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Newsletter Archive
Access past issues of The School
Mediator, as
well as our index by topic, through the
link
below.
The School Mediator Archive
The
School Mediator's Field Guide:
Prejudice, Sexual Harassment,
Large Groups and Other Daily Challenges
by
Richard Cohen
more
info |
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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, our final issue for the 08-09 school year.
This month we discuss the power of demonstration as a
peer
mediation teaching strategy.
Please send along your thoughts and
experiences. It is always a pleasure to hear from you.
Wishing a wonderful Summer to all of you up here in the
northern hemisphere,
Richard Cohen
Founder and Director
School Mediation Associates
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| Don't Just Do Something, Watch! | | |
Twenty years ago I began swimming for exercise. I couldn't
run
anymore; my
knees hurt too much.
Though I never took swimming lessons, I cobbled together a passable
crawl
stroke from the informal and haphazard
instruction I
received as a kid.
The other day in the pool, however, I realized that I've had an
impressive
swimming teacher
recently. You've probably heard of him: Michael
Phelps,
American swimming phenom and winner of 8
gold medals in last summer's Olympic games.
For the record, I've never had any personal contact with Mr.
Phelps. As far as I
know, I've never been in the same ocean as him, no less the
same pool.
So how did he teach me?
I watched him swim.
Observing Phelps compete last
summer changed
my swimming experience. Technical things, like the way my
arms
enter the
water, and how long I remain submerged after my turn, as well
as
intangibles, like
how I feel during my workout, and the energy I bring to the
pool.
I push harder, feel stronger, and strive to emulate the fluidity
and
efficiency that
Phelps demonstrated.
All these improvements--technical as well as attitudinal--simply from
observing someone who was much more skilled than me.
I now wonder whether we mediation trainers have sacrificed
this
sound teaching
strategy--the observation of a skilled practitioner--on the altar
of
the
"you learn
most by doing" approach to teaching. Let me explain.
Many educators, whether we are aware of it or not, have
been
profoundly
influenced by the so-called Learning Pyramid,
a popular theoretical model that purports the following:
People
retain much
more of what they learn when they do it as opposed to when
they
watch
someone else demonstrate it.
Though the origin (and therefore the validity) of the
Learning
Pyramid is
uncertain, the model
nevertheless makes intuitive sense: the act of doing, of
applying
what one has
learned, appears to enable one to integrate new knowledge
more
thoroughly
than merely watching someone else.
And so School Mediation Associates' (and probably your) peer
mediation training is full of opportunities for trainees to "do," which in
this context means mediate. Most notable are the numerous roleplays in which
students mediate simulated disputes and receive feedback from trainers and
their peers.
This is it should be: roleplays are a wonderful, albeit an imperfect,
teaching tool.
But in our training, opportunities for peer mediation trainees
to
watch others
mediate, beyond a couple of brief demonstrations, are few
and
far
between.
(There is only so much time in a training.)
My experience "with" Phelps, however, has me looking for additional
opportunities to
enable students to observe experienced mediators in
action.
During their initial training, for example, trainers can
intervene
during roleplays to
model particular interventions.
After the training, peer mediators can sit in on and
observe
more
experienced mediators conduct real sessions. Veteran
mediators
or
coordinators can also demonstrate strategies during
ongoing
meetings and
follow-up training sessions.
I am not suggesting that we give up all the effective "doing"
we
have built into our
trainings. Phelps taught me much by his example, but I only
integrated what I
learned when I actually applied it in the pool.
Demonstration as a teaching strategy has its pitfalls too,
most
notably that it is
primarily passive. With something as subtle and slow
moving
as
mediating--unlike an Olympic race!--this can lead to inattention and
boredom among
observers.
But demonstrating things to our students is a valuable and
important teaching
strategy.
I want to do it more.
And I have Mr. Phelps to thanks for that.
What are
your
thoughts...? How do you demonstrate the mediation process in your
training?
We can all learn
from your experiences.
| | |
| Response to "This Must Be Difficult" | | | We received a number of responses to the last issue
of The School Mediator. They follow below...
I think empathy is the most important ingredient in
mediation; in fact, it is the essential component to all
helping communications.
I would go so far as to say empathy
is "necessary and sufficient" to promote mental health
in students and teachers.
In my experience, more often than not, if empathy is
established in a mediation, the rest of the steps flow
rather easily and naturally.
The really interesting and important question to ask
ourselves is: What interferes with developing
empathy? Sometimes we cannot empathize out of
fear or prejudice or boredom or personal issues or any
number of things. Whatever the reason, the lack of
empathy dooms the mediation to failure or
superficiality.
Someone told me a long time ago: "All we can ever
truly give anyone is our presence."
I would add
that empathy is the only true manifestation of that
presence. That may not seem like much, but it is, in
reality, everything.
Bob Nelson, Ed.D.
Peer Mediator & Peer Helper Supervisor
Pearce High School
Richardson ISD
Richardson, Texas
I simply had to respond to this month's topic--empathy.
As far as I am concerned, empathy has always been
an integral part of the 'magic' of mediation. It helps
parties to feel like they have been fully heard, which,
in turn, enables them to let go of some of their anger
and hurt feelings.
The ability to step into the shoes of the parties and
verbally acknowledge how they seem to perceive their
situations - without taking a position either for or
against them - is really one of the most powerful skills
a mediator can offer.
During training, it is essential for potential mediators to
spend time exploring and acknowledging how they
feel when other people have and show feelings! Our
culture, for the most part, tends to have a negative
view of people expressing public feelings; they are
often considered to be out of control.
Once mediators understand that feelings are normal and
belong to the parties-and that holding their hands
(sympathy) is not required--it works wonderfully!
Lydia Fortune
Worcester, Massachusetts
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| About Us | | | For almost twenty-five 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 © 2009 School Mediation Associates. You
may reproduce this article by including this copyright
and, if reproducing it electronically, including a link to
www.schoolmediation.com.
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