NARRATIVE EXPERIENCES of SCHOOL COUNSELLORS USING CONVERSATION PEACE, a PEER MEDIATION PROGRAM BASED in RESTORATIVE JUSTICE. By
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NARRATIVE EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOL COUNSELLORS USING CONVERSATION PEACE, A PEER MEDIATION PROGRAM BASED IN RESTORATIVE JUSTICE. by HEATHER M. MAIN B.Ed., University of British Columbia, 1982 Dipl.E.C.E., University of British Columbia, 1987 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Counselling Psychology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2008 © Heather M. Main, 2008 11 Abstract This study narratively explores the experiences of five public school counsellors and one high school teacher using Conversation Peace, a restorative action peer mediation program published jointly in 2001 by Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives Association (CJI), Langley, British Columbia, Canada, and School District #35, Langley, British Columbia, Canada. This categorical-content analysis (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, & Zilber, 1998) resulted in data describing 20 common themes, 12 with similar responses, and 8 with varying responses amongst participants. Two of the similar findings were the crucial importance of(a) confidentiality within the mediation process, and (b) the school counsellor’s role within the overall and day-to-day implementation of this peer mediation program. Two of the varying findings were (a) the time involvement of the school counsellor within the peer mediation program, and (b) the differences in the number of trained peer mediators and peer mediations within schools. 111 .Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iii List of Tables v vi Chapter One — Introduction I 1.1 Rationale for the Study 15 1.2 Purpose of the Study 17 1.3 Research Question 18 1.4 Research Design Use for This Study 18 Chapter Two — Literature Review 19 2.1 The Definition and Underlying Principles of Restorative Justice 20 2.2 International, Historic and Cultural Foundations of Restorative Justice 26 2.3 Models of Restorative Justice Within/Adjunct to Criminal Justice System 31 2.4 Overview of Educational Theory supporting CR/Restorative Justice Programs in Schools 38 2.5 The Many Forms of and Factors Influencing Student Aggression 44 2.6 Types of Conflict Resolved Through Peer Mediation/Restorative Justice Programs in Public Schools.52 Chapter Three — Methodology 60 3.1 Participant Selection and Recruitment Process 61 3.2 Description of Participants 64 3.3 Interview Process 67 3.4 Validation Process 69 3.5 Criteria Used to Evaluate The Worth of This Study 71 Chapter Four — Results 74 4.1 Introduction 74 4.2 Common Themes with Similar Responses 76 Establishing Structures to Ensure Confidentiality within Peer Mediation Program 76 Formal Staff/Student Training in Conversation Peace: Format/Time Commitment 79 Importance of Administrative Support for the Program 81 Importance of School Counsellors’ Involvement within the Peer Mediation Program 83 Parent Education regarding Peer Mediation Program within the Schools 85 Process for Selection of Student Mediators 87 Resistance (to Peer Mediation) from Staff Members/Parents 90 Sources of Mediation Referrals 92 The Positive Experiences of Peer Mediation for both Mediators and Disputants 94 The Outcome of Peer Mediation 95 Types of Student Conflict Addressed by Restorative Action 97 Value of the Peer Mediation program Within the School 99 4.3 Common Themes with Varying Responses 101 Academic ‘Catch-up’ for Student Mediators 102 Comments on Mediators/Disputants in terms of Possible Gender/Ethnicity Match 103 Differences in Number of Trained Peer Mediators and Peer Mediations within Schools 106 Effect of Conversation Peace on Disciplinary Referrals to School Administration 108 Most/Least Beneficial Conversation Peace Training Module/Exercise Ill Students for whom Peer Mediation may be Particularly Difficult 114 Time Between Conflict and Onset of the Peer Mediation Process 115 Time Involvement of School Counsellor within the Peer Mediation Program 116 iv Chapter Five — Discussion 120 5.1 Comparison of Findings with Literature 120 5.2 Significance of Study 127 5.3 Limitations of Study 131 5.5 Implications for Counselling Practice 134 References 136 Appendices A. Questions for Semi-Structured Interview 149 B. UBC Ethics Authorization 150 C. Letter of Informed Consent 151 V List of Tables Table 1 Chapter Four: Table of Common Themes with Similar Responses 75 Table 2 Chapter Four: Table of Common Themes with Varying Responses 76 Table 3 Chapter Four: Table Comparison of Research Participants 106 vi Acknowledgements I am indebted to: David Kuhi, Patricia Wilensky, and Eileen Wilson, who have inspired me in profound and unique ways through their own restorative work with the adults and children they serve. Each gifted me generously and unconditionally with their blessing as I embarked on the uncharted path towards graduate school. During the peaks and valleys of what became a six year odyssey, I have been sustained by the memory of their leadership, dedication, kindness, and integrity. o Catherine Bargen, Sandi Bergen, Eric Stutzman, from Community Justice Initiatives, and Dyan Burrell, Susan Cairns, Deb Hale, from the Langley School Board, with whom I met on November 25, 2004 to request permission to use Conversation Peace, the restorative action program authored by their respective organizations, as the foundation for this thesis. o the six individuals who volunteered to participate in this research study. While confidentiality prevents me from naming you individually, your narratives are the heart of this work. It has been my privilege to record and document your experiences with Conversation Peace, and it is my hope that those who read this thesis will be as inspired by your experiences with restorative justice in schools as I have been. The birth of my own small group of elementary peer mediators, grounded in restorative justice, is the living outcome of this research. o my committee members, Dr. Maria Buchanan, Dr. Lynn Miller, Dr. Marion Porath and Dr. Mary Westwood for their insight and wisdom. o Pat Austin, Maria Buchanan, Bridget Browning, Jamie De Luce, Larry Kennis, Linda Leonard, Mishele Mathern, Tyler Miliey, Karen O’Brien, Jane Power, and Colleen Romano for their assistance with transcription, proof-reading, and preparation for the defense of this research study. I did not walk alone. 1 CHAPTER ONE Introduction I remember one kid said, afterward, “Man, that was a long process” (peer mediation), but I know he got something out of it... because he was not doing anything to the child that was the issue before. And I’m pretty sure if he just spent a couple of days in the (school) office, he would do it again. Susan - School Counsellor This thesis was inspired by a workshop based on Conversation Peace, a restorative action peer mediation program, at the British Columbia School Counsellors’ Association Conference which I attended in October 2004 in Vancouver, B.C. As Conversation Peace was jointly published in 2001 by Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives Association (CJI), Langley, British Columbia, and School District #35, Langley, British Columbia, Canada, I was particularly impressed that a public school district had shared the authorship of this program. Given my previous teaching and administrative experience helping students restoratively resolve interpersonal conflicts within a small Independent school, I was curious as to how public schools with larger and more diverse student populations offered this instruction and modelled these values. Moving professionally from school administration to school counselling, during the writing of this thesis, I became intrigued as to the involvement of school counsellors with conflict resolution programs within their schools. Since the B.C. Ministry of Education defines the school counsellor’s role as “enhancing students’ development with the development of an enabling school culture, and empowering students’ positive change” while providing “a continuum of preventative, developmental, remedial intervention services and programs” (2006, p.26), it seemed logical that school counsellors would be participating in these interventions. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to qualitatively document the experiences of school counsellors using Conversation Peace, a restorative model of conflict resolution, within their respective schools. During the nine month period in which the research for this thesis was conducted, April-December 2007, locating six school counsellors actively using Conversation 2 Peace with the criteria I had initially identified proved quite difficult. As a result five school counsellors and one secondary school teacher, an individual who created and was teaching a credit course in peer mediation using Conversation Peace as its founding curriculum document, were interviewed. Conversation Peace is one of many conflict resolution education (CRE), conflict management education, peace education and youth-oriented conflict resolution (YOCR) programs which have been developed and implemented with school-aged children and adolescents since the mid-i 970s in the US (Cohen, 2003; Jones, 2003; Shulman, 1996; Thompson, 1996; Tschannen-Moran, 2001) and internationally (Barnes, 2007; Cremin, 2002; Dawson & McHugh, 2006; Hopkins, 2002; Moffat, 2004; Shaw, 2007; Singh, 1995; Wearmouth, McKinney & Glynn, 2007). These programs, rooted in various theories of constructivism, developmental and psycho-educational theory, and social psychology (Amstutz & Mullet, 2005; Schellenberg, Parks-Savage & Rehfuss, 2007), all involve experiential learning (Moffat,