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The
School Mediator's Field Guide:
Prejudice, Sexual Harassment,
Large Groups and Other Daily Challenges
by
Richard Cohen
more
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Students
Resolving Conflict:
Peer Mediation in Schools
by
Richard Cohen
more
info |
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Welcome to the June issue of
The School
Mediator.
In this month's issue, our last for the 2002-2003
year, we share some good news regarding funding peer
mediation. The next issue you receive will be in
September.
I have appreciated all of the insightful responses and
positive
feedback that I have received from you this year.
Have a wonderful Summer,
Richard Cohen
Founder and Director
School Mediation Associates
PS: If you received this free newsletter directly from us,
you
are
already on our subscriber list. If a colleague forwarded
it
to you, you can easily subscribe by sending your email
address to
sma@schoolmediation.com.
In last month's issue we included a link to School
Mediation Associates' 5 stage mediation model (and the
pictures we use to illustrate it). Technical problems
prevented many of you from accessing this information.
We provide here a new link to the model with our
apologies. Also, belated thanks to Danielle Catalano, art
teacher (and mediator) at Stoneham High School,
Stoneham MA, USA, for creating the
wonderful drawings.
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| Good News for Funding Peer Mediation
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These are gloomy times for many US schools. A sour
economy and a standards-oriented government have led
to budget cuts, program terminations, stifled creativity,
and teacher layoffs. (An example close to home: my
son's wonderful Kindergarten teacher may not be rehired
next year.)
The general bad news certainly affects our focus:
school-based mediation. Many educators, already under
stress, don't feel they have the time, energy or money
to devote to "extras" like peer mediation.
So it is a delight to be able to share one bit of good
news concerning peer mediation in the United States.
Peer mediation is now considered a strategy that has
proven to be effective by those who administer the Safe
and Drug Free Schools and Communities Grant
funding
(SDFS) monies which subsidize efforts to reduce
and/or
eliminate student violence and substance abuse.
Peer mediation's status is relatively unique. The
guidelines outlining how schools can spend SDFS funds
have only become more restrictive of late. Every
strategy for which educators request these funds must
now be "research-based"--i.e., credible research must
clearly indicate the strategy's efficacy.*
Because peer mediation is considered a strategy that has
proven to be effective, however, no similar
demonstration of its efficacy is required. The SDFS
administrators' operating assumption appears to be that
peer mediation is efficacious.
In addition, peer mediation efforts need not be linked to
a particular curriculum or service provider. School
systems in Nome don't have to fly mediation trainers in
from Baton Rouge; they can utilize competent providers
local to them. (Although in these tough economic times,
unfortunately there are fewer providers than there used
to be.)
What is required to receive SDFS funds, and
appropriately so, is that school systems must apply the
so-called "Principles of Effectiveness." These
include:
--performing a genuine assessment of their systems'
needs
--gathering and analyzing quantitative data to describe
the situation
--articulating specific measurable objectives for their
grant program
--selecting strategies to help attain those objectives,
and
--evaluating the outcomes of their efforts in
quantitative
terms.
But what does all this mean for peer mediation? Most
obviously, it means that if your school has
demonstrable
needs that a peer mediation program can address, funds
will be more readily available to underwrite the costs of
implementing and maintaining it. For
public
school educators who have been considering starting a
peer mediation effort (or who need to reinvigorate a
existing program): the 2003-2004 school year might well
be the time to ask for--and receive--the resources you
need!
(It is important to note that applying for SDFS money is
not a competitive process. As a so-called
"entitlement,"
your school system is guaranteed to receive the
funds if
it fulfills the requirements of the application process.
The amount you receive is based upon a formula that
considers the overall number of students in your district
as well as the number of students living in poverty.)
SDFS's apparent acceptance of peer mediation's
effectiveness is noteworthy for another reason.
The dream has always been that peer mediation and
conflict resolution become a standard part of young
peoples' experience in school. Just as every school has
a guidance counselor, every school should have an adult
responsible for the conflict resolution/mediation function.
This implicit acceptance of peer mediation by the
Federal educational establishment--and a rather
conservative
one at that--is very possibly a watershed. Sure,
we are
still quite far from having a peak-performing peer
mediation program in every school, but we may now be
one
step closer to realizing that dream.
If you are interested in pursuing Safe and Drug Free
Schools funds:
1. Find out whether your school system is applying for
the SDFS funding. If they are not, encourage them to
do so. (With all the recent layoffs, some systems do not
have anyone to write the grant.)
2. If there is someone within your system who will write
the SDFS application, and if peer mediation is a strategy
that could genuinely help meet your system's objectives,
express your interest in including peer mediation in the
application.
3. Direct additional questions to your local Department
of Education.
*Though I am very happy that peer mediation has met
the "research-based" standard, I nevertheless have
reservations about its use. Certainly I understand the
impulse behind it: no one wants their tax dollars spent
on ineffective programming. But as the standard is
applied, it means that primarily large, well-established
organizations (who can raise the money to conduct
expensive research) will be able to receive SDFS funding.
Smaller organizations and individuals, and cutting edge
programming, will be left out in the cold. There are risks
either way, but I would rather err on the side of enabling
educators to decide for themselves what works in their
own community.
Send us your thoughts...
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| Response to "Model Problems"
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Only two responses to last month's issue, which called into question some
popular peer mediation models. I had hoped to inspire
some folks who use those models to respond and explain
the reasoning behind them. No such luck. Now that my
intentions are explicit, perhaps one of you brave souls
will do so.
Hi Richard. I appreciate all of your newsletters, but
wanted to say I
thought the article on models was particularly
insightful--and horrifying--as I learned what goes on in
some places as mediation! Thank you.
Sally Ganong Pope, Executive Director
Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation,
Inc.
Hempstead, NY USA
www.transformativemediation.org
I totally agree with what you are saying. I believe that
each person is different in the way that they train
students, and there is no best way. But I
do feel that some models shouldn't be used, and I
share your concerns.
Thank you,
Monique Clark, Mediation Coordinator
Fresno, CA USA
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| Conference
Announcements
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| | We received requests to inform readers about two
upcoming conferences:
11th Annual Center for Peaceable Schools Summer
Institute
Organized by Lesley College's Center for Peaceable
Schools
July 7 - 11, 2003
Cambridge Massachusetts
www.lesley.edu/academic_centers/peace/institute.html
Conflict Resolution in Schools: Learning to Live
Together
Organized by The European Centre for Conflict
Prevention (ECCP),
in co-operation with the Netherlands Commission
for UNESCO and others
September 15 and 16, 2003
The Netherlands
http://www.conflict-prevention.net
(Richard Cohen will co-facilitate one of the working
groups at this
conference.)
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| About Us
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| | For almost twenty years, School Mediation Associates
has been devoted to the application and promotion of
mediation in schools. SMA's mission is to transform
schools into safer, more caring, and more effective
institutions. Our books and training programs have been utilized by tens
of thousands of people around the world.
Call us: 617-926-0994
Email us:
sma@schoolmediation.com
Web us:
www.schoolmediation.com
Post us: 134w Standish Road,
Watertown,
MA 02472 USA
Copyright © 2003 School Mediation Associates. All rights
reserved.
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