News
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A fair stooshie
In our most recent podcast we heard from Caitlin who talked about her experiences of mediation. One of the things that she talked about was the importance of open questions and summarising. Helping people who are in conflict is the lot of a mediator, however I believe everyone can learn some of the skills we teach on our course and use them in everyday life, not just in mediations. Let’s begin with open questions.
An open question is one that someone cannot just answer with a “yes” or a “no”. Open questions are a good way to find out directly from the parties involved, exactly what is going on for them. Open questions when used well, removes a lot of the value judgements or assumptions that can creep in. Let me give you an example.
Latest podcast now launched
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We are delighted to announce that our latest podcast has now gone live. In it, you can hear from Caitlin, who took part on our Mediation Skills training in 2024. She talks about her experience of mediation both in the US and Scotland and her reflections on what she has learnt from our training.
Helping people in conflict
One of the pleasures of training people in mediation is seeing people learn new skills in handling conflict more constructively and gain confidence in using them during the course.
Our course has no prior learning requirements and we welcome everyone from all walks of life. Previous learners have included lawyers, academics, professionals from commercial organisations, housing, community safety, environmental and leisure services, community bodies, marketing and training - the list is endless. What they have in common is a wish to handle conflicts in a better way, and to help others who are in conflict. Many have heard of mediation or know someone in the field of mediation, whilst others are completely new to this area.
Our training provides a safe space for people to work together and support each other as they learn the principles and process of mediation. The training is highly interactive with lots of opportunities for learners to discuss, explore and practise – they are often surprised how much they ‘do’ rather than listen. It’s also our job as trainers to make the course fun! Since learners come from a variety of backgrounds and jobs, they bring a wealth of experiences and knowledge which they are encouraged to share with others during the course.
Reflection and recognition
Last week saw me meet up with several mediators from around Scotland; I was there to present a workshop on the mediator accreditation scheme, which is run by the Scottish Community Mediation Network.
One of the questions that I was asked was what are the benefits of becoming accredited? I based my answer on what other mediators have told me. I talked about the feeling of being assessed, and having someone external to your organisation assess you and acknowledge that you as a mediator are working to a high standard. I also talked about how the process itself allows mediators to step back and reflect on their practise as a whole; the lessons that they have learned and the skills that they have developed.
Latest Podcast now live!
We are pleased to announce that our latest podcast is now live. This is the final episode in a series of four podcasts, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Scottish Community Mediation Centre.
Reflecting on the impact of the pandemic, this latest podcast explores how we met the challenge of changing a classroom-based course to an online one during the COVID-19 pandemic. It talks about some of the changes we made and the evolution of our training since then. You can listen to it here.
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