Update on current work

This school year I am continuing the Culture of Care research and professional development project at a Denver, Colorado, area high school. What I have noted is that the restorative justice training I created and facilitated at the end of the last school year has gained momentum, particularly with Hispanic parents. That training was designed to give administrators, teachers and parents the knowledge, resources, and skills they needed to train others in their school communities. This year some of those who were trained are now offering this training to others. In fact, we have received approval for teachers to receive credit for participation that goes toward relicensure. And not only are administrators, teachers, and parents involved, also community members are participating in the training. Hispanic parents seem to appreciate how this training differs from other restorative justice training in schools in that it focused on reducing referrals by building the capacity of teachers and students to respond to wrongdoing and conflict in the classroom in a way that promotes caring and peaceful relationships.

New book Chapter

My new book chapter has been published. It is titled, Creating Peaceful and Nonviolent Schools in the Midst of a Culture of War and Violence. This chapter appears in the book Educating for Peace in a Time of "permanent War": Are Schools Part of the Solution or the Problem?, edited by Paul R. Carr and Brad J. Porfilio. This book is part of the Routledge Research in Education series, number 79. The abstract for the chapter reads: Whereas Western countries appear to be continuously involved in war on a collective level and engaged in more violent activity on a personal level, schools seem to be mirroring these same trends. Yet, there is an alternative approach to schooling educators can adopt focusing on peace and nonviolence. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in schools in the US and New Zealand, the author expands the analysis of collected data through the lens of restorative justice theory, focusing on typologies typical of the dominant Western culture. Based on this analysis, findings are constructed so as to offer schools a way to create an alternative culture of peace and nonviolence grounded in the restorative justice-based idea of peacemaking.