Abstract:

Conflicts occurring in Lithuanian schools are resolved with the assistance of classmates, teachers, the representatives of school administration and other employees, however, these persons most often do not have special conflict resolution skills and professional knowledge. Due to these reasons, conflicts remain unresolved, the prevention of the occurrence new conflicts is not guaranteed. The experience of other countries shows that a vast majority of school conflicts are resolvable through mediation; hence, mediation is an extremely effective strategy of conflict resolution. Mediation is not used in Lithuanian educational institutions; there is no regulation for school mediation either. The problem questions of the study: Why is it necessary to use mediation in schools? What are the ways to provide it? The purpose of the study is to reveal the attitude of pupils towards the need for mediation and the opportunities to use it in schools. Quantitative research strategy was applied by using the method of a questionnaire survey. 170 pupils participated in the study. During the study the main attention was focused on the following aspects: the frequency of conflicts, the reason of their occurrence, resolution strategies, the actors providing assistance when resolving conflicts, whether pupils would receive the assistance of a mediator, who would be the most suitable mediator, whether children would like to learn conflict resolution skills themselves and when it would be the most appropriate to organise conflict resolution trainings.

The study revealed that pupils more often notice conflicts than admit to having a conflict themselves. The conflicts between pupils most often occur due to personal relationships, whereas the conflicts with teachers occur due to questions regarding learning and behaviour and discipline. When having conflicts with teachers pupils are most often prone to apply avoidance strategy, whereas when having a conflict with their peers they use combat strategy. When having a conflict with classmates pupils are most often prone to resolve a conflict independently, without the assistance of a third person. In the opinion of pupils, parents and teachers can assist them in resolving conflicts in the best way. Conflicts, the ways to resolve them and their consequences are most often discussed during class meetings, however, it is hardly discussed during lessons. Pupils lack conflict resolution skills and knowledge. Pupils want to learn the ways to resolve conflicts, they would also like to participate in the mediation of their peers and assist in resolving conflicts of others. Based on the findings of the study, class meetings would be the most appropriate time to organise conflict resolution trainings. In the opinion of pupils, teachers might be the best mediators.

Keywords:

School, pupils, conflicts, conflict resolution skills, mediation.