March was full of more amazing opportunities! My colleague, Haley, and I were asked to deliver a training in restorative practices for Wesley Community Action, a local non-profit. We focused on restorative skills and tools like the circle and restorative conversations that participants could use right away with their clients, colleagues, families and friends. It was also great to work with this group because they are the referring agency for the Korero Tahi pilot, which uses restorative circles to address harms experienced by older people. I am one of the facilitators for the pilot, so it was great to get to talk through how circles could be helpful for their clients and to troubleshoot possible issues together.
The highlight of the month was getting the opportunity to teach two Introduction to Restorative Justice workshops at Manawatu Prison. You can read more about that experience here. It was both humbling and invigorating to get to share the restorative justice philosophy and approach to conflict and wrongdoing with inmates and I learned a great deal from the experience.
You can check out this month’s edition of the of the Rotary District 5540 Peacebuilder Newsletter here. I also contributed to the most recent issue of the Restorative Well, the NACRJ newsletter, which you can read here.
Beginning May 1st, Victoria University of Wellington is offering a free course through edX titled Restorative Justice and Practice: Emergence of a Social Movement. It is taught by three incredible instructors – my two wonderful PhD supervisors and my close friend and colleague, Haley. I also make an appearance in the course as facilitator of a mock restorative justice conference and in an interview about the Restorative University efforts at VUW. If you are interested in learning more about restorative justice, check out the video preview below and enroll in the course here.
Lindsey Pointer, PhD 
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