Institutionalizing restorative practices in schools

Today I was talking with my friend and colleague Beverly Title. I was talking about Institutionalizing restorative practices in schools. Beverly asked me how is the principle of voluntary participation upheld in this process. I answered that I differentiate between the institutional and individual levels. From my research I found that these practices Need to be mandatory at the institutional level or they are marginalized and do not affect the transformation needed to improve achievement and discipline for ethnically diverse students. However, on the individual level, people need to voluntarily participate in RJ or go the traditional route. Beverly asked that I share this idea on this blog, so I am. I would appreciate feedback.

In Memory of Travon Martin

The highly-publicized court case where George Zimmerman was charged with the death of Travon Martin and was acquitted by a jury based on self defense points out the problem with the American legal system people like me who work in restorative justice have pointed out. Namely, that problem is that the courts are based on a system of laws, not justice.

The legal system is focused on the legal consequences of crime –

What law/rule was broken? Who is at fault? And what punishment is appropriate?

In contrast, restorative justice offers a fair and just response to wrongdoing and conflict and puts justice back into our legal system. Restorative justice attends to the human consequences of wrongdoing and conflict, what is called the ripple effect of harm. This ripple effect not only includes the immediate persons harmed. It also includes their family and friends, their immediate community, and the larger community.

Restorative justice is defined as a process of responding to wrongdoing and conflict in a way that focuses on healing the harm (particularly the harm to relationships resulting from harmful behaviour. This process involves all the persons affected by the event or events, particularly the person harmed, the person causing the harm, and the affected community.

I am proposing that we abandon the failed idea that courts provide justice and adopt a policy of responding to wrongdoing and conflict based on restorative justice. Such a shift in policy will have the following results:

1.    Those persons harmed by wrongdoing and conflict, who we traditionally call victims, will be given a voice in the process and outcome. They will no longer be pawns in an adversarial system that either leaves them out or makes them feel guilty.

2.    Communities will be empowered by building their capacity to respond in the process and giving them a voice in the outcome. They will no longer be forced to sit and watch judges and lawyers as they engage in the formalities of the courtroom using unfamiliar language.

3.    Our response to the problems resulting from wrongdoing and conflict will be more holistic and culturally sensitive. Spiritual and emotional values will be as important as the facts. The system will no longer be dominated by retribution and will be replaced by a philosophy of restoration.

4.    We will move from procedural law to substantive justice. We will recognize that justice is not only about following the rules traditionally imposed by courts but also requires us to produce results that are fair and meets the needs of society as a whole.

Endorsement of work by Howard Zehr

I received a message this morning from colleague Dr Amanda Smith Byron of Portland State:

I just wanted to let you know that Howard Zehr spoke tonight as the keynote for the Northwest Justice Forum, and as he shared his vision for the future of RJ, he said that he imagined it being integrated deeply into the way we teach our children. He then quoted you as the expert in thinking this through, and as saying (something to the effect that) schooling should be half academics and half problem solving/relationship building.

My thanks to Amanda for sending along this message, and to Howard for the endorsement of this important work.

Tom

Fulbright reminicing

The Fulbright graduate student award allowed me to go to New Zealand from June 2004 to June 2005 to conduct a study titled, Restorative Practices and Caring: A Study of Alternative Positive Peace Efforts. I was hosted by the University of Waikato in Hamilton.

This study was a replication of a study that I had conducted as the dissertation for my doctorate. In that study I was able to develop a theory of the culture of care based on the principles of restorative justice and the application of those principles in schools. The Fulbright award allowed me to replicate that dissertation study in New Zealand. I wanted to go to New Zealand to replicate the study because the culture of care was based on the principles of restorative justice, and New Zealand was well known for being one of the first countries to institutionalize the principles of restorative justice. I wanted to see first hand how restorative justice principles were being institutionalized as practices in schools in New Zealand.

As a result of receiving the Fulbright award, I was able to conduct an ethnography study at Raglan Area School, which is located in the town of Raglan on the North Island of New Zealand. I had the privilege of spending a year in that school. The school had a majority of Maori students and was divided into mainstream, Maori medium, and bilingual components. Students ranged in age from newbies to those that had received their National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 2 diploma.

After my Fulbright year was over, I was invited to become a Senior Research Fellow for a Ministry of Education research and professional development project called Te Kotahitanga, which was housed at the University of Waikato. That project focused on improving the achievement of Maori students. Alongside of that work, I was able to keep developing the culture of care both in theory and practice with schools in New Zealand. I continued that work until the end of 2008.

At that time I came back to the United States. I was intent on continuing the work I had done in New Zealand with Maori students, particularly with regard to replicating the work involving the culture of care and restorative justice practices in schools with Latino/Hispanic, African-American, and Native American students. That work continues to be the focus of the research and professional development training I am doing today. I have continued to work at developing and putting into practice the theory of a culture care in schools based on restorative justice principles. To date I have published 10 research articles in peer-reviewed journals (2 New Zealand, 5 American, 2 Australian, and 1 Canadian) and 4 book chapters (2 New Zealand, 1 American, and 1 Canadian) related to this work.

Dedication to this work has resulted in changing my life dramatically because this has become my life's passion and the work that I enjoy doing. I am constantly in schools conducting research and doing professional development training related to this topic. It is work that is not only relevant, but it is of great interest currently both in the United States and New Zealand.

To this date I remain in contact with my colleagues in New Zealand and with the Ministry of Education regarding the work I am doing. For example, in 2012 I was invited to be a keynote speaker at the Schools, Communities, and social Inclusion Colloquium at the University of Canterbury by Professor of Maori Research Angus Macfarlane. My wife and I have maintained many friendships with the people of New Zealand, and that was the primary reason we returned to New Zealand in 2012 for six weeks.

I highly recommend that people apply for Fulbright awards, and I am willing to help them to make those applications.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Vigil, P. M., Cavanagh, T., & Garcia, E. (2013). Developing peacemakers in the classroom: An alternative discourse in a culture of war and violence. Peace Studies Journal, 6(1), 79-91.

Cavanagh, T., Macfarlane, A., Glynn, T. & Macfarlane, S. (2012). Creating peaceful and effective schools through a culture of care. Discourse, 33(3). 443-455.

Cavanagh, T. (2009). Restorative practices in schools: Breaking the cycle of student involvement in child welfare and legal systems. Protecting Children, 24(4). 53-60.

Berryman, M., Macfarlane, S. & Cavanagh, T. (2009). Indigenous contexts for responding to challenging behaviours: Contrasting Western accountability and Maori restoration of harmony. International Journal of Restorative Justice, 5(1), 1-32.

Cavanagh, T. (2009). Creating a new discourse of peace in schools: Restorative justice in education. Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, special issue on Restorative Justice, 18(1&2), 62-84.

Cavanagh, T. (2009). Creating schools of peace and nonviolence in a time of war and violence. Journal of School Violence, 8(1), 64-80.

Cavanagh, T. (2008). Schooling for happiness: Rethinking the aims of education. Kairaranga, 9(1), 20-23.

Macfarlane, A., Glynn, T., Cavanagh, T. & Bateman, S. (2007). Creating culturally safe schools for Maori students. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36, 65-76. Also published, with permission, on New Zealand Ministry of Education’s LeadSpace website, dedicated to building leadership capacity, at http://www.leadspace.govt.nz/leadership/articles/creating-culturally.php.

Cavanagh, T. (2007). Focusing on relationships creates safety in schools. set: Research Information for Teachers, 1, 31-35.

Cavanagh, T. (2003). Schooling for Peace: Caring for our Children in School. Experiments in Education, 31(8), 139-143.

Book Chapters

Cavanagh, T. (2012). Creating peaceful and nonviolent schools in the midst of a culture of war and violence. In P. R. Carr & B.J. Porfilio (Series Ed.) Routledge research in education: 79. Educating for peace in a time of “permanent war”: Are schools part of the solution or the problem? (pp. 243-254). New York, NY: Routledge

Glynn, T., Cavanagh, T., Macfarlane, A.H. & Macfarlane, S. (2011). Listening to culture. In V. Margrain & A.H. Macfarlane (Eds.), Responsive pedagogy: Engaging restoratively with challenging behaviour (pp. 46-63) . Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER) Press.

Cavanagh, T. (2011). Creating a culture of care in schools: A New Zealand perspective on using restorative practices. In J. Charlton, S. Pavelka & P.J. Verrecchia (Eds.), International perspectives on restorative justice in education (pp. 136-159), Kanata, Ontario, Canada: JCharlton Publishing.

Cavanagh, T. (2011). Addressing the impacts of disparity: Creating a “Culture of Care” for Maori students in New Zealand schools. In P. Whitinui (Ed.), Kia Tangi Te Titi: Permission to Speak. Successful Schooling for Maori Students in the 21^st Century: Issues, Challenges and Alternatives (pp. 46-57). Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) Press.