Schools are complex places and teaching and learning can only take place when the classroom is in a place where this is able to happen. In the bad old days, a teacher’s job was to dole out discipline and this generally took the form of physical violence which then evolved to dark sarcasm in the classroom, to quote Pink Floyd. However, like most things in education, everything evolves and the 21st century has introduced us to better ways of doing almost everything, including how a classroom environment works, and teachers won’t be surprised to hear that it’s now all down to relationships. Restorative practices have been around for a number of years but one teacher decided she wanted to spread the word as far as she could and made the big decision to leave the classroom and has become one of the most well-known voices of RP. I was lucky enough to be contacted by Michelle Stowe for a nice chat about all things RP. If you’d like to know more about Resorative Practice and start that journey, there’s no better place to start than attending The ConnectRP eConference on Saturday 4th March 2023. Simply google Connect RP or go to ConnectRP.ie for more information.
