Training in Restorative Justice: Enhancing Praxis with Public School Educators

Source: (2003) Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Adult Education. Saint Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Downloaded 21 August 2003.

In this thesis I explore the use of praxis as a means of developing educators’ collaborative abilities. The research is based on the development and design of two restorative justice training programs. The programs’ delivery and their impact on two groups of public school educators are also examined. Group A included 20 educators from an elementary school, trained in the principles, interventions, and language of restorative justice. Group B included 11 educators from elementary, middle, and high schools, representing 7 district schools, trained to facilitating a community conference.
The effective use of praxis assumes that individuals involved in its practice are actively engaged in their social environment and are therefore able to assert their needs within that context. It also assumes they can reflect on their actions and are therefore able to co-operate within their social environment. My training programs made extensive use of a talking circle format, which provided the space for both experience and reflection. In this inquiry I suggest that those who can balance their ability to assert their needs and their ability to co-operate in a given social setting are individuals who are able to collaborate.
In developing my argument I use dialectics, such as assertion and co-operation, to support my conclusions. My study concludes that training in restorative justice, when linked with methods that support and model the use of praxis, will develop and improve educators’ ability to be collaborative.