Victoria offering world's first restorative justice MOOC

In a world first, Victoria is offering a free online course focused on restorative justice as part of its WellingtonX programme of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

Presented by Professor Chris Marshall, Diana Unwin Chair in Restorative Justice in Victoria’s School of Government, Tom Noakes-Duncan, lecturer in the Diana Unwin Chair in Restorative Justice and Haley Farrar, Programme Development Advisor, Restorative Justice and Practice: Emergence of a Social Movement is an introduction to the theory and practice of restorative justice—widely regarded as one of the most important innovations in modern justice practice.

Drawing on the pioneering role New Zealand has played in incorporating restorative practices into its justice, welfare and education systems, the course traces how restorative justice has grown from small beginnings into a wider social movement for change across all sectors of society.

Key New Zealand proponents of restorative justice feature in the course, including: Judge Andrew Becroft, Children’s Commissioner; Wallace Haumaha, New Zealand Police Deputy Chief Executive Māori; and Kim Workman, social justice advocate and godfather of the restorative justice movement in this country.

The course is the first MOOC of its kind worldwide, teaching restorative practices and how they can bring about positive change for schools, families, workplaces and community agencies.

“Restorative justice is a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular offence or conflict come together with trained facilitators to have a conversation about what’s happened, what the impact has been and how things can be repaired,” explains Professor Marshall.

“It’s a new lens for looking at the problem of human justice, conflict and wrongdoing, based on a relational understanding of justice.

“It’s not just the tools, it’s the underlying philosophy that makes it different from the conventional way of working. Fundamentally, our conventional justice system asks three questions: What laws have been broken? Who broke them? What punishment do they deserve? Restorative justice, in contrast, asks a different set of questions: Who has been hurt by what’s happened, and what needs do they have? Who is responsible for causing the harm, and what obligations do they have? What can we do to restore and repair things? Also how did it happen, and how can we ensure it doesn’t happen again?”

Among the aspects the course focuses on is restorative justice in schools.

“Restorative Justice began as an initiative within the criminal justice system, but the principles, values and priorities were adopted by schools,” says Professor Marshall.

“The restorative processes have an important role to play in student disciplinary regimes, but they also have an important role in improving student and staff wellbeing, generally.”

This course is the latest addition to the growing WellingtonX programme of innovative MOOCs on the international edX platform. These include a virtual field trip to Antarctica (Antarctica: From Geology to Human History) and New Zealand’s first bi-cultural MOOC, New Zealand Landscape as Culture: Islands (Ngā Motu).

Restorative Justice and Practice: Emergence of a Social Movement starts on Tuesday, 1 May, 2018. Enroll now for free online.