Restorative practice in education

Restorative practice in education can mean many different things. It is perhaps best described as a set of values, behaviours and approaches aimed at:

  • building healthy relationships

  • helping people to express themselves

  • surfacing and meeting unmet needs that affect behaviour and prevent people reaching their potential

  • helping people find their own solutions to issues or problems

  • dealing with conflict and repairing harm when things go wrong.

In practice this commonly involves a mix of approaches such as circle time, informal restorative conversations and (in some cases) restorative meetings or conferences, but when fully implemented it permeates all aspects of school or university life, including teaching methods, policies and procedures and approaches to decision-making.

Restorative practice in universities


We are very interested in developing work in the use of restorative practice in higher education settings, specifically in Oxford but also worldwide. If you are also interested in a conversation about this topic, please contact us!

We are involved in the Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA) ‘Restorative Justice in Higher Education Network’, based at the University of Warwick, which exists to gives members the opportunity to come together virtually to discuss the use of restorative practice and restorative justice in higher education contexts, introduce initiatives, share strategies for growth and embedding of activities, and begin to develop solutions to common problems in a supportive environment. The network meets online several times per year and operates a listserv to circulate information (including details of events). If you are interested in joining, please email Dr Jane Bryan (j.m.bryan@warwick.ac.uk) or click the links below for more details:

 

Restorative Practice in higher education training

We are running introductory training sessions in restorative approaches for university staff and students. Please see our Workshops & Training page for more information.

Restore Our Schools


A group of school leaders, researchers, consultants and charities recently came together to produce a resource to help schools plan for how schools can be restored in the aftermath of COVID-19.   You can find their very helpful website here:

Research on restorative practice in schools


There’s been much recent research on restorative practice in schools. Click below for our summary with links to some recent systematic reviews and research syntheses:

Embedding restorative practice in schools


A 2020 Lancaster University study by Jo Warin and Rebecca Hibbin draws on research in 10 diverse school settings to explore these questions:

  • How do schools implement, embed and sustain RP?

  • How far is taking a whole-school approach necessary to the success of RP?

  • How can parents be most effectively involved in RP?

You’ll find the findings here:

 

Other useful resources and links