Graduate Course Schedule

Spring 2021 Course Offerings

Registration for Spring 2021 begins 10/30/2020.

IIRP graduate courses are three credits and consist of 42 hours of direct instruction delivered in-person and/or online. Courses with final exams have an additional three hours of instruction time. Students should plan to spend approximately two hours preparing for each instructional hour; this may include reading, research and other assignments.

Registration: Students register for courses utilizing the online registration process through the Student Portal. Courses start at various times during the term. Registered students will receive an email notification when the course becomes available in Moodle, the Learning Management System.

Course requirements vary and may include purchasing books prior to the start date of the course. Registration is to be completed no later than one week prior to the start of class to provide the student with sufficient time to prepare for the course. Due to the nature of the courses, registration for Restorative Practices Symposium and Conferences and RP 541 World Conference is permitted up to two days prior to the start of those courses.

Late Registration Fee: Students who choose to register after the deadline will pay the Late Fee of $25, which is non-refundable and non-transferable.

Foundational Courses (online courses show start and end dates)

*Before taking this course, students will need to have attended IIRP professional development experiences: Introduction to Restorative Practices and Using Circle 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 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 will implement and evaluate a restorative practices project that builds on their previous experience. Students will acquire restorative skills through readings, lecture, self-assessment and an interactive online process.

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.

Electives

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.

Students in this course will learn about the synergy between restorative practices and the field of community health. They will understand how restorative practices can improve social factors that are known to influence health and well-being, including connectedness and belonging, personal and collective efficacy, sense of community, resilience, and flourishing. Students will learn how restorative practices can strengthen community health 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 these social determinants of health within a community of the student’s choice.

In this course, students will develop an understanding of social construction theory 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.