Many times educators may feel they do not have time to add anything else to already-packed schedules that are topped off with extra work beyond the hands-on time with children and students. In this brief segment Boyes-Watson and Pranis share ideas on how circles can help reconnect educators with their original passion for becoming one in the first place, and provide a space that regenerates and is a foundation for further exploring circles as a space for classes to briefly check in and then go about their days. If you are considering restorative processes in your educational environment, this is a great clip to hear ways in which you might start without feeling overdone further.

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In this short 4 minute segment Kay Pranis shares ways in which we can assure equal distribution and ownership of a circle, and how facilitators might be especially aware of their approach in various ways she describes.

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In this podcast you will discover some great insights into how to build your own restorative school community, including conversations and answers from our guests regarding:

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Jared Seide is the Director of Center for Council and has designed, piloted and coordinated Council-based programs in prisons, assisted living facilities, youth groups and a variety of non-profit and faith-based organizations and social service agencies, including “The Co-Mentoring Project” for emancipated foster youth, the “Social Justice Council Project” in partnership with the Angell Foundation and the “Prison/Reentry Council Initiative,” with the support of the Nathan Cummings and JIB Foundation, in addition to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  He has also coordinated, mentored and facilitated Council programs at eleven schools in Southern California and has led “Rite of Passage” retreats for a host of middle and high school youth, in addition to coordinating the LA-based “Council Collaborative Initiative.”  Seide was coordinator of the nine-member leadership team that relaunched the "Center for Council Practice" division of The Ojai Foundation, the antecedent of Center for Council.  He co-led the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Conference on integrating Council and SRM in California and Rwandan prisons and was subsequently invited by the foundation to be a Resident Fellow at the Bellagio. He has been a presenter at several conferences and seminars, speaking on the integration of Council into varied arenas.  Seide’s educational background includes a BA with high honors from Brown University. Prior to his work with Center for Council, Seide led successful careers in the entertainment industry and the corporate world. He is a member of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and a sixth cohort graduate of the Chaplaincy Program of Upaya Institute, under the direction of Roshi Joan Halifax.

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Ian is a criminologist and Ph.D. student, studying and lecturing in restorative justice at the School of Law, University of Leeds, UK. He was born in Canada, but has spent most of his life in Northern England.

He has conducted research for a number of organisations, including Restorative Solutions, the Restorative Justice Council, Search for Common Ground and the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs.

He is also the founder of the Community of Restorative Researchers, a new research network which aims to enhance communication and collaboration between researchers, practitioners and policymakers in the field of restorative justice.

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Dr. David Ragland grew up in North St. Louis, a few miles from Ferguson, Mo. Dr. Ragland is the co-founder for the Truth-Telling Project in St. Louis, Mo and a Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies.  The Truth Telling project is focused on developing a truth and reconciliation process to address structural violence and racism for Ferguson and Beyond.

David serves on the board of the Peace and Justice Studies Association.  Additionally he is the United Nations Representative for the International Peace Research Association. Over the past 13 years Dr. Ragland has taught at Bucknell University, Vassar College, Hofstra University, University of Toledo, Eastern Michigan University, Teachers College Columbia University Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and Washington University in St.Louis, Mo.

Dr. Ragland’s research focuses on Restorative Justice,  School & Social Violence, the School to Prison Pipeline,  Peace Education, Philosophy of Education, Coloniality and Critical Race Theory.  His most recent publication is a chapter titled "Peace Education as an Ethical Framework to Situate Restorative Justice: Locating the Concerns of Communities of Color in Peace and JusticeDiscourse" in Peace Studies between Tradition and Innovation.  David writes frequently for PeaceVoice and is currently working on a volume entitled "The Intellectual and Political History of Peacemakers of Color"

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Maya Schenwar is the author of Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better, and is Editor-in-Chief of Truthout.

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Ted Grimsrud is Professor of Theology and Peace Studies. Prior to teaching at EMU beginning in 1996, he served 10 years as a pastor in M to sleepennonite churches in Arizona, Oregon and South Dakota. He is especially interested in the connection between Christian theology and pacifism. He teaches classes in theology, peace studies, ethics, and the Bible. He is married to Kathleen Temple and is Elias’s and Marja’s grandfather. His latest book, published in November, 2014 by Cascade Books, is The Good War That Wasn’t—And Why It Matters: The Moral Legacy of World War II.. He blogs at thinkingpacifism.net. He has a website that gathers his writings at peacetheology.net.

Education

Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union (1988)
M.A., Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (1983)
B.S., University of Oregon (1976)

Recent Article:

https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/ted-grimsrud/violence-as-theological-problem

Publications

Books
The Good War That Wasn’t—And Why It Matters: The Moral Legacy of World War II. Cascade Books, 2014.

Arguing Peace: Collected Pacifist Writings, Volume Three—Biblical and Theological Essays. Peace Theology Books, 2014.

Instead of Atonement: The Bible’s Salvation Story and Our Hope for Wholeness. Cascade Books, 2013.

Proclaiming Peace: Collected Pacifist Writings, Volume Two—Sermons and Blog Posts. Peace Theology Books, 2013.

Writing Peace: Collected Pacifist Writings, Volume One—Short Articles. Peace Theology Books, 2012.

God’s Healing Strategy: An Introduction to the Main Themes of the Bible, revised edition. Cascadia Publishing House, 2011.

Compassionate Eschatology: The Future as Friend (co-edited with Michael Hardin) Cascade Books, 2011.

A Pacifist Way of Knowing: John Howard Yoder’s Nonviolent Epistemology. (co-edited with Christian Early) Cascade Books, 2010.

Theology as if Jesus Matters: An Introduction to Christianity’s Main Convictions. Cascadia Publishing House, 2009.

Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality (co-authored with Mark Thiessen Nation) Herald Press, 2008.

Embodying the Way of Jesus: Anabaptist Convictions for the 21st Century. Wipf and Stock Publisher, 2007.

Transforming the Powers: Peace, Justice, and the Domination System (co-edited with Ray Gingerich). Fortress Press, 2006.

Peace and Justice Shall Embrace: Power and Theopolitics in the Bible (co-edited with Loren Johns). Cascadia Publishing House, 2000.

Triumph of the Lamb: A Self-Study Guide to the Book of Revelation. Herald Press, 1987.

In October of 2013 Nicholas founded the Restorative Justice Center of the Northwest.

Through a partnership with Pierce County Center Dispute Resolution we have reached out to local schools in Pierce Co. as well as beginning to support Pierce Co. Juvenile Justice.  We are looking forward to a rich working relationship.

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In a time of social and ecological crisis, what can we as individuals do to make the world a better place? This inspirational and thought-provoking book serves as an empowering antidote to the cynicism, frustration, paralysis, and overwhelm so many of us are feeling, replacing it with a grounding reminder of what’s true: we are all connected, and our small, personal choices bear unsuspected transformational power. By fully embracing and practicing this principle of interconnectedness—called interbeing—we become more effective agents of change and have a stronger positive influence on the world.

Throughout the book, Eisenstein relates real-life stories showing how small, individual acts of courage, kindness, and self-trust can change our culture’s guiding narrative of separation, which, he shows, has generated the present planetary crisis. He brings to conscious awareness a deep wisdom we all innately know: until we get our selves in order, any action we take—no matter how good our intentions—will ultimately be wrongheaded and wronghearted. Above all, Eisenstein invites us to embrace a radically different understanding of cause and effect, sounding a clarion call to surrender our old worldview of separation, so that we can finally create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.