New training opportunity: Value-led and experiential learning
Why me? are delighted to be working with Professor Tim Chapman on a new set of training courses which take a different approach, focusing on the values and lived-experience behind the restorative process. Tim is a Trustee for Why me? and a leading academic in the Restorative Justice field.
Tim says “The training takes a new approach which is based on extensive research that I undertook with people who have experienced Restorative Justice. In conjunction with Why me? and several of Why me?’s Ambassadors we have co-designed a value-led and victim-centred approach, examining in depth the themes of restoration to support victims’ recovery from harm. Centred in the community, and with input from those with lived experience of RJ, this new approach embodies the principles of RJ in its delivery. I am excited to be bringing it to London and working with Why me? in its delivery.”
Below are the details of the three courses:
Restorative Justice and Practices: Essential Skills Course
Trainers and venue
Tim Chapman and Tania Nascimento will be running a RJ foundational course at Strathclyde University, Glasgow in Scotland.
Course structure
Module 1 – 4 two-hour online webinars on values, principles, research and key concepts. Thursday 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th of April 2025, 10am–12pm.
Module 2 – 3 days in-person skills training at the University of Strathclyde. Tuesday 6th – Thursday 8th May 2025.
What distinguishes this course from others?
- Combines evidence-based practice with practice-based evidence. The approach of this Essential Skills Course has been informed by Tim’s research into victims’ experience of restorative justice and his restorative practice with over 50 deeply traumatised people. It also incorporates findings of Tania’s research into how restorative practitioners manage their emotions (and the emotions of RJ participants) during difficult restorative processes.
- Increases victim participation and face-to-face meetings. This course is designed to equip practitioners with the skills, knowledge and personal characteristics required to increase the uptake of victims in face-to-face restorative meetings and circles.
- Restores power and control. The narrative dialogue approach enables people who participate in restorative processes to restore their power to address what matters to them.
- Facilitates conversation and dialogue rather than following scripts. The course will encourage practitioners to feel confident about engaging in important conversations with those affected by harm without the aid of a script.
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7 is a Magic Number! Restorative Justice Principles and Practices
Trainers and venue
Tim Chapman and Why me?’s Restorative Justice Trainer and Service Coordinator, mark Hamill, will lead a foundational course in London in a community centre in Brixton.
Course structure
Module 1 (online)
- 3 two-hour online webinars on scaffolding, character, concepts, and contexts for the practice of Restorative Justice.
- Session 1 – Free webinar to introduce the new framework ‘7 is a Magic Number’ and the structure of restorative scaffolding and to permit people to choose whether they wish to enrol on the full course.
- Session 2 – What do practitioners bring to the restorative process. The impact of character and applying restorative concepts.
- Session 3 – How the Narrative Dialogue model engages people in the restorative process and raises awareness of the contexts of harm, injustice and restoration.
Module 2 (in person)
- 3 days in-person skills training in Brixton, London.
- 1. Presence and the 7 Ps in the Process
2. Restorative learning
3. The Balanced Model
4. Understanding unjust harm and trauma
5. The 7 key competences
6. The 7 conversations map
Inclusion
7. First conversation – What happened?
8. Second conversation – What matters to you?
9. Third conversation – How a restorative process might address what matters?
Preparation
10. Fourth conversation – What do you want to say, ask and request and how will you do that?
11. Fifth conversation – What support and protection will you need and how can we co-design an effective and protected meeting?
12. Sixth conversation – How can we co-design a meeting in which people can address what matters to them free from domination, intimidation and threat?
13. Seventh conversation – How did you experience the process and to what extent was what mattered to you addressed?
What distinguishes this course from others?
- This is based upon extensive research and intensive practice conducted by Tim Chapman over the past 5 years. He has reviewed and revised fundamentally his theoretical and practice model for restorative justice while keeping faith with the core values and principles of practice of RJ. Participants will be invited to engage with, reflect upon and practice:
– The seven core values and principles which create the scaffolding of
restorative practice;
– The seven qualities of character that generate trust between practitioners and
participants;
– The seven key concepts that enable practitioners to radically engage with the
reality of diverse people;
– The seven contexts which shape and influence the reality in which diverse
people experience and commit harm;
– The seven competences which enable practitioners to understand and
respond to diverse people;
– The seven conversations that lead from rupture to restoration;
– The seven ‘Ps’ of co-designing restorative meetings.
For more information, please contact Tim at info@timchapman.eu
Restorative Justice Practice that Addresses more Complex Harms and Requires more Sensitive Practices
Trainers and venue
This course will be co-led by Tim Chapman and people who have experienced restorative processes addressing race hate crime, homophobic and transphobic hate crime, extreme sexual violence and extreme domestic abuse. The course will be in London in a local community to be confirmed.
Course structure
Module 1 – 3 two-hour online webinars on contextualising race, homophobic, and transphobic hate crime and sexual violence and domestic violence through the experience of survivors and victors. 1st, 15th and 29th May, 4pm to 6pm.
Module 2 – 3 days in-person skills training in London in a local community to be confirmed. 24th – 26th June, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.
What distinguishes this course from others?
- The course is co-led by people with lived experience of more complex harm.
- People with lived experience of more complex harm are encouraged to enrol in the course.
- It places harm, injustice, and restoration in the contexts of systemic power, cultural values and relations, polarisation, secondary victimisation by public agencies designed to engage with victims and perpetrators of harm, interpersonal coercive control, chronic trauma and shame.
- It enables people to address through dialogue what matters to them protected from domination, intimidation, and threat.
- It includes a range of forms of restorative meeting co-designed with the participants.
Learning objectives
- To understand and apply the values and principles of the Balanced Model of Restorative Justice in a range of contexts.
- To be capable of using the skills and techniques of the narrative dialogue method to achieve a high level of engagement and face to face participation in restorative processes.
- To understand and facilitate restorative conferences and circles according to high standards of practice.
For more information, please contact Tim at info@timchapman.eu
Teaching and Learning Style
The course is designed to engage students actively in understanding the values, knowledge and skills underpinning restorative practices. It will encourage you to engage in a critical enquiry into restorative practices and to embed what you find valuable in your daily practice.
The learning methods are experiential and participative and participants will learn together. Guided by theory and demonstrations by Tim, participants will work in small groups through each of the stages of the restorative process through scenarios set in different contexts (criminal justice, youth justice, schools, community, families and
residential care) depending upon their interests. Each participants will be sent a workbook summarising the theoretical content, clearly describing the stages of the process specifying the skills required at each stage, outlining scenarios and learning exercises, providing references to further reading and spaces for notes.
