Creating a Culture of Care in Schools

A Basic Primer

By: Tom Cavanagh

Narrated by: Tom Cavanagh

In this book, author Dr. Tom Cavanagh shares insights into the theories and thinking that are the foundation of his work. This work is dedicated to helping schools create a culture of care, based on restorative justice principles and practices and culturally appropriate relationships and interactions. Dr. Cavanagh describes in some detail the ideas behind the basic or introductory training offered by Restorative Justice Education (restorativejustice.com).

The book is divided into seven parts:

• Chapter 1—"Theoretical/Conceptual Framework": In this chapter, Dr. Cavanagh engages in a discussion about the major ideas underlying a culture of care in schools. These ideas include (a) applied behavior analysis, (b) sociocultural theory, and contrasting these two approaches.
• Chapter 2—"Basic Principles of Restorative Justice in Schools": The focus of this chapter is on the ideas of relationships and responsibility
• Chapter 3—"The Evidence": In this chapter Dr. Cavanagh discusses the research that is the foundation for the basic training. Dr. Cavanagh talks about how this work began with the development of a theory of a culture of care in schools based primarily on restorative justice principles and practices. Then Dr. Cavanagh replicated the research in New Zealand to gain insights into how culturally appropriate relationships and interactions are needed in order to address issues of cultural equity.
• Chapter 4—"Restorative Activities": In this chapter, Dr. Cavanagh discusses the importance of creating and maintaining collegial relationships and teacher-student relationships. Dr. Cavanagh also writes about restorative activities in the classroom, restorative language and conversations, and restorative conferencing. In addition, Dr. Cavanagh discusses restorative interventions for social workers and counselors and for teachers and students. He writes about culturally sustainable restorative practices and the importance of each school writing an action plan that includes the implementation of community circles and restorative circles.
• Chapter 5—"Belonging and Connectedness": In this chapter Dr. Cavanagh writes about the key to learning, creating a sense of belonging and connectedness.
• Chapter 6—"Community": Students, particularly those who are raised in the dominant paradigm come to school with an individualistic viewpoint about life. In this chapter, Dr. Cavanagh discusses the importance of helping students (and their teachers) to adopt a sense of community.
• Chapter 7—"Conclusion": In conclusion, Dr. Cavanagh shares with the readers the research that is the foundation of a culture of care and some of the anecdotal stories to illustrate what putting the culture of care looks and feels like.

This book is intended to provide people with an overview of the basic training and to serve as a guide, while they are participating in the training.

©2022 Tom Cavanagh (P)2023 Tom Cavanagh