‘Restorative practices are more than a behaviour management tool’

‘Restorative practices are more than a behaviour management tool’

One of the messages emerging from teacher workshops at a major conference last month, was that opting for restorative practices in schools was more than a matter of ‘behaviour management’.

Many of the 100 teachers who joined professionals working in areas such as youth justice in an international conference in Wellington agreed that processes aimed at healing relationships went to the heart of what sort of  community/society/world we are building. In curriculum terms the learning that occurs in effective restorative sessions is part of schools’ contribution to building key competencies of managing self, relating to others, and participating and contributing. And of course restorative practices are about providing effective remedies for violations of rights – a human right in itself.

Mark Corrigan, from the Ministry of Education, ran some interesting sessions on building the evidence base for restorative approaches in schools. But in the meantime, take a look at a well-known Scottish pilot project or some of the Ministry of Justice-commissioned research.

The Human Rights in Education Trust would like to work with schools exploring the place of restorative practices as part of human rights-based education. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested.