reflection week 3

Restorative Practice: I see many good points in the process and have used it with several children in my class. Having restorative chats with my more "challenging" kids is making small improvements. I feel that they are beginning to see the impact of their behaviour on other children and it's interesting sometimes to hear what they were thinking at the time. l like that you have prescriptive comments and questions to use and you give power to the victim. Often they just want the offender to leave them alone. However, .... At the course, I felt that being asked to share personal traumas / dramas / stories with people you do not know well was not necessary. People were not willing to share their stories with the whole group and I don't know what purpose it served apart from reminding people of things they probably wanted to forget. In reality, restorative practice does not suit every situation for a variety of reasons. I am finding that I need to teach my class about how they are feeling, as they are unable to express themselves adequately. Also, the need for preventative measures,e.g. teaching social skills has become very apparent, as most of the disruptions in my class stem from an inability to behave sociably towards others. Plenty of work to go on with. My goal, at present, is to work through more major issues that concern the whole class so the children understand the process and hear the language.