Independent Thinking on Restorative Practice: Building relationships, improving behaviour and creating stronger communities (Independent Thinking On ... series)

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It’s an approach he not only takes to schools across the country but to local government, social services and children’s services too. It is certainly not about being soft or turning a blind eye to poor behaviour, no matter what the Daily Mail might say. Carlie is passionate about supporting practitioners and the community to introduce the values of working restoratively into their practice at the earliest opportunity. In Independent Thinking on Restorative Practice: Building relationships, improving behaviour and creating stronger communities , Mark Finnis shares a practical and inspiring introduction to the use of restorative practice in educational settings.

When Carlie isn’t exploring all things restorative she is an ace Mum (and a CBeebies connoisseur) and is a sport addict! With many years’ experience of working with schools, local government agencies and social services, he is in demand as a speaker and trainer – helping organisations adopt restorative practices in a way that is practical and achievable and that never loses sight of the children and young people they are all aiming to serve. I am directly applying ideas from this book to my practice in social work, school leadership and as a parent. Mike is also a School Governor for a Local Primary School, working closely with the senior leadership team to develop and promote restorative practice in school to build respectful and healthy relationships.Mark’s empathy with, and understanding of, the education system means this book is grounded in the real-life experiences in classrooms, corridors, playgrounds and the family home. Making an effort to get to know your students and getting to know their culture will show you care about them. With experience working with schools, local government agencies and social services, he now helps organisations adopt restorative practices. The role of the peer is not to approve your learning but to support and help you to think about how you can improve your practice. This would include where you’re from, what you like to do, any pets you have, any TV series’ or films you’ve enjoyed recently.

Supporting” is about building self-belief, self-value and confidence, and being nurturing, compassionate, empathic and caring. Restorative and relational based practice describe a way of being, an underpinning ethos, which enables us to build and maintain healthy relationships, resolve difficulties and repair harm when relationships breakdown. He has continued to train independently as well as collaboratively with other L30 trainers and has now come fully under the L30 umbrella.A simple positive greeting can have an impact on all the things we want to improve: learning, behaviour and, most of all, belonging. I often think that when I am reactive, it is emotional and not thought-through; when I am responsive, it is regulated and thought-through. Full of practical strategies and insights in his work delivered with personal authenticity and delivered with humour, energy, honesty and an unswerving optimism in people and in authentic connection in particular.

It works for children, young people and families in a wide variety of contexts and settings, with young and old, with peers and colleagues, and in our work as leaders and managers.And having witnessed the effects of Mark’s input on what was a challenging inner-city secondary school it is nothing short of remarkable. Challenging” behaviours include asking tough questions, sharing responsibility, giving honest feedback and agreeing shared goals. Translating his thinking and experience around complex concepts into simple ideas that not only takes peoples brains for a walk, but helps them to translate the content into their context that change individuals and organisations for the better.

According to Mark Finnis, there’s one thing that should be at the heart of every school’s behaviour policy: relationships. Whilst RP’s close relation, Restorative Justice, is an approach to dealing with the fall out when things go wrong, limiting the damage, stopping things escalating and working to ensure whatever happened doesn’t happen again, Mark's work is all about getting the ethos, culture and relationships right in the first place. This book is very easy to read and informative and I would recommend it to anybody who is looking to improve on the skills stated in this book.

Do you connect with students, their families and colleagues at the outset, before you go anywhere near the content?