Research - Neighbourhood

A story of Community & Education entwined.

In 1912 Joseph Rowntree opened New Earswick School – yet his aspirations for education and
the community are at the heart of learning in the village to this day.
Right from the start the school’s design and ethos were ahead of their time. It was spacious, ensured pupils had plenty of fresh air, and boys and girls were taught the same subjects. Since 1942, the village, on the edge of York, has also had its own secondary school, named after Joseph Rowntree.
This book inspired by major changes at both schools, which are milestones in the
history of learning in New Earswick – the creation of a new Joseph Rowntree School and
the primary school’s refurbishment and the development of a Children’s Centre.
The book also looks back on Joseph Rowntree’s vision for education in the community,
and objectively records and assesses what has happened in New Earswick, setting local
developments within the context of national policy. It highlights innovation and links between
schools and community.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) have
worked on – and learned from – a number of pioneering community and construction projects
in New Earswick over the years and we are proud to have been part of the developments
at both schools.
Joseph Rowntree’s work and vision is a strong part of the new secondary school’s value
base and heritage. JRHT’s work with the school has included:
• community consultation, so the school could hear local people’s views before building
even started;
• providing an architect who worked for the school;
• appointing fundraisers to attract additional funding;
• working directly with the project management board and helping to appoint the design
team and the council’s project manager;
• handling any complaints about construction traffic;
• commissioning New Earswick resident Pam Smith to take photos;
• ensuring JRF research was fed into the process.

Responding to intercommunal conflict-What can restorative justice offer? - Restorative Justice as popularly conceived is intertwined with 'community'. Building trust within 'communities', restoring damaged social and interpersonal relations, widening the ways in which conflict and violence are understood and responded to are all elements of restorative justice. There are parallels here with the activities of community-development workers working in conflicted neighbourhood level communities. Might some of the practices within a typical restorative justice initiative be useful to community development? We highlight the potential benefits of dialogical processes and structured 'healing' relationships that are inherent in restorative justice work. We argue that some longstanding understandings within community development could usefully extend the ways in which restorative justice is typically enacted. Fiona Verity & Sue King - Abstract from Oxford University Press and Community Development Journal (2008) 43(4): 470-482 first published online June 10, 2007