Leadership

Re-Engage Youth Services, a social services agency based in Adelaide, South Australia, placed 13th on Australia’s Business Review Weekly Best Places to Work List, thanks to its restorative approach with staff. Through professional development work with the IIRP, Re-Engage is employing a restorative framework, both to engage at-risk youth and to inform workplace culture.

“We believe in order to have a positive impact in the community we must first have a positive and supportive workplace culture,” explains Re-Engage Youth Services Manager Kerrie Sellen. “To have this put to the test by an independent, rigorous study and be recognized as one of the best places to work out of hundreds of organizations is extremely encouraging.”

Efforts by IIRP Canada and its partners have exciting implications for the application of restorative practices in the workplace.

Bruce Schenk, director of IIRP Canada, recently worked with the Department of Community Services of Nova Scotia to support its goal of “becoming a restorative organization” and enhancing employee relationships.

IIRP President and Founder Ted WachtelTed Wachtel, President and Founder of the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), has announced his intention to retire from the presidency in June 2015, at the end of the IIRP Graduate School’s academic year. Ted will continue to pursue the sort of visionary restorative projects that have been his hallmark, which the IIRP will support and report on.

Passionate about the power of restorative practices — giving people a voice and a choice in things that

IIRP Graduate Beth Alosi, '11, applies restorative practices in her coaching work with Ford and Lincoln car dealerships.Beth Alosi was working as a teacher and taking courses towards a master’s degree in restorative practices in education from the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), but unbeknownst to her, the future pointed to a job with Ford Motor Company. Her father, Ed Alosi, had always worked in auto service, training and consulting, and Beth, while growing up, spent time with him at dealerships and even held a job for four years detailing cars. Beth often talked to her father about

(left to right) IIRP Assistant Director for Communications Laura Mirsky, Director of Communications & Technology Ben Wachtel and Vice-President for Advancement Linda Kligman during a restorative circle team builder (photo by Assistant Director of Technology Steve Orrison)The IIRP teaches others to implement restorative practices, but we also, through a process of continual reflection, strive within our own organizational structure to operate restoratively on a number of levels.

I work in the Advancement, Communications and Technology department. Here we

Moment of silence for Boston bombing victims. Photo by Rebecca Hildreth at Flick Creative Commons

Pierre R. Berastaín, a student at Harvard Divinity School, proposes that restorative circle processes be used to address the violence last week at the Boston Marathon, and the frayed feelings of people throughout the city of Boston and elsewhere. Writing on a Huffington Post blog, in a piece titled "Restorative Justice: Re-storying What

Terry O'Connell has a chapter, called "Conflict and Relationships: Restorative Ways of Building Community," in a new book titled Peace in Action: Practices, Policies and Perspectives That Make a Difference, edited by Raymond John R. King, Victor MacGill, Roger Wescombe. The book is a collection of papers from the Rotary Peace Communities International Conference held in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, in 2012. Terry is director of Real Justice Australia, and he developed the Real Justice script and the Read More

Tony Schwartz of the Energy Project The following is a powerful excerpt from a blog post by Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project, at Harvard Business Review's blog network. It provides a great example of how what we would call "restorative circles," both proactive and responsive, can be used successfully to build social capital in a corporate business setting:

For two years now, we have been holding regular

Twenty community members from across the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, USA, met Tuesday, March 26, to hear about creating a "restorative zone."

The meeting was led by IIRP president Ted Wachtel and  assistant professor and director of continuing education John Bailie, with presentations by Bethlehem Area School District supervisor of minority affairs Vivian Robledo-Shorey and Allentown School District executive director of community & student services Susan Lozada.

Participants included a Pennsylvania state police officer, Allentown Mayor's Office and the Lehigh Valley District Attorney's Office representatives, Allentown and Bethlehem school district administrators, a Lehigh University professor, an attorney, several pastors, community center leaders and social services

Les Davey, director of IIRP UK & Ireland, emailed an update on the 1-day conference being planned for June 20, 2013 in Salford, Manchester, UK. He writes, "The programme is coming together nicely with both national and international plenaries plus a wide choice of workshops across Justice, Communities, Education and Care."

In the coming year IIRP will be offering three different 4Day Events in a host of locations nationwide.

• Basic Restorative Practices   Four days of professional development, exploring the full range of restorative practices. Day 1: Introduction to Restorative Practices. Day 2: Using Circles Effectively. Day 3: Facilitating Restorative Conferences. Day 4: Family Engagement.
• Restorative Responses to Grief, Trauma and Adversity   This event will teach you how to employ restorative practices

Les Davey, director of IIRP UK & Ireland, writes:

In partnership with the City of Salford, IIRP UK & Ireland are pleased to announce their Summer 2013 Conference: "Restorative Practice: The way forward in Salford" to be held at Salford City Stadium, Manchester, on Thursday, 20th June 2013.

We are pleased to announce that Transforming Conflict is collaborating with us in planning a workshop stream. Both organizations are exploring closer collaboration where possible, as we share so many core values, principles and practices. This event will replace Transforming Conflict’s annual conference "Restorative Approaches in Educational and Care Settings" Conference for this year.

IIRP President Ted Wachtel will be visiting the Netherlands in early November. He will be leading "An Inspirational Presentation and Dialog" on the subject of "Building a Worldwide Restorative Practices Learning Network" in cooperation with Eigen Kracht Centrale and Restorative Justice Nederland.

Rob van Pagée and Hedda van Lieshout will present the vision of the independent organization Eigen Kracht Centrale, which asserts that citizens are uniquely able to deal with their own situation, by getting together with others directly affected, to discuss what is happening and to

It's been a month or so, but I've been meaning to continue the series of posts about sessions I attended at IIRP's World Conference in August in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I'll continue with the one of three talks I attended on the subject of how restorative practices can apply in business and industry.

John Graham Macdonald offered a session entitled “Restoring Your Bottom Line: Using RP in Management.” Macdonald began by pointing out that old school thinking about management – based on rules and external motivations – simply do not work. He said that “intrinsic motivation,” on the other hand, does work well but it requires the right climate to really take hold.

Macdonald said, “People need as much autonomy as possible,” they “need opportunity to grow and do their best,” and he noted that people generally “want to belong.” Furthermore, he said that to really tap the potential of employees, the purpose (or perhaps mission) of the organization has to be one they can

Photo of someone pulling an Andon Cord from NYTimes blog

Jeffrey Farr, a 2012 IIRP graduate and English teacher at an alternative school using restorative practices, sent me a link to a piece titled "Case In Point: Avoiding Martial Arts Moves by Pulling the Andon Cord." In the subject heading of his email Farr wrote: "RP [restorative practices] by any other name would still be RP . . . " I like this idea of finding relevant connections and

I'm continuing the Sunday videos series with the full plenary talk given by Dr. Stacey Miller, director of residential life at the University of Vermont at IIRP's 15th World Conference. Her 33 minute talk is well worth the time. It's not only highly informative, but also funny and lively, and provides a lot of clues about the type of leadership that is required to implement restorative practices not only at the university level, but also in schools, workplaces and other institutions. The talk is loaded with anecdotes and practical examples.

Ted Wachtel's plenary – "Defining Restorative and Building a Worldwide Restorative Practices Learning Network" – from this year's IIRP's 15th World Conference. View the video here.

Interdisciplinary Conference

This interdisciplinary conference will provide an international perspective on restorative practices theory and practice in a variety of settings, including education, social welfare, criminal justice, community development and workplaces. Restorative practitioners from around the world will share their knowledge and achievements and find encouragement, support and advice.

photo by Dru Bloomfield / Flickr Creative CommonsThe Harvard Business Review in its June 2012 issue published an article called "Leadership Is a Conversation" by Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind. They start by saying the old "command-and-control" model of business administration has given way to other models.

They write:

"Smart leaders today, we have found, engage with employees in a way that resembles an ordinary person-to-person conversation more than

For your reading pleasure, we now have the following titles available in Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks and Barnes & Noble Nook formats, for instant delivery and all priced at just under ten US dollars.

The Restorative Practices Handbook An  introduction and guide to restorative practices covering practical techniques, tips and strategies, implementation guidelines and real-world stories of restorative practices in action.