The Center for Legal Solutions has pulled together a nice collection of research studies on various aspects of the mediation process. The collection is called [url=http://www.centerforlegalsolutions.org/research.overview.shtml]Practical Research on Alternative Dispute Resolution[/url]. If you are looking for a quick snapshot of the kinds of research that has been done on mediation, this is a great place to start. Includes a listing of [url=http://www.centerforlegalsolutions.org/links.adr.scholars.shtml]ADR Researchers[/url] active in the field.
Resource Reviews
U.K. Video – Teachers Discuss Approaches to Resolving Conflicts
Readers might appreciate this video from the U.K.’s Teacher.tv website.
The 15-minute video is in two parts, the Challenging Behavior Workshop for the teachers in this U.K. School and the training for the secondary school students. The training for the students talked about the students personal issues, trust, and how to manage themselves in conflictual situations. Additionally, they trained the students how to be peer mediators and how to open up and talk about their own triggers. The Superintendent of the Ridgewood School District in the U.K. expressed pleasant surprise at the success of the training.
Teachers Discuss Approaches to Resolving Conflicts
Here’s the link to the video.
Celebrating the International Day of Peace by Launching a Peace Education Book
The world marked the International Day of Peace (September 21) in different and creative ways as electronic reports have indicated to us. In my case I am happy to report that my colleague, Jasmin Nario-Galace and I celebrated it by launching a book that we conceptualized long ago but had the opportunity to write and complete only recently.
The book is entitled Peace Education: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace. The overall goal of this book is to provide educators with the basic knowledge base as well as the skill- and value-orientations that we associate with educating for a culture of peace. Although this work is primarily directed towards the pre-service and in-service preparation of teachers in the formal school system, it may be used in nonformal education. It can also be a resource for those who want to understand peace issues and some of the ways by which they can help work for change towards a more peaceable society.
Jasmin and I are pleased that we can offer this small contribution to the Global Campaign for Peace Education, which seeks the introduction of peace education in all educational institutions in the world. It is our hope that our work can help in the realization of this vision. This book is firmly rooted in the belief that deliberate and sustained peace education, both in our schools and in our communities, is an important force and pathway towards a culture of peace and the prevention of violent conflict.
This book is based on our study and research as well as on our experiences as teachers and trainers. By writing about what we have come to know and experienced, we are pleased that we are now able to reach a larger community of educators and other concerned people. It is our hope that the ideas contained in this book will circulate widely and promote enthusiasm for both education and action for peace.
We have organized the book into three sections. Part I presents chapters that are meant to help us develop a holistic understanding of peace and peace education. Part II discusses the key themes in peace education. Each chapter starts with a conceptual essay on a theme and is followed by some practical teaching-learning ideas that can either be used in a class or adapted to a community setting. Part III focuses on the peaceable learning climate and the educator, the agent who facilitates the planting and nurturing of the seeds of peace in the learning environment. Finally, the whole school approach is introduced to suggest the need for institutional transformation and the need to move beyond the school towards engagement with other stakeholders in the larger society.
“To reach peace, teach peace!”
The 1st Report to the Nation on Youth Courts and Teen Courts Now Available
Global Issues Resource Center announces the availability of the 1st Report to the Nation on Youth Courts and Teen Courts (MS Word doc). This national report documents significant highlights and events over a fifteen (15) year period of unprecedented and historic growth of this groundbreaking American juvenile justice prevention and intervention program that utilizes volunteer youth to help sentence their peers.
The report begins in 1993, when fewer than seventy-five (75) local youth and teen courts existed in just about a dozen states. The report concludes fifteen (15) years later in 2008, when more than a record 1,000 local communities in 48 states and the District of Columbia now operate these local juvenile justice programs. Historic numbers of youth and adults are now involved, as more than 111,868 juvenile cases were referred to local youth and teen courts and more than 133,832 volunteers – to include both youth and adults who volunteered to help with the disposition and sentencing of these juvenile cases. The report is written and researched by Scott Bernard Peterson and Jill Beres.
New Catalog Item added on Conflict Resolution for Special Needs Students
Administrators may want to take a look at a new resource posted to our catalog entitled Creating Harmony in the Classroom: Building safe and inclusive classrooms for special populations. The 231-page manual developed with support from FMCS is designed “to assist teachers with building an inclusive and safe classroom for all students, including special needs, deaf, and visually impaired youth.” Includes chapters on building self-awareness in students, enhancing student’s problem-solving skills, mediation in school settings, evaluting conflict resolution education programs and a chapter on resources.
New SCORE Peer Mediation Guide and Coordinator’s Manuals Released
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has released a student peer mediation manual (34 page pdf) and a program coordinator’s manual (183 page pdf) supporting their SCORE (Student Conflict Resolution Experts) program. The coordinators manual “provides an overview of the program, and instructs coordinators on the steps to setting up the program from start to finish, and the methods and expectations for training their mediators. The manual also provides an extensive lesson plan for training, as well as sample exercises and role-play scenarios.” You can find both items via the CREducation.net catalog.
The Student Conflict Resolution Experts (SCORE) program is a student mediation-oriented violence prevention program, created and funded by the Office of the Attorney General in collaboration with local community mediation programs and school communities. Since 1989, more than 5,000 students have trained as peer mediators; these young people have mediated over 25,000 conflicts in schools across Massachusetts, with a reported 97% success rate.
Companion curriculum to INNOCENTS LOST by Jimmie Briggs available
The CRE Connection catalog includes a copy of a curriculum guide with five lessons designed to accompany a book written by Jimmie Briggs, a speaker at the International Youth and Conflict conference happening in Ohio as this post is being written. The book Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go To War calls attention to the growing involvement of children in armed conflict.
You can get a copy of the Curriculum Guide via the CRE Connection catalog.
Best Practices of Non-Violent Conflict Resolution in and out-of-school – Some examples
Back in 2001, UNESCO launched an initiative calling for a report on “best practices” in nonviolence in education. A wonderful report of examples from around the world was produced. You can find it online at this link.
Also produced as part of the project was a series of games that can be used in the classroom and in informal education settings to teach concepts of nonviolence and cooperation. These games are found online at this link.
Wiki Mind Map Tool
For a quick look at a concept area, consider using the fascinating Wiki Mind Map Tool. Be sure to pick the english language wiki (if that is your language of course!) from the drop-down chooser – look for “en.wikipedia.org” for English. After you submit your search term, you can explore the related terms using the mindmap. Clicking on the green circular arrows beside a term will bring that term into the center of the map. Clicking directly on a term takes you to the definition of that item in Wikipedia. Clicking on a plus sign next to a term will expand a portion of the map that is currently hidden. Below is an image from a search on the term “school bullying”.
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue: Charting the Roads to Peace
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, established in 1999 and based out of Geneva Switzerland, provides a forum for conflicting parties to resolve their differences peacefully. In line with its mission to reduce human suffering in war by preventing and resolving armed conflicts, the HD Centre also encourages and promotes dialogue and debate on challenging issues.
Its aim, as a forum for dialogue, is to share its experience and learn from that of others by regularly hosting and organising events that bring together actors with a variety of expertise. Events include meetings, conferences, panel discussions, retreats, and publication launches with debates. In 2006, book launches, two Mediators’ Retreat, as well as briefings to diplomats have been organised by the HD Centre.
One very enlightening document is a report entitled Charting the Roads to Peace: Facts, figures and trends in conflict resolution produced by the Centre for one of their International Mediator Retreats. Good for a review of where things are headed…