Before looking into the approach of restorative practice, I believed in order for a child to understand they have done wrong is to punish that type of behaviour. Ensure they understand the behaviour is not acceptable and there will be negative consequences.
Through our input on restorative practice and my reading around the area, I can now clearly see how beneficial the approach of restorative practice is over restorative justice.
The restorative approach technique is focusing on relationships and repairing harm to the child and the child affected.
There are 3 key questions that must be included in the conversation;
- What happened?
- Who was harmed? How did this happen?
- What do you think needs to be done to repair the harm?
This is seen to be successful as instead of the teacher burning bridges and creating tension between teacher and child, and child and peer, the conversation had will open up discussion and a safe space to discuss what happened and how everyone is feeling. It provides the child to take responsibility for what they have done wrong, and allows them to take responsibility.
