This presentation was published on 22 June 2018 by the International Association of Lawyers (UIA), regarding a School Mediation project, implemented in Lebanon in 2010 by the “Centre Professionnel de Médiation” – Professional Mediation Centre (CPM)-USJ, the first center for mediation in Lebanon and the Middle East established in October 2006 within Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut¹.

The presentation is divided into four sections:

I. We start with the Project implementation section by answering the following questions:
What is this Project about, and why was it implemented? How was such implementation planned and executed, and how is peer mediation practiced?

II. Then we take a look at its evolution among other projects, particularly its growth, the challenges it faces, and the activities developed throughout the Project.

III. And then, we go through the outcomes of this Project in relation to various actors and at various levels.

IV. Finally, we consider how the furtherance of this Project will be in line with the Project’s initial objectives.

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I- IMPLEMENTATION

A. What is the CPM School Mediation project about and why was it implemented?

The Project is about educating students to use non-violent communication and to become peer mediators. In this regard, the Center defines School Mediation as: “Mediation by young people, for young people, and between young people." The challenges of the Lebanese context with its social, cultural, religious and political pluralism and diversity, and societal needs for peace and stability, are at the core of the incentive to setup such a project. A field study carried out in 2009 by the Founder and Director of the Center Mrs. Johanna Hawari led to the birth in 2010 of “Mediation in Schools” Project.
The project aims at developing both Peace Education and Youth Citizenship.

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B. How was this Project implemented?

Various elements come into play and participate together in the effective implementation of this Project.

1. A Qualified team at the Center composed of specialized Trainers to train in School Mediation; an Educational Committee in charge of the Project pedagogy, organization and operation; and a Project Coordinator who monitors the Project implementation and progression follow-up with the related schools.
   

2. A targeted audience: The Project is aimed at various beneficiaries, and more particularly public and private schools on the overall Lebanese territory and in the entire Middle East; and specifically, school students aged from 9 to 17, and more generally, all school community actors.
   Since all impact project implementation and development, the Center provides awareness sessions in line with the Project and covering themes of nonviolent communication and conflict management tools for parents, schoolteachers and administrative staff.

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C. Training Programs:

The Center provides in both French and Arabic languages a training program adapted to the age of the student trainees, based mainly on practical exercises and scenarios. The training program is divided into 2 modules:

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1. 10 hours of non-violent communication and mediation training covering four main themes:

• Positive Self-knowledge and knowledge of others by educating students to perceive themselves and others positively; name and express emotions and needs and link them together; facilitate self-expression; and get a better understanding of others’ point of view.
• Conflict and its causes: Students are taught to expand their vision of the conflict, identify its causes, such as preconceptions, rumors, verbal and non-verbal violence, and bullying; and analyze the conflict for:
• Conflict prevention by practicing communication tools and techniques such as Active Listening, Empathy and Non-Violent Communication language.
• Overview of the mediator role and mediation process and stages
  
  ‍Further to this part of the training, the students answer a questionnaire and indicate their desire to follow an additional 8 hours of training to become peer mediators. Among them, a group of 15-17 students will be selected.

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2. 8 hours training in the practice of mediation during which students deepen and practice the role of the mediator and mediation process and stages.
   
   At the end of this training, students become trained peer mediators allowed to intervene in a conflict to help their peers to manage and resolve their disputes amicably.

The CPM Center delivers to them a Certificate of Training in School Mediation; a Badge indicating their status and worn by these students when they circulate alternately between their peers on school playground according to a calendar agreed upon; and an Engagement for them to sign, mentioning their commitment to act as peer mediators, to be available to mediate when asked to, and to follow continuous training in mediation.

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D. Peer Mediation - Practice: How does it work?

The structure and the rules and process to follow during the practice of peer mediation were set up by the Center in coordination with the schools and peer mediators.

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The Structure of Peer Mediation practice is as follows:

1. Who can suggest peer mediation?
   Any student, teacher, or school staff can suggest peer mediation to conflicting students. Peer mediators can also propose mediation to their peers.

2.  Who can mediate?
   Those who can mediate are peer mediators who accomplished training in the practice of mediation and who respect the engagement they signed and act accordingly. Two peer mediators can be provided through co-mediation.‍
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3. What can be mediated?
   Peer mediators are competent to mediate:
   
   (i) Small disputes such as misunderstandings, objects of insubstantial value, gossip, friendship problems, and exclusions, knowing that each school decides, in coordination with the Center, what types of conflicts peer mediators can mediate.
   - Are outside the competence of peer mediators and indicated to the students as such during the training and must be reported to persons in charge at school, the situations involving severe physical violence, a danger to the students or the school community (including drugs, alcohol, thefts, sexual assault…), extreme power imbalance, bully/victim problems causing great suffering.
   
   (ii) Disputes that occur between peers of the same age or younger.
   - Are outside the competence of student mediators and indicated to the students as such during the training, elder age’s conflictual situations, disagreements between students and teachers, and between parents.

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4. Where and when can mediation take place?
   The Center recommends that the school find a particular room for the peer mediators to mediate. Mediation takes place during breaks and never during class time.

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5. Which documents should be filled in by peer mediators following the peer mediation?
   At the end of the peer mediation, a sample report delivered by the Center mentioning the number of disputants, their gender, the subject of dispute, the issue of mediation, and the name of the peer mediators is filled in and signed by these mediators and sent back to the Project coordinator at the Center.

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a. Rules: The rules applied in Peer Mediation can be defined as follows:

• Peer Mediators act in their role of mediators by being impartial and respectful of each of the disputants, by being respectful of the confidentiality of the declarations made during the mediation process, and by helping the disputants to find a mutually agreed solution by facilitating communication between them.
• Mediation is voluntary (freedom to both disputants to choose/withdraw from mediation at any time; and to reach or not a solution); Mediation is confidential; Mediation requires respect for all disputants and mediators (non- interruption of the person speaking and refraining from aggressing this person).

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b. Process: The process applied in peer mediation can be described as follows:

• Peer Co-mediators meet with disputants, introduce themselves, and explain the role of mediators, the rules of mediation, and then ask the disputants if all the explanation is clear before starting mediation.
• The disputants introduce themselves; each tells his/her version of the story; mediators reformulate positively and objectively their saying and make sure each party listened and understood the other party's version.
• Subsequently, mediators summarize the situation, identify with the disputants the feelings and underlined needs, get the ok of the disputants on their summary, and search with them on any possible solutions.
• A brainstorming session begins, followed by testing of solutions with the disputants and helping them decide which is best for them.
• Peer co-mediators verify the verbal consent of the disputants for the chosen solution and thank each of the parties for their presence, trust and contribution to the mediation process.
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II- EVOLUTION

How did this Project evolve?

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A. Growth Statistics:

According to the statistics processed by the Professional Mediation Center:

1. There has been a growth in the number of schools which became partners to the Project, going from one school partner in 2010 to 30 school partners in 2018. Currently, the Center is receiving more requests from Lebanese schools to join the Project and is extending towards implementing a School Mediation project for the Middle East region.
2. There has also been an increase in the number of students trained for mediation who followed the 10 hours of non-violent communication and mediation training provided by the Center. From 97 students in 2010, they reached a 1583 figure in 2018, totaling up till this year 7380 students. As regards students who became peer mediators, their number was 10 in 2010 and rose up to 351 in 2018, reaching in 2018 a total of 1199 peer mediators.

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B. Challenges:

The practice of mediation by peer mediators and the involvement of the school community in the Project face a number of challenges:

1. Regarding the practice of mediation by peer mediators, challenges are related to the need of peer mediators to be recognized by their peers in their mission.
   
   Indeed, peer mediators need recognition and support from the other students to help them evolve in their practice, considering that a number of peer mediators expressed their frustration because of some lack of visibility and recognition from their peers. Some peer mediators suggested to increase awareness sessions in schools.

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2. Regarding the involvement of the school community in this Project, challenges are related to:
   
   (i) The schools’ principals’ enthusiasm to embrace this Project as theirs and to acknowledge that this Project needs time to deliver expected results, and therefore, to persevere in this project managing the challenges of time and of ongoing project financial funding to ensure its sustainability.
   (ii) The school community consciousness that changing the mentality from the usual approach to violence confrontation to a non-violent collaborative way of settling conflict and to mediation requires time and a long- time commitment from all school communities, and that peer mediation is not the only solution to violence but is one among other methods to reduce violence at schools.

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C. Activities:

These challenges drove the Center towards performing activities with the school partners.

These activities aim at meeting the needs of schools and students, deepening the mediation process within school community and fulfilling in depth the objectives of the Project.

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1. Day of Peace:
   
   Every year since 2012 a Day of Peace is organized by the Center and all school partners in the Project are invited to encourage peer mediators to participate.
   During this day, fun activities with mediation themes take place, which make it possible for peer mediators from various backgrounds to create links through discussing mediation topics and experience sharing.
   At the end of the Day of Peace, in line with the Project’s objectives and as a symbolic gesture, students:

• inscribe their name in a stone in plastic, and put it in a mold where they together form the cedar of Lebanon, a sign of identification, collaboration, and citizenship
  
• bind a colored ribbon to the "Ribbon of Peace", launched in 2013 by the Center, a real human chain connecting all those who pledge to work for the construction of peace in Lebanon. By doing so, peer mediators bind themselves to one another in this mission to be peacemakers.

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2. Mediation Week:
   
   Moreover, as of academic year 2016/2017, the Center started a ‘Mediation Week’ activities in schools.
   For one week, peer mediators raise the awareness of their peers in terms of mediation through entertainment games and fun activities so as to create attraction around mediation and reduce a kind of confinement that peer mediators sometimes face. This initiative was a real success.

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3. Annual follow-up sessions
   
   On the other hand, as of academic year 2016/2017, the Center organizes three annual follow-up sessions to the peer mediators, of 2 hours each. These sessions cover a summary of learned concepts, field experiences, and mediation role-play exercises.

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III- OUTCOMES

What are the outcomes of this Project on the Students who followed the training, on the School Community, on Mediation, and finally on Society at large?

Based on an evaluation report performed in 2017 by Ms. Lamia Hitti, a trainer at the CPM-USJ for seven public schools, and on a survey carried out by the Center in 2015 with the peer mediators of 12 private schools, numerous Project outcomes emerged:

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A. For Students:

1. Acquisition of a know-how in non-violent communication and mediation in terms of:

• Rules for healthy relations and daily life skills that can be used beyond schools, such as Active Listening, Empathy and usage of Non-Violent Communication language that 86% of peer mediators declared having already practiced at school or home, and 55% of them found that this approach improved their relationship with others.
• Consolidation of ethical and moral values and identification of right from wrong behaviors (i.e., respect, listening, non-interruption vs. violent communication, exclusion, bullying).
• Problem-solving techniques to understand and practice resolving a conflict in a collaborative non-violent way by seeking to find common ground between the parties, generating and evaluating alternative solutions to the conflict, and securing a win-win solution.

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2. Promotion of Well-being:

• Nonviolent communication and mediation training touch down deep in the human soul and transform it. This is reflected by the testimonials of students who followed these training, whereas according to the report mentioned above, 75% of them perceived a change of attitude and well-being following the training such as:
• Better self-control, as a significant number of students see themselves “more patient, less stressed, less impulsive, less judgmental, better listeners, having more acceptance and respect for others and a positive attitude in life”.
• Strengthening of self-confidence and leadership, as peer mediation gives students the opportunity to become actors responsible for the decisions they make towards a problem according to the rules and values of mediation, and therefore, to become more involved in the school community.
  

B. For School Community:

The outcomes perceived and received by the trained students necessarily impact the school community where students evolve. It was noted:

• An improvement in school climate, according to the report mentioned above, with a decrease in verbal and non- verbal violence, as well as a positive change in the attitude of some students;
• leading up to the prevention of conflict escalation with the negative consequences that this might have on the school community, as well as a reduction in time spent to resolve minor disputes and an increasing focus on learning for some students, which reflects positively on their grades.

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C. For Mediation

Education to mediation contributes to facilitate access to mediation and secure its proper application and expansion:

1. Knowledge and practice of mediation as of the youngest age facilitate access to mediation and proper application. Indeed, training students from their youngest age to practice the role of mediator and use the tools of mediators gives rise to a new generation knowledgeable of mediation, and who thinks straightforwardly of mediation as a conflict resolution process and strategy.
2. These young people can therefore easily carry and spread mediation properly and smoothly within society, and pass it forward to the next generation, thus contributing to its expansion.

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D. For Society

Karl Menninger said:  "What is done to children, they will do to society."

Indeed, educating young students to non-violent communication and mediation can be the pillar of a society in which youth embrace the culture of peace and nonviolent communication and become peace-building citizens.

This human and humanistic process conveyed by youth constitute a real hope for the spreading of a spirit of humanism between people in societies overwhelmed by violence, as well as for peacebuilding and stability.

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IV. FURTHERANCE

In line with what was presented above, and in order to fulfill the School Mediation Project's objectives, the furtherance of such Project requires:

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1. A strengthening of the Project by a significant involvement of the Schools’ Principals, as well as of parents and school staff, who can also benefit from this involvement in their everyday life.
2. A reinforcement of the student’s capacities by providing continuous training and consolidation of acquired concepts.
3. That educating to mediation becomes an integral part of the school curricula within schools;
4. That it becomes, in the long run, a project adopted by society and driving to a positive transformation in the region by preventing and amicably resolving conflicts; restoring and building undermined or destroyed relationships; and consolidating peace, democracy, and the culture of living together.

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Currently, the Project is in constant development, and the importance of educating to mediation has been felt on many Society levels, which led to the introduction of mediation in 2014 into the academic curricula as an optional course for all students of Saint Joseph University (USJ) in Beirut, and the organization by the Center since 2015 and in 2016 of Mediation Competitions between the Saint Joseph University faculties, and since 2017 of Interuniversity Mediation Competitions.

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Many achievements, hopefully to be soon completed by this educated youth.



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¹   Zeina KESROUANI is an Attorney at Law at the Beirut Bar Association, a Mediator and Trainer in Mediation, former Chief of the mediation section at the legal aid committee at the Beirut Bar Association, and a Member of the Lebanese Executive Committee of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA).

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