Mark Finnis
Restorative Practice - Relational-Based Schools - Transforming School Cultures
If you could find a way to improve school behaviour whilst also building better relationships and ensuring your school values are actually lived, then why wouldn’t you grab it?
Fortunately, such an approach is within reach. It’s called Restorative Practice and Mark Finnis, one of its leading proponents in the UK, is one of our top speakers and Associates.
Whilst RP’s close relation, Restorative Justice, is an approach to dealing with the fall out when things go wrong, limiting the damage, stopping things escalating and working to ensure whatever happened doesn’t happen again, Mark's work is all about getting the ethos, culture and relationships right in the first place. It’s an approach he not only takes to schools across the country but to local government, social services and children’s services too.
At its heart is the need we all have for human connection, built by genuine two-way communication. And having witnessed the effects of Mark’s input on what was a challenging inner-city secondary school it is nothing short of remarkable.
Perhaps the most striking aspect we observed was the way in which every single human being in the school, from the students to the leadership team to the support staff, had the opportunity to listen and to speak – to interact as a human being, not simply a number or a job title – before 9.00am each and every day.
To achieve this, it’s simply a question of relooking at the school timetable with a will to making, as the phrase goes, ‘the main thing, the main thing’. And as far as Mark is concerned, the main thing is the quality of the relationships that are being built.
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"If you want trust, you trust; if you want respect, you respect; if you want conflict, do neither."
Mark Finnis
Recent titles include:
- Culture exists in every school - but is yours by design or default?
- Children don’t follow rules; they follow relationships
- Restorative practice - it's not what you think it is!
From creating ‘circles’ to foster collaborative approaches to actually living your school values, not just displaying them (remember, if your values are on a lanyard around your neck, they’re probably not your values) to dealing effectively with conflict, there are so many facets to Restorative Practice as shared by Mark. Perhaps the simplest - and at the same time the hardest - is understanding that when it comes to doing things ‘to’, ‘for’ or ‘with’ children and young people, ‘with’ wins practically every time.
All in all, Mark’s work has the power to transform a school at every level. But it’s not a quick fix.
‘Zero tolerance ‘and ‘no excuses’ approaches are examples of such quick fixes that can do more harm than good, especially to the vulnerable children who most need our help. Restorative Practice takes effort but it is an effort that pays off both in the short term by improving the quality of school life but also in the longer term, setting everyone up to understand the power of communication, relationships and human connection.
If you’re looking for a challenging and entertaining speaker who can take everyone’s brain for a walk in way that genuinely transforms all aspects of school life, then Mark Finnis is the perfect fit.
Mark Finnis In His Own Words
“WE SPEND TOO MUCH TIME CATCHING PEOPLE OUT MAKING THE
WRONG CHOICES RATHER THAN CATCHING THEM IN DOING THE RIGHT
THING" - THERE IS ANOTHER WAY
- To enquire about booking Mark, call us on +44 (0)1267 211432 email us at learn@independentthinking.co.uk
- Mark has been with Independent Thinking since August 2014
- You'll find Mark in our Leadership and Teaching and Learning topic area
- You can watch Mark in conversation with Ian Gilbert in 2020 here
- You might also want to consider Dave Whitaker or Roy Leighton
Enjoy a free consultation. Make a booking.
Haggle a bit. All acceptable.
Give us a call on +44 (0)1267 211432 or drop us a line at learn@independentthinking.co.uk.
We promise to get back to you reassuringly quickly.