A narrative of how I improved my facilitation of Restorative Practice in order to enhance parents’ relationships with their children.
Restorative Practice is a philosophy and a set of skills focused on building, maintaining and repairing relationships and managing conflict in a respectful, inclusive manner. The aim of this study was twofold, firstly to determine if and how I can improve my facilitation of Restorative Practice for parents and secondly if effectively teaching the course content and facilitating parents’ development of Restorative Practice skills, would enhance parents’ relationships with their children. Specifically, the research question for this project is “How can I improve my facilitation of Restorative Practice in order to enhance parents’ relationships with their children?” The chosen methodology was action research. Full ethical approval was sought and was granted by Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education Masters of Education in NUI Maynooth. In order to encourage a common restorative approach between home and school, together with a colleague, I co-facilitated two Restorative Practice courses for two groups of parents. The courses formed the basis of this action research project. In order to build a credible source of evidence, practical knowledge from my reflective journal, parents’ daily diaries, correspondence from critical friends and notes from validation group meetings was used as data. The Restorative Practice courses taught the parents the values, skills and processes of Restorative Practice . The key findings were, my claim that I have improved my facilitation of Restorative Practice , I have become critically reflective in my teaching and I have noticed that this critical mindset has now become a way of negotiation in my daily life. The parents were given the opportunity to reflect on their own behaviour, analyse their values and appraise themselves. According to their diaries they experienced a measure of personal growth and a deepening self-awareness. Their relationships with their children were enhanced. The evidence indicated that participation in the Restorative Practice course resulted in the parents replacing social control in the home with social engagement. Throughout this action research I have become more aware of my own core values, I have found that they have influenced a change in my practice and that they have been the standards by which I judge my effectiveness in facilitating Restorative Practice . I have noted the following improvements in my practice: I have become a better listener and I have become more conscious of the parents’ individual needs and more adaptive to the needs of the group. I have learned how to facilitate Restorative Practice using both a managed narrative and an inclusive dialogical approach.
National University of Ireland - Maynooth
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