I have just completed writing a review of the book Bully by Teresa Milbrodt. I wrote the book review at the request of restorative justice colleague Matthew Kuelhorn.
Book Review
Milbrodt, T. (2009). Bully. Gunnison, CO: Life Skoolz. Pp. 136. Available at www.lifeskoolz.com.
The author and publisher of this book are relatively new to the fields of restorative justice, bullying, and school violence. In an era when educators and those interested in education are focusing on the problem of bullying in schools, the author and publisher are to be commended for writing a contemporary and practical hands-on book as a response to a current issue.
My review of this book is influenced by my special interest in the field of restorative justice. I am currently interested in developing evidence-based restorative practices for schools. At the same time, I am working on the implementation of the theory of a culture of care in schools as a research and professional development project, related to improving the educational outcomes for Latino/Hispanic, African-American, and Native American students and am, therefore, interested in how restorative practices can improve outcomes for students who are minoritized, racialized, and marginalized.
This book contributes to the existing literature in the fields of restorative justice, bullying, and school violence by presenting what might be called case studies regarding a female student and male student who are harmed by bullying. These case studies or stories focus not only on those harmed by bullying but also those causing the harm, as well as onlookers, educators (particularly teachers and counselors), administrators, and members of the affected community.
This book is divided into five sections, which end with “Reflect Now” lessons or practices: (a) listening, (b) empathy, (c) talking story, (d) talking circles, and (e) restorative justice. These lessons are “designed to teach community building skills,” specifically by learning “how to listen, how to empathize, and how to tell our own story.”
Weaved into the book’s storyline are lessons aimed at improving community building skills in the areas of listening, emphathizing, and telling our own story. These skills are presented as the foundation for creating a new mindset about how students, educators, administrators, parents, and community members respond to wrongdoing and conflict in schools. This new mindset serves as the foundation for enhancing school communities by participating in the restorative practices outlined in the book: talking circles and restorative conferences.
Although this book does a good job of practically applying the theory that relationships do matter in schools and creating and maintaining positive and caring relationships are at the core of building the capacity of students and teachers to solve problems related to bullying nonviolently, the ideas presented in this book have not been subjected to systematic research and peer review of the results so that these ideas can be relied upon as being evidence-based by educators, policymakers, academics, and the wider society. However, I would note the ideas presented in this book are consistent with the evidence-based work I have published in two ways: First, building the capacity of students and teachers to respond to discipline problems such as bullying is important, and second, responding to the problem of bullying in the context of where it occurs and involving all those who were involved is crucial.
As I reviewed this book I noted that the stories are illustrated, particularly the central characters in the stories presented. However, I was disappointed to note that all of the central characters appear to be White. Given the multicultural nature of present day schools across America, I urge the author, illustrator, and publisher to make certain the any future editions of the book contain illustrations of central characters that represent the wide range of cultures present in our schools today.
I recommend this book for students, parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, and those people interested in education. This latest contribution to the field of bullying offers a practical guide on how to change a school’s response to bullying behaviors set within the framework of an engaging story.
Tom Cavanagh
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
New program for elementary schools
I am pleased to announce a new program for elementary schools which is available for free at this website: http://www.educatingforpeace.cahs.colostate.edu/
Educating for peace: Creating and maintaining a peaceful environment in elementary schools
Tom Cavanagh, Ph.D.
Francis Gaebler, Psy.D.
Toni Schindler Zimmerman, Ph.D.
The purpose of this book or Collection is to offer a simple, easy-to-use facilitator’s guide for helping teachers, counselors, and parents of children K-6 to develop a school culture where violence is prevented and conflicts and problems are resolved nonviolently. Outcomes for this curriculum include the creation of an interpersonal and relational culture, where students feel safe, respected, heard, and confident about solving problems as part of a team. This curriculum fits with the fields of moral education, social and emotional learning, and nurturing pedagogy, and the outcomes are consistent with the current conversation in these fields.
If you are interested in having Dr Cavanagh facilitate professional learning about this new curriculum, please contact him at cavanagh.tom@gmail.com.
Educating for peace: Creating and maintaining a peaceful environment in elementary schools
Tom Cavanagh, Ph.D.
Francis Gaebler, Psy.D.
Toni Schindler Zimmerman, Ph.D.
The purpose of this book or Collection is to offer a simple, easy-to-use facilitator’s guide for helping teachers, counselors, and parents of children K-6 to develop a school culture where violence is prevented and conflicts and problems are resolved nonviolently. Outcomes for this curriculum include the creation of an interpersonal and relational culture, where students feel safe, respected, heard, and confident about solving problems as part of a team. This curriculum fits with the fields of moral education, social and emotional learning, and nurturing pedagogy, and the outcomes are consistent with the current conversation in these fields.
If you are interested in having Dr Cavanagh facilitate professional learning about this new curriculum, please contact him at cavanagh.tom@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Culture of Care PD in Troy, New York
I will be facilitating a professional development for educators in the Enlarged City School District of Troy, New York, titled:
CULTURE OF CARE IN SCHOOLS, IMPLEMENTING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PRACTICES IN OUR SCHOOLS
On August 4th and 5th.
CULTURE OF CARE IN SCHOOLS, IMPLEMENTING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PRACTICES IN OUR SCHOOLS
On August 4th and 5th.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
New additions to website
New additions were made today to my website -
www.restorativejustice.com. Two items were updates.
1. Under "Publications," you will find a copy of the paper presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). I talked about that paper in an earlier blog.
2. Under "Culture of Care in Schools" you will find I have updated the description of the professional development intervention I facilitate for schools.
Please check out these new additions to my website.
www.restorativejustice.com. Two items were updates.
1. Under "Publications," you will find a copy of the paper presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). I talked about that paper in an earlier blog.
2. Under "Culture of Care in Schools" you will find I have updated the description of the professional development intervention I facilitate for schools.
Please check out these new additions to my website.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Presenting paper in Denver May 3rd
My New Zealand colleagues and I will be presenting a paper at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in Denver Monday, May 3rd. See the details below.
Creating Peaceful Schools Through a Continuity of Caring Relationships
Schedule Information:
Scheduled Time: Mon, May 3 - 4:05pm - 6:05pm Building/Room: Colorado Convention Center / Room 608
In Session Submission: Expanding the Vision, Theory, and Practice of Peace Education in Diverse Contexts
Authors:
Tom Cavanagh (Walden University)
Angus Hikairo Macfarlane (University of Waikato)
Ted Glynn (University of Waikato)
Sonja Macfarlane (Ministry of Education in New Zealand)
Abstract:
This project addresses the critical question: How can we make our schools safe? Two fields of student discipline and teacher pedagogy are examined. The impact of disparity is critically reviewed regarding American and New Zealand students who are marginalized, racialized, and minoritized. This paper continues presentations to the Peace Education SIG regarding the evolving theory of a culture of care in schools. The purpose of this study was to expand the theory by investigating the impact of a professional development intervention at a New Zealand high school. Participatory action research was chosen as the research design because it is appropriate regarding social justice issues. One finding centers on building the capacity of students and their teachers to solve problems nonviolently.
Creating Peaceful Schools Through a Continuity of Caring Relationships
Schedule Information:
Scheduled Time: Mon, May 3 - 4:05pm - 6:05pm Building/Room: Colorado Convention Center / Room 608
In Session Submission: Expanding the Vision, Theory, and Practice of Peace Education in Diverse Contexts
Authors:
Tom Cavanagh (Walden University)
Angus Hikairo Macfarlane (University of Waikato)
Ted Glynn (University of Waikato)
Sonja Macfarlane (Ministry of Education in New Zealand)
Abstract:
This project addresses the critical question: How can we make our schools safe? Two fields of student discipline and teacher pedagogy are examined. The impact of disparity is critically reviewed regarding American and New Zealand students who are marginalized, racialized, and minoritized. This paper continues presentations to the Peace Education SIG regarding the evolving theory of a culture of care in schools. The purpose of this study was to expand the theory by investigating the impact of a professional development intervention at a New Zealand high school. Participatory action research was chosen as the research design because it is appropriate regarding social justice issues. One finding centers on building the capacity of students and their teachers to solve problems nonviolently.
Friday, January 15, 2010
New article published
I received word this week that an article I was working on much of last year is being published later this month. My most recent article is titled Restorative Practices in Schools: Breaking the Cycle of Involvement in Child Welfare and Legal Systems. This article was published in the American Humane Society’s Respected journal Protecting Children. If you are interested you can find a copy of the article on my website at www.restorativejustice.com.
The reference for the article is:
Cavanagh, T. (2010). Restorative practices in schools: Breaking the cycle of student involvement in child welfare and legal systems. Protecting Children, 24(4). 53-60.
The reference for the article is:
Cavanagh, T. (2010). Restorative practices in schools: Breaking the cycle of student involvement in child welfare and legal systems. Protecting Children, 24(4). 53-60.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Book Review - Working Restoratively in Schools
Bill Hansberry is a well known and respected educator from Australia in the field of restorative practices in schools. I have reviewed his recently-published book, titled Working Restoratively in Schools. Here is the review:
BOOK REVIEW
Working restoratively in schools: A guidebook for developing safe and connected learning communities, by Bill Hansberry, Quennscliff, Victoria, Australia, Inyahead Press, 2009, 1 + 128 pp., AU$29.50/US$27.00 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-9806942-0-8
Tom Cavanagh, PhD
Walden University
tom.cavanagh@waldenu.edu
The author of this book is a well-known practitioner of the application of restorative justice theory in schools, particularly in Australia. He is to be commended for providing a practical resource for educators to help them understand the theory of restorative justice as it is applied in educational settings and to help them apply that theory in practical ways.
My review of this book is influenced by my special interest in developing the theory of a Culture of Care in schools based on restorative justice principles, particularly related to the importance of building and maintaining healthy and caring relationships, in order that all students, particularly those students who do not belong to the dominant culture, may flourish in school and as adults.
This book offers a valuable contribution in the field regarding the application of restorative justice theory in schools, sometimes called restorative practices, by providing educators will a simple and clear explanation of restorative justice theory as applied in schools and a detailed guide about how to apply that theory. This theory is largely based on the work of respected scholars in the field like John Braithwaite and Brenda Morrison and draws from other theories, such as William Glasser’s Choice Theory, Donald Nathanson’s Compass of Shame, and Daniel Goleman’s theory about Social Intelligence.
The purpose of this book is to provide a whole-school approach to implementing restorative justice processes and a resource to assist in implementing change in these schools. The conversation currently in the field centers on how to introduce restorative practices in schools. This book contributes to the field of restorative justice in education by providing a easy to understand guide for educators to apply the theory of restorative justice in schools. However, I was left questioning how the ideas presented in this book would build the capacity of students to solve problems non-violently and how those ideas would lead to the profound change in the culture of schools that is required to transform from being punitive and rules based to healing and collaborative.
The first section of this book introduces readers to the theory underlying restorative practices in schools. The second section tells educators how to move from theory to practice. And the final section offers detailed ideas for applying restorative practices in educational settings. At the end of the book is a list of references for the reader who wants to explore the field further.
The author of this book contends that the book serves as a resource for micro and organizational change. While micro level change is obvious, particularly in the guidance the book gives for building the capacity of teachers to respond to wrongdoing and conflict in a restorative manner rather than punitively, organizational level change is not so obvious. My review of the book revealed the book does not offer ideas for systemic change, and without such change the practices mentioned in the book may well be viewed as another tool in the traditional disciplinary toolkit, rather than the basis for the profound change that is required to truly create whole school reform.
The critical element that is missing in this book is acknowledgement of the impact of disparities in education that affect restorative practices. Whether we are talking about Aboriginal people in Australia, Maori in New Zealand, First Nations people in Canada, or African-American, Latin/Hispanic, and Native American students in the United States, those of us working in the field of restorative practices in education are ethically obligated to acknowledge that our work is directly linked to the statistics of disparity that disproportionately affect students from these minority groups. We cannot ignore the cultural impact of our work and what we can learn from listening to the voices of these people from minority groups as we shape the discourses that are the foundation of our work.
While this book, upon review, was found lacking in some respects, I recommend that educators and those interested in education purchase and read this book. This book provides an excellent resource for teachers and administrators who want to understand restorative justice theory and how to apply that theory in schools using tried and practical tools.
BOOK REVIEW
Working restoratively in schools: A guidebook for developing safe and connected learning communities, by Bill Hansberry, Quennscliff, Victoria, Australia, Inyahead Press, 2009, 1 + 128 pp., AU$29.50/US$27.00 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-9806942-0-8
Tom Cavanagh, PhD
Walden University
tom.cavanagh@waldenu.edu
The author of this book is a well-known practitioner of the application of restorative justice theory in schools, particularly in Australia. He is to be commended for providing a practical resource for educators to help them understand the theory of restorative justice as it is applied in educational settings and to help them apply that theory in practical ways.
My review of this book is influenced by my special interest in developing the theory of a Culture of Care in schools based on restorative justice principles, particularly related to the importance of building and maintaining healthy and caring relationships, in order that all students, particularly those students who do not belong to the dominant culture, may flourish in school and as adults.
This book offers a valuable contribution in the field regarding the application of restorative justice theory in schools, sometimes called restorative practices, by providing educators will a simple and clear explanation of restorative justice theory as applied in schools and a detailed guide about how to apply that theory. This theory is largely based on the work of respected scholars in the field like John Braithwaite and Brenda Morrison and draws from other theories, such as William Glasser’s Choice Theory, Donald Nathanson’s Compass of Shame, and Daniel Goleman’s theory about Social Intelligence.
The purpose of this book is to provide a whole-school approach to implementing restorative justice processes and a resource to assist in implementing change in these schools. The conversation currently in the field centers on how to introduce restorative practices in schools. This book contributes to the field of restorative justice in education by providing a easy to understand guide for educators to apply the theory of restorative justice in schools. However, I was left questioning how the ideas presented in this book would build the capacity of students to solve problems non-violently and how those ideas would lead to the profound change in the culture of schools that is required to transform from being punitive and rules based to healing and collaborative.
The first section of this book introduces readers to the theory underlying restorative practices in schools. The second section tells educators how to move from theory to practice. And the final section offers detailed ideas for applying restorative practices in educational settings. At the end of the book is a list of references for the reader who wants to explore the field further.
The author of this book contends that the book serves as a resource for micro and organizational change. While micro level change is obvious, particularly in the guidance the book gives for building the capacity of teachers to respond to wrongdoing and conflict in a restorative manner rather than punitively, organizational level change is not so obvious. My review of the book revealed the book does not offer ideas for systemic change, and without such change the practices mentioned in the book may well be viewed as another tool in the traditional disciplinary toolkit, rather than the basis for the profound change that is required to truly create whole school reform.
The critical element that is missing in this book is acknowledgement of the impact of disparities in education that affect restorative practices. Whether we are talking about Aboriginal people in Australia, Maori in New Zealand, First Nations people in Canada, or African-American, Latin/Hispanic, and Native American students in the United States, those of us working in the field of restorative practices in education are ethically obligated to acknowledge that our work is directly linked to the statistics of disparity that disproportionately affect students from these minority groups. We cannot ignore the cultural impact of our work and what we can learn from listening to the voices of these people from minority groups as we shape the discourses that are the foundation of our work.
While this book, upon review, was found lacking in some respects, I recommend that educators and those interested in education purchase and read this book. This book provides an excellent resource for teachers and administrators who want to understand restorative justice theory and how to apply that theory in schools using tried and practical tools.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
