Standards for School-Based Peer Mediation
Peer mediation can be a successful approach to facilitating student-centered, negotiation- based management and resolution of interpersonal conflict in schools. Such programs provide a unique opportunity for diverse students to use communication, human relations, and problem-solving skills in real-life settings. Effective programs help to create a safe and welcoming school environment and can assist in reducing school conflicts and violence and improve interpersonal and inter-group relations, especially when part of a comprehensive violence prevention plan. The qualities that mark an effective peer mediation program include youth empowerment, cultural competence, diversity, responsiveness to the specific needs of the population it serves, fair resolutions to student conflicts, and measurable outcomes.
New Recommended Standards
The Education Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) has expanded and revised the older Recommended Standards for School-Based Peer Mediation Programs, originally published in 1996 by the Standards Committee of the National Association for Mediation in Education (a forerunner of ACR). The Education Section convened the Peer Mediation Standards Committee to complete this project. This committee drew upon diverse practitioner knowledge and relevant research to set forth the components necessary to develop and sustain an effective peer mediation program. Their final document, entitled Recommended Standards for School-based Peer Mediation Programs is now available for download as a pdf or for purchase in a colorful printed booklet from the Association for Conflict Resolution.
See also these guidelines from the UK-based Peer Mediation Network: Peer Mediation Training for Schools: Best practice guidelines (UK)
