A dialogue that builds bridges

Even though Pre-Kinder students, who are 4 year old, wear a size 28 shoe, and some students in Klasse 12 wear a size 40, at the German School, the former and the latter can always wear the others´ shoes. Even though the games and learning processes are different, the rules for coexistence are the same.

Marcela Quijano, School Co-existence Coordinator, explains how among the students, there are promotion, prevention, and intervention actions, and thus, the school tries to “mainstream values from Pre-Kinder up to KLASSE 12, for them to take part in the Institutional Educational Project and thus, promote a sound co-existence.”

In this sense, the dialogue plays a main role and contributes to “solving certain situations that are normal when we interact with people, but if they are not handled on time and in the most appropriate manner, they can affect a sound interaction”. And it´s a bigger challenge if we take into account the diversity there is at our school, for there are parents, teachers and students with different nationalities, cultures, beliefs and visions of the world, and the idea is to learn how to co-exist with others.

One of the German School´s personal imprint is the program of mediators. It is led by the Coordinator of School Co-existence. There are 15 students, from Klasse 6 to Klasse 12 who are permanent trainers to mediate in small conflicts that arise from Klasse 4 on. The students who make part of a group of mediators comply with conditions such as: a good academic performance, excellent social rapport, and leadership.

Mediators go to the groups they accompany on a weekly basis to find out if there are situations that require their intervention. In order for there to be mediation, both parties have to accept it and it is there where the dialogue becomes the most important tool in order to be able to wear the others´ shoes, understand their point of view and thus, build the bridge that allows them to come to agreements.

Marcela highlights the process´s continuity and its installed capacity for the institution, for 7 out of the 15 mediators in the year 2017, are the same as last year´s, which guarantees a transfer of knowledge for those who decided to share their time in the search for solutions and take over the role of managers of the school´s co-existence.

Although the program of mediators works as a preventive strategy with regards to school bullying, mediation is not the official authority to solve these types of situations, which have to be handled through the logical route: Teacher, School director, counseling, Coexistence Coordinator, and as a last resort the Committee of School Coexistence of the German School of Medellin, which is made up by the School Principal, The Coordinator of School Coexistence, the School Directors, the Counselors of each school, the trusted teacher (elected by the students), the president of Cecam (Student council of the German School of Medellin), The student representative and a parent representative.

Marcela Quijano highlights the carrying out of different preventive actions, and having a professional in charge of coexistence, which allows the generation of faster solutions. Besides, there is the great differentiating element: the fact that the student themselves are the ones who generate awareness of respecting differences makes it for there to be very few cases in which the intervention the Committee of Coexistence is necessary. Likewise, she highlights the importance of coexistence being handled based on conviction and values.