Dear All
I am wanting to pass on a message which came throught the Educational
Psychology List that I subscribe too- mainly to share what is happening in
the world of education and as a way of supporting Barbara Maines' work which
with its emaphasis on restorative work in schools fits with our hopes for
nvc in schools
I would enjoy to hear reactions from others
Shona

-----Original Message-----
From: The Educational Psychology List [mailto:EPNET@...]On
Behalf Of Barbara Maines
Sent: 06 February 2006 22:49
To: EPNET@...
Subject: [EPNET] Anti Bullying Alliance


Successful Strategy under Attack

When a society behaves at its worst it is often the result of oppression
by those who hold power. Compliance, maybe reluctant, is given by those
who are powerless.

Since the first publication of the No Blame Support Group method in 1991
we have been both supported and criticised. We have never complained
about that – the work is controversial and should be evaluated and
debated. Some of the negative comments have been personalised and we
have tried hard to be restrained in our responses, whilst continuing to
promote non-punitive, restorative and solution focused process.

The principal source of the criticism has come from Kidscape, members of
which have misrepresented our 7-step method by suggesting that it is a
process during which the victim has to confront the bullies and the
bullies ‘get away with it’. That is definitely not what we advocate but,
through popularisation of this variation, we have found that some
schools misuse the method and end up with different results. If you want
the cake you have to follow the recipe!

Since the formation of the Anti-bullying Alliance and our appointment as
regional coordinators in September 2004 the negative press has escalated
and become very unpleasant.

Towards the end of 2005 a Labour MP in Bristol took the opportunity to
attack the recently elected Lib-Dem Bristol Council by asking Tony Blair
to condemn the use of the No Blame method as referenced in the Bristol
policy document.

On 16th of December we received a phone call from Paul Ennals, Chief
Executive of the National Children’s Bureau which hosts the service
agreement for the ABA, telling us that our contracts as regional
coordinators would not be renewed. Until that point we had been led to
believe that we would be signing new contracts before the end of the year.

At a meeting of regional coordinators on 9th January Paul Ennals
explained that he was under extreme pressure from the Prime Minister’s
office including frequent phone calls both to his home and at work. The
threat was to withdraw funding for the ABA if we continued in post as
coordinators because we are associated with a non-punitive approach to
bullying. Paul Ennals assured us that our work was supported by the ABA,
that we had not promoted our own work in our roles as regional
coordinators, and that we had done nothing wrong.

At subsequent meetings our colleagues (coordinators and members of the
advisory group) unanimously and in the strongest terms condemned the
action and asked Paul to reverse his decision. He refused. Our contracts
have not been renewed and ongoing work has been interrupted, including
development of an accreditation scheme for schools and creative work
with Looked After Children.

This is a short, factual account of what has happened. We should add
that we have been devastated by this and as we left the coordinators
meeting we broke down in tears, feelings of rage at the injustice and
overwhelmed by the support and concern expressed by our colleagues.

Whilst criticism is often voiced publicly and makes good press, messages
of support are usually sent to us privately. We are now contacting
colleagues to ask for help on three counts.

1. We want to explain what has happened and allow people to express
their views on a political process that threatens professional freedom
and integrity for all of us.
2. It is important that the voices advocating punishment and retribution
do not go unchallenged and that those who support restorative, problem
solving and emotionally literate methodology have a strong voice
3. We need to protect our reputation and access to our work.

For clarification we can confirm to you that we are Sage employees on
salaries and we have not had any personal financial gain from the ABA.

During recent weeks we have been updating our website with new
information which will go live on the 6th February.
http://www.luckyduck.co.uk/supportgroup


If you would like to express your views by email they should go to:
barbara@...
george@...
ccloke@... - Chair of ABA
PEnnals@... - Chief Executive NCB
conorfryan@... - Prime Minister's Office

We have made the decision to resign as members of the ABA and make
public what has happened to us. We have made contact with the office of
the Children's Commissioner and will be meeting with his team to discuss
ways in which we can continue to make a contribution to this
anti-bullying work.

We will be contacting colleagues in the UK and overseas inviting them to
join an interest group to share good practice, training and research in
the range of non-punitive methods to combat bullying. It you would like
to join please email barbara@luckyduck and we will keep in touch .

If you have received our training or used the Support Group Method then
we would be very grateful if you would complete the enclosed questionnaire

Thank you
Barbara Maines and George Robinson

1. How did you learn about the method?
2. Have you ever used it
3. Did you follow the 7 steps
4. Have you used other methods to change behaviour of bullies
5. What has worked
6. What has not worked
7. Other comments

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The views expressed in this EPNET message are solely the author's.
They are not to be represented as the views either of the member's
employer or of educational psychologists generally

The EPNET archives and the subscription manager can be found at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/epnet.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------