European Forum for Restorative Justice Bilbao 17.6. 2010

PEER MEDIATION IN FINLAND

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Schools in Finland

• 3000 Comprehensive schools, public (age 7-16 years / grades 1.-9.)

• 400 Upper secondary general schools (age 16-19)

• 160 Vocational school consortiums (age 16->)

• Average school size: 250 pupils

• Bullying is currently actual topic both in schools and in media

School mediation project in Finland

• Started year 2000 by Finnish Red Cross, continued by Finnish Forum for Mediation since 2006

• Supported by the Ministry of Education and the Finlands Slot Machine Association (under the Ministry of Social and Health Care)

• 3 full-time workers & 15 free-lancer trainers

• About 200 trainings last year

• Multi-professional steering and development groups

• Active international networks

Active international networks: our training in Petroskoi, Russia

School mediation networking

Finnish Slot Machine Association

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A SCHOOL

USING

MEDIATION

METHOD

Parent associations

- local & national

Youth worker at schools

and in youth clubs Media

- local & national

- newspapers,

magazines, TV, radio

- kids’ TV series coming Parishes

VOM Office

Local companies

- societal responsibility

- financial support

Ministry of Social and

Health Care

Ministry of Education

Police Social work

Teachers’ training

schools

Figures of Finnish school mediation

• 380 mediation schools: primary, secondary and high schools, also vocational schools

• 7200 trained peer mediator pupils

• 1800 trained supportive adults

• over 9000 cases mediated in 2009 • 15 000 pupils have solved their conflict in mediation

• concerns 90 000 pupils plus their parents

“It’s cool that we pupils can participate in this” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

School mediation phases

• PEER MEDIATION:

Pupils are mediating conflicts between other pupils

• ADULT-LED MEDIATION:

Mediation supportive adults mediate conflicts between pupils

• PUPIL / ADULT MEDIATION:

Also conflicts between pupils and teachers have been mediated succesfully

• CO-OPERATION WITH VOM-OFFICE:

In a more serious case school can contact local VOM-office

Definition of peer mediation

“Peer mediation is a solution oriented and voluntary method, where pupil mediators help the parties of the conflict to find a solution to their conflict by themselves and thus change their behaviour. The purpose of the method is to lessen the misbehaviour in the school by improving pupils’ social skills.” (Gellin 2003)

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Peer mediation training program A. STARTING MODULE

A1. Training to whole school staff (half day)

A2. Training to selected peer mediator pupils and supportive adults (whole day)

B. ADVANCE TRAINING MODULES

B1. Further training (whole day)

B2. Consultation

C. ADDITIONAL TRAINING MODULES

Parent´s evenings, local seminars, workshops etc

“The mediation training was lovely vigorous and made

me feel good mentally” (a headmaster of a secondary school 2009)

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Typical cases in peer mediation

• Bad name calling, gossip

• Pushing, kicking, fights

• Isolation, discrimination

• Threats and blackmailing

• Bullying in cyberspace

• Catching and hiding other’s property etc.

“In peer mediation you can learn to understand

what hurts others” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

Now, let’s hear your thoughts...

Pupils are experts in interpreting other pupils’

feelings. Pupils are speaking same language It is rational to give them a change to find

solution by themselves

Strength of peers

Expertise of peers

”See, we mediated a case where Jake had called Julia really ugly names, because she had forced him to be a rabbit when they played zoo in the school yard. I’m sure we understood their feelings better than you adults have had, since we are in same age. You don’t remember how to play zoo, but I do.”

(a 10 year old peer mediator pupil 2010)

Punishment vs solution

The idea is to create a solution oriented

atmosphere where conflicts

are seen as a part of every day life

and their resolution more as

a positive learning challenge

than a difficult and unpleasant task.

“Well, peer mediation is definitely useful in school.. I think

it is like an educational issue” (a teacher 2009)

Solution focused methods are successful

Research result when using restorative approaches: 7 schools in Hull, England, from September 2007 – July 2008

• 79 % reduction in verbal abuse: pupil- pupil • 73% reduction in verbal abuse: pupil- staff • 57% reduction in physical abuse: pupil- pupil (Mirsky 2009)

United Nations: Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989

Article 12:

..the child has the right to express views freely in all matters affecting the child..

.. the child shall in particular be provided the

opportunity to be heard in proceedings affecting the child..

Democratic basis of peer mediation

Pupils own their own conflicts, so they have

right to participate in solution making.

”Give us a chance to grow! (peer mediator pupil 2009)

Pedagogic basis of peer mediation

Pupils learn valuable skills and values through mediation.

“We have all learned equality, belonging, forgiveness, responsibility, and

promise keeping” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

“Mediation skills are useful in own life, for example in human relations, in marriage, with friends, in work etc. I think I can be a bit better part of society!” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

“In mediation you learn to look things from new and different viewpoints” (a party 2010)

”We have learned good social skills for our coming marriages.” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

Participation - Mediation is understood as a method of

participation. (Kiilakoski 2009)

- Real participation challenges adults to trust in pupils capacity because pupils can bring important information when building safe school community.

“We can’t always call upon somebody else to solve our own conflicts – we want to do it ourselves!” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

“It’s cool that we pupils can participate in this” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

Mediation is a part of school culture

- The use of medition has decreased the need to do the interventions by teachers and principals (Kiilakoski 2009)

“Mediation improves school’s atmosphere” (a teacher 2010)

“Through mediating, I have grown as a person” (a peer mediator

pupil 2009) ”Even the small cases should be mediated before they grow up

bigger” (a peer mediator pupil 2009)

Mediation builds up safety

“.. so, first mediation makes our school

more peaceful, then our city

more peaceful, and finally

the whole country more peaceful!

It starts like expanding all the time…” (peer mediator pupil 2009)

Sense of community

• “When I grow up, and in my workplace there appears bullying between my workmates, I can help them by mediating and they do not need to fight anymore” (a primary school’s peer mediator pupil)

Mediation saves resourses

• If it takes 20 minutes teacher’s time to try to solve a harmful situation between pupils

• Doing a mediation order takes about 5 minutes

• By using mediation, teacher saves about 15 minutes time for teaching per every harmful case

• 95% of mediated cases lead to a successful solution

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(Gellin 2009)

Mediation saves money

• Current peer mediation work at almost 400 finnish schools saves teachers’ working time about 2000 hours a year

• If teachers’ average salary is 19€/h, it means that because of time saved in mediation, there will be savings about 38 000€ a year

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(Gellin 2009)

Mediation prevents exhaustion

• Mediation prevents exhaustion of school staff, which means less sick leaves

• Mediation prevents also criminal behaviour, which means less interventions from a police or social worker

• Our schools can turn to local Wictim-Offender Mediation Offices if needed and this service is free of charge for schools

(Gellin 2009)

Frequency of different type of cases in peer mediation

• Physical konflicts 32 %

• Verbal konflicts 29 %

• Indifference, isolation 8 %

• Harm doing 8 %

• Forcing 7 %

• Other 16 %

In this questionnaire: total 170 cases (Gellin 2007)

Results of internal surveys

• 95% of mediated cases lead to an agreement and were successful after 1-2 weeks follow-up

• 89% of peer mediators feel that it is very important to deal cases immediately

• 90% of mediators think that peer mediaton is very meaningfull and important

• 86% of mediated cases deal with physical or mental violence (Gellin 2007 & 2009)

”We don´t always need adults to tell us what to do.” (a conflict party)

Results of internal surveys

• 82% of peer mediators feel that they really have helped the parties

• 91% of parties felt that they have been listened by peer mediators

• 88% of parties told that they have kept their agreement

• 87% of parties feel that it is good that pupils may solve their conflicts in peer mediation

(Gellin 2007 & 2009)

”Finally I could tell somebody.” (a conflict party 2009)

Latest survey 2009

Opinions of supportive adults (scale 1-5) average:

” It is meaningfull to be a supportive adult in peer mediation” 4,4

”The mediators apply well the principles of mediation” 4,5

”Peer mediation is a good early intervention method” 4,5

• Supportive adults have mediated more serious cases

• Also conflicts between teachers and pupils have been mediated succesfully

(Gellin 2009)

Latest survey 2009

Challenges

• There is good intention but slow change in the school culture

• How to increase the real participation and commitment?

• ”I can do it faster and better myself” – how to move from this teachers’ attitude to the insight that pupils are capable experts of their own communities? (Gellin 2009)

Results of external evaluation 2009:

Change of the school culture needs cooperation

• Develope the virtual networks for peer mediators and supportive adults

• How to break the tabu of silence among youngsters?

• Give more active roles to pupils when increasing restorative practices

(Kiilakoski 2009)

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Our reponses to challenges

• Local network seminars for peer mediators and their supportive adults

• Creating virtual mediation arenas to youngsters with youngsters

• Tv-program starting in January 2011

• Mediation rooms in facebook and IRC-gallery

• Mediation lessons for every teacher to use

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Our reponses to challenges

• New book of mediation in Finnish society

• Actively affecting to national curriculum

• Developing further training modules in mediation at university level

• Developing Master Degree in Mediation at university level

• Coming: Research results of learning aspects in mediation and restorative practises

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Finnish Forum for Mediation FFM School Mediation

Project Manager Maija Gellin maija.gellin@sovittelu.com

Training Manager Eeva Saarinen eeva.saarinen@sovittelu.com

Contact Manager Harri Väisänen harri.vaisanen@sovittelu.com

www.sovittelu.com/vertaissovittelu

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