Elisabet Weedon

Can restorative practices in schools make a difference

Schools in the UK looking for solutions to concerns about indiscipline have been enthused by the basic premise of restorative practice; the need to restore good relationships when there has been conflict or harm; and develop a school ethos, policies and procedures that reduce the possibilities of such conflict and harm arising. In 2004 the Scottish Executive funded a national pilot project on restorative practice and commissioned a team at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities to carry out a two‐year evaluation of the pilot. In this paper, we discuss staff and pupil understandings and offer some exploration of the underpinning principles of restorative practice as it has developed thus far in schools. We explore the successes and challenges schools experienced and discuss the potential contribution of restorative practices for schools in challenging times. Finally we relate our findings to some critical arguments about the meaning and purposes of discipline and control in schooling.

‘I was dead restorative today’: from restorative justice to restorative approaches in school

This paper explores definitions and understandings of restorative practices in education. It offers a critique of current theoretical models of restorative justice originally derived from the criminal justice system and now becoming popular in educational settings. It questions the appropriateness of these concepts as they are being introduced to schools in parts of the UK and refers to a recent Scottish Executive funded pilot initiative to implement restorative practices in schools. The paper then reflects on some findings from the evaluation of this pilot project, outlines a new notion of restorative approaches and suggests that this broader conceptualisation may offer an important way in which to promote social justice in education and to reassess the importance and inevitability of conflicting social interaction and structures inherent in schools as complex social institutions.

What counts as a reasonable adjustment? Dyslexic students and the concept of fair assessment

This article focuses on the construction of dyslexia in higher education and explores the nature of negotiations between students, lecturers and academic institutions over diagnosis, support and assessment. Disabled students are now entitled, under the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), to reasonable adjustments in assessment. However, there continue to be debates about the nature of dyslexia and the extent to which requests for reasonable adjustments threaten to compromise academic standards. The article begins with a brief overview of the provisions of the DDA and its implications for learning support and adjustments to assessment in higher education, before considering current debates in education over the nature of dyslexia and its implications for assessment in higher education. We then consider the incidence of dyslexia in higher education and the implications of the rapid growth in the number and proportion of disabled students in higher education for assessment practices. Subsequently, we present case studies of dyslexic students and discuss (a) the way in which dyslexia is understood by different actors and (b) institutional responses to claims for reasonable adjustment in teaching and assessment.

Teachers are Afraid we are Stealing their Strength’: A Risk Society and Restorative Approaches in School

Abstract This paper will discuss the introduction of Restorative Approaches (RA) in schools, contextualising this within a discussion of international concerns about school safety, (in)discipline and school violence. It will explore questions about the compatibility of RA with zero tolerance and positive/assertive discipline approaches and the use of disciplinary exclusion in a ‘risk society’.

Approaches to dispute resolution in additional support needs in Scotland

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 aimed, among other things, to increase parents’ rights in relation to the education of their children. In addition to the creation of the Additional Supports Needs Tribunals for Scotland, parents were given new rights to challenge local authority decisions through mediation and independent adjudication. In line with the wider social policy thrust of encouraging proportionate dispute resolution, low‐level resolution of disputes at school and local authority level was also encouraged. This paper uses key informant interviews to explore the views of new dispute resolution arrangements, and whether the balance of power has indeed tipped in favour of parents. Local education authority officers expressed some concerns about the new measures, and were particularly critical of the tribunal on the grounds that it was expensive and stressful, although the role it might play in tightening up procedures was also recognised. Advocacy groups and parents’ organisations, on the other hand, welcomed the new measures but were concerned about the rules restricting access to the tribunal and the fact that the outcome of mediation and adjudications were not legally binding. They were also concerned about limited access to information and advocacy. Overall, key informants believed that the new measures had advanced parents’ rights to some extent, although further changes were needed to achieve a radical shift away from the post‐war dominance of bureaucracy and professionalism in Scotland.

Reforming special education in Scotland: tensions between discourses of professionalism and rights

In 2001, the (then) Scottish Executive embarked on a process of reform of the SEN framework in Scotland. This paper analyses negotiations between different social actors, principally local authority staff and parents, in the formation of the legislation and its subsequent enactment. Data are drawn from an analysis of responses to consultations, official statistics and parent and local authority staff perceptions of the reforms as revealed in questionnaire surveys. It is argued that policy frameworks based on professionalism and bureaucracy have tended to dominate in Scotland, with a rights framework emerging much more recently. The legislation attempts to strike a balance between the different actors, although, in implementing the legislation, local authorities have sought to neutralise aspects which they felt tipped the balance of power too far in favour of parents. Parents have responded by campaigning as citizen‐consumers, and appear to be having a growing influence on Government.

Generating an inclusive ethos? Exploring the impact of restorative practices in Scottish schools

In 2004, the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) established a project to pilot restorative practices (RPs) in schools in three local authorities (LAs) in Scotland. The pilot project was one strand of the Scottish Executives range of initiatives to promote Better Behaviour Better Learning in Scottish schools and was to run from 2004 to 2006. In parallel with the pilot project, SEED commissioned a team from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow to evaluate the initiative. That evaluation was collaborative and flexible and took account of differences between the eighteen pilot schools and also of the varying aims schools had in implementing RPs. This paper will draw on data emerging from the evaluation to compare and contrast the experiences of schools as they tried to work in ways which were more restorative and less punitive. The first part of this paper will define RPs and will discuss the nature and distinctiveness of these approaches as they have been used in different settings. The paper will then examine RPs in relation to the experience of schools in the Scottish pilot. Did successful implementation depend upon the existing ethos of the school? Or were RPs themselves a vehicle by which schools could develop a more positive ethos? Three case studies in implementing RPs will be offered. These will be used to exemplify how some schools • changed their practices as a result of implementing RPs • incorporated RPs into existing practices • did not change at all These varying experiences of the case study schools will be used to probe notions of restorative and retributive approaches in relation to school ethos. Finally, the paper will explore the capacity of RPs to transform school ethos and, in general, will consider the conditions necessary for this to happen.

Children's rights, school exclusion and alternative educational provision

This paper examines findings from a recent study in Wales of school exclusion and alternative educational provision. Many, but not all, children in alternative provision have been excluded from school. The most recent statistics reveal that nearly 90% of pupils in alternative provision have special educational needs, nearly 70% are entitled to free school meals (free school meal entitlement is often used as a proxy indicator for poverty in the UK) and three quarters are boys (Welsh Government. 2012a. Pupils Educated Other than at School, 2011/12. Cardiff: Welsh Government). The paper focuses on analysis of findings about young peoples experiences of exclusion and alternative provision, and how these experiences may be contextualised within a discussion of childrens rights. This analysis suggests that young peoples experience is highly variable; that inappropriate curricula are still common, pastoral support uneven and that few opportunities exist for success or re-integration. In the most disturbing examples, young people were found to have experienced physical restraint and the use of isolation as punishment. The paper concludes, therefore, with a proposal for change aimed at ensuring that childrens rights are placed at the heart of educational experience in practice as well as policy.

Dispute resolution in additional and special educational needs: Local authority perspectives

The UK Government is keen to encourage the use of mediation, rather than court or tribunal, as the best means of resolving disputes between citizen and state on the grounds that legal proceedings are costly, lengthy and stressful. The policy of proportionate dispute resolution appears to be particularly applicable to the field of special educational needs (SEN), where both mediation and tribunal are available as dispute resolution mechanisms. However, evidence suggests that very little use has been made of mediation in either England or Scotland. In order to understand this phenomenon, this paper begins with investigating the dominant policy frameworks in SEN (England) and additional support needs (ASN; Scotland). Subsequently, the attitudes of English and Scottish local authority (LA) officers are explored. It is argued that both countries now have an eclectic mix of policy frameworks in play, including the traditional models of bureaucracy and professionalism, and the more recent models of managerialism, consumerism and legality. In Scotland, professionalism and bureaucracy continue to dominate, and this is associated with more restricted access to and less use of all forms of dispute resolution, in particular the tribunal.

European higher education, the inclusion of students from under-represented groups and the Bologna Process

The central questions addressed in this paper are the following: (1) In the context of the (European Union) EU’s goal of severing the link between social class background and higher education participation, what progress has been made in widening access over the past two decades? (2) Has the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) helped EU countries to harmonize their policy and practice in relation to widening access to higher education? (3) What patterns of social stratification are evident in the institutional architecture of higher education across Europe, and how is this reflected in approaches to widening access? The paper begins with a brief review of the OMC, the mechanism used to harmonize social policy across Europe. In relation to higher education, the soft governance approach of the OMC is envisaged as the means of achieving the social inclusion goals of the Bologna Process. Data from Eurostat and the Eurostudent survey are used to analyse levels of higher education participation and differences relating to socio-economic status across Europe. The data demonstrate that access to higher education is strongly influenced by parental level of education and that higher education confers labour market advantages in all European countries. Four institutional case studies are then presented, drawn from different countries and higher education sectors. These case studies illustrate institutional stratification within each country, whereby students in highly selective institutions are more likely to come from socially advantaged backgrounds, whereas students in newer, vocationally orientated institutions are more likely to come from less socially advantaged backgrounds. The paper concludes by arguing that the OMC has been only moderately effective in promoting widening access for under-represented groups, since in the field of higher education there is lack of accord between the policy priorities of the EU and individual member states. Financial retrenchment across Europe is likely to have a negative impact on opportunities for under-represented groups in higher education.