1. Scenario 21: Restorative Approaches (A)
Behaviour Scenarios
A specially commissioned set of resources for tutors, school mentors and trainee teachers
Scenario 21: Restorative Approaches (A) 1

2. Scenario 21 Restorative Approaches A
(This scenario can be linked to, and is a development of, Scenario 9)
Scenario 9 : Responding to a pupil who refuses an instruction – You tell a pupil who is disturbing the work of others to move from the back to the front of the class. The pupil refuses to move.
How do you respond?
Scenario 21: After your immediate response to the situation, you see the pupil with his/her pastoral head during break time.
How can restorative approaches be used to resolve the underlying cause of the conflict? 2

3. Key Learning Outcomes
Exploring and understanding the ways that restorative approaches can be used to resolve conflict.
Modelling and evaluating these approaches and considering how they might be of use to you with further training.
For restorative approaches to be effective, specific training is needed, ideally not just for individuals but for all the staff in a school. Restorative approaches are increasingly used in schools and you are likely to come across trained staff who can help you to find out more.
Relevant QTS Standards: Q2, Q8 & Q10 3

4. What should the Pastoral Head do?
Talk to you both separately first of all, to hear your accounts and what your thoughts and feelings were at the time.
Tell the pupil that staff are fed up with his/her constant misbehaviour.
Repeat 1 with both you and the pupil together, having established the ground-rules.
Tell the pupil that he/she will be excluded if it happens again.
Ask you both who else has been affected by the situation.
Advise you on what to do next.
Ask you both what needs to happen to repair the harm and put the situation right. 4

5. Approaches which are ‘restorative’:
The facilitator (in this case the Pastoral Head) will usually:
1. Talk to you both separately first of all, to hear your accounts and what your thoughts and feelings were at the time.
3. Repeat 1 with both of you together, having established the ground-rules.
5. Ask you both who else has been affected by the situation.
7. Ask you both what needs to happen to repair the harm and put the situation right. 5

6. The reasons that these approaches are restorative, while the others are not, are that:
All parties are treated with equal respect
The facilitator does not decide who is in the right
The facilitator does not pre-judge the situation
The participants take responsibility for resolving the situation and repairing the damage caused
The facilitator ensures that the questions asked, and the way the meeting is run, enable both parties to feel secure in the process and able to use it to resolve conflict.
Scenario 22 explores pupil-pupil approaches in more detail.

7. What other restorative approaches could be used?
Giving pupils a “Restorative thinking plan” card, printed with key restorative questions, can help to prevent escalation from a minor problem to defiance. This is a low intervention strategy which enables the teacher to continue to teach the class.
If pupils are aware of the approach and know that they will be given a chance to have a say (though not always immediately) this can reduce feelings of resentment and the likelihood of such escalation.
The language of choice in restorative approaches helps pupils to take responsibility for their actions and understand the consequences. 7

8. Underlying principles
The key principles are of fairness and justice, ensuring that conflicts are resolved and that positive relationships are built and maintained.
All parties have an opportunity to explain what happened from their perspective and be listened to.
The person who has caused harm is, within a restorative context, expected to accept responsibility and, with the support of the others present, work out how to put the situation right.
The person who has been harmed has the opportunity to say what he/she needs to resolve the situation.
There may be a shared responsibility for the events. If so, everyone has a chance to contribute to a solution.
The facilitator does not take sides or tell people what to do – the process itself should enable a solution to be found. 8

9. Rights and Responsibilities
Restorative approaches are based on the same principles as those that underpin the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and enshrine equality of esteem.
All parties have a right to be heard.
Agreed ground rules ensure rights and responsibilities are respected e.g.
Everyone taking part in a restorative mini-conference or meeting is expected to listen, not to interrupt, to treat others with respect and to be honest.
Facilitators ensure that rules are kept so that everyone feels safe. If rules are broken, a meeting might need to be stopped until order is restored.
Confidentiality is a right for all and everyone has a responsibility to abide by any agreement about who, outside the meeting, is to be told about the outcome. 9

10. Activities to try
Ask if you can observe a restorative meeting in a school which uses restorative approaches. Identify the key components and note how the meeting was facilitated and what style was used.
Subsequently you could discuss with other trainees (ensuring that you respect confidentiality) what happened and your views on the process and outcome.
Working in a group of four, including one observer, role play a simple, clearly resolved, restorative meeting. It is important to ensure a quick and satisfactory outcome for everyone – handling deep conflict requires training and shouldn’t be undertaken lightly, even as a role play.
Discuss how the different roles feel, what you have learnt and what you will need in the way of training in order to use restorative approaches successfully. 10

11. Want to find out more?
Teachers TV – Secondary Management Restorative Justice in Action 1
Teachers TV – Secondary Management Restorative Justice in Action 2
Teachers TV – Laters – A Restorative Approach in Schools
Teachers TV - website links:
Restoring The Balance 2; Lewisham Council (Tel: ) 11

12. Conclusions
What is the key message have you gained from this scenario material?
How might you apply this approach in your own practice in school.
Further insights and notes for tutors and mentors are available on the website
Updated August 2009