A Curriculum in Mediation
About This Site
We (MarJon) are experienced and now retired (yippee!) school support personnel who are also certified mediators. This combination has served us well as we presented peer mediation workshops in Los Angeles county. Our stuff is now your stuff. Everything here is field tested and works well. Enjoy!
The "stuff" at this site is for your free use in developing or beginning your school peer mediation program. Period! One can do a one day workshop or take as long as one likes. The content is based on Los Angeles County's Dispute Resolution Services curriculum as taught to us by the late Bill Hobbs. Our "spin," however, integrates current theory related to "interests." This then is "old school" mediation theory and practice from the 1980's combined with a current mediation thrust of shared interests vs separate interests. "Interests" are shown in graphic form here (from our student workbook).
It is our belief that the spirit of those days of mediation has been lost in many cases (no pun intended) as attorneys serving as "mediators" have applied their expert training as advocates for one side or another to a completely different role. The mediator role is intended to be that of neutral facilitator. If we are to examine the root of the term, "mediate" we would see the term "heal." To get an idea of what we are about here, we invite you to read our vision statement. And, if you're still interested, read Tap Steven's poem on this page. A perceptive reader can see "win-win" in each of these references to a process that transcends the battlefield of conflict. THIS is what makes agreements reached via true mediation both durable and self-supervising--a definite advantage in a complex and busy school setting.
The "spine" of the workshop is an imaginary dispute about a missing iPod. Kids (mediators-in-training, i.e., MITs) are social and we attempt to involve them via the role playing while we sneak in skills and theory related to mediation skills. The day's "hook"is from my old science teaching days and employs a metaphor of fire for anger. Very early, we show our students a 12 minute segment of an excellent commercially available mediation video to give them a model for mediators'behaviors. Then we set up our dispute and roles for role play. Quickly we get into the role play to wet their appetite. Just as quickly, we hit them with some skill and theory instruction while it;s still early in the day. Back to the role play ASAP and then again to skills and theory as needed. Linking the video, the role play and workbook lessons is our minute by minute goal in this day long introduction to mediation. The afternoon is highly interactive with multiple role shifts. A repeat viewing of the video, hopefully with a greater understanding of mediation, ends our day and we turn the MITs over to the school's mediation coordinator.
Periodic meetings by the school's mediation coordinator are recommended for review and reinforcement what we have presented this day. The lesson plan notes at this site are intended to help with that process.
With careful study, the information and downloadable documents can help the visitor get his/her school mediation program underway quite nicely. The Mediation Journal, front & back, is filled with reminders that MITs can use during this training and as they mediate disputes while on on duty this school year. Later you may want to simplify your school's journal and hints as more mediations develop more confidence in your peer mediator team. A one sided form sample suggestion is provided here.
This site is "layered" as to detail and complexity. NavBar and NavHub links (top) are helpful as you plumb its depths or wish to study it in a holistic manner.
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The "TEXT" is the mediation booklet is twelve pages of concentrated mediation stuff for staff, parents, and motivated students. The inside front cover agenda is very suitable for a one hour staff development session wherein one may learn enough to do "field mediations," of which, I conducted hundreds in a long career as a school site administrator. The back cover is devoted to field mediations which the reader of the booklet (perhaps three times, carefully) ought to feel comfortable doing - like doing tomorrow if the reader is motivated to do so. This is the adult level "textbook" of our curriculum.
The "WORKBOOK" is the workshop student workbook and is the "hands on" document into which students (MITs) write and from which presenters can teach. Every bound page is one side print only, so you have room to write or print notes from the material in the Teacher's Manual. Feel free to use anything at this site to create your teacher's manual. We like to bind it (the workbook) into a theme folder (3 hole punch) with inside pockets and paste a motivating graphic on the outside front.
The "TEACHER'S MANUAL" is the workshop leader presenter's guide - here are some behind the scenes thoughts that occur as we as presenters travel through the student workbook with the mediators in training (MITs). Our aim here is to embolden the reader to present their own version of the workshop at their school. This start page link is a very brief overview of each leader's guide page.
This page: rev26April09
