Introduction

The emergence of restorative practices as a distinct field represents one of the most significant developments in addressing conflict and building community over the past three decades. While restorative justice focused initially on criminal wrongdoing, pioneers recognised an opportunity to extend these principles proactively across schools, workplaces, and organisations. Rather than waiting for crises, restorative practices sought to build relationships and social capital before harm occurred. This transformation required visionary leaders willing to challenge conventional approaches and practitioners willing to experiment with new models. The journey from Ted Wachtel’s foundational theoretical work to today’s globally integrated practices demonstrates how a small group of innovators fundamentally reshaped institutional responses to conflict and human development.

Five Top-Tier Pioneers

Ted Wachtel: The Architect of Restorative Practices

Ted Wachtel stands alone as the defining figure who transformed restorative justice concepts into a comprehensive framework applicable across all human systems. After encountering Terry O’Connell’s presentation about conferencing in Wagga Wagga, Australia, Wachtel founded Real Justice in 1994, initially focusing on youth conferencing. However, his critical breakthrough came at a 1999 international restorative justice research conference in Australia, where he presented the “Restorative Practices Continuum,” fundamentally reconceptualising the field.banr+1

Wachtel recognised that informal proactive practices preventing conflict were equally important as formal conferences responding to serious harm. This insight distinguished restorative practices from restorative justice by proposing a comprehensive continuum ranging from everyday affective statements to formal conferences. He argued that organisations needed both informal relationship-building and formal processes, with the former dramatically reducing the frequency with which the latter became necessary.banr

In establishing the International Institute for Restorative Practices in 1999, Wachtel created the primary institutional vehicle for developing, researching, and promoting restorative practices globally. His Social Discipline Window framework—mapping approaches along dimensions of control and support—provided theoretical architecture that practitioners could understand and implement. By 2006, when the Pennsylvania Department of Education authorised IIRP as a specialised master’s degree-granting institution, restorative practices had achieved academic legitimacy as “the science of restoring and developing social capital, social discipline, emotional well-being and civic participation through participatory learning and decision-making”.iirp+4

Margaret Thorsborne: School Implementation Pioneer

Margaret Thorsborne emerged as the pioneering practitioner who demonstrated that restorative approaches could fundamentally transform school culture and address institutional challenges at scale. Working as a school counsellor in the 1990s, Thorsborne was tasked with developing a whole-school response to bullying—a devastating problem for which traditional punitive approaches had proven ineffective. Her discovery that punitive responses actually escalated harm to victims prompted her search for alternatives.thenile+1

Drawing inspiration from restorative conferencing being used by New South Wales Police, Thorsborne adapted conference processes to school settings and discovered something remarkable: when schools engaged students, parents, and staff in inclusive problem-solving conversations, bullying decreased and relationships strengthened. Over 27 years, Thorsborne has worked relentlessly to develop implementation frameworks, train practitioners, and support organisational change. Through Thorsborne and Associates, she has consulted with hundreds of schools across Australia and internationally.restorative+2

Thorsborne’s contributions extended beyond practice to include sophisticated theoretical and practical guidance for whole-school culture change. Her insistence on viewing restorative implementation as a multi-year transformation process, not a quick-fix intervention, established realistic expectations and emphasised the importance of sustained commitment, proper training, and careful attention to safety. Her publications, particularly The Continuum of Restorative Practices in Schools, provide practitioners with comprehensive roadmaps for institutional transformation.thelakescollege+1

Belinda Hopkins: Educational Integration Leader

Dr. Belinda Hopkins pioneered the integration of restorative approaches into mainstream UK education during the late 1990s, creating the first teacher-specific training in restorative skills. Her innovation lay in recognising that teachers needed practical tools and frameworks specifically adapted to classroom dynamics and student development, not generic restorative justice training.transformingconflict

Hopkins completed the first doctoral thesis on restorative justice in schools in 2006, bringing rigorous academic grounding to what had been primarily practice-based work. Her trilogy of influential books—Just Schools (2004), Just Care (2009), and The Restorative Classroom (2011)—became foundational texts internationally. These works demonstrated how restorative principles could address proactive classroom management, develop emotional literacy, and transform institutional culture.transformingconflict

Hopkins’s career illustrates the critical difference between simply importing restorative processes and genuinely adapting them to sector-specific needs. By developing teacher-friendly language, classroom-specific scenarios, and age-appropriate applications, she made restorative approaches accessible and relevant to the education sector. Her subsequent work with Transforming Conflict, with offices in the UK and beyond, continues advancing restorative approaches across educational and care settings.transformingconflict

Paul McCold: Theoretical Framework Developer

Paul McCold contributed essential theoretical development to restorative practices by addressing the fundamental question of who constitutes “community” and what needs restorative processes should address. Working closely with Ted Wachtel, McCold helped develop frameworks that extended restorative justice beyond victim-offender repair to encompass organisational and community restoration.cfcj-fcjc+2

McCold’s theoretical work distinguished between restorative justice’s focus on addressing crime harm and restorative practices’ broader commitment to building relationships and addressing conflict across all human systems. This distinction proved crucial for legitimising restorative practices as a separate field with its own theoretical foundations. His contributions to understanding how restorative processes create accountability and strengthen community, particularly through his co-authored work with Wachtel, provided practitioners with coherent theoretical justification for their work.rpforschools

David Moore: Facilitator and Systems Expert

David Moore has worked in the restorative field since the early 1990s, initially alongside Terry O’Connell in Wagga Wagga, and has become a leading expert in facilitator training, group dynamics, and systemic implementation. As co-founder of the Victorian Association for Restorative Justice in 2005, Moore helped establish institutional support structures that sustained restorative practices’ development.restorative

Moore’s particular contribution has been developing sophisticated understanding of facilitation skills required for effective restorative encounters and training programs to prepare practitioners. His work addresses not only facilitator competence but also how organisations must change to genuinely support restorative approaches. Through university partnerships and consulting, Moore has been instrumental in building practitioner capacity across multiple Australian states.taylorfrancis+1

Five Additional Pioneering Contributors

Meredith Rossner, an Australian National University professor and criminologist, elevated understanding of restorative practices through research on emotional dynamics and ritual effectiveness. Her book Just Emotions: Rituals of Restorative Justice demonstrated how emotional transformation within restorative encounters correlates with reduced reoffending, providing crucial evidence that restorative processes work through specific psychological and emotional mechanisms.antoniocasella+1

Lorenn Walker, a Hawaii-based lawyer and health educator, pioneered applications of restorative practices to public health challenges since 1994. As director of Hawaii Friends for Restorative Justice for over 20 years, Walker has demonstrated how restorative approaches address reentry planning, child welfare, and victim services, extending the field beyond schools and criminal justice into health and social services.restorativejusticeontherise+1

Linda Lantieri, a former NYC teacher, co-founded the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) and later founded The Inner Resilience Program. Her integration of social-emotional learning with contemplative practice and restorative approaches demonstrated powerful synergies between emotional development, academic achievement, and behaviour improvement.edutopia+1

Alikki Vernon, a conflict resolution specialist at La Trobe University, has developed sophisticated facilitator training coordinated with David Moore at the University of Melbourne. Vernon’s focus on workplace conflict management and supported decision-making has expanded restorative practices into organisational development and judicial contexts.alikkivernon

Terry O’Connell, the Wagga Wagga police sergeant who developed the seminal conferencing model, became restorative practices’ global ambassador through his role with Real Justice and IIRP. His 2008 honorary doctorate from Australian Catholic University and continued international presentations ensure that the practitioner wisdom underlying restorative approaches remains central to the field’s development.lccsrpconference+1

Major Turning Points

The 2000s Expansion into Schools

The most significant turning point in restorative practices’ development occurred during the 2000s when the field expanded beyond criminal justice into schools and educational systems. Beginning in Australia in the 1990s and spreading internationally, schools became the primary site for restorative practices development and research. The Thames Valley Police actively promoted restorative approaches in UK schools, creating institutional pathways that legitimised restorative practices as appropriate for educational settings.rochester+3

This expansion represented a philosophical shift: restorative practices began being viewed not as specialist interventions for crises but as overarching approaches to culture change and relationship-building. Schools became laboratories where researchers could study whole-system implementation and measure outcomes across multiple domains.iirp+3

Integration with Social-Emotional Learning

A crucial turning point occurred as practitioners recognised profound connections between restorative practices and social-emotional learning (SEL). Linda Lantieri’s work demonstrated that restorative approaches naturally developed emotional literacy, relationship skills, and self-awareness—the core competencies of SEL. This recognition positioned restorative practices within broader educational reform movements and connected them to research on academic achievement and student wellbeing.lindalantieri+2

Research Evidence Accumulation

By the 2010s, substantial research evidence emerged supporting restorative practices’ effectiveness. Systematic literature reviews found that over 92% of whole-school restorative approaches studies reported positive changes in school climate, engagement, and discipline. Research demonstrated significant correlations between restorative practices and improved school connectedness, peer attachment, and reduced bullying victimisation. This evidence base transformed restorative practices from promising innovations into validated practices, attracting institutional adoption and research funding.eric.ed+1

Workplace and Organisational Application (2010s onwards)

The 2010s saw restorative practices expanding into workplace and organisational settings as leaders recognised that conflict resolution and culture building required relational rather than purely disciplinary approaches. Organisations discovered that restorative processes addressing employee concerns built trust, collaboration, and shared responsibility more effectively than traditional disciplinary procedures. This expansion demonstrated that restorative practices’ applicability extended across all human systems, fulfilling Ted Wachtel’s original vision.commonthread.antioch+2

Conclusion

The development of restorative practices from criminal justice interventions into a comprehensive approach reshaping schools, workplaces, and organisations reflects the contributions of visionary pioneers willing to challenge institutional conventions. Ted Wachtel’s theoretical architecture, Margaret Thorsborne and Belinda Hopkins’s demonstration of educational application, and subsequent contributions from scholars and practitioners created a field now grounded in both rigorous research and extensive practical experience. The turning points—expansion into schools, integration with social-emotional learning, accumulation of research evidence, and organisational adoption—each solidified restorative practices’ legitimacy and reach.

These pioneers and their turning points demonstrate that fundamental institutional transformation becomes possible when practitioners combine theoretical sophistication with practical humility, maintain focus on core values while adapting to context, and persist through the long implementation timelines required for genuine culture change. Today’s global restorative practices movement stands as testament to their enduring contributions and willingness to imagine and build a different way of addressing conflict and building community.thenile+2

Sources

Author

Martin Howard

Martin Howard has 30 years of experience in restorative justice training and advocacy. He serves on the Global Steering Council of Restorative Justice International and is a founding member of Restorative Practices International (Queensland). He is facilitator for the Sycamore Tree Project (Prison Fellowship) and is a technical innovator and writer\ in the field.

Pioneers in Restorative Practices: From Crisis Response to Cultural Transformation