Course Offerings

RP 500 Basic Restorative Practices

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Blended | Course duration: 4 weeks (23 hrs. online)

* Before taking this course, students will need to have attended IIRP professional development experiences: Introduction to Restorative Practices and Using Circles Effectively (in-person) or Restorative Practices for Educators (online) and either Facilitating Restorative Conferences (in-person) or Restorative Justice Conferencing (online).

This course explores the fundamental principles, philosophy, theories, practices, models and skills of restorative practices. Special emphasis will be placed on proactive and responsive circles, restorative conferencing and the informal application of these processes. Issues critical to the development of restorative practices, such as models of human interaction, theories of behavior and current research will be considered. Students will assess the role of human emotion, especially shame, in social relationships.

Students may choose either RP 500 or RP 504, but may not take both, to fulfill the program requirements.

RP 504 Foundations of Restorative Practices

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: None

Students in this course will learn about the foundations of restorative practices as an evolving field of study. They will explore the emotional, relational, and ecological theories underpinning restorative principles, and the importance of engaging with others in equity-oriented relationships. Students will develop explicit restorative practices skills for application in their own personal and professional lives.

Students may choose either RP 500 or RP 504, but may not take both, to fulfill the program requirements.

RP 525 Restorative Practices in Action

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 500 or RP 504 or attendance at Introduction to Restorative Practices and Using Circles Effectively, taken after January 1, 2009 (in-person) or Restorative Practices for Educators (online)

In this hands-on course, students will design, implement, and assess a project that infuses explicit actions modeling restorative practices into their own personal or professional settings. Students will examine ethical and cultural issues related to implementing restorative practices with individuals and communities. Self-reflection is incorporated in the project development process as a critical competency of restorative practices. Students will assess their own development through reciprocal feedback within a professional learning community.

RP 610 Evaluation of Research

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

This course teaches students to be knowledgeable consumers of research so that they can understand and critique what they read. Students will explore approaches, methods and techniques through online group discussion and readings of research that they choose based on their own areas of interest.

RP 699 Integrating Seminar (requires completion of all required master’s degree coursework)

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: All required master’s degree program coursework

Students will create a culminating multimedia project that describes how restorative practices positively influences human behavior and strengthens civil society. Students will also identify potential gaps in this emerging social science. Projects are developed in a highly interactive group process where students support each other in writing and presenting their project. As a professional learning community, faculty and students engage in discussion about each presentation to help the group review the processes, philosophy, theory, and research in restorative practices.

RP 680 Designing Restorative Practices Research

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 525

Students in this course will develop skills and competencies to design scientific inquiry in restorative practices. Students will review research concepts and principles and explore research designs and methods appropriate for answering different types of restorative practice questions. Students will select a topic intended to advance the restorative practices field of study and conceptualize and design a research project. Students also will learn essentials of writing research proposals.

RP 685 Data Analysis for Restorative Practices Research

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 680 or permission of the faculty

Students in this course will develop skills and competencies to work with data in restorative practices and social sciences research. Students will learn about qualitative and quantitative data analysis, data interpretation, and how to communicate data-driven results. There is an emphasis on qualitative data analysis techniques, however students also will be introduced to statistical software to perform descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. This course will prepare students to pursue an independent research project.

RP 707 Thesis Seminar

Credits: 0 | Delivery Mode: Online | Prerequisites: RP 680, RP 685, RP 699 and prior approval to pursue the M.S. Thesis option

During this ongoing non-credit Thesis Seminar, students who have been approved to complete a thesis will be supported by the Faculty Committee Chair, their Faculty advisor and a committee of the student’s choosing. Students will work to develop an original research question and thesis proposal that includes a literature review. The project will need IIRP Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval prior to conducting any research. Students will complete their research, writing and defense of their thesis within two years from their enrollment in this Seminar. 

RP 506 Restorative Practices: The Promise and the Challenge

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: None

This course introduces students to a wide range of possible applications for restorative justice and other restorative practices in varied settings including criminal justice, education and youth services, higher education, social work and workplaces. Students explore the potential, as well as the limitations, risks and obstacles to restorative practices through reading, online videos, interactive online discussion and writing assignments.

RP 517 Restorative Approaches to Leadership

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 500 or RP 504

Students in this course will have the opportunity to explore restorative approaches to leadership and create an actionable leadership plan. The course will examine various perspectives on leadership, self-reflection, and engagement. Students will explore how our values, experiences, empathy, and bias inform our beliefs, intentions, actions, and impact. Current literature, theory, and practical applications will be discussed. Students will participate in a guided professional learning community where they will post reflections, responses, and helpful feedback.

RP 532 Aggression Replacement Training®: Behavioral Interventions that Work

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Blended | Course duration: 7 weeks (30 hrs. online)

* Before taking this course, students will need to have attended the IIRP professional development experience: Aggression Replacement Training®. 

This course is designed to give students practical strategies for intervention with at-risk youth. The course will explore evidenced-based practices such as Aggression Replacement Training® and Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI). The online experience builds on the guided practice portion of the course by examining social and emotional learning theories as they relate to the philosophical framework of restorative practices. Students will complete 30 hours of coursework online after attending the Aggression Replacement Training® event.

RP 541 IIRP World Conference

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Blended | Course duration: Variable (27 hrs. online)

* Before taking this course, students will need to have attended the IIRP professional development experiences: IIRP World Conference.

In this course, students earn credits based on participation and engagement at an IIRP world restorative practices conference. They supplement this direct experience with related readings, writing assignments, and online discussions. Students actively evaluate, discuss, and critique presentations using restorative practices principles. Students will complete 27 hours of coursework online after attending the conference.

RP 550 Transforming Relational Harm

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 500 or RP 504

This course explores a deeper application of restorative practices as it relates to emotion and harm. Students will use group process, emotional dynamics, compassionate witnessing and mindful practice to address a wide continuum of harm. Students will explore neuroscience and how harm impacts the brain.Through the learning process, students will begin to understand how harm, human neuroscience and emotional experiences affect relationships.

This course requires participation in synchronous skill-building experiences with the instructor and a willing participant with whom to practice compassionate witnessing.

Note: People have been exposed to various levels of trauma in their lives. This course considers the use of restorative practices in cases of grief, trauma and adversity. We advise students to consider establishing an emotional support system for themselves while taking this course.

RP 556 Restorative Practices for Community Health and Well-Being

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 500 or RP 504 or attendance at Introduction to Restorative Practices and Using Circles Effectively, taken after January 1, 2009 (in-person) or Restorative Practices for Educators (online)

Students in this course will learn about the synergy between restorative practices and the field of community health. They will explore how restorative practices can help create supportive environments that facilitate well-being by prioritizing and strengthening a sense of community, connectedness, equity, belonging, and collective efficacy. Students will learn how restorative practices can strengthen community-focused efforts by fostering meaningful and sustainable cross-sector collaborations and developing the community’s capacity to advance the well-being of its members. Individual plans will be created to use restorative practices to address the social determinants of health within a community of the student’s choice.

RP 610 Evaluation of Research

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

This course teaches students to be knowledgeable consumers of research so that they can understand and critique what they read. Students will explore approaches, methods and techniques through online group discussion and readings of research that they choose based on their own areas of interest.

RP 622 History, Evolution, and Critical Issues in Restorative Justice

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

Restorative justice views crime from the perspective of those directly and indirectly affected by an incident, empowering them to decide how best to repair harm. This course explores the possibilities of using restorative justice to respond more meaningfully to crime than current approaches used in the criminal justice system. Students examine theory and research to assess restorative justice's potential for reducing crime and, importantly, its impact. Through case study reviews, students apply restorative responses to situations and compare them with current practices. Readings, video presentations with knowledgeable professionals and guided discussions present additional learning opportunities.

RP 623 Restorative Justice: Global Perspectives

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

This course offers students a comprehensive perspective on restorative justice practices from around the world. Students will examine how restorative justice practices have been implemented in various cultures and contextual settings. Expert speakers will join this course to provide insight from many years of experience working within the restorative justice paradigm. Students will explore these practices through a diverse selection of readings, video presentations, expert speakers and guided discussion threads.

RP 625 Restorative Practices in Life Space Crisis Intervention

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

This course focuses on the basic communication process in problem management and crisis intervention. Life Space Crisis Intervention, which helps individuals identify patterns of self-defeating behavior, is viewed through a restorative lens. Role plays of restorative responses facilitate an understanding of the process. Students will learn to apply Life Space Crisis Intervention with individuals in the moment of crisis.

This course requires participation in synchronous skill-building experiences with the instructor and a willing participant with whom to practice questioning skills.

RP 635 Narrative Inquiry for Empowering Facilitators

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

In this course, students will develop an understanding of social construction and narrative theories that empower the facilitation of decision making. Students will learn to organize and maintain conversations with others to address their needs and enhance their potential through enriched narrative conversations that acknowledge the individual or group.

This course requires participation in synchronous skill-building experiences with the instructor and a willing individual with whom to practice six different narrative maps.

RP 652 Social and Emotional Learning in the Restorative Classroom

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

This course will explore how restorative learning environments provide opportunities for social and emotional learning (SEL) in any educational setting. Attention will be paid to the research behind SEL and how SEL is linked to student performance and behavior. Students will learn how to use restorative practices to encourage SEL in the classroom.

RP 662 A Restorative Approach to Educating the High-Risk and High-Need Student

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisites: RP 525, plus RP 500 or RP 504

Every classroom, whether mainstream or specialized, contains students who experience poverty, trauma, persistent adversity, addiction/substance abuse, neglect or other risk factors at some point in their lives. This course goes beyond “behavior management” to focus on a restorative framework and techniques for instruction that meet the unique cognitive and emotional needs of these learners.

RP 680 Designing Restorative Practices Research

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 610

Students in this course will develop skills and competencies to design scientific inquiry in restorative practices. Students will review research concepts and principles and explore research designs and methods appropriate for answering different types of restorative practice questions. Students will select a topic intended to advance the restorative practices field of study and conceptualize and design a research project. Students also will learn essentials of writing research proposals.

RP 685 Data Analysis for Restorative Practices Research

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Online | Course duration: 10 weeks | Prerequisite: RP 680 or by permission of course faculty

Students in this course will develop skills and competencies to work with data in restorative practices and social sciences research. Students will learn about qualitative and quantitative data analysis, data interpretation, and how to communicate data-driven results. There is an emphasis on qualitative data analysis techniques, however students also will be introduced to statistical software to perform descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. This course will prepare students to pursue an independent research project.

RP 694 Directed/Independent Study

Credits: 3 | Delivery mode: Individualized | Course duration: Variable | Prerequisite: RP 500, RP 525 (Requires consent of instructor)

This course provides an opportunity for a matriculated student to develop a learning contract that defines directed study or independent study on a special topic demonstrating a deeper understanding and application of restorative practices.

Note: This course requires the approval of the Provost after a learning contract has been designed between a faculty member and the student.