When I was thinking about creating this blog and indeed the themes for our upcoming E-Conference March 4th, I was reflecting upon the restorative question:

What’s Needed Now?

…in our school, in our homes and in our daily lives. Based on my conversations / experiences with practitioners in Connect RP schools, some school leaders who are my very valued critical friends (Rachel McGrath, Claire Matthews, & Daithí O’Murchú to name a few) and the awesome Connect RP Team, I landed on:

Nurture, Motivation and Participation!

As it’s January, we will focus on the theme of ‘Motivation’ and holding the intention to bring in the good vibes. Many of the educators I get to work and learn with talk about noticing a lack of energy, a lull in enthusiasm, an overwhelm in the staffroom due to the giving nature of our profession and the ever-growing list of jobs to complete, and maybe following the very challenging times that Covid has created for us in schools. This can impact how we show up in our roles, in our relationships and within our communities.

I’m reminded of Kay Pranis’s (an elder in the restorative international field) share at last year’s E-conference when she spoke about collective accountability and invites us to consider, ‘What needs to change in each of us to take care of all of us?’! Last month we spoke about ways we could contribute rather than criticise which roll’s on to this month’s theme of collectively ‘Bringing’ in the Good Vibes’!

‘Love Bomb Week’ is one of the whole-school initiatives that we explore in our Connect RP Schools to achieve this. We often link this to February’s Valentine’s Day which was an accidental tradition created when working as a teacher in my own school many years ago. It was a response to the implementation dip of RP within our school at the time when staff were a little weary, needed an injection of positivity, and needed reminding that RP was also about consciously cultivating positive relationships, not just replacing a punitive code of behaviour. I was first introduced to the term ‘love-bomb’ by one of my lovely colleagues at the time, Kevin, when he suggested during a staff Fishbowl (a structured solution-focussed circle) that we ‘love-bomb’ the student that was perceived at the centre of the chaos we were trying to find solutions for. The term and idea made me smile and it channelled our energies in a proactive direction.

Recently I have heard the term ‘Love-Bomb’ used to describe ways that abusive partners seek to control and harm those they are in relationship with. I am still thinking about this – I currently conclude that this term and intention, as I understand it, can create endless opportunities for healing and connection in the schools that I get to work within – as with everything restorative context and intention are paramount. The context of a school will be different to the context of a women’s shelter for example. It reminded me how language can be ‘messy’, especially when considering restorative language – is my intention when using it to control and seek compliance or to connect and contribute? Are we seeking to harm or to heal?

I am open to changing my mind about the term, I think flexibility is important when working restoratively and my compass will be the values we espouse to embody and the impact on the community we work within! I have experienced, heard and witnessed nothing but love and connection from our Love-Bomb Week in schools - SNAs, teachers , students continue to inspire me through their endless and creative ways to bring the idea of ‘Love-Bomb Week’ to life. Our video here offers some such examples, and we will share more about this and many other school initiatives (Look Up Day; RP Celebration Walks; Daily Dedications; Drop Everything and Be Kind; and On a Bright Note) to cultivate motivation at our upcoming E-conference on 4^th March. We’d love to see you there - All profit generated go to charity which is another motivation for us to invite you to spread the word wide and far!

This blog is about the theme of ‘Motivation’ but of course, all of the three themes of our E-conference - Nurture, Motivation & Participation - feed into one another, there is a symbiotic relationship between them! When we feel motivated, we participate. When I participate, I can feel more motivated. Equally, it’s hard to participate or feel motivated when we are empty and have unmet needs that require nurturing. So where do we begin? When we think about this, as we always try to remember when working with schools on our long-term restorative journey, we remember the importance of smaller steps – what one thing can I do today to bring in the good vibes and be the change I wish to see and feel within my community.