School behaviour policy versus peer mediation in a secondary school setting

This is a piece of action research which raises questions about the validity of the behaviour policy in a secondary school setting. The traditional behaviouristic paradigm of classroom discipline is explored and the more humanistic paradigm of conflict resolution theory is investigated to gauge whether a programme such as peer mediation could replace, modify or sit alongside the existing school behaviour policy. The research theory uses mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative data and research findings are given as a result of statistical analysis from the school setting, followed by individual student interviews. In addition, an open-ended questionnaire from a comparable secondary school is analysed to triangulate the research process. Implications for practice are discussed and a conclusion is reached to recommend that a peer mediation scheme is a compatible strategy with a behaviour policy to offer support to students who encounter difficulties in coping with conflict scenarios in school