Roles in Peer Mediation

Launching a peer mediation program at any organization is difficult work, and often it takes a village. Clearly defining the roles of those that are responsible for program implementation is crucial to clarity and success. We want to break down definitions of titles in our peer mediation program that others might find useful when implementing similar programming to build consensus of role responsibilities. 

Peer Mediator: We work with both middle and high school students, and we ask that they come in curious about peer mediation and willing to participate in whatever capacity they have. While engaging in the materials, we also encourage our students to provide reflective feedback on ways that we can improve our student training process. 

Facilitator: Facilitators are CRCSTL staff members. Primarily, the facilitators’ goal is to create relatable, digestible content for students and to deliver the material in a meaningful way. As a third-party provider, we are continuing to navigate what it looks like to facilitate and build trust in a temporary space. In addition to this, we can help schools and organizations dream up new ways to build a culture of effective and student centered conflict engagement.

Sponsor: Sponsors are staff members of the school or organization we are working for and with. Sponsors are often less involved in training the students in mediation skills, but are normally heavily involved and committed to the peer mediation process, as they will lead peer mediation programming after CRCSTL’s training is complete and figure out the best way to mold the program to the context of the school/agency, of which they are the experts! We are incredibly grateful for both the trust and support our faculty sponsors provide our agency as well as the students. They are invaluable to the future success of their organization’s peer mediation program. 

Note: These role descriptions are reflective of CRCSTL’s peer mediation model and may look different from program to program.