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Even
before I embarked on my
teacher training
I was sceptical about
traditional classroom
practice. Coming from an
T.E.F.L. (Teaching English
as a Foreign Language)
background where there had
been radical developments
in the field of adult
learning and in promoting
the right of students to
take responsibility for
their own learning I found
the regime of school
difficult to accept.
Initial
inspiration came from
the work of (Postman and
Weingartner 1971; Reimer
1971)Postman (1971)),
(Holt 1966) and (Freire
1982)who seemed to me to
be questioning the role of
adults vis-à-vis children
and the issue of
children's rights and
responsibilities.
Searching for allies in my
first few years of
teaching I discovered the
Peace Education Network in
Bristol and was inspired
by books like 'A Manual on
non-violence and
Children'(Judson 1982).
These books and others
like them were setting out
to 'challenge the
assumption that conflict
is necessarily solved
through violence, and to
show alternative, creative
ways of resolving
conflict' (Isaacson and
Lamont 1982).
At
this early stage in my
teaching career I
began to develop teaching
approaches that encouraged
classroom democracy. One
of these was to create
opportunities for
resolving differences and
problems by sitting in a
circle and actively
listening. I based a lot
of my modern language
teaching around the social
goal of creating community
and trust in the group and
drew inspiration from
sources like drama
workshop practice that
developed self-esteem,
communication skills and
cooperation.
My
work gathered momentum
when I decided to explore
conflict management
further by going on a
course run by an
organisation called 'Leap
- Confronting Conflict'
and experienced the course
'Playing with Fire' (Fine
and Macbeth 1992) becoming
familiar with the ideas
and skills described in
the manual of the same
name. The course led
participants on a personal
journey through their
responses to conflict and
anger in themselves and
others and subsequently
developing active
listening skills and
problem solving skills
including mediation.
Extensive involvement with
Leap over the next few
years convinced me that
the tools they were
advocating had a big
contribution to make to
the way young people (and
indeed older people too)
could deal with the
challenges they faced in
everyday life. Around this
time too I became aware of
the work of the Kingston
Friends Workshop Group and
their manual 'Ways and
Means' (Kingston Friends
Workshop Group 1996). Both
organisations provided me
with the skills and the
resources to start
developing Circle Time as
a way of teaching young
people conflict management
skills. The fundamental
building blocks were, once
again, self-esteem,
communication and
co-operation. Combined
with group problem-solving
skills and mediation the
training provided an
excellent introduction to
what I could loosely
describe as 'Life Skills'.
In the current climate the
'in' phrase would be
'Citizenship Skills.'
After
several years of
developing such courses
during Tutor Time with
Year Seven pupils, whilst
still a member of the
Modern Languages
department, it became
clear that I could make a
bigger contribution to
society if I made this
work the sole focus of my
activity. I needed time to
develop my own skills
further and to consider
what I could offer. I
therefore resigned my
teaching post and called
myself a 'conflict
management trainer'. There
was immediate interest -
everyone wanted help in
dealing with conflict, it
would seem.
I
trained as a trainer in
the Alternatives to
Violence' Project - a
scheme developed in a New
York prison to help
inmates deal differently
with their day- to- day
challenges. Participation
as a trainer in both the
prison and the community
training programmes was on
a voluntary basis.
Although not a source of
income, my involvement in
this project has greatly
influenced my philosophy
as a facilitator, and the
skills I learnt inform my
practice constantly. The
keystones of this project,
which continues to gather
momentum in this country
and overlaps so much with
Restorative Principles,
are self-esteem,
communication and
co-operation.
I
also began to train
volunteers in
neighbourhood mediation
skills and to practice as
a voluntary community
mediator myself. Over this
period of time most of my
expertise was being
developed by experience. I
saw the differences the
courses were making to
people's lives and had
noticed that my own
attitudes and approaches
to difficult situations
were changing. I had
become aware that, in a
conflict, it was not
necessary for someone to
win and someone to lose.
The concept of the
'win-win' solution was
novel but empowering.
(Cornelius and Faire 1993)
As
I developed my work in
conflict management
and mediation in schools I
became increasingly
involved with the
organisation 'Mediation
UK' which is the umbrella
organisation supporting
most community mediation
services in the UK. I
learnt about peer
mediation schemes and how
to train young people to
mediate conflicts amongst
their peers. I began to
develop this work locally
and to give time to
Mediation UK as a member
of their Children and
Young People Committee,
working with others to
develop Peer Mediation
work in schools around the
country.
At
some point during this
period I heard about
the idea of Restorative
Justice, an approach to
offending behaviour that
contrasted with
traditional punitive
responses predicated on
retribution. Mediation UK
was already very involved
supporting Victim/Offender
Mediation services around
the country but until then
I had not given the
subject much attention.
However, the police were
developing initiatives in
the Thames Valley and I
was fortunate to be
invited to train as a
conference facilitator. At
this stage the Restorative
Justice approach adopted
by the Thames Valley
Police was different from
mediation inspired
approaches. Perhaps
because I was vociferous
in pointing out the links
with mediation and with
other initiatives in
schools I was invited to
sit on a police-led
steering committee that
was considering how to
develop Restorative
Justice in Schools. It was
during this fruitful
period that I began to
make the links between
everything I had been
doing previously and what
I now recognised as an
overarching umbrella
philosophy which pulled it
all together. However, not
everyone agreed with me!
Undeterred
by criticism, and
spurred on by enthusiasts
who wanted to give the
ideas a chance, I have
stuck my neck out in the
last few years. I began to
see even more links
between my work and
developments in the field
of criminal justice and
approaches to dealing with
youth offending. During
this period I have taken a
risk professionally by
using the term
'Restorative Justice' to
describe the work I have
been doing in schools
although it is very far
from what some others in
the criminal justice world
call Restorative Justice.
Indeed I have been
encouraged to call what I
do by a different name and
have sometimes felt out on
a limb from those in
apparently similar work.
Nevertheless I have
persevered in developing
what I now call a 'Whole
School Restorative
Approach' and I believe
that Restorative Justice
underpins all I do.
I
offer a package of
training that begins
with awareness- raising
about the underlying
philosophy of conflict
management, as I
understand it. If people
want to know more, I offer
training in the
facilitation and practice
of Circle Time, Mediation
and Group Conferencing for
a variety of different
conflict situations.
In
an attempt to clarify to
myself why the package
has evolved in the way it
has and also, at the same
time validate my use of
the term 'Restorative
Justice' I have chosen to
complement my work as a
practitioner and trainer
by also doing a research
degree on the subject. By
taking time to read in
depth as much as I can
about the different
strands of my work and to
consider how they relate
to the philosophy of
Restorative Justice I want
to be able to demonstrate
that what I propose to
schools is indeed
congruent with Restorative
Justice principles.
Furthermore I hope to
explore to what extent a
programme of training in,
and awareness of,
Restorative Justice
principles can change the
way people in a school
community deal with
conflict in and between
themselves.
Cornelius, H. and S. Faire
(1993). Everyone can Win.
East Roseville, Simon
& Schuster.
Fine, N. and F. Macbeth
(1992). Playing with Fire.
Leicester, Youth Work
Press.
Freire, P. (1982).
Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Holt, J. (1966). How
Children Fail. London,
Pitman.
Isaacson, G. and G. Lamont
(1982). Introductory
Manual for Peace Eduaction.
Manchetser, Manchester
Development Education
Group.
Judson, S. e. a. (1982). A
Manual on Non-Violence and
Children. Philadelphia,
CCRC.
Kingston Friends Workshop
Group (1996). "Ways
and Means Today."
Postman, N. and L.
Weingartner (1971).
Teaching as a Subsersive
Activity. London, Penguin.
Reimer, E. (1971). School
is Dead, Penguin.
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