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                                                                   OLLSCOIL NA HÉIREANN MÁ NUAD 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                             THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                         MAYNOOTH 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                        Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                          M.Ed. (Research in Practice) 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                          2018 - 2019 
                                                                                                        
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                 A narrative of how I improved my facilitation of Restorative Practice in 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                             order to enhance parents’ relationships with their children. 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                       Richard Walsh 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                               A Research Dissertation submitted to the Froebel Department of Primary 
                                                                                                          
                              and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University, in fulfilment of the 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                               requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Research in Practice) 
                                                                                                          
                                                                                                          
                                  Plagiarism - Declaration of Authenticity    
                                                                           Date: 18th September 2019 
                                                                                                      
                                   
                                                                    Supervised by: Dr. Bernie Sullivan  
                                   
                                   
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                                                     
                                      Declaration of Authenticity 
                    
                    
                        “Plagiarism involves an attempt to use an element of another person’s work, without 
                        appropriate  acknowledgement  in  order  to  gain  academic  credit.  It  may  include  the 
                        unacknowledged verbatim reproduction of material, unsanctioned collusion, but is not 
                        limited  to  these  matters;  it  may  also  include  the  unacknowledged  adoption  of  an 
                        argumentative structure, or the unacknowledged use of a source or of research materials, 
                        including  computer  code  or  elements  of  mathematical  formulae  in  an  inappropriate 
                        manner.” 
                                                               Maynooth University Plagiarism Policy  
                   
                    
                    
                   I hereby declare that this project, which I now submit in partial fulfilment of the 
                   requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Research in Practice) is 
                   entirely my own work; that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work 
                   is original and does not to the best of my knowledge breach any law of copyright, 
                   and has not been taken from the work of others save to the extent that such work 
                   has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work.  
                    
                    
                    
                    
                   Signed:                     
                  
                    
                   Date:       18th September 2019 
                    
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
                                                      
                                                      
                                                      
                                                      
                                                      
                                                      
                                                    ii 
                         Abstract 
          
          
          
         Restorative Practice is a philosophy and a set of skills focused on building, maintaining 
         and repairing relationships and managing conflict in a respectful, inclusive manner. The 
         aim of this study was twofold, firstly to determine if and how I can improve my 
         facilitation of Restorative Practice for parents and secondly if effectively teaching the 
         course content and facilitating parents’ development of Restorative Practice skills, 
         would enhance parents’ relationships with their children. Specifically, the research 
         question for this project is “How can I improve my facilitation of Restorative Practice 
         in order to enhance parents’ relationships with their children?” 
          
         The chosen methodology was action research. Full ethical approval was sought and was 
         granted by Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education Masters of 
         Education in NUI Maynooth. In order to encourage a common restorative approach 
         between home and school, together with a colleague, I co-facilitated two Restorative 
         Practice courses for two groups of parents. The courses formed the basis of this action 
         research project. In order to build a credible source of evidence, practical knowledge 
         from my reflective journal, parents’ daily diaries, correspondence from critical friends 
         and notes from validation group meetings was used as data. The Restorative Practice 
         courses taught the parents the values, skills and processes of Restorative Practice .  
          
         The key findings were, my claim that I have improved my facilitation of Restorative 
         Practice , I have become critically reflective in my teaching and I have noticed that this 
         critical mindset has now become a way of negotiation in my daily life. The parents 
         were given the opportunity to reflect on their own behaviour, analyse their values and 
         appraise themselves. According to their diaries they experienced a measure of personal 
         growth and a deepening self-awareness. Their relationships with their children were 
         enhanced. The evidence indicated that participation in the Restorative Practice course 
         resulted in the parents replacing social control in the home with social engagement.  
          
         Throughout this action research I have become more aware of my own core values, I 
         have found that they have influenced a change in my practice and that they have been 
         the standards by which I judge my effectiveness in facilitating Restorative Practice . I 
         have noted the following improvements in my practice: I have become a better listener 
         and I have become more conscious of the parents’ individual needs and more adaptive 
         to the needs of the group. I have learned how to facilitate Restorative Practice using 
         both a managed narrative and an inclusive dialogical approach.  
                      
                          iii 
                      Acknowledgements 
          
          
          
         I would like to thank Seamie O’Neill, Head of Education, Froebel Department of 
         Primary and Early Childhood Education, Maynooth University, for introducing me to 
         Action Research a number of years ago. In particular he pointed me towards the work 
         of Jack Whitehead, Jean McNiff and Sullivan et al., thus setting me on this research 
         journey.  
           
          
         I would like to express my profound gratitude to my wonderful supervisor, Dr. Bernie 
         Sullivan, for her guidance and expertise throughout this entire piece of action research.  
         While helping me to develop my research skills, she provided me with invaluable 
         advice and supervision throughout this very challenging year.  
          
          
         I would also like to express my thanks to the staff of my school in particular the eight 
         members of staff who were my validation group. Thank you for giving up your lunch 
         breaks to attend the validation group meetings, for being great listeners and providing 
         me with some invaluable guidance, support and critique.  
          
          
         To my criticial friend and Deputy Principal, Clodagh Whan, who inspired me to be the 
         best reflective practitioner I can be. She encouraged and showed great belief and faith 
         in me. I will be eternally grateful to her.  
          
          
         To Niamh Fowler my critical friend, colleague and co-facilitator in the Restorative 
         Practice programmes with the parents, thank you for sharing so much of my journey 
         with me. In particular I will remember our chats, over the cups of tea after each session, 
         we explored the nights interventions and challenged our thinking and ideas. These 
         sessions renewed my enthusiasm for the journey, inspired me to new possibilities and 
         gave me the energy to continue.  
          
          
         I am incredibly thankful for the constant encouragement of my family, in particular my 
         daughter Sarah and my wife Paula. They had been my critical friends in the home, my 
         proof readers, consistently believing in me, encouraging me to go the extra mile, 
         providing positive helpful critique and always helping me to focus on the positive.  
          
          
         Finally I would like to express my gratitude to the Board of Management of my school 
         for their role in facilitating this research and of course all of the parents who took part 
         in the two Restorative Practice programmes. I sincerely appreciate their participation 
         and respect their invaluable contribution to the whole process.  
                                        
                          iv