La mediación como herramienta para resolver conflictos. Impacto sobre las habilidades sociales de los alumnos mediadores en un centro de educación secundaria

Abstract

Through a literature review on school mediation, we can observe that most publications are practical guides offering information on how to conduct mediation. There are fewer works devoted to evaluating the implementation and impact of these programs on the members of the educational community. The general purpose of this study is to evaluate a peer mediation program that has been developed in a Secondary School in the Community of Madrid over the 2012/13 school year. More specifically, we focus our analysis on the impact of this program on student mediators currently in the 3rd and 4th years of ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education). In particular, we study what skills they acquire, if they improve their tools to resolve conflicts and how this experience contributes to their personal growth. We will also evaluate the perception of the teachers who are involved in the mediation team regarding its performance. To conduct this research study we have used a mixed method research that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches. The results of the quantitative tests show significant differences between the control and experimental groups in some social skills. Regarding the other social skills, although in general the differences are not as significant, there is a higher frequency of use of these skills by the students after passing through the mediation team. Our research also suggests that these students, before being chosen to be mediators, already have some skills that make them especially sensitive to other students’ needs. Qualitative tests show a high degree of satisfaction in teachers and students towards the implementation of the mediation program. The students´perception following the mediation program show evidence that this type of experience improves personal and social skills