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TOPICS
1. Six Factors that Reduce the Use of Peer Peacekeepers in Schools
2. Student Leadership Training Book Available at a Discount
3. Attend a Best Practice Peer Conference or Seminar
4. Four Key Studies from Peer Research
SIX FACTORS THAT REDUCE THE USE OF PEER PEACEKEEPERS IN SCHOOLS
One of the most popular methods for helping young people learn about peace keeping is through the creation of peer mediation or peer conflict resolution programs in elementary and secondary schools. Rather than having disputes typically resolved by the vice-principal or another adult, peer mediation involves bringing the disputants together with a team (usually a pair) of trained and supervised peer mediators. Instead of student interactions leading to violence, harm or other hurtful activities, peer mediation helps students find mutually agreeable solutions.
A considerable amount of research has appeared in professional journals or has been the subject of academic dissertations that can be characterized as highly supportive of or demonstrating the effectiveness of peer mediation. In general, peer mediators benefit as much if not more than their disputant clients in terms of self-esteem, confidence, and academic achievement. And research has even demonstrated that disputants often take the peacemaking ideas they have learned in just one mediation and have applied them to other disputes, reducing the need for third-party intervention.
Unfortunately, some educational institutions have not carried out the homework or laid the groundwork necessary to ensure the success of a peer mediation service. This is particularly a problem because such poor preparation may exploit student mediators or act as a catalyst for rejection of the service by the student population.
A recent study conducted by Dr. Susan Therberge and Dr. Orv Karan in a junior high school of 1000 students revealed that while 95 percent of the students knew about the peer mediation program, less than nine percent actually used it. Given the wide-variety of conflicts and typical problems that occur at this age level, they wanted to know why the peer mediation service was not more widely used. To learn more about this phenomenon they distributed a survey to students, parents and school faculty, and from the responses identified six factors that inhibited the use of the peer mediators.
1. Student perception of peer pressure. Students were worried that others would make fun of them if they selected mediation; that other students would think they were "sucking-up" to school staff; that other students would think less of them if they had a "problem" they couldn't solve on their own; or that they would be ridiculed by others. These viewpoints are not uncommon in teens and often stem from their developing sense of autonomy and higher levels of self-absorption.
2. Student methods of dealing with conflict. Most students handle conflict by avoiding or ignoring it. A number of students use aggression (including name calling or teasing) or engage in assault (physical or verbal attacks). But what at first appears to be a paradox, the majority of students rely on their friends to help them resolve conflicts. The key here is that students may not perceive the peer mediators as being connected to their own peer grouping and thus might even see them as a competing method for resolving disputes.
3. Student experiences within the school. Developmental issues such as how to fit in; the power imbalance between victim and aggressor or between social relations of boys and girls; a lack of respect and increasing disconnect between teachers and students; and students who exhibit continuous negative behavior all contribute to reduced use of peer mediators or a hopefulness that peer mediation will actually result in a better way of doing things.
4. School climate. If adults in the school are not trained in, model, or do not practice mediation skills and techniques then this factor reduces respect for students and reduces opportunities to create stronger bonds with students. Even with the existence of peer mediation, if individuals believe the climate is unsafe or they fear for their well-being, they will likely perceive the peer mediation in the same way: unsafe and likely to have negative repercussions. Willingness to use peer mediation is also influenced by the school's system of discipline, rules, and the exercise of power. If students are not involved in a participatory or cooperative way with this system and instead only experience an authority-based approach to rule-making, an imbalance of power, or a punishment approach to rule-breaking, then fewer students will perceive peer mediation as a truly meeting their needs.
5. Knowledge of peer mediation. While students in this study knew of the peer mediation program existence, they had little knowledge about how it worked. Information about the methods used and whether or the degree to which mediations were confidential were absent from their knowledge. Lack of information about how to contact mediators privately and whether the actual mediations could be done privately also inhibited student use. Students also believed that only peer mediators who were from their own cultural or racial background would really be able to understand their situation. The authors found that since there was no district-wide mediation training, faculty were often ignorant of its goals and practices reducing support for the use of the program.
6. Societal issues. Too few role models exist outside the school setting in either family settings, the media, or the broader social organization of a community that contribute to mediation being valued and supported.
The authors concluded that peer mediation is more likely to be used actively by students if (1) all levels in a school community make a commitment to use mediation and conflict resolution tools; (2) school administrators provide financial support and leadership for mediation programs; (3) peer mediation is taught in elementary schools beginning in grades four and five, and using peer mediators from upper grades to help with the training; (4) communication and social skills training was taught by community volunteers to various student groups in order to help students learn how to deal more effectively with various conflicts; (5) school size is organized in a way to increase the number of positive contacts between students and adults; (6) those selected as peer mediators reflect the diversity of school community; and (7) peer mediation programs can only flourish within schools that attend to power imbalance, fair discipline procedures, and opportunities for high quality relationships between students and adults.
(Source, Therberge, S. and Karan, O. (2004). Six factors inhibiting the use of peer mediation in a junior high school. Professional School Counseling, 7, 4, 283-290.)
"When I was coming up, I had to learn from my peers around the world what it means and takes to be a champion."
~ Adam Van Koeverden, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist in Kayaking ~
STUDENT LEADERSHIP TRAINING BOOK AVAILABLE AT A DISCOUNT
The practice of students helping each other to achieve their goals and dreams has a long historical tradition. Tutoring, for example, has ancient origins and remains today one of the most powerful ways that students learn from each other. Student leadership has a more recent beginning but is equally as widespread in schools across North America. But the most profound example of students helping each other and one that has the most power for creating a safe and peaceful world is when students actively demonstrate their care for one another.
Typically called peer helping or peer assistance, this method of students helping other students is based on their natural willingness and desire to talk to someone who will listen and understand, be non-judgmental and accepting and in many cases has similar life experiences. What I discovered thirty years ago when I first started in this field is still true today: young people when experiencing a worry, frustration or problem are more likely to seek the council of another young person rather than discuss the issue with an adult.
Why not help young people to have better skills to help their friends? Why not provide them with the training and supervision to turn peer pressure into peer support? Through our research we learned many years ago that not only was this possible, but that young people could easily take responsibility for exceptional leadership in this field.
But youth cannot do this completely on their own. They need the support and assistance of highly skilled and caring professionals who can be role models. At the same time these adult professionals must know how to nurture the abilities of youth without taking over or "professionalizing" what young people can do for and with each other.
Long-time Peer Resources Network member and one of North America's top peer trainers, Diane Taub exemplifies the caring professional. With the assistance of some highly talented and skilled peer helpers, Ms. Taub, former Coordinator of Student Leadership Training at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, has authored a new workbook that provides exercises, activities, and information that will accomplish two major school-based peer program goals: (1) provide proven, high quality experiential training for students; and (2) serve as a credible and tested curriculum guide for peer programs that give student volunteers credit towards graduation requirements.
This student workbook, published by Scarecrow Press, was originally inspired by The Peer Helping Starter Kit, available from Peer Resources. However, the thoroughness of the workbook enables it to match up with many other training guides. Most importantly this workbook will benefit any student leadership program where students want to put their caring for each other into practice.
The book is called Student Leadership Training: A Workbook to Reinforce Effective Communication Skills. Peer Resources has acquired a limited number of copies of the book and is providing these copies at a discount to Peer News readers. The book normally sells for $22.95 plus shipping, but is available to readers at $16.95 each plus shipping. Persons who order seven or more copies will also receive a CD, prepared by the author, that includes all of the book's forms and training sessions and allows users to customize the material to suit their specific peer program. To order, call 1.800.567-3700 or email: peernews@peer.ca.
"A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else."
~ Len Wein ~
PEER CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
Fourth Annual National Peer Support Conference
January 14-16, 2005
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)
Call for Proposals:
entraide@uottawa.ca
18th Annual High School PAL Conference for Peer Assistance and Leadership
January 28-29, 2005
Akins High School, Austin, Texas
www.palusa.org
(512) 343-9595 or (800) 522-0550
Pomona Peer Conference
February 3, 2005 (Middle Schools Conference)
Cal Poly Pomona Bronco Center
February 10 (High Schools Conference)
Pomona First Baptist Church
Pomona, California
Tel: (909) 397-4711 ext 6423
www.pusd.org
Peer Ministry Training Opportunities
April through September, 2005
(952) 698-3988
www.peerministry.org
19th Annual National Peer Helpers Association Conference
June 24-26, 2005
Hyatt Lodge in Oakbrook (near Chicago), Illinois
www.peerhelping.org
Tel: (877) 314-7337
"A friend is the best gift we can give ourselves."
WHAT'S NEW FROM THE PEER ASSISTANCE LITERATURE
Peer Resources continually scans the professional and popular published literature to find articles of interest to people involved in peer assistance. Three of several hundred recent additions to the searchable, annotated bibliography at www.peer.ca/SearchB.html are:
Harris, R.D. (2003). Unlocking the learning potential in peer mediation: An evaluation of peer mediator modeling and disputant learning. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, George Mason University.
This study investigated whether or not disputants students who participate in mediation learn anything during mediation that can help them resolve future conflict without the need for third party intervention. The study took place in the context of an ongoing program evaluation of conflict resolution and peer mediation programs in Fairfax County Public Schools in Fairfax, Virginia. No prior research had been conducted on peer mediator modeling and only a handful of studies mentioned disputant learning. Data was collected from peer mediators, disputants, peer mediation program staff, and peer mediation observers in three high schools using a pretest/posttest instrument, evaluation and assessment forms, interviews, observations, and administrative records. The results of the study demonstrated that peer mediators effectively modeled and disputants effectively learned conflict resolution knowledge, attitudes, and skills that contributed to a significant improvement in conflict behaviors and a significant reduction in disputant discipline problems following mediation. These findings expand the notion of who benefits most from peer mediation programs by showing that not only do peer mediators gain! valuable life skills, but disputants can as well.
Latkin, C.A., Sherman, S., and Knowlton, A. (2004). HIV prevention among drug users: Outcome for a network-oriented peer outreach intervention. Peer Facilitator Quarterly, 19, 3, 111-123.
This study was originally published in the 2003 issue of Health Psychology and the researchers found that a psychosocial intervention emphasizing prosocial roles and social identity, and incorporating peer outreach strategies, reduced HIV risk in low-income, drug-using communities. What makes this reprinted article stand-out is that it is followed by an analysis by Dr. Barbara Varenhorst, considered to be the founder of peer work, as to the degree to which the peer outreach intervention matched the standards for peer program delivery created by the National Peer Helpers Association. This is the first critique of its kind and is highly instructive in assessing whether peer programs described in research studies are truly peer programs.
Tang, T.S., and Hernandez, E.J. (2004). Learning by teaching: A peer-teaching model for diversity. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 16, 1, 60-63.
This study examined whether peer teaching enhances diversity-focused attitudes, knowledge, and skills in medicine among advanced level medical students. Fourth year medical students were recruited to facilitate diversity-focused, case-based discussions for second year students. Peer teachers participated in a training session that addressed personal exploration of sociocultural background, health care disparities, biosociocultural aspects of the patient case, and facilitation skills. Evaluation assessed learning outcomes, teaching experience, and attitudes, knowledge, and skills related to sociocultural medicine. Results showed that students gained a greater understanding of the relation among sociocultural background, health, and medicine and greater proficiency with teaching sociocultural medicine topics to peers. Overall, peer teachers agreed the experience increased their exposure to sociocultural factors in patient care, enhanced their case conceptualization skills, and encouraged them to consider personal belief systems. Findings suggest peer teaching can be an effective model to refine knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to diversity issues in health care.
Topping, K.J., and Bryce, A. (December, 2004). Cross-age peer tutoring of reading and thinking: Influence on thinking skills. Educational Psychology, 24, 5, 595-621.
This paper describes and evaluates a method for peer tutoring in thinking skills when the tutorial pair has chosen to read together. This pilot study aimed to partial the impact on quality of thinking of a peer-tutored thinking intervention from that of a peer-tutored reading intervention, controlling for time on task and amount of peer interaction. Experimental peer tutees were a whole class of 28 seven-year-olds; experimental tutors a whole class of 31 11-year-olds. Comparison tutees were a whole class of 27 seven-year-olds; comparison tutors a whole class of 30 11-year-olds. The experimental (PT) tutees showed significantly better performance in thinking skills than comparison (PR only) tutees, and some evidence of improved attitudes to reading. However, this was not true for the experimental (PT) tutors. Subjective feedback was very positive from the PT tutees and class teachers, but less positive from the PT tutors. Given the brevity and low cost in time and resources of the treatment, the finding of significant differences in measured thinking skills for the PT tutees is considered encouraging. Recommendations for refining organizational aspects of the implementation of PT and for future research are made.
The Peer News has been provided by Peer Resources <www.peer.ca/helping.html>. To become a member of the Peer Resources Network and receive a similar monthly publication as well as a print magazine on peer assistance, mentorship and coaching, visit <http://www.peer.ca/PRN.html> or call 1.800.567.3700 in North America or 1.250.595.3503 outside of North America. To be removed from this mailing list send an email to <info@peer.ca>.
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