Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationAt the crossroad of peer mediation and alternative education, discursive and structural tensions emerge. Through critical discourse analysis of student discourse at one alternative school, the examination of the practice of peer mediation within the context of alternative schooling is centralized. Students' discourses are juxtaposed with school officials' discourse, case description, and participant/observation. There are three major findings that surface as a result of this study. First, there is a discourse and practice disjuncture between the positive comments from the students and faculty about peer mediation and the minimal use of the program. Second, there is a lack of structural support for the program on all levels. Third, the peer mediation program does little to transform the power relations and structural components of alternative schooling. In its current format, peer mediation at this alternative school serves the White elites as a public relations program that works to enhance the school's public image rather than transform the students' lives through experiential learning, improved decision-making, and the creation of new opportunities for students to resolve conflict in a more peaceful and productive manner