of the school, I am aware of changing mindsets as a result of RJ. An offender now will spend less time denying what s/he has done and more time thinking about how the damage can be repaired. Students will attest that the RJ process is not a let-off or an easy option for the wrongdoer. It challenges all concerned to address the effects of wrongdoing on others. Staff members are gaining more confidence in the outcomes of RJ. Although the process demands huge inputs of time, there is a dividend for staff in having to deal with significantly fewer incidents of repeat offending and a consequent reduction in workplace stress. Parents are less intimidated by the dreaded summons to the school. They know now that they are being invited in to contribute to a solution to a difficulty that has arisen. Significantly there was a reduction of 35% in the number of student suspensions in 2004/05 compared with the previous school year. (reflections from one Principal) 

North-West Experience 

Over many years Health Promotion personnel have had many requests from schools looking for some support on how to address the issues of bullying and challenging behaviour. One response has been that seven Post-Primary Schools were supported in introducing and implementing Restorative Practices in their School Community. This involved information sessions with all Staff, training of facilitators and ongoing support for facilitators and schools. A shorter training for a core group in the schools was provided one year into the implementation. The message from those working on this Project is that the Department of Education and Science should look at this as a very worthwhile Project to make available to all schools interested at both Primary and Post-Primary levels.

 At a recent meeting of Facilitators / Principals, the following question was asked – “Bullying is the issue which led to the decision to introduce RP in the North-West – Is the restorative approach an appropriate way to tackling or addressing bullying in the school?” The responses were as follows; - ‘Yes, all incidents - wouldn’t use anything else’ Bullying polices – using same methods, but the restorative way gives finality. Restorative Practices process finds the real issue – traditional approaches may not allow that. Restorative Practices listens to the ‘victim’ and ‘bully’ – wrongdoer realises the hurt they cause. The mutuality about bullying can be seen. Safe structure for teacher and student situations. 

Restorative Practices as a culture change

 Margaret Thorsborne says; ‘one of the critical issues for the successful implementation and sustainability of a restorative philosophy is the realisation that this means organisational and cultural change’. Her article called ‘The Challenge of Culture Change’ is available at www.restorativejustice.org.

 Restorative Practices in schools are not a replacement for the Code of Conduct but can become the foundation for building a Code of acceptable behaviour and a powerful way of reflecting on the harm done to others by the breaking of that Code. A Restorative School is restorative from the inside out approach of using Restorative Conferencing to deal with major discipline issues. The heart of the school becoming restorative means that there is a good chance that the school will be a more positive place for teacher, student and all concerned. 

What we know works with young people is –

• a sense of fairness and justice 
• a space to be heard without judgement; 
• participation in decisions that effect them, trusting their ability to solve their own problems 
• adults being open and honest 
• interventions that let them know that they belong, are competent, can achieve and can master their own environment. 

Let us have the courage to enjoy and work along with our young people to build their future and ours. If we are to reach real peace in this world we shall have to begin with the children. - Mahatma Gandhi 

1. www.netcare-ni.com (Jim McGrath)
2. www.restorativepractices.org (Ted Watchel) E-Forum you can join
3. www.restorativejustice.org.uk 
4. www.transformingconflict.org (Belinda Hopkins) 
5. www.realjustice.org same as No 2 
6. www.restorativejusticescotland.org.uk/ schools.htm …… lots of information if you ‘Google’ restorative justice / restorative practices.