ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a number of restorative processes that can engage and empower both teacher and student in transactions around discipline. A school wishing to do things differently will eventually face having to make a choice between punitive and restorative approaches. The first 'formal' community conferences were convened in Australian schools. Adapted from juvenile justice processes, these were an innovation at the time, and still are in many schools. These classroom conferences are designed to improve curriculum delivery, pedagogical processes and learner engagement. They can be used at the beginning of a new section of work, before a change in routine, at the beginning of each term or to evaluate a unit of work and its outcomes. Whether you are faced with a small number of 'wrongdoers', or a whole class which has been difficult in a chronic way for some weeks or even months, conferences designed to deal with wrongdoing, if facilitated carefully, can be extremely effective.
