Three members of the Conflict Management Research Group at ESADE Law School –including Teresa Duplá, Principal Investigator, Lisandro Castillo, Research Assistant for Educational Institutions, and Cristina Figueras, Research Assistant for Social Justice– gave a course entitled ‘Different Ways to Use Mediation to Manage Conflicts’ at Barcelona’s Institut Front Maritim, the high school that won the 2016 Dialoga Prize. The aim of course was to instil in the teaching staff ideas that will help to advance the school’s peer mediation service for students.

During the presentation, Teresa Duplá commented: “Conflict management in the classroom challenges teachers to leave their comfort zone.” She added: “Applying mediation techniques in the classroom requires a training effort on a par with that which teachers have already done to adapt to the use of new technologies or to focus on competency-based learning.”

Lisandro Castillo explained that, according to the Coexistence Survey of Catalonia, “only 3.8% of students truly have a tendency to cause conflicts, but we have shied away from allowing conflicts to be expressed in the classroom.” According to Mr. Castillo, researchers such as Dan Olweus have found that juvenile bullying behaviour is predictive of future criminality. In fact, one study found that 55% of inmates in Swedish prisons had a history of conflict related to bullying in school. Therefore, Mr. Castillo explained, “it is not irrelevant for high schools to make an effort to educate the emotions of young people.” “Mediation goes beyond solving conflicts,” Mr. Castillo concluded, making reference to good practices adopted by countries such as Australia. “It is a therapeutic process that results in better people for the community.”

Cristina Figueras explained: “Mediation, which tries to preserve the relationship between the parties, or restorative mediation, leaves the parties free to carry out their own process. They can move freely from one situation to another.” In her opinion, the most important aspect in mediation is the recognition of the other. “Forcing the parties to reach an agreement is detrimental to the transformative capacity of mediation,” she concluded.

The Dialoga Prize is awarded annually by ESADE Law School’s Conflict Management Research Group and the Catalan Notaries Association, in collaboration with the Catalan Department of Education and Department of Justice. Barcelona’s Institut Front Maritim was the winner of the third edition of the award. The school was recognised for its extensive experience with a peer mediation service, which is managed by 20 fourth-year students. Institut Front Maritim has also created a peer tutoring programme designed to improve the adaptation of new students and prevent violence at the school.