Restorative Practice: Managing Behaviour and Resolving Conflict with Empathy

This workshop session took place at the ITET 2024 Annual PGCE Conference Inclusion & Inspiration - Education for Social Justice. 12 January 2024. University of Manchester. Matthew introduced participants to the fundamentals of ‘Restorative Practice’ and identified ways in which restorative practice can help effectively manage behaviour in the classroom. The session highlighted values and skills needed to build and maintain strong, trusting and professional relationships. Next, Matthew discussed the importance of ‘relational capital’ and how we can use the time we’ve spent investing in relationship building to more effectively manage instances of conflict and challenging behaviour. He explored the ways in which academic errors are traditionally perceived and how that often differs from how we react to behavioural errors. Finally, Matthew looked at restorative processes that aim to manage conflict and challenging behaviour proactively and empathetically.