Relationships, Community, and the Restorative School: Lessons from Singapore (Contemporary Issues in Restorative Practices) - Softcover

Kek, Seow-Ling; Lim, James; Sim, Tyler; Li, Enci; Mui, Justin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1032491736 ISBN 13: 9781032491738

Publisher: Routledge, 2025

Synopsis

This book shares our journey with restorative practice and provides insight into how we developed a programme that impacts school culture – the Builders Project. It is a documentation of our experience of bringing restorative practice to primary school settings in Singapore, through a whole-school community building approach, to enable students to have a positive learning experience and to thrive. This contrasts with implementing restorative practice focusing on behavioural management. It is the first non-Western contribution to the field of restorative practices as a whole-school approach.

This book shares Lutheran Community Care Services (LCCS) practice assumptions that underpin the need to build, strengthen, and restore relationships. It also illustrates the application of our restorative practice principles, which are drawn from our experience, values, and research, towards building effective relationships among the individuals in the school community. Stories and perspectives of practitioners, students, parents, teachers, and school leaders are shared to highlight how they experience voice, agency, and belonging through restorative processes. Most importantly, we hope that this book will inspire you to reflect on your journey with restorative practice in schools through the reflection questions posed in each of the substantive chapters.

This book is for educators, school social work and mental health practitioners, educational policymakers, school administrators, principals, academics, researchers, and restorative practice practitioners. This book is also suitable for undergraduates or postgraduate students who desire to understand practice beyond the theories that they have learnt and gain insights on what the journey of practicing and implementing restorative practice looks like.

About this title

About the Author

Seow-Ling Kek is a trustee of the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP). She founded the Justice Movement to raise awareness of the needs of victims-survivors of crimes through their stories.

James Lim is director at LCCS, overseeing agency programmes. He serves on a primary school’s School Advisory Committee and is a committee member of the Singapore Association of Social Workers’ (SASW) School Social Work Chapter.

Tyler Sim is manager at LCCS and trainer for Restorative Practice and Restorative Circles. He holds a Master’s in Counselling, specialising in Couples and Family Therapy (M Couns.), from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and has an Advanced Certificate in Learning and Performance (ACLP) which certifies him to be an Adult Educator in Singapore.

Enci Li is a senior social worker at LCCS. Her current research with the organisation seeks to understand the impact of restorative practices on one’s relational capacity.

Justin Mui is executive director at LCCS. He serves as treasurer of Woodlands Social Centre and is chairman of SteppingStones Pte Ltd, a social enterprise that facilitates child adoption for children desperately in need of loving forever families.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032491736
• ISBN 13: 9781032491738
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 214