She never got involved too much in the conversation, she more a less helped keep us on track. The conversations we had while we were there were definitely more affective then the ones we had at home but they still did not help the problems we had. Facilitation does not work for everyone or every conflict, which is why there are different kinds of conflict resolution.
The second method is mediation. Mediation is when a mediator, a unbiased third part, who helps each other party realize their interests and positions and use that found awareness to find and agreement that helps the conflicting parties. Mediation is more active and more structured then facilitation. The mediator will often say more, get more involved in conversation, and will discuss more with each other party then a facilitator will. .
An example of mediation is peer mediation. In peer mediation a trained student, meaning someone who has undergone a course of learning about mediation and that other feel is competent, help their peers find a resolution to the conflict that brought them to the process of mediation. This process is not about establishing who is right and who is wrong in the conflict, it is about having them move past the immediate conflict and learn how to appreciate each other and get along in a healthy manner. Here is the outline for a mediation process that I got from and article from Teacher Talks at http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/v2i3/peer.html.
Mediation Steps:.
• Agree upon the ground rules .
• Each student tells his/her story .
• Verify the stories .
• Discuss the stories .
• Generate solutions .
• Discuss solutions .
• Select a solution .
• Sign a contract .
Ground Rules .
Participants should be willing to: .
• Solve the problem .
• Tell the truth .
• Listen without interrupting .
• Be respectful .
