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September 25, 2020 By Janine Carroll Leave a Comment

RESTORE

Restorative Now has joined with a collective of restorative practitioners, researchers and activists in education to address these needs in education settings. RESTORE is a response to the challenges facing schools in the time of Covid19, and addresses the application and implementation of Restorative Practice schools at this time.


The time of (inter)national crisis requires dialogue and responsiveness to one another’s needs. Restorative practice offers an active space in civil society to help people and communities hear and heal.


The imperative to promote the application of Restorative Practice in schools, is now more urgent than ever. As school communities navigate the requirements of transitioning back with requirements of ongoing social distancing, we are aware that for positive and healthy relationship reconnection to occur, this requires engagement with individuals’ shared personal experiences of lock-down and the ongoing impact they carry. RESTORE offers a framework for sitting with, and responding to, our human frailty and vulnerability, and our resultant venting behaviours.


The community of a school is a labyrinth of relationships and requires this measure of responsivity and recognition, because it is the quality of relationships that keeps the school community safe and nurturing, thus enabling it to harness the excellence in teaching and learning. The restorative approach in schools is needs-led and values-based. It highlights the importance of relationships for emotional wellbeing and resolving relationship stress, preventing harm and building resilient communities. The approach works by building a consistent and congruent approach to the building, maintaining and repairing of relationships. The approach allows decisions to be made with reference to five core Restorative Principles:

  • Everyone has a unique perspective
  • Our thoughts and feelings influence our behaviour
  • Our actions have a ripple effect
  • We have needs that connect us to people and purpose
  • The people best placed to find solutions are the people themselves

Now in the time of Covid, the specific application of Restorative Practice to potentially fractured communities is even more pertinent. It is essential that there be a forum for dialogue. The absence of such a forum promotes othering and polarisation.

Filed Under: Janines Blog

December 5, 2014 By Janine Carroll Leave a Comment

Forgiveness Project Conversation – 1.12.2014

An excellent talk and conversation on this last event in the series of 10 Conversations on Forgiveness.

Richard McCann, who’s mother was the first victim of the Yorkshire Ripper, spoke powerfully of his life journey in dealing with the enormous impact of this event, along with other challenges, which took place throughout his childhood. He emphasised the peace which came with arriving at a place of forgiveness.

“Some people, who knew my mum, are still bent on revenge but that’s not how I feel. In 2010 I was invited to a lecture on Forgiveness given by Desmond Tutu, which turned out to be a life-changing experience. I have always known I could never turn back the clock, but hearing Desmond Tutu’s words showed me I had the capacity to change the situation by changing how I felt about what had occurred.

I am no longer carrying around remorse or bitterness; Desmond Tutu’s words about forgiveness helped me forgive the person who killed my mother. At the same time forgiveness fluctuates in my experience; it’s not a decision you come to. I don’t believe forgiveness is a one off act; it’s rather something that enters and leaves our consciousness like the tide and it requires working through continually.”

http://www.richardmccann.co.uk/

Richard McCann has gone on to become an inspiring motivational speaker especially in prisons, and at the Monday night event a film was shown of his work and some responses from prisoners.


The forgiveness Project have now edited footage from the earlier 9 conversations, and they can be viewed on their link, as attached.

http://theforgivenessproject.com/events/past-events/

Such inspiring people, changing lives.

Filed Under: Janines Blog

May 29, 2014 By Admin Leave a Comment

Beyond Forgiving 2014

28th May 2014

I attended an inspiring event last evening – the screening of the award winning film Beyond Forgiveness at the Royal Geographic Society. The film, directed by Imad Karam, won the Golden Award for Inspiration at the International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration and Equality (IFFPIE) in 2013. The evening was chaired by Terry Waite who shared experiences and learning from his 50 year involvement in brokering peace across a multitude of international situations of conflict. The film charts formative and tragic events in the lives of two South Africans, Ginn Fourie and Letlapa Mphahlele, events which precipitated a collision of their worlds and led to a subsequent inspiring collaboration which now addresses the power of forgiveness and reconciliation. Following the film screening, both Ginn and Letlapa then sat with Terry and the three, in dialogue with the audience, discussed the impact their varied messages of hope and inspiration may play in changing the personal and political worlds we inhabit.

Some memorable quotes from the evening:

Letlapa:  

“Being forgiven was like being struck by lightning from a cloudless sky.”

“To accept forgiveness from the ‘other’, you first have to forgive yourself.”

“Storytelling is part of a healing process.”

Gini:

“I took a principled decision to give up my right to revenge…. and I began to see the woundedness of the ‘other’.”

“The world could be a different place if we understood the needs of the dispossessed.”

“Imagine if, in our woundedness, we acknowledge our complicity in the injustices of the past, reach across the divide, and then hold ourselves and our leaders accountable.”

Terry:    

“Every experience affords one learning.”

See more at:

http://www.uk.iofc.org/beyond-forgiving-documentary-wins-golden-award-inspiration#sthash.gXhrVcOf.dpuf

Filed Under: Janines Blog

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