Building a Culture of Restorative Practice and Restorative Responses to Academic Misconduct

Abstract

Abstract TheUniversal Declaration of Human Rights’Article 26 on education and more recently UNESCO’s “World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Mission and Action” have called for civic and ethical education alongside academic education in postsecondary settings. Many post-secondary institutions have made fostering civic responsibility, engaged citizenship, and ethical decision making in students a strategic priority. What often remains ambiguous is how these priorities translate into action. A growing body of scholarly literature and research establishes the role Restorative Practice (RP) can play in pursuing these strategic priorities surrounding moral development, emotional intelligence, and engaged citizenship. Specifically, RP has been shown to prevent conflict and misconduct, while empowering marginalized individuals. Restorative practices demonstrate fairness; and foster empathy, compassion and accountability; through experiential learning opportunities. In light of these developments, MacEwan University, in Alberta, Canada, has been actively building a restorative culture. One aspect of this endeavour was the revision of its Academic Integrity Policy and Academic Misconduct Procedures to include the possibility of alternative resolutions to academic misconduct, based on restorative practices and principles. In our chapter, we will (a) provide a brief introduction to restorative practices that makes explicit its connection to universities’ civic education mandate, integrity, and specifically, academic integrity; (b) describe the restorative practices model that is being established at MacEwan University; (c) discuss in detail the application of restorative practices to academic misconduct cases, including training of facilitators, as well as successes and challenges experienced in the first year since it became available; and, finally, (d) share feedback regarding its effectiveness received from students, staff, and faculty who participated in restorative resolutions.

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