Restorative justice community/classroom conferencing: A guide for parents and teachers

from the booklet by Nocole Pakan and the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities:

It may seem surprising, but many children and youth often misbehave, not because they are trying to harm or disrupt the well-being of others or because they are “bad kids,” but because they are simply trying to meet a personal need, albeit in a negative way. “Children’s behaviours are determined, for the most part, by how they feel about the current state of their physical and psychosocial needs.”

Dec 06, 2012 School, Practice, Policy, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:Canada, Teacher

• Read More

Nova Scotia spends $500K on 'restorative justice' bullying program in schools

from the article by Kris Sims in Sun News:

Nova Scotia is spending $500,000 to expand anti-bullying campaigns in schools, hoping "restorative justice" methods modelled after native sentencing circles can curb the problem in the province.

"Students will largely avoid the stigma of being 'sent to the office' or being suspended. We should not underestimate the negative side-effects of a child's experience at school if that experience involves multiple trips to the principal's office or suspensions from school," reads a government handout on the approach.

Nov 23, 2012 School, Practice, Policy, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:Canada, Teacher

• Read More

The restorative approach in Nova Scotia: A partnership of government, communities and schools

from the article by Mary Shafer and Laura Mirsky on IIRP.org:

....There is now a significant interest across Nova Scotia to bring the restorative approach to schools. Said Pat Gorham, director of crime prevention for the Nova Scotia Department of Justice, “Our provincial government is trying to find out what the capacity might be for RJ in Nova Scotia, identifying frameworks that might be put into place for schools that want to participate. The work has largely been from the community up. All pilot programs are at the local level, with individual school administrators opting to commit to a restorative approach, supported by regional RJ agencies.”

The Tri-County Restorative Justice agency exemplifies this integration; it handles diversion of police-referred youth, and it founded Bringing Restorative Justice into Schools, the first project to develop a program using restorative approaches within schools in Nova Scotia. This program trains students throughout the province as RJ facilitators.

Apr 27, 2011 School, Practice, Policy, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:Canada, Teacher

• Read More

Equity leaders learn how to take restorative justice beyond the circle

from Rob Faulkner's article on Media@HWDSB:

When the term “restorative justice” is used in education circles, many educators will think of, well, circles. The best-known tool associated with the RJ approach is likely the blame-free, multi-party conversation in the round that lets the person who caused harm and the person harmed find a solution.

But it’s certainly not the only way to use RJ.

May 07, 2010 School, Practice, Policy, Region: North America and Caribbean, Country:Canada, Teacher

• Read More