Restorative Practice

Restorative practice is based primarily on a set of core values and the explicit promotion and enhancement of particular skills such as the ability to empathise and to find solutions to specific problems. This practice allows for building trust between and with people. It provides a structured approach in the form of a scaffold, which helps build and sustain relationships, and provides a focus which allows for the potential growth of positive relationships to become established between people. The development of each relationship is based on a set of core values. These values include respect, and being respectful of everyone, including towards people someone maybe doesn’t always see eye to eye with or even like.

Through the development of empathy, and promoting understanding of perspective taking, people can learn to respect each other and where someone is coming from in terms of their own expression of thought and feelings. In our efforts to show empathy, as human beings we are able to harness the notion of fairness into our relationships, and therefore can also account for our own actions and hold others to account for theirs.

Restorative practice is based primarily on a set of core values and the explicit promotion and enhancement of particular skills such as the ability to empathise and to find solutions to specific problems. This practise allows for building trust between and with people. It provides a structured approach in the form of a scaffold, which helps build and sustain relationships, and provides a focus which allows for the potential growth of positive relationships to become established between people. It also provides a platform for dealing with conflict in a healthy manner when conflict occurs.

In response to school requests for support in dealing with conflict and bullying, questions raised during the delivery of national seminars about the intervention and prevention of bullying behaviour, school visits by advisors, and a wider professional dialogue, a project emerged which set about introducing Restorative Practice in to a number of schools across the Republic of Ireland.

This report is an evaluation of the project, and highlights the steps taken, and how the project developed and progressed over the period from September 2018- March 2019. It includes an overview of the restorative practice pilot project, an examination of some of the relevant literature pertaining to both the value of RP and what it can achieve, and an outline of the rationale for approaching this project through a model of sustained support. Finally, it considers the findings of the project and concludes with the implications for future practice and engagement with schools.

The Restorative Practice  Question Cards above are an integral part of the Restorative Practice Approach. 

They are to be used as a support during restorative interactions and are one of many elements of the practice

The Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) works to improve outcomes for children, families and communities in Tallaght and throughout Ireland. CDI have recently launched a podcast series outlining current Restorative Practice in Ireland. 

 “Circles of Connection: Stories from Ireland about using Restorative Practices to Build Relationships”.

Episode 1

Episode 2 

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 14 

Restorative Teaching Tools