Generating an inclusive ethos? Exploring the impact of restorative practices in Scottish schools

Abstract

SEED commissioned a team from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow to evaluate the initiative. That evaluation was collaborative and flexible and took account of differences between the eighteen pilot schools and also of the varying aims schools had in implementing RPs. This paper will draw on data emerging from the evaluation to compare and contrast the experiences of schools as they tried to work in ways which were more restorative and less punitive. The first part of this paper will define RPs and will discuss the nature and distinctiveness of these approaches as they have been used in different settings. The paper will then examine RPs in relation to the experience of schools in the Scottish pilot. Did successful implementation depend upon the existing ethos of the school? Or were RPs themselves a vehicle by which schools could develop a more positive ethos? Three case studies in implementing RPs will be offered. These will be used to exemplify how some schools • changed their practices as a result of implementing RPs • incorporated RPs into existing practices • did not change at all These varying experiences of the case study schools will be used to probe notions of restorative and retributive approaches in relation to school ethos. Finally, the paper will explore the capacity of RPs to transform school ethos and, in general, will consider the conditions necessary for this to happen.

Orígenes de los Programas de Mediación Escolar: Distintos Enfoques que influyen en esta Práctica Restaurativa

“…En este sentido hay autores que han utilizado el concepto de disciplina restaurativa (Amstutz y Mullet, 2005), o más recientemente el término de prácticas restaurativas como se propone en diversos foros internacionales (Bickmore, 2011;Cowie, 2010;Cremin, 2010;Kane, et al, , 2009Macready, 2009;Morrison 2010). Este último término es al que se adhieren las autoras de este artículo, ya que la mediación por sí sola puede tener ciertos beneficios, especialmente en el ámbito del desarrollo del razonamiento moral (Pulido, Martín-Seoane y Lucas-Molina, 2010a), pero que debe ser complementada con otras aproximaciones.…”

‘A Person is a Person Because of Others’: Challenges to Meanings of Discipline in South African and UK Schools

“…Encouragingly, many of the questions about RAs have been raised in training and 'recall' sessions by school staff themselves (Kane et al, 2007) as they moved from thinking of the RA as 'another tool in the discipline toolbox' to a deeper critical engagement with its values and philosophy.…”

“…Detailed discussion of the values, skills and practices which now frame RAs in schools in the United Kingdom has been offered elsewhere (Kane et al, 2007;McCluskey et al, 2008), but if we are to understand the impact of RAs and what they might offer in the longer term to discussion about discipline in the United Kingdom and South Africa, then it is important to consider what distinguishes them from other behaviour initiatives. In recent research (Lloyd & McCluskey, 2008, p. 6), a student noted: 'It's easier to write out 10 times "I must not do this" than to go "I actually made that person feel really bad"'.…”

“…This pilot supported 18 schools and their three local education authorities to implement RAs and commissioned a team based at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow to carry out an evaluation of the pilot (Kane et al, 2007). In 2008, a national follow-up study was undertaken .…”

“…In the RA literature, some have talked about the distance between their desire to work in respectful ways with students and their own daily practice, involving punishment exercises, detention, isolation and suspension. In the Scottish research (Kane et al, 2007), one educational psychologist spoke about this punitive/retributive system as the 'default setting' for schools. It is worth noting that many staff currently working in schools grew up knowing educational systems which regularly used physical punishment.…”