A regional model to train mediators for the educational system of Kuzbass

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A regional model to train mediators for the educational system of Kuzbass

Elena V. Belonogovaa and Irina A. Sviridovab

“Department of Mediation and Restorative Practices of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care

Kemerovo, Russian Federation

bKuzbass Regional Center for Psychological and Educational

Health and Social Care

Kemerovo, Russian Federation



Abstract

The article presents the experience of the Kemerovo region in creating system for training mediators in the Kuzbass Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care. The authors reveal the genesis and the main conceptual, methodological and technological aspects of the development of a regional model to train mediators for the educational system of Kuzbass. In conceptual and methodological terms, training mediators is based on a restorative approach and a transdisciplinary paradigm of restorative justice. The system of training mediators includes: training the skills of restorative technologies within additional professional educational programs of refresher courses; monthly methodological seminars for mediators and curators of reconciliation services in the region, supervision and intervision sessions for restorative programs' facilitator; training programs for young volunteer mediators of school reconciliation services. The authors highlight the main risk factors and conditions for the effective work of mediators in difficult school, family and criminal situations, and the possibility of taking risks into account when training mediators and curators of reconciliation services. For the effective training of a mediator - restorative programs' facilitator, it is important to focus on mastering: the principles of a restorative approach and the procedure of restorative mediation, the position of a mediator, technologies for conducting restorative programs (restorative mediation, community circles, a family conference, a school conference, a school-parent council, preventive restorative programs), skills of restorative communication, legal framework of reconciliation services in Russia. Monitoring data on the activities of the reconciliation services in Kuzbass on the implementation of restorative programs show a good level of training of mediators.

Keywords: restorative programs, reconciliation services, restorative programs' facilitator, principles of restorative approach, restorative mediation, community circles,family conferences, school-parent council, restorative practices, additional professional educational program.

Региональная модель подготовки медиаторов для системы образования Кузбасса

Е.В. Белоногова, И.А. Свиридова

Отдел медиации и восстановительных практик

Государственной организации образования

«Кузбасский региональный центр психолого-педагогической, медицинской и социальной помощи «Здоровье и развитие личности» Российская Федерация, Кемерово

`Государственная организация образования

«Кузбасский региональный центр психолого-педагогической, медицинской и социальной помощи «Здоровье и развитие личности» Российская Федерация, Кемерово конференция, школьная конференция, школьно-родительский совет, профилактические восстановительные программы), навыков восстановительной коммуникации, нормативно-правовых основ организации служб примирения в России. Данные мониторинга деятельности служб примирения в системе образования Кузбасса по реализации восстановительных программ показывают хороший уровень подготовки восстановительных медиаторов.

Ключевые слова: восстановительные программы, службы примирения, ведущий восстановительных программ, принципы восстановительного подхода, восстановительная медиация, круги сообщества, семейные конференции, школьно-родительский совет, восстановительные практики, дополнительная профессиональная образовательная программа.



The formation of a regional model of training mediators in Kuzbass is closely related to the development of the Reconciliation Service as a social organizational technology in the system of complex socio-psychological and pedagogical support of education. This activity is carried out on the basis of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care (headed by I.A. Sviridova), subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Science of Kuzbass (until 2020 - Department of Education and Science of the Kemerovo Region).

In 2002, on the basis of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care (formerly - the Kemerovo Regional Psychological and Valeo- logical Centre), a Public Children's Reception Office of the Department of Education of the Kemerovo Region was created, one of the areas of work of which was Care in resolving conflict situations in educational institutions of municipal territories at the personal request of participants in the educational process or the request of the Department of Education based on appeals of citizens and officials to the Department of Education, to the Governor's website, to the Prosecutor's Office, etc.

The specialists of the Public Children's Reception Office were psychologists and had been trained in conflict management, but this was not enough to effectively resolve difficult situations. Therefore, since 2007, when working with family and child-parental conflicts, the leading specialist of E.V. Belonogova's reception office has been using elements of mediation, which significantly has increased the effectiveness of the work, as it helped the parties to agree peacefully and establish constructive relations.

In 2012, in Kuzbass, E.V. Belonogova developed a regional concept of the Reconciliation Service in the education system; for the first time mediation training was organized for education specialists from 20 municipal territories, and the first reconciliation services started to appear, which initially (and until 2014) used the classical model of mediation. However, mediators soon faced a number of problems that hindered the advancement of this innovative technology in education:

The very possession of the mediation technology by a specialist (psychologist, social educator, teacher, administrator) did not allow integrating this practice into the system of work of an educational organization, although it helped them sometimes to apply it in a very narrow framework - only where, according to its functionality, administrative / punitive mechanisms were assumed. Additional knowledge was required to embed this practice into the structure of managing social processes at school.

The technology of classical mediation, suitable for resolving disputes with equality of parties, severely limited the ability to work with situations of harm (material, psychological), where one of the parties was a victim, and the other was an offender, or even both parties were victims and offenders, if the harm was done mutually. Such situations prevail at school.

The technology of classical mediation, which presupposes working mainly with two parties, did not allow resolving group conflicts in which many participants were involved, including multi-level conflicts, where students, parents, teachers, and the administration of an educational institution were participants. Namely, such conflicts were the most painful for the participants and the most destructive in terms of consequences for the normal operation of an educational institution.

Agreements reached in the process of mediation between the parties were rarely fulfilled by adolescents, since the reaction of a significant social environment played an important role. If friends, a reference group of peers, parents and teachers respected by a teenager did not support the decisions he made or were against agreements, continuing to resort to punitive, administrative or coercive mechanisms, then the results of mediation were reduced to zero. This is another limitation of the classical mediation technology, which involves working with the parties to the conflict themselves, but not with the community and significant social environment of the parties to the conflict, which could support adolescents' fulfilment of agreements.

Trained mediators are far from always able to convey the essence and benefits of this technology to the participants of the educational process and motivate them to choose this method of conflict resolution. Therefore, often the management, teachers and even parents treated the new practice of mediation with distrust, considering it unnecessary and overloading the educational process, and continued to resort to the usual methods.

If the management of the educational institution was not ready to introduce such an innovation or did not understand its essence, then mediation faced a number of risks due to the fact that the head: demanded to disclose the information received during the mediation process; made administrative decisions without taking into account the agreements already reached by the parties; demanded that the parties must go through mediation; demanded a certain decision from the mediator; tried to manipulatively use the mediator in order to simply “hush up” the conflict and prevent him from leaving the institution, and so on. All this led to distrust of the mediation procedure and its negative image as another manipulative and punitive management tool.

Mediators working in educational institutions were helpless in dealing with escalated conflicts that went beyond the school and became the subject of attention of the prevention system, higher authorities, law enforcement or supervisory authorities. Even in the cases that could be mediated, the mediation procedure by the school staff as a party to the conflict became inappropriate.

Specialists of educational institutions cannot always afford the costs associated with training in mediation and further training.

Thus, in 2014, a serious question arose before the management and specialists of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care how to take into account the above points when training mediators? What and how to train future mediators so that this useful practice takes root and develops in the regional education system? Who and what to teach so that conflicts involving minors are resolved peacefully and are not escalated?

To address these issues, the possibilities of various models of mediation and various organizational technologies and forms of institutionalization of mediation practice in education were analysed based on the study of foreign and domestic experience. A restorative mediation model was chosen as the basic one, which allowed working with a wide range of situations involving minors, including situations of harm / resentment, group conflicts with a large number of people involved in the situation, escalated conflicts, and also meant working with communities and significant social environment. juvenile participants in situations (Stan- darty vosstanovitel'noi mediatsii, 2010; Kar- nozova, 2014; Maksudov, 2007). In addition, this model proposed 2 organizational forms of institutionalizing mediation practice and embedding it in the system of activities of both an educational organization (School Reconciliation Service, SRS) (Konovalov, 2017b) and so- cio-psychological and pedagogical support and prevention of juvenile delinquency (Territorial Reconciliation Service, TRS) (Territorial'nye sluzhby primireniia, 2015; Konovalov, 2017a), providing mechanisms for the transmission of the principles of the restorative approach to participants in the educational process. It is also important that the TRS model makes it possible to involve representatives of the authorities and institutions of the system for the prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency in the reconstruction work to resolve complex conflict school, family and criminal situations with the participation of minors (Model'noe opisanie programmy, 2017; Organizatsiia i pro- vedenie programm, 2006).

Therefore, in 2015, the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care has been cooperating with the leaders and authors of the development of restorative justice and restorative mediation in Russia - the Public Centre “Judicial and Legal Reform” (Moscow); at the moment its territorial representation works in the region. On the basis of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care with the support of the director I.A. Sviridova, the Department of Mediation and Social Practices was created (now the Department of Restorative Practices and Mediation), a system for training mediators was developed, including:

training specialists of educational organizations and adult volunteers of reconciliation services (TRS and SRS) for the basics of conflict management, a restorative approach, technologies for organizing and conducting restorative programs, incl. mediation, the design of reconciliation services (training is carried out at the expense of educational organizations or the students themselves, as well as at the expense of grants received by the Kuzbass Health and Personal Development Regional Centre for Psychological, Pedagogical, Medical and Social Care);

training young volunteers of school reconciliation services for restorative mediation technology (training is carried out at the expense of the regional and / or municipal budget, free of charge for participants);

studying intervisions, supervisions, participating in Balint groups for leading restorative programs (supervision support is carried out within the framework of the department's state assignment, free of charge for mediators);

monthly training seminars for mediators and curators of reconciliation services on methodological, conceptual, organizational and practical aspects (training is carried out within the framework of the department's state assignment, free of charge for students).

To train specialists of the reconciliation services and leading restorative programs on the basis of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care, an additional professional educational program for advanced training “Training of a specialist in the reconciliation service” (254 hours) was developed, which now includes 7 modules:

“Restorative mediation and organization of a reconciliation service”;

“Resolving group conflicts: the Community Circle program”;

“Skills of restorative communication (mediation skills)”;

“Restorative programs for difficult cases (conflict with the law)”;

“Family group conferences”;

“School restorative conferences”;

“Dealing with multilevel conflicts in the escalation stage: the program of the School-Parent Council”.

Training of young volunteer mediators of the SRS from among the students is carried out according to the program of additional education “Restorative mediation and the creation of a reconciliation service” (36 hours). At the regional level, training is carried out by specialists of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care at the expense of the regional budget within the framework of specialized volunteer shifts on the basis of the Regional Children's Health Centre “Siberian Fairy Tale”.

The conceptual foundations for the implementation of these programs were:

Mediation and restorative approach to resolving conflicts, problem and criminal situations (Karnozova, 2013; Konovalov, 2017b; Territorial'nye sluzhby primireniia, 2015; Christie, 2007);

Concept and Russian model of the School service for reconciliation and restorative culture of relations in education (A.Yu. Konovalov, Moscow) (Konovalov, 2017b);

Concept and Russian model of restorative juvenile justice (R.R. Maksudov, L.M. Karnozova, Moscow) (Organizatsiia i provede- nie programm, 2006);

The concept of the Territorial Reconciliation Service in the system of prevention of juvenile delinquency and work with families in difficult life situations and socially dangerous situations (R.R. Maksudov, L.M. Karnozova, Moscow) (Territorial'nye sluzhby primireniia, 2015);

Concept and standards of restorative mediation (Judicial and Legal Reform Centre) (Standarty vosstanovitel'noi mediatsii, 2010).

It is important that in the process of training, specialists master the basic concepts and principles of the restorative approach, master the restorative discourse, which is the axiological and conceptual basis of the professional position of a mediator in the restorative model of mediation.

Restorative justice is a philosophy and practice of society's response to crime, an alternative to the administrative punitive method and the adversarial nature of classical justice. It is about how technology helps to rebuild relationships destroyed by conflict and crime, heal victims of crime, and integrate offenders into society through restorative programs. In this case, the responsibility of the offender is to smooth over the harm caused to the victim, and the participants in the situation themselves are the subjects of its resolution and correction. The central issue in this practice is the issue of creating conditions for rectifying the evil caused by conflicts and crimes: the experiences of the conflicting parties, the harm done to the victims of crimes, the desire for revenge, the increase in the level of aggression of all participants involved in a conflict or criminal situation (Karnozova, 2014; Maksudov, 2007). Principles of restorative justice are restoring understanding and dialogue; independence and responsibility of the participants in the situation themselves for its resolution, correction of the consequences and prevention of a repetition of the situation in the future; repairing the harm; getting rid of negative conditions, maintaining a healthy personality identity and banning branding; community responsibility for supporting positive changes in the behaviour of participants in the situation (Zehr, 1998; Karnozova, 2014).

In this case, the concept of Victim (the aggrieved) is a person who has been harmed (including offense) as a result of the act of the offender. In a criminal proceeding (i.e. if it is a question of a committed crime and a criminal case has been initiated) such a person is called a victim. Otherwise, the legal term “the aggrieved” is not used. The concept of offender refers to a person whose actions have caused harm to another person / group of people (Kar- nozova, Konovalov, 2019).

The restorative approach is a systematic approach in responding to conflicts and criminal situations from the standpoint of the principles of restorative justice based on the mediation method (peace negotiations with the participation of an independent neutral mediator who does not make decisions). In society's response to juvenile delinquency and crime, it opposes the punitive approach. In responding to conflicts and difficult school situations, it opposes the forceful and administrative method. In working with difficult life situations of minors and their families, it resists both punitive and administrative, as well as correctional and restorative methods of response. The restorative approach helps people themselves to correct the evil caused by conflicts and crimes, provides for the restoration of the socio-psychological state, connections and relationships in the life of its participants and their social environment, disturbed as a result of a conflict or offense. An important feature of the approach is the active role of the participants in the situation themselves, all interested community members in its peaceful and constructive settlement, which is built on the values of mutual understanding, joint search for an acceptable solution for each, recognition of the importance, responsibility and contribution of each to its implementation (Christie, 2007; Christie, 2011; Costello, Wachtel, Wachtel, 2009; Konovalov, 2014; Maksudov, 2007; Model'noe opisanie programmy, 2017; Organizatsiia i provedenie programm, 2006; Page, 2011). The principles of a restorative approach for the education system include:

Restoration of the conflict's / offense's participants' ability to understand their situation and the situation of the other party, to rethink and correct it.

The offender's repairing the harm (if the offender was present in the situation) caused to the victim as much as possible.

Healing the victim (if there was a victim in the situation) in the process of the offender's making amends for the harm caused to the victim and answering the victim's important questions.

Acceptance of responsibility by the participants in a conflict situation themselves for its settlement, excluding violence or further harm; cessation of mutual enmity and normalization of relations.

Planning by the parties to the conflict of their future, allowing them to avoid the repetition of such situations in the future and form more responsible behaviour.

Help of close and respected people in updating moral guidelines in the participants in a conflict situation, the absence of which has led to the conflict / offense. Support for positive changes and the implementation of the concluded contract / agreement / plan from relatives, friends and the school community.

Restoration of a constructive parental position in relation to the misdemeanour of a minor, restoration of professional positions of education specialists, pedagogical and managerial control over the situation (Konovalov, 2014).

The concepts of harm and responsibility are key in the restorative approach. Harm is the result of an act of one person in relation to another, as a result of which damage was caused, something was violated or destroyed (including relationships), and which is perceived by others as injustice. Causing harm leads to negative consequences for the victim: material, physical, in the form of broken relationships. Sometimes only the victim can determine the harm. Therefore, repairing the harm caused to the victim in the restorative approach is not a punishment for the person who caused the harm, it is the restoration of justice and peace in the community (Karnozova, 2014; Model'noe opisanie programmy, 2017).

Responsibility in a restorative approach is understood as an obligation to repairing the harm, that is, to correct the negative consequences of what happened for the people affected by the situation. At the same time, repentance and forgiveness are of great importance. Thus, the concept of justice in the restorative approach is associated with repairing the harm caused, and this is its difference from the concepts of justice as a punishment for the offender accepted in criminal justice (Karnozo- va, 2014; Standarty vosstanovitel'noi mediatsii, 2010).

Repairing the harm are actions carried out by a person who committed an offense or other act that led to the infliction of harm, and aimed at eliminating or neutralizing the harm caused to the victim. Redressing of harm can be carried out not only in the form of compensation for property damage and monetary / material compensation for moral harm, but also by other actions of the offender. These include any actions that are not prohibited by law, if they are accepted by the injured party as actions to repairing the harm. They may include an apology if accepted by the victim. In the framework of criminal justice, repairing the harm entails positive legal consequences for the accused (Braithwaite, 2002; Standarty vosstanovitel'noi mediatsii, 2010; Karnozova, 2014; Maksudov, 2007; Zehr, 1998). In restorative justice programs, the implementation of the principle of the offender's responsibility to the victim means that repairing the harm is done by the offender's own resources and means.

A mediative method is a deliberately applied method of communication with the participation of a neutral mediator, based on a humanistic approach to personality and the principles of negotiating, allowing the participants in a situation in a trusting atmosphere, within the framework of cooperation, to clarify the meanings that determine their significant interests and needs in order to understand each other and independently find a mutually acceptable solution (Karnozova, 2013).

The Russian version of the organizational form, in which activities are carried out to resolve conflict, criminal, difficult school and family situations with the participation of minors on the basis of the principles of a restorative approach, is called the Reconciliation Service. The service can be created at the level of a separate educational organization - school (Konovalov, 2017b) or on the basis of a municipal institution - territorial (Konovalov, 2017a; Territorial'nye sluzhby primireniia, 2015).

The school reconciliation service is a Russian model of restorative work with conflicts, offenses and difficult school situations in the system of social, psychological and pedagogical support of education based on the principles of a restorative approach. It is created on the basis of an educational organization of the primary level (school, lyceum, gymnasium, college, kindergarten, etc.) to work with conflicts and difficult situations between participants in the educational process (excluding offenses and conflicts with the administration) by volunteers from adults and high school students, trained in conducting restorative programs: restorative mediation, community circles (Konovalov, 2017b; Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019).

The Territorial Reconciliation Service is a Russian organizational form of applying restorative justice in relation to juvenile delinquency; it also works with criminal situations involving minors and complex conflicts, including the administration of an educational organization, with the problems of children from families in difficult life situations and socially dangerous situations. It is created on the basis of a municipal or regional centre for Psychological, Pedagogical, Medical and Social Care, an information and methodological centre, etc., only adult specialists work in it (Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019; Konovalov, 2017; Standarty vosstanovi- tel'noi mediatsii, 2010). TRSs (district, municipal) deal with the cases coming from juvenile affairs commissions, administrative bodies, social security institutions, law enforcement agencies, courts, educational institutions, from citizens, etc. (Belonogova, 2019; Belonogova, Prokopyeva, 2020; Konovalov, 2017). TRSs can implement various restorative programs: restorative mediation, community circles, school conferences, circles of care, family conferences, school-parent councils (subject to training by service specialists). They provide methodological support to the SRS, monitor the activities of SRS in the given territory (Belonogova, Prokopyeva, 2020).

Mediators of reconciliation services in the Kuzbass education system deal with the following categories of situations:

Conflicts between participants in educational relations (including group conflicts);

Problem situations in children's, parenting and pedagogical communities;

Juvenile delinquency:

crimes;

socially dangerous acts of minors who have not reached the age of criminal responsibility;

administrative offenses of minors (causing harm - petty theft, damage to property, etc.), as well as similar acts of minors under the age of administrative responsibility.

Problematic situations of minors and their families:

family situations (difficult life situation, socially dangerous situation) affecting the rights and interests of minors;

violence and abuse in the family against a child.

Difficult school situations:

bullying by peers and teachers;

multilevel conflicts in the escalation stage;

harm to a child by teachers, etc.

The Kuzbass reconciliation services use various types of restorative programs, which mediators learn to conduct in the training process:

Restorative mediation, including redressing programs.

Community circles:

circle of mutual understanding,

circle of reconciliation,

repairing harm circle,

victim support circle,

circle of healing,

circle of problem solving,

preventive circle.

School conference.

Family conference.

School-parent council.

Shuttle mediation (including for closed institutions).

Restorative preventive program.

Restorative programs are forms of implementing the principles of a restorative approach, which have their own technology and procedure for dealing with conflicts, difficult school, family situations and offenses: Restorative mediation, Community Circle, Family Conference, School Conference and others, in which the basic values and principles of restorative justice are implemented (Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019; Maksudov, 2007).

One restorative program is the work of a mediator to resolve a specific criminal / conflict / problem situation. It is determined by the circle of the main participants, the goal, the agenda of the meeting (a list of topics and issues to be discussed) and ends with a general meeting of the participants, at which an agreement is developed between them and / or a written final document is adopted that secures the agreements reached (mediation agreement, conciliation agreement, plan, protocol on results). When using a restorative program to resolve conflict / problem situations, when the roles of the participants are not defined as “offender” and “victim”, the restorative program is centred on the acceptance by all participants of responsibility for its settlement while maintaining other values (Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019).

Restorative mediation is a process in which a mediator creates conditions for restoring the ability of people to understand each other and agree on options for resolving problems that are acceptable to them (if necessary, on repairing the harm caused) that have arisen as a result of conflict / criminal situations. In the course of restorative mediation, it is important that the parties have the opportunity to free themselves from negative conditions and find a resource to jointly search for a way out of the situation. Restorative mediation includes preliminary meetings of the mediator with each of the parties separately and a general meeting of the parties with the participation of the mediator. It allows working effectively with conflicts between participants in the educational process, with situations of harm (offense) (Standarty vosstanovitel'noi mediatsii, 2010; Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019).

Community circles are a centuries-old way of resolving conflicts that exists in various forms in the culture of many peoples. In Russia, such forms have also survived in which participants in a conflict or criminal situation, referring to the traditions of reconciliation in situations of intergroup conflicts or crisis moments in their lives, jointly decide how to change the situation in the interests of everyone, so that it contributes to the realization of moral values. The most important feature of the circles is the involvement of all interested people in the discussion of the problem, which ensures their active participation in decision-making and sharing responsibility for its implementation (Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019; Maksudov, 2007; Organizatsiia i provedenie programm, 2006; Pranis, Stuart, Wedge, 2010). The community circle allows including a significant number of participants in the work with conflicts and criminal situations and work:

with conflicts in which many members or groups are involved;

with difficult school situations among children and teaching staff, school communities;

with newly formed classes and collectives - to prevent possible conflicts and offenses;

with protracted situations, such as “unfriendly class”, “all against one”, “conflicting groups in the classroom and school”, “rejection of a newcomer-peer”, “rejection of the teacher by the class” and others (Belonogova, 2019; Belonogova, Prokopyeva, 2020).

School (restorative) conference is a restorative program with participants in the educational process in the situation of harm to relations within the community as a result of an incident involving antisocial behaviour. It allows all participants to meet and achieve greater mutual understanding regarding the impact and causes of the incident, as well as the preferred outcome. This usually involves one or more victims, their parents / guardians, and one or more of the offenders with their parents / guardians. School management staff and staff responsible for conduct can also be invited to participate, and they can certainly be involved as a party to the process. It allows working with a situation of school violence, bullying, hazing with the voluntary consent of the school administration to conduct the program (Karnozo- va, Konovalov, 2019).

Family conference is a restorative program of work with a family in difficult life situations (including those related to deviant behaviour, neglect and juvenile delinquency). A family restorative conference is a process in which the family itself remains the master of the problem, it is given the opportunity to make a decision on its own and implement it itself, if necessary, involving specialists (social workers, lawyers, police officers, psychologists). Decisions are made as a result of discussions and upon reaching a consensus. It is important that the family conference is attended by all members of the extended family who can potentially take part in raising the child, assisting him in his studies, organizing treatment and leisure, as well as people close to the family and the child. The family conference contributes to the activation of the potential of the family and the immediate social environment for the development of an independent decision about the crisis situation in the family (Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019; Maksudov, 2007; Model'noe opisanie programmy, 2017; Page, 2011).

School-parent council is a variant of the Community Circle on a situation affecting interpersonal, family, managerial problems, in which all parties involved in the conflict take part: administration, teachers, specialists, parents, students, and if the situation has gone beyond the school, then it involves specialists of the prevention system's bodies (Juvenile Divisions, juvenile affairs commissions, educational authorities). In addition to resolving a specific conflict situation, the school-parent council and Community Circles with teachers and class parents can contribute to:

inclusion of all participants in the situation in equal open communication that does not allow manipulation, threats, moralizing, pressure, blackmail, stigmatization and other destructive influences;

joint determination of the educational strategy for the children of the class;

the formation of a professional position of teachers and school specialists, a responsible parental position, the consistency of their actions;

the formation of traditions of peaceful residence of children, parents, teachers, administration and specialists in the school space (Konovalov, 2017; Belonogova, 2019).

Restorative preventive program is a program for situations that have a risk of developing (escalating) a conflict or committing an offense, in which participants take responsibility for preventing them and / or improving relations, and the principles of a restorative approach are implemented (Karnozova, Konovalov, 2019).

A restorative program facilitator is a mediator working in a restorative approach, trained to conduct various restorative programs. This is a unique competence of a specialist in the social sphere; mastering restorative practices requires special training. Therefore, training programs for mediators include live teaching of these technologies in a training mode. At the same time, teachers use various active methods of group learning, such as brainstorming, modelling and playing educational cases and community circles, discussion, analysis of real cases, methodological and personal reflection, social design, workshops, supervision and intervision (starting from the 2nd module), working in small groups and in the “aquarium”, practical homework, demonstration of mediator skills, etc.

To enable the implementation of restorative programs for difficult life situations of minors and their families, specialists of the Department of Restorative Practices and Mediation for curators and mediators of TRS of municipal territories have developed (Belonogova, 2019; Belonogova, Prokopyeva, 2020):

complex social technologies, including various restorative programs;

organizational mechanisms of their introduction into the system of prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency through the algorithm of interdepartmental interaction of the TRS and the Kemerovo Juvenile Division;

documentary support (forms of applications, contracts, agreements, protocols, analysis schemes and case descriptions, etc.).

Training in the organizational aspects of complex restorative programs is carried out at monthly seminars for mediators and curators of reconciliation services in the format of thematic community circles, master classes, informational, methodological and project seminars, supervision / intervision sessions, trainings, etc.

Since the implementation of comprehensive restorative programs is possible only with interdepartmental interaction of education specialists and the bodies of the system for the prevention of neglect and juvenile delinquency, the specialists of the Kuzbass Health and Personal Development Regional Centre for Psychological, Pedagogical, Medical and Social Care developed an additional professional educational program for advanced training “Restorative practices in the system of prevention of juvenile delinquency” (72 hours) for representatives of the authorities and institutions in the prevention system (Juvenile Affairs Commission, Juvenile Division, Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Centers for social rehabilitation of minors, etc.), which was implemented at the expense of grants received by the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care. In addition, interdepartmental regulations and agreements were developed and approved, allowing joint implementation of restorative practice on a legitimate basis.

An analysis of the practice of mediators and curators of the SRS and TRS of Kuzbass made it possible to identify the main factors for the effective and efficient implementation of restorative programs:

Following the principles of a restorative approach;

Maintaining the position of a mediator - leading restorative programs;

Compliance with the principles of restorative mediation procedure;

Compliance with the technology and procedures of restorative work;

Using skills of restorative communication;

Knowledge of the legal basis for the activities of the reconciliation services for the implementation of restorative programs in the Russian Federation and Kuzbass.

When teaching mediators who facilitate restorative programs, in addition to the practical development of various restorative technologies, a special attention is paid to mastering the position of a restorative mediator, the principles of a restorative approach and the procedure of restorative mediation itself. For curators of reconciliation services, the emphasis is also placed on familiarity with the legal documents governing the activities of reconciliation services at the level of Russia and the region.

It is important for mediators and curators of reconciliation services to maintain the principles of a restorative approach, the position of a restorative mediator and skills of restorative communication in professional communication at various levels with representatives of the education system, institutions and bodies of the system for the prevention of child neglect and juvenile delinquency, as well as with all participants in the educational process - first of all, when promoting the idea of mediation and restorative approach in education. This is a guarantee of confidence in this innovative practice on the part of both the participants in the educational process and education authorities. Therefore, a special attention is paid to these points at all levels of training of mediators for the education system of Kuzbass.

When training curators of territorial reconciliation services in municipalities of the region at the monthly seminars of the Department of Restorative Practices and Mediation, the emphasis is also placed on the following principles of organizing and conducting restorative work in the territory:

The principle of voluntariness is important in several aspects.

Firstly, in organizational and managerial terms, when creating and developing reconciliation services in the municipal territory, it involves voluntary participation of:

educators (administration, teachers, specialists) in the work of the Reconciliation Services - both at the municipal level and at the primary level - on the basis of a specific educational organization;

students - young restorative mediators and included in the support group of the School Reconciliation Service;

parents of students, members of the local community, representatives of socially oriented public organizations.

Secondly, the principle of voluntariness implies the obligatory consent of both the parties themselves and the participants involved in the conflict / problem situation to participate in restorative programs. Any form of coercion is unacceptable. The parties have the right to refuse to participate and choose another option for resolving the situation both after the first meeting with the specialist of the reconciliation service, and during the restorative program.

Thirdly, this principle means that the facilitator of restorative programs himself has the right to decide whether he will work with a given case or not, and also whether he will continue the restoration work, transfer it to another facilitator, or stop.

The principle of confidentiality means that personal information obtained through restorative programs is not disclosed. The restorative mediation process itself is confidential. The restorative mediator or reconciliation service ensures the confidentiality of restorative mediation and protection from disclosure of documents relating to its process. The exception is information related to a possible threat to life or the possibility of committing a crime; when this information is revealed, the mediator informs the participants that this information will be disclosed. The mediator transmits information about the results of the restorative program to the structure that referred the case to the reconciliation service. The mediator may take notes and prepare reports for discussion among mediators and facilitators of reconciliation services. Participants' names and other identifying features must be changed upon publication.

* The principle of neutrality means the prohibition of the specialists of the Reconciliation Service to side with one of the parties to the conflict; The service does not offer solutions, does not clarify the issue of the guilt or innocence of the party, but it is an independent mediator based on the principles of a restorative approach, equally supporting the efforts of each participant in the situation in its peaceful and constructive settlement. The neutrality of the restorative mediator can be called conditional: it is important for him that the principles of the restorative approach are implemented.

The principle of responsibility implies the full responsibility of all participants in restorative programs:

parties (direct participants in the conflict / criminal situation, as well as the director of the educational organization, if the case is referred to the TRS) for active participation in resolving the conflict, independent search, adoption and implementation of the decision;

organizers and presenters of restorative programs (mediators of the reconciliation service) - for the safety of the participants in the process of meetings, the course of the procedure, adherence to the principles of a restorative approach when considering a case, organizing and conducting restorative programs, a joint meeting.

The principle of targeting and relying on the community presupposes restorative work personally with the parties involved in the conflict and representatives of the community and social environment involved in the conflict, and not with specialists-experts working with them (doctors, psychologists, lawyers).

The principle of awareness implies that the facilitator of restorative programs (the mediator) is obliged to provide the parties with all the necessary information about the essence and principles of the restorative approach, the possible legal consequences of participation in the restorative program.

The principle of repairing the harm caused implies that in case harm was caused to one of the parties, the participants discuss options for redressing the harm suffered by the victim; if this is a minor, then it is important to discuss his contribution to rectifying the situation, making amends for the harm as much as possible by his efforts.

The principle of independence implies that the Reconciliation Service is independent in choosing the forms of activity and organizing the process of restorative practice. The facilitators of the restorative program (mediators)

do not take any side, including the side of the school administration, law enforcement agencies or other organizations, and do not work in their interests, but they rely on the principles of a restorative approach and equally support the parties and other participants in the program in their desire to constructively resolve the situation.

The principle of professionalism implies that the specialists of the Reconciliation Service must have special training in restorative technologies (including mediation) during its creation and operation, as well as systematic methodological and supervisory support of the activities of restorative mediators.

The principle of interdepartmental interaction in the implementation of work on the prevention of juvenile delinquency presupposes cooperation of the TRS with the prevention system authorities, courts, law enforcement agencies at the level of the municipality to introduce elements of restorative justice into the prevention of primary and repeated juvenile delinquency, in accordance with specially developed regulations.

These principles were reflected in the Instructional Letter of the Department of Education and Science of the Kemerovo Region (2017) “On the principles of introducing a restorative approach, the creation and development of reconciliation services in the Kemerovo Region” for municipal education authorities.

The organizational model of training mediators in the region includes the following options for the implementation of educational programs:

on the basis of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care or its branches in the municipal territories of the region by the teachers of the Centre - mediation trainers;

on the basis of Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care or its branches inviting presenters from the Judicial and Legal Reform Interregional Public Centre (Moscow);

on the basis of a specific educational organization at the request of its head;

in municipal territories upon application and with the assistance of municipal educational authorities with the invitation of the Centre's teachers - mediation trainers.

In the latter version, taking into account the principles of awareness and voluntariness outlined above, the organization of training is carried out according to the following scheme:

The municipal education management body organizes a one-day training seminar for directors of educational organizations “A restorative approach to resolving conflicts in an educational organization” (8 hours) inviting presenters from the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care, where the principles of the restorative approach, the idea and meaning of creating school reconciliation services is presented in an interactive form. About half of the directors actively respond to these ideas and decide to introduce this innovation in their organization.

The municipal education management body organizes refresher courses inviting presenters from the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care for 1 module or 1 and 2 modules at once for teachers and specialists of those educational organizations whose heads have decided to introduce SRS and sent their employees for training.

Municipal education authorities send specialists from their territory to the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care for regional courses or seminars on organizing TRS activities.

Municipal education authorities and the administration of educational organizations, where SRSs were established, assist mediators and curators of reconciliation services in participating in monthly seminars on the basis of the Kuzbass Regional Centre for Psychological and Educational, Medical and Social Care, sending them to Kemerovo.

Analysis of the activities of territorial reconciliation services to resolve complex multi-level conflicts in the escalation stage in an educational organization (2019) showed that often such conflicts begin with ordinary situations in the work of a teacher (class teacher, subject teacher) related to the implementation of the educational process: failure of students to complete educational assignments, violation of the rules of conduct and discipline in the lesson or during the break, causing harm to other children, teachers, school property. Teachers are not always able to understand the lay of the land in such situations in time and competently react in such a way as to peacefully and constructively resolve the situation. Also, teachers (both young and experienced) get lost when they hear insults and obscenities addressed to them, are helpless in front of school bullying, other manifestations of cruelty by children and adolescents. And then the question is not for mediators, but for the competence of the teachers themselves.

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