Restorative Justice practices in British Schools
Restorative Justice practices in British Schools
Figures from the Department for Education show that 6,685 pupils were permanently excluded from schools in England in 2015-16 - marking a 40% increase over the past three years (Weale, 2017, online).
With figures being at an all time high, campaigners are pushing for the British government to back the introduction of ?restorative practice? which prioritises conflict resolution over punishment in schools following the constant increase in exclusions.
Working within the Education sector along with coming from a restorative justice background myself, I decided to write a short article that looks into the restorative approaches used within Education in attempt to resolve conflict and prevent harm within schools.
What is Restorative Justice in schools?
Restorative approaches allow those who have been harmed to convey the impact of the harm to those responsible, and for those responsible to acknowledge this impact and take steps to put it right (RJ-Council, 2018).
Restorative schools integrate a range of processes and approaches, which are used to prevent relationship-damaging incidents from occurring and resolving them when they do.
What are the ?RJ? approaches used within schools?
Restorative approaches are generally based on four key features; those being ?The Four R?s?.
- RESPECT: for everyone by listening to other opinions and learning to value them
- RESPONSIBILITY: taking responsibility for your own actions
- REPAIR: developing the skills within our school community so that its individual members have the necessary skills to identify solutions that repair harm and ensure behaviors are not repeated
- RE-INTEGRATION: working through a structured, supportive process that aims to solve the problem and allows young people to remain in mainstream education.
Since 1990, Restorative justice has been a fast-growing state, national and international social movement that seeks to bring people together to address the harm caused. However, the United Kingdom still seems to be less engaged with the concept compared to Australasia and the United States.
One of the main studies regarding restorative justice in schools comes from a sample of Over 24 schools based in Oakland, California. Having implemented restorative justice programmes they found it has a measurable impact on school behaviour and educational outcomes by keeping children in class rather than sending them home as a disciplinary measure.
The district said they?ve documented a 60 percent increase in graduation rates and a 128 percent increase in reading levels for students at schools that use restorative justice.
Restorative practices include 'harm circles' which are used to facilitate a group discussion between the offending student and the people affected by his or her actions regarding the personal consequences created for all the parties involved when a conflict arises. This focuses on the harm that was created rather than punishing the behavior or focusing on the rule that was broken. If someone breaks a rule or harms someone and they are just punished, there?s little or no learning going on compared with allowing students to understand the impact of what they?ve done and then seeking to make it right.
Evidently, this study showed how restorative practice delivers a wide range of benefits for schools, including increased attendance, reduced exclusions and improved achievement. It can also alleviate problems such as bullying, classroom disruption, truancy and poor attendance, antisocial behaviour, and disputes between pupils, their families, and members of staff.
To be an effective ?RJ School?, restorative approaches must be in place across the entire school. This means all pupils; staff (including non-teaching staff), management and the wider school community must understand what acting restoratively means and how they can do it.
Rolling out a restorative-justice program isn?t as straightforward as it may seem as whether in the classroom or across a school or district, it requires comprehensive planning. Fortunately, there are a range of valuable resources that will help educators learn more about the subject and develop a plan that fits into their objectives at a given school.
Though minimal studies conducted throughout the United Kingdom, A recent case study conducted by the local authority in Barnet found a reduction in exclusions of 51% in restorative justice trained schools compared to a 65% increase in exclusions in the thirty two Barnet schools that have received no restorative justice training. They also found increased confidence among school staff to deal with bullying and conflicts in the school (Knott, 2017, online)
From this brief overview on restorative justice it is clear how once implemented, its approaches are proven to contribute towards improving everyday school life.
If you would like gain a greater understanding into restorative justice and its implementation within schools or you would like to hear feedback from the children who attend ?RJ Schools? themselves please click on the two links below.
