Introducing Practitioner-Focused Insights, The Research Corner, and More Resources to Support Restorative Practice Excellence
In lieu of a blog this month, we have several announcements regarding changes for 2025. No, we are not quite to the end of the year yet, but like many of you we will be taking some well-needed time with family and also catching up on all the little things we have hanging around in our inboxes (or in my case, the garden).
The first announcement regards changes to the blog, starting in 2025. In the past, we have used the blog for a variety of voices, perspectives, and audiences. This has meant a mix of practitioner, academic, theoretical, and other approaches to restorative practice and restorative justice. However, we recognise most members are practitioners. We are also aware some of the blogs have been quite lengthy – too long to digest in one setting. Thus, beginning in the new year, we will be revising the blog towards shorter, practitioner-focused and general-interest pieces for readers.
At the same time, we recognise that many readers are interested or even engage in research on restorative practice and restorative justice. Research is of course crucial to supporting best-practice and also disseminating new ideas, approaches, and critical perspectives. Towards these goals, we are developing a new part of the RPI Queensland website called “The Research Corner.
The Research Corner will have three areas. First, instead of some of the longer academic pieces we have been posting as blogs, we will be inviting researchers and scholars to provide shorter plain-language summaries of their work. When these are posted, we will highlight these in the main section of the Research Corner for those that are interested.
The second part of the Research Corner will involve building a “virtual” library in reader’s areas of interest. Since many members are also educators, we will be starting small (and realistic) with the development of research resources for restorative practices in education. We will not be able to provide access to recommended readings or research, however, unless these are open access. Nevertheless, over time we hope to build strong summaries and overviews of influential and cutting-edge research in several areas of restorative practice and restorative justice so that RPI members can be up to date in their areas and consult these for their own work and practice.
The final part of the Research Corner will be a discussion board for members. We often get informal requests for resources or ideas from members. The discussion board will allow members to ask questions about anything research related, including research on practice. RPI board members will answer these questions to the best of their ability, but the discussion board will be set up so that other members can also answer and discuss. We still have to sort out how all of this will work, so watch this space for more details.
In light if these changes, we strongly encourage RPI members to reach out to us if they have ideas for blogs or would like to provide plain-language summaries of their research. Those interested should email William Wood (w.wood@griffith.edu.au) and he will follow up with you.
Finally, in 2025 we will be providing even MORE content for members. We don’t want to give all of the secrets away just yet, but one of these will involve a “special topic” on youth restorative justice in Australia geared towards practitioners and policymakers.
We hope you all have a restful and relaxing holiday season with your family and loved ones. We look forward to connecting with you all again in 2025.
Warm regards,
The RPI Team
