Peer Mediation as a Means of Eliminating Conflict in the School Environment

Aim. Peer mediation is a tool for the prevention of socio-pathological phenomena occurring in the school environment, is an opportunity to resolve conflicts through reconciliation. The paper focuses on the perception of the importance of peer mediation and on the presentation of the results of a questionnaire survey, the aim of which was to determine the respondents’ preferences after completion of the project process. Methods. The aim of the questionnaire survey was to determine how pupils and students perceive peer mediation. The survey sample consisted of selected pupils from 6 primary schools aged 10 to 15 years and students from 6 secondary schools aged 15 to 18 years. The questionnaire was completed at the beginning (year 2020 - N = 189, including 90 primary school pupils) and end of the project implementation (year 2021 - N = 124, including 56 primary school pupils). Results. The responses in the entry and exit questionnaires, the respondents declared after participating in the project process an increase in their experience with peer mediation, expressed an interest in becoming peer mediators and reso - lving personal and school conflicts through peer mediation. Conclusion . Peer mediation engages pupils in a common dialogue to resolve conflicts at school through reconciliation and is a suitable way to prevent undesira - ble social phenomena in the school environment. The results of the research showed that respondents preferred peer mediation and perceived it as an appropriate form of conflict resolution in the school environment.

There is a wide range of approaches to resolving conflicts, and one non--violent approach is the use of mediation. This can be regarded as a process in which a neutral qualified third party assists the disputing parties in finding a mutually acceptable solution. Lenka Holá (2003) states that the aim is to achieve their satisfaction with the process and outcome of conflict resolution. The origin of the term mediation is in the Latin word medium. From the perspective of several authors (Riskin, 1997;Knapp & Jongsma, 2002;Bieleszová, 2013), it refers to an alternative method of conflict resolution that uses the presence of a mediator. Mediation is associated with the Confucian tradition, was further developed in China and Japan, and began to be applied in its modern form in the 1960s in the USA. In the UK and in Europe, the rapid development of mediation was recorded in the 1990s (Šándor, 2002).
Pathological behaviour occurs at all levels of society and, according to several authors (Lešková, 2010;Hlad et al., 2022), it is associated with both social and individual consequences of risky behaviour. These require an ongoing approach to educating young persons not only through the family but also through the school environment. Most school conflicts begin with a minor trigger event and escalate as discussions, with the conflict participants focussing on their individual views and personal feelings rather than working towards finding a mutually acceptable solution (Knapp & Jongsma, 2002;Bieleszová, 2013;Çeviker Ay & et al., 2019). One of the forms of effective prevention as well as intervention in the case of inappropriate manifestations directly in the school environment is mediation (Labáth, 1999;Lešková, 2010;Bieleszová, 2017). It is fast, discrete, operational, feasible and can be brought directly into the environment where the conflict arose. It can contribute to changing the culture of conflict resolution and to improving interpersonal relations. What is relevant here is the personal responsibility of each individual involved in the conflict and interested in resolving it in a non-violent way. Mediation can be seen as a great opportunity to maintain a positive school climate. Holá (2014) states that one of the first to conduct research on the impact of peer mediation on the emergence of conflict was Hanson, who found that behaviour related to verbal abuse and physical assault declined among up to 36% of children. Other research on the efficacy of peer mediation shows that up to 43% of pupils have improved their knowledge about conflict and 42% have increased their ability to resolve conflicts (Holá, 2011).
The aim of mediation is a clearly formulated, understandable and feasible agreement among all the participants in the process, which includes specific resolution procedures, division of responsibilities, tasks and sanctions for non-compliance (Haburajová Ilavská et al., 2014). Howard Irving (2002) states that mediation is successful when the parties are able to negotiate an agreement that is in the best interests of the parties. The goal is also to stabilise the children's relationships with each other, to minimise their exposure to conflicts and quarrels, and to minimise their trauma (Goleman, 1998). Based on recent research, involving pupils in a common dialogue on the issues of conflict resolution in school through reconciliation appears to be an appropriate way to prevent undesirable social phenomena in the school environment (Bieleszová, 2017). Mediation gives pupils to the ability to perceive things from different points of view, to clarify their attitudes and positions in a conflict, to argue their position, to explain patiently and to understand another point of view.
Peer mediation is a voluntary conflict resolution process where pupils who have been trained in mediation assist other pupils in disputes, seeking to reach a mutually acceptable resolution to their conflict (van Gurp, 2002;Çeviker Ay et al., 2019). It is about the peer mediator acting as an impartial unbiased third party, provided they can build respect, have the trust of their classmates, are a natural authority accepted among the pupils, have communication skills, and are capable of active listening. No matter what kind of conflict children experience, according to Dušana Bieleszová (2013), a community of peers will be the most natural environment for them to share perceptions, feelings, opinions or experiences. The importance of peer mediation is also discussed by Richard Cohen (2005) and highlights the need for a coordinator. Likewise, James Gilhooley & Nannette Scheuch (2000) state that an effective peer mediator is someone who enjoys helping others, with their service fulfilling multiple roles.
The peer mediation process is a non-confrontational process that facilitates the resolution of disputes between students and focuses on the needs of all those involved. The mediation process itself presents an extremely beneficial opportunity for students to engage in real-life dispute resolution, thereby improving the quality of students' lives and preparing them for life after school (Cremin, 2007). According to several authors (

Research Methodology
The whole project was organised and implemented by OZ Ave ProsperitA under the leadership of project manager Denisa Morongová. The aim of the School and Peer Mediation as a Tool for the Prevention of Bullying and Other Socio-pathological Phenomena project was to teach future peer mediators through the training of mediation skills that will help them to be independent, to develop active listening, to develop verbal and non--verbal communication, to observe the environment, to develop mutual tolerance, respect and esteem, to reduce hate speech, but also in the collective ability to resolve conflicts between peers. The project also focused on school mediation by educators, with whom separate research was conducted.
The aim of the first part of the research, the results of which are presented here, was to determine the opinions of the respondents (pupils and students), participants in the project, which was implemented in the period of 2020-2021, on conflicts, their resolution and the use of peer mediation.
In order to determine the opinions of the participating pupil and student -respondents, we created a questionnaire of our own construction with identification questions and questions that were focused on the field of conflicts, their resolution, mediation and conflict resolution in the form of peer mediation. We conducted a quantitative survey in which we surveyed a group of subjects repeatedly over a two-year period. The disadvantage of such research is that the sample size of respondents changes over the course of the research, but we anticipated this. The advantage is the possibility of pointing out the developmental trend of the phenomena studied among the respondents.
To measure the respondents' opinions, we used a very appropriate tool, namely verbal scaling. The scale we set for the assessment had 5 levels but some respondents did not complete the question (in the presented results we indicate this fact -6 No response). In evaluating the choice between alternatives, we considered the selection of alternatives 1-3 as positive alternatives and the selection of alternatives 4 and 5 as negative alternatives.
We set 4 research questions within the survey: • Research question 1: Do the respondents have experience with peer mediation? • Research question 2: Are respondents interested in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation? • Research question 3: Are respondents interested in resolving school conflicts through peer mediation? • Research question 4: Are respondents interested in becoming a peer mediator/mediator? To characterise the research population, we used data obtained from the quantitative survey in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, namely gender, age and school of the respondents from two time periods -project entry -October 2020 and project exit -November 2021. Notes. Entry -first meeting with respondents (project participants); Exit -last meeting with respondents (project participants) Source. Own research 12 groups of pupils and students participated in the survey, 6 groups each from primary and secondary schools. The initial questionnaire was completed by 189 respondents, 90 of whom were from primary schools. In terms of gender, the representation was 63% women, 34.4% men and 2.6% of respondents did not indicate their gender. Because a longitudinal survey was conducted, the number of respondents at the end of its implementation was 124, of which 56 respondents were from primary schools. In terms of gender, the representation was 57.3% women, 39.5% men and 3.2% of respondents did not indicate their gender. Notes. First meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
The age distribution of respondents in the entry questionnaires shows that primary school respondents had the largest representation in the age category of 12-and 13-year-olds (both groups 21.1% each) and secondary school respondents had the largest representation in the age category of 17 year-olds (36.4%).

Table 4
Distribution of respondents by age and gender (exit data)

Gender
Men Notes. Exit -last meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
The age distribution of respondents in the exit questionnaires shows that primary school respondents had the largest representation in the age category of 14-year-olds (30.4%) and secondary school respondents had the largest representation in the age category of 18 year-olds (41.2%).

Survey Results
The results of the survey in terms of entry and exit of the implemented project are presented according to the defined research questions by school and gender of the respondents in Tables 5 -12. The respondents' views on the experience of peer mediation at the project entry are shown in Table 5. Notes. Entry -first meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
At the project entry, up to 78.8% of respondents (83.1% of men and 75.6% of women) declared that they had no experience with peer mediation.
In terms of the school attended, 78.9% of primary school respondents (81.1% men and 76% women) and 78.8% of secondary school respondents (75.7% men and 75.4% women) declared that they had no experience with peer mediation.
The respondents' views on the experience of peer mediation at the project exit are shown in Table 6. Notes. Exit -last meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
At the project exit, only 20.2% of respondents declared that they had no experience with peer mediation. In terms of gender, this was 24.5% of men and 18.3% of women.
In terms of the school attended, 25% of primary school respondents (25% men and 26.7% women) and 16.2% of secondary school respondents (24% men and 12.2% women) declared that they had no experience with peer mediation.
The respondents' views on their interest in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation at the project entry are shown in Table 7. Notes. Entry -first meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
At the project entry, 67.7% of respondents declared their interest in resolving personal conflicts through mediation. In terms of gender, 61.5% were men and 73.1% were women.
In terms of the school attended, 68.9% of primary school respondents (67.6% of men and 72% of women) and 66.7% of secondary school respondents (53.6% of men and 73.9% of women) declared an interest in resolving personal conflicts through mediation.
The respondents' views on their interest in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation at the project exit are shown in Table 8. Notes. Exit -last meeting with respondents (project participants).

Source. Own research
At the project exit, up to 86.3% of respondents declared their interest in resolving personal conflicts through mediation. In terms of gender, 48.9% were men and 84.6% were women.
In terms of the school attended, 85.7% of primary school respondents (4.2% of men and 86.7% of women) and 86.8% of secondary school respondents (92% of men and 82.9% of women) declared an interest in resolving personal conflicts through mediation.
The respondents' views on their interest in resolving school conflicts through peer mediation at the project entry are shown in Table 9. Notes. Entry -first meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
At the project entry, 91.5% of respondents declared their interest in resolving school conflicts through mediation. In terms of gender, 90.7% were men and 91.6% were women.
In terms of the school attended, 86.7% of primary school respondents (86.5% of men and 86% of women) and 96% of secondary school respondents (96.5% of men and 95.6% of women) declared an interest in resolving school conflicts through mediation.
The respondents' views on their interest in resolving school conflicts through peer mediation at the project exit are shown in Table 10.   Notes. Exit -last meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
At the project exit, 96.8% of respondents declared their interest in resolving school conflicts through mediation. In terms of gender, it was 98% men and 97.2% women.
In terms of the school attended, 98.2% of primary school respondents (100% men and 96.7% women) and 95.6% of secondary school respondents (96% men and 97.6% women) declared an interest in resolving school conflicts through mediation.
The respondents' views on their interest in becoming a peer mediator/ mediator at the project entry are shown in Table 11. Notes. Entry -first meeting with respondents (project participants).
Source. Own research.
At the project entry, up to 85.1% of respondents declared their interest in becoming a peer mediator. In terms of gender, this was 81.6% men and 86.6% women. In terms of the school attended, 87.7% of primary school respondents (83.8% men and 90% women) and 82.9% of secondary school respondents (78.5% men and 84.1% women) declared an interest in becoming a peer mediator/mediator. The respondents' views on their interest in becoming a peer mediator/ mediator at the project exit are shown in Table 12.   Notes. Exit -last meeting with respondents (project participants)

Source. Own research
At the project exit, 92.8% of respondents declared their interest in becoming a peer mediator/mediator. In terms of gender, this was 91.7% men and 94.4% women. In terms of the school attended, 94.6% of primary school respondents (95.8% men and 96.7% women) and 91.2% of secondary school respondents (88% men and 92.7% women) declared an interest in becoming a peer mediator/mediator.

Discussion
The results of the research in terms of the age of respondents showed several facts that reflect the views of the respondents in the 12 participating groups from 6 primary and 6 secondary schools. To test for dependence, we used the Chi-square test of independence at the α = 5% significance level. Testing was carried out in relation to the four research questions, in terms of the gender of the respondents (men/women) and the type of school (primary school/secondary school).
The respondents' views on their experience of peer mediation were verified by question 1: "Do you have experience with using peer mediation?" The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at both the entry and exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between experience with peer mediation in terms of the respondents' gender in either group (primary school, secondary school, and total). The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at both the entry and exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between experience with peer mediation in terms of the type of school attended.
The respondents' views on their experience with peer mediation were verified by question 2: "Are you interested in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation?" The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at the entry testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in interest in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation in terms of the respondents' gender in either group (primary school, secondary school, and total). The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at the exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in the "secondary school" group in interest in resolving in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation in terms of the respondents' gender.
The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at the exit testing indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the "primary school" and "total" group in interest in resolving in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation in terms of the respondents' gender. We accept hypothesis H 1 (for question 2 -in terms of gender) that there is a significant difference between genders in the respondents' opinion about their interest in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation.
The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at both the entry and exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in interest in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation in terms of the type of school attended.
The respondents' views on their experience with peer mediation were verified by question 3: "Are you interested in resolving school conflicts through peer mediation?" The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at both the entry and exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in interest in resolving school conflicts through peer mediation in terms of the respondents' gender in either group (primary school, secondary school, and total). The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at the entry testing indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in interest in resolving school conflicts through peer mediation in terms of the type of school attended. The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at the exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in interest in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation in terms of the type of school attended.
The respondents' views on their interest in becoming a peer mediator were verified with question 4: "Are you interested in becoming a peer mediator?" The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at both the entry and exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in interest in becoming a peer mediator in either group (primary school, secondary school, and total) in terms of the respondents' gender.
The resulting Chi-square [χ²] at both the entry and exit testing indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in interest in becoming a peer mediator in terms of the type of school attended.  , it requires the constant updating of innovative methods and approaches that will improve the overall climate for successful implementation of the educational process. It is in such an environment that a person can realise and improve not only their happiness but also their overall quality of life (Murgaš et al., 2022). This fact opens the way to their elimination in a non-violent way, where peer mediators have their place as independent partners in conflict resolution. An essential reason for the introduction of mediation at schools, as Dušana Bieleszová (2017) argues, are reasons such as the need for stability and improvement of the quality of relationships in the pedagogical and pupil collective and the interest of educators to provide pupils with a suitable model for conflict resolution.
The results of the conducted research pointed to several facts that were found after 18 months of project implementation aimed at acquiring the competences necessary for the application of peer mediation by the project participants.
Entry data indicated that only 21.2% of respondents had experience with peer mediation. After 18 months of project implementation, there was a significant increase in the selection of positive connotations declaring experience with peer mediation -79.8% of respondents, an increase of 58.6%. In terms of gender as well as type of school, we did not observe a significant difference in preferences.
Conflicts are a natural part of our lives. On the issue of resolving personal and school conflicts, there was a shift in the respondents' preferences as a result of completing the project cycle. 67.7% of respondents declared an interest in resolving personal conflicts through peer mediation at the beginning of the project and 86.3% of respondents at the end of the project, which is an increase of 18.6%. Similar results were observed in terms of interest in resolving school conflicts through peer mediation. It can be stated that there was already a high level of interest in this area at the beginning of the research -91.5% of respondents were interested in resolving school conflicts through school mediation. Overall, we saw a 5.3% increase in respondent interest following the implementation of the project, resulting in an overall respondent interest rate of 96.8%. The fact that there was an 7.7% increase in the interest of respondents in becoming a peer mediator (85.1% of respondents at the project entry and 92.8% of respondents at the project exit) can be considered a significant achievement of the project.
Other authors have come to similar results. Three-year longitudinal data showed significant reductions in the school's out-of-school suspensions after implementation of the peer mediation program. Mediation training also resulted in significant mediator knowledge gains pertaining to conflict, conflict resolution, and mediation (Schellenberg et al., 2007). Robert D. Harris (2006) demonstrated the results that peer mediators effectively modelled, and disputants effectively learned, conflict resolution knowledge, attitudes, and skills that contributed to a significant improvement in conflict attitudes and behaviours, and a significant reduction in disputant discipline problems following mediation. Also Edward Sellman (2011) states that peer mediation is most successful in schools where there was a considerable shift in the division of labour, accompanied by the production of new cultural tools that promoted new ways of thinking, speaking and acting with regard to conflict.
Peer-mediated interventions offer significant social benefits (Travers & Carter, 2021). Peer mediation programmes increase pupils' social status and empower them socially, including outside the school environment. Peer mediation thus boosts their self-esteem and makes their school life easier overall (Baraldi, 2012). In this context, we see room for a broader impact of the media, as in the opinion of several authors (Králik & Máhrik, 2019a; Králik & Máhrik, 2019b; Tkáčová, Pavlíková et al., 2021). We live in an age of information and digital media, which are expected to influence not only the development of critical thinking, but also moral formation and tolerance.
Mediation brings tolerance, patience, respect, esteem, responsibility, trust, critical thinking, healthy communication, independence and empathy to schools. The starting point can be seen in sufficient education through the media, but also in the more practical implementation of peer mediation at schools and support for mediation initiatives by entities promoting the development of peer mediation. Based on the experience from project implementation and the results of the research, we can conclude that pupils and students who have undergone the peer mediation programme try to resolve conflicts by using peer mediation.