Graduate Program in Conflict Transformation

Practicum Proposal
Please fill out the blanks below with information, to the best of your
knowledge, regarding your proposed practicum:
Name: Corie Custer
Practicum Advisor: David Brubaker
Academic Advisor: Howard Zehr
Credits for Practicum (6-9): 9
Semester registering for Practicum: Spring 2014
Approximate beginning date: January 2014
Approximate ending date: April 2014

Practicum Proposal
Short Description of Practicum Placement
Briefly describe what you expect to do and where you expect to be located during your
Practicum (if available).

For my Practicum, I will be designing an art-based restorative justice program to be

implemented as an alternative to administrative transfers for young people in the
Minneapolis Public School district. This work will be done in partnerership with
"courageous heARTS" and Minneapolis Public Schools in Minneapolis, MN
Practicum Goals
State at least three to five goals for the Practicum. How do you see your Practicum contributing
to your own personal future, as well as to the field of peacebuilding? What are knowledge areas
you hope to expand or explore, skills you hope to develop or expand, disciplines you hope to
maintain for personal growth and self-sustenance, and contributions you hope to make to the
organization?

Knowledge Areas
Goal 1: To explore art-based interventions as they relate to youth development and
restorative justice theory and practice.
Goal 2: To gain a practical understanding of the challenges and possibilities associated
with implementing restorative justice processes in the public school setting

Skills
Goal 3: To develop facilitation, restorative justice and circlekeeping skills.
Disciplines
Goal 4: To intentionally network with community members practicing in the fields of
education, restorative justice and the arts.
Contributions
Goal 5: To develop a clearly-focused restorative justice program which will operate out
of courageous heARTS and begin to form a task-force willing to support the program.
(Examples of other goals you could include: particular products you hope to create;
accomplishments you hope to achieve; professional connections, relationships, or exposure you
hope to develop; attitudes or personal biases you hope to see challenged: contributions you hope
to make to others; etc)
Practicum Framework

Describe the framework that will guide you in carrying out your Practicum activities. Its
often helpful to conceptualize a practicum experience as a peacebuilding project with a
design stage, an implementation process, and a monitoring and evaluation procedure. Use the
following steps to describe your practicum plans.
1. What are the theories of change that you think will be most relevant to your practicum
experience? What peacebuilding and justice theories and concepts inform these applied
theories of change? What dimensions of change (e.g., individual, relational, structural,
cultural) is your practicum designed to foster? Describe at least two or three of these
theories and how you might test or use them during your practicum.

Theory of Change 1: If youth are actively involved in a youth-program design

process, then program participation levels and successful completion of the
program will be higher.
Theory of Change 2: If the arts are infused into restorative justice
processes, then participants will address harms, needs and obligations more
deeply and creatively.
Theory of Change 3: If school administrators experience successful
restorative justice processes and reintegration of students into the
school community, then they will be more likely to utilize restorative justice
processes than exclusionary discipline practices to address student behavior
infractions in the future.

2. What analysis tools do you think will be most relevant as you enter your practicum
experience (e.g., stakeholder mapping, onion model, conflict tree) and why do you think
each might be relevant?

Stakeholder Map - The stakeholder map will identify key people in the
Mineapolis Public School district and greater community who play a role in the
academic success of Minneapolis Public School students (with a focus on students
who have a history of suspensions and expulsions).
Onion Model - The onion model will be used to identify the positions, interests
and needs of students and their families, administrators, faculty and staff and
additional support service providers as they relate to student development and
disciplinary practices.
Conflict Tree - The conflict tree will be used to identify the root causes and
effects of exclusionary discipline practices in K-12 schools.
3. In light of your conversations with the practicum site, and subject to your theories of
change and analysis, describe in detail the kinds of activities you expect to be involved in
during your practicum?

I will work with Lindsay Walz (courageous heARTS) to apply for a Community
Innovation grant being offed by the Bush Foundation.
I will consult with outside parties to discuss potential partnership on the project or
to gather input on program design suggestions based on their areas of expertise.
These individuals will include, but are not limited to:
*Nancy Riestenberg (MN Department of Education)
*Julie Young-Burns (Minneapolis Public Schools)
*Colleen Kaibel (Check & Connect, Minneapolis Public Schools)
*Jacqueline Sakho (RJ + Education expertise)
*Jamie Williams, Oscar Reed and Kay Pranis (Circle Keeping Expertise)
*Sue Praill (RJ Expertise)
*Rachel Barnard (Young New Yorkers, Art + RJ Expertise)
I will facilitate a process in which young people assist in the design of an art-based
restorative justice program to be implemented as an alternative for administrative
transfers within the MPS district.
4. What ideas might you have to do monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of your
activities during your practicum? (While a final evaluation is expected in conversation
with your on-site practicum supervisor, you will also want to consider how ongoing
monitoring can occur throughout your practicum. What roles will your Practicum
Supervisor, Local Support Group, and Practicum Advisor play in the evaluation process?)

Monitoring and evaluation will be on-going as youth provide feedback on subject

matter and facilitation methods. This will take place during informal conversation,
facilitated discussions and Circle processes.
I will attend weekly meetings with Lindsay Walz to monitor and evaluate my
learning and progress.
I will keep a journal to track my learnings throughout the process.
The questions above are designed primarily for those who will be serving a practicum with a
particular organization or community. If you envision a research-based practicum, you may
need to adapt the questions in conversation with your practicum advisor. Those students who
are planning to do a thesis need to complete the Thesis Application process.
Support and Accountability
You will be expected to have three types of support during your Practicum your Practicum
Advisor from CJP, an advisory group of at least two persons from the area where your Practicum
is located, and your on-site supervisor.

Describe how you will communicate with your Practicum Advisor and the kind of support
you anticipate from your Practicum Advisor during the Practicum.

I will communicate with Dave via e-mail, phone, and/or Skype on a monthly basis. As
I venture outside of the CJP domain, I hope that check-ins will be a time to reflect on
the experience of applying CJP-inspired skills, theories, and terminology in the field. I
also hope to check in specifically about progress on my goals and reflections on my
theories of change.
Lindsay will provide an end of term evaluation and I will provide a final summary of
my experience and learning to Dave.

Identify the two to four persons who will be your local advisory group? How do you
anticipate interacting with them?

Danielle Taylor - Danielle and I may meet in person or connect via e-mail, phone
and/or Skype. I will consult with Danielle about creative approaches for engaging
youth in identity development, community building, restorative justice and other
difficult conversations.
Jaqueline Sakho - Because of distance, I will need to check in with Jacqueline via email, phone and/or Skype. I will consult with Jacqueline about navigating the
education system as an RJ practitioner.

What kind of personal and professional support do you anticipate needing from your
Practicum Supervisor in the context of your Practicum? How do you plan to communicate
your need for such support?

I anticipate needing Lindsay's support in professional networking and grant-writing. I

will communicate this need to Lindsay by reviewing my practicum goals with her and
and emphasizing the networking piece.
I will need to establish boundaries with Lindsay in terms of what I am hoping to gain
from my practicum experience while also respecting her vision as the founder and
director of the organization. I have already been in communication with Lindsay
about this and plan to continue the conversation throughout the process.

Practicum Details
(Complete this section once you have information regarding your placement site and
activities.)
Practicum location and organization: Minneapolis, MN - courageous heARTS
Has the organization approved you to work with them?

Yes

No

Local supervisor and role in organization of placement: Lindsay Walz, Founder and Director
Has your onsite supervisor reviewed and agreed to expectations listed in the Appendix?
Yes
No
If here on an F-1 student visa, have you submitted paperwork to be approved for Curricular
Practical Training/CPT? (Review the information on pages 19-20 regarding F-1 student
guidelines!): Yes
No
If you are conducting research, will you be using human subjects? Yes

No

If yes, have you received approval from the Institutional Review Board/IRB?
Yes
No
(See http://www.emu.edu/irb/ for more details)