Page 3771 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
pages or text messaging. While bullying used to take place in the classroom—and still does—the playground or even to and from school, cyberbullying transcends school boundaries into the so-called virtual world. Research tells us that often what makes it so attractive for bullies is that there is no face-to-face confrontation. Emboldened by the anonymity of being online, bullies can, with the click of a button, reach a far broader audience.
In relation to this changing trend, restorative justice has the potential to be a positive and empowering way to help students, by developing skills that provide an increased capacity to participate in society. Perhaps the most critical and important parts of restorative justice are that the victim and offender come together to contribute directly to the process of seeking remedy and justice. The offender is directly confronted with the effect of their behaviour, can accept responsibility and offer a resolution to the harm caused by the behaviour.
In recognising restorative justice as a viable alternative to traditional responses, we have the ability to cultivate school-based professional development which will improve practice by developing authentic and innovative pedagogy in order to address the needs of students with behavioural support needs. The central aspect of education—the point at which learning takes place—is undoubtedly the relationship between teachers and their students. There are many theories about teacher-student interactions in terms of behaviour and classroom relationships, and they all fit roughly along the following continuum: firstly, there is teacher focus—teacher decides what is appropriate behaviour and what the consequences will be for inappropriate behaviour. There is a shared focus—teacher and students take joint responsibility for deciding what is appropriate behaviour through negotiated rules and consequences. Finally there is a student focus—students take responsibility for managing their own behaviour, for deciding what is appropriate and for deciding consequences.
The most recent theories tend to range from shared to student focus. However, the Greens believe that restorative justice practices could well fit within this continuum as a viable alternative to traditional responses. I do acknowledge that this practice is being used in many schools in Canberra, and I am pleased to hear the minister commit to extending it to 100 per cent of schools across the ACT to government schools.
The philosophy behind those theories is that if you give students more control in their own learning and environment, they will often improve their results and behaviour more effectively than if management is forced upon them. Traditional punishment and reward systems have often proven ineffective. Students need to be explicitly taught social skills and meta-cognitive skills so that they can take responsibility for their own behaviours.
In previous times students have been seen as the problem when outcomes are not being met, particularly with regard to students with high behavioural support needs. Now, however, it is more common for schools to begin examining their punitive practices. Restorative justice strategies provide us with an alternative strategy to assist children, young people and schools to develop skills and refine practice. It is important that in expanding the opportunities for current ACT school teachers to access restorative justice training opportunities the ACT government ensures adequate
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .