Mediation in Finnish Schools: From Conflicts to Restoration

Abstract

In his article, I describe the basis, progress and models of mediation in Finnish schools. Mediation has been offered as an alternative and restorative conflict management practice for intervention of misbehaviour and bullying since 2001. I present participation and learning approaches along with relevant literature as this constitutes the basis for the development and implementation of school mediation programmes. In the article, I also discuss how misbehaviour and bullying can be prevented by improving social skills and pupil participation in school with a restorative approach and mediation. In the last part of the article, I describe mediation practices in Finnish schools and present the latest statistics on school mediation training, the use of school mediation and surveys on user satisfaction. In conclusion, I discuss the impact of mediation and restorative practices. The article is connected to the discourse in the field of education about increasing pupil participation and strengthening children’s rights by implementing child-friendly methods to conflict management in schools.