Metta’s Opinion

Yes We Do!

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“How does one honor the past and also innovate?” a colleague asked a few days ago.

It was the kind of question that reminded me of Rainer Maria Rilke’s invitation in Letters to a Young Poet:

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue.

I recently started working in Richmond, California. Every morning, at different points in my commute, I either pass a large red rectangle that reads: “Richmond: City of Pride and Purpose” or an arrow pointing to the Rosie the Riveter Memorial.
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Discovering Gandhi

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This is a continuation of Lorin Peter’s post “A Daring Vision.” If you haven’t read that yet, you may want to start there.

 

After my “daring vision,” I was not sure what to do.

That I was still alive one month after the death threat probably meant the kamnan had changed his mind. I finally decided to return to the village, unarmed and in broad daylight, and leave my life in his hands.

Eventually the villagers replaced the missing funds. The water started running a year later (1969). As we prepared to leave Thailand, the kamnan approached my wife with a peace offering—one of his daughters to be my second wife.

Some years later, when the committee in a nearby township accused their kamnan of corruption, he shot the entire committee to death. That simple vision may have saved my life. It has stayed with me. I have never since doubted God’s presence. (more…)

8 Restorative Practices Concerns Addressed

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My last post covered eight prominent concerns that can hold schools back from adopting restorative practices (RPS). Many of these concerns can be proactively addressed, making it easier for schools to implement RPS.

Starting suggestions, by concern:

1.) Schools are not ready for restorative practices

school formAlthough an administrator may have legitimate organizational preparedness concerns and consequently delay implementing RPS, there are unobtrusive ways to go about it. For example, one could make a disciplinary referral form that includes and encourages restorative reflection. Also, one could start using professional development days for learning to use nonviolent communication in the classroom. Separately, a leadership team could re-align their school’s mission and vision to reflect restorative principles.

2.) There isn’t conclusive evidence that restorative practices work

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A Changing Stream of Moments

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“What is that bright light?”

I asked in a low but tilted voice, the kind that reveals a spark of resistance to change. I was sitting on a natural hot spring nestled by towering pine trees in the Sierra Mountains. I had my head leaned back on the rocks that shaped the pool, looking up at the dark sky and bright stars, reveling in the gentle rustling of the dark trees in the invisible wind. I had been enjoying the steam rising from the water to meet my face in the darkness, the sulfuric smell that allowed us to find the pool just off a trail by a gazebo. This was perfection, or so I thought.

From the back, the bright light felt like an unwanted spotlight, until my partner said:

“Turn around.”

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Restorative Practices in Schools: 8 Concerns

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Given the reasons that restorative practices in schools could be a good idea (see those reasons here, here, and here), why aren’t all schools adopting restorative practices? Based on my experiences in restorative practices—teaching, researching, and consulting with schools—I’ve come to see eight prominent concerns.

1. Schools are not ready for restorative practices

There likely are a variety of things that need to be in place before restorative practices can be implemented. One of the most comprehensive models for thinking about how to improve schools suggests that among a variety of important features, concerted leadership must drive change for a capable staff (see Figure 1 below). Moreover, sometimes district-level policies for schools must change. For example, some districts mandate their schools to structure their days in ways that don’t allow for successful restorative practices.

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Restorative Activism – Podcast

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restorativeactivismThis week on Peace Paradigm Radio, we speak with Scott Brown (activist, author, scholar, and co-founder of Colorado Center for Restorative Practices) about Restorative Activism and why systemic change begins with ourselves.

And on Nonviolence in the News we have positive updates about Campaign Nonviolence, Alliance for Peace, the struggles against the Trans-Pacific Partnership and mining at Oak Flats, and much more. Don’t miss it!

To listen to the entire show, see the audio toolbar toward the bottom of this page, or simply play it in a new window.

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