A school mediation model that stays focused on present efforts will notice an empowered student body with stronger decision-making skills and a better perspective of human interaction. Conflict is an ongoing process. The student mediator should remember that the present mediation is only one moment in an ongoing interaction between the parties. By maintaining this view of conflict, students will be less likely to be directive and look for solutions. Schools should look at conflict as normal and inevitable, an opportunity for growth and learning.
Small steps count.
Student mediators should feel, and share with the disputants, the belief that a successful mediation has happened when the disputants have gained better understanding of each other and the situation, even if only in small doses. Mediators should recognize that recognition and empowerment are valuable outcomes in themselves, and that lasting resolution will only come when students in conflict have felt their voices have been heard and that they have led the way in designing their agreement. Schools with long-term commitment to the possibilities of this peer mediation program recognize that character transformation often happens in small increments, but that it is ultimately what will change the way their students choose to deal with conflict. It is also important that when considering implementation of peer mediation, schools acknowledge the complexity of conflict and recognize the need to build a school conflict management program with a multifaceted approach. By including the transformative peer mediation model, they will offer their school community an important opportunity to grow and learn together, and to build stronger, richer relationships.