Mediating mediation
Philip Kerr,
Adaptive Learning in ELT,
Sept 12, 2022
I studied mediation practices as a member of a conflict resolution group at the University of Alberta in 1990 or so (applications ranged from labour negotiations, responding to sexual harassment, and interpersonal conflict) and employed what I learned numerous times over the years. So whatever may be Philip Kerr's specific criticisms of the MiLLaT (Mediation in Language Learning and Teaching) guides for Language Teachers (here and here), I would certainly take issue with his reduction of the terms used to describe mediation as 'group work' and 'writing'. I'm also concerned that "a selection of the activities suggested in MiLLaT" leaves him "wondering what some of this has to do with mediation" because - from my perspective - it's pretty easy to draw the connection between the skills being developed and the actual practice of mediation. Now it may be that merging mediation training with a language teaching is maybe not the best idea in the world. Each is hard enough on its own. That said, I think that for the small of funding (€80K) they received, the MiLLaT group did a decent job.
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