A gestão educacional e a mediação de conflitos: limites e possibilidades de promoção de uma cultura de paz nas escolas

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the limits and possibilities of educational management and conflict mediation for building a culture of peace in the school environment. Therefore it is important to understand that the role of the educational manager is fundamental to articulate the other actors within the school environment in a perspective of communication that encourages the harmonious coexistence among the whole educational community. So this study seeks to understand how the mediation of conflicts can be an important tool to contribute for the manager’s and all the people involved in the educational processes’ acting. Therefore techniques of mediation must be appropriated by everybody, since conflicts exist and must be properly mediated in order to not become acts of violence in the school environment. Culture of peace does not mean absence of conflicts but, a redefinition of the ways of acting over the problems by dialogue and attentive listening. The research reveals that the manager must be able to dialogue about and to mediate the various administrative, pedagogical, and financial processes; to intervene significantly in the conflicts that arise in school everyday life; and, to enable the development of relationships of empathy, acceptance and respect among manager, teachers, students and the whole educational community.