New Workshops 

Managing Difficult Workplace Conversations - How to Discuss What Matters

Most people avoid challenging conversations because they are confronting, difficult, awkward, and the emotional stakes are often high. Leaders need to learn and understand how not to avoid difficult conversations.  Successfully conducting difficult conversations in the work place can make the difference between success and failure – both for the leader and the organization. This workshop will focus on - 

• Exploring high conflict people and organisations
• Defining conflict and how people respond
• Taking a L.E.A.P to problem solve
• Applying the 4 x step conversation
• Managing challenging conversations using Sorry, Glad, Sure

This workshop can be tailored for a full day through to several hours.

Restorative Practice Workshops 

One day programs

Introduction to Restorative Practice
This workshop is ideal for graduate and beginning teachers and education professionals who are new to restorative processes and the principles of restorative justice. It will give participants an opportunity to explore their own beliefs and practices about discipline and is an introduction and orientation to restorative philosophy and practice. Topics and processes covered include, restorative chats, small group conferencing, classroom conferencing and circles. This workshop is also well suited to those schools considering the adoption of restorative practice.

Restorative Behaviour Management
This very popular workshop explores the skills and attitudes needed to implement restorative justice values and restorative practice tools and processes into already established behaviour management programs. The content is interactive and participants will leave the day with practical tools including a generic set of classroom rules, the 4 R`s for maximising student engagement and how to achieve positive outcomes with those difficult to manage students. Topics covered include circles, verbal and non-verbal communication, issues around compliance and punishment, logical and restorative consequences, defusing conflict, the role of routines and procedures, and how to avoid repetitious and unproductive teacher talk.

Restorative Leadership
This program is designed for middle management and principal class leadership. Participants will leave this challenging day with skills and approaches to manage difficult parents, facilitate authentic conversations with underperforming staff, work with disruptive classes and understand the difference between leadership and management.

Circle Time  (3 hours to full day)
This workshop blends circle theory with easy to use activities for all classroom teachers. Depending on time participants will learn about circle agreements, value based circles, affirmation and problem solving circles all aimed at promoting better relationships and a more productive classroom environment. Depending on school needs a suitable program can be individually tailored.

Tackling Bullying Restoratively
This one day workshop is ideal for classroom teachers, year level coordinators, and other education professionals who are keen to learn about the benefits of a restorative justice approach to bullying. Participants will have the opportunity to explore their own beliefs and values about bullying behaviour and how to maximize outcomes for both wrongdoers and victims. The focus will be in the classroom and playground and will provide an introduction and orientation to the restorative philosophy and practice. Topics and processes covered include, restorative chats, small group conferencing, classroom conferencing and circles.

Cyber Bullying & Cyber Safety
This workshop explores the cyber world of the digital native and how technology has influenced bullying behaviours. Participants will be guided in understanding what drives this phenomenon and how best as classroom teachers and administrators we can be proactive and respond restoratively. A key aim of the workshop is to provide participants with a framework for policy and protocol development and how restorative justice and circle practice are key strategies in prevention and response.

Two day programs    

Intensive Restorative Practice Workshop
This two day workshop is a more comprehensive form of the one day workshop and is highly recommended for those schools and organizations wanting a more in-depth understanding of classroom and whole school based restorative practice. The second day involves a more detailed exploration of the philosophy and processes with supported time to practice the skills and understandings of restorative conversations, small group and classroom conferences. The program also investigates how restorative justice philosophy can be aligned to current practice and policy including strategic planning and changing work place culture. This training is ideal for all school personnel including administrative staff, Principal class teachers, teaching staff, integration aides , youth and social workers, guidance staff, counsellors, psychologists and office staff. This program can be delivered as a stand-alone 2 day workshop or as an introductory day followed at a later date by the 2nd day.

Community Conferencing Facilitator Training
This two day workshop will prepare participants to facilitate formal community conferences to respond to serious incidents of harm that are often challenging for schools. Serious cases of bullying, assaults, abusive behaviour towards teachers, theft, vandalism, drugs are examples of the scope that this process is able to address with positive outcomes for all those affected. It is essential that applicants have participated in some initial restorative practice training as a pre-requisite. Content will include the decision making and planning processes needed for successful outcomes and the biological and sociological theory underpinning restorative justice. This training is interactive as participants prepare themselves for this demanding facilitation role.

A brief description of the process:  a community conference is a meeting of the community of people affected by an incident of serious harm in the school or community setting. The conference provides a forum in which wrongdoer, victims and their respective supporters can seek ways to repair the harm caused by the incident or situation, and minimize further harm.  A conference gives wrongdoers an opportunity to understand the impact of their behavior on other people, themselves and the wider community in the school and beyond. It gives wrongdoers a chance to fix things and to repair the harm done. More importantly victims are given a voice to explain how they have been affected and to become involved in negotiating how to repair the harm.

This program is ideal for those school and community, government and non-government agency personnel who are seeking more effective approaches to manage and respond to serious conflict and antisocial or inappropriate behaviour. This process of community conferencing has application across a wide range of jurisdictions such as education, police, juvenile & adult justice, corrections, probation, youth & community health services.