Restorative practice: Modelling key skills of peace and global citizenship

Abstract

Goal 4.7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals lists ‘the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence’ as one of the areas of education necessary to sustainable development. This chapter will propose that peace-building is an active process involving concrete skills both in building positive relationships and in preventing and managing conflict, and that these skills are best learned when modelled in the everyday context. It will explore Restorative Practice as a framework through which these skills can be learned, and it will review the research on its impact in the school setting, with reference to its development in the Irish education system. It will be argued that both in education and in wider society a shift from blame and punishment to more restorative approaches to conflict will be needed to allow real peace-making to take place.