Even elementary school students can learn to resolve a dispute well.
Arbitrators are extremely helpful in this.
With this knowledge, the “Senior Partners in School” association was founded 20 years ago.
In Bavaria, he is currently mainly active in Munich, meanwhile at 33 primary schools.
We are now looking for volunteers for Deggendorf and Augsburg.
Munich
- “After the lockdown, the need for dispute resolution is extremely high, especially for one-on-one discussions,” says Matthias Kraemer.
He is the Bavarian state chairman of the “Senior Partner in School” (SIS) association, 69 years old and took a detour to mediation, i.e. dispute settlement, after he retired: “I was fascinated to discover that an impartial third party was alone His presence completely changes an argument by simply listening and asking questions, ”says Kraemer.
He did two mediation trainings, one in Cologne and one in Munich.
"This also changed my point of view, because a dispute is not just about conflicting interests, but also about the needs behind them."
In order to get involved as a mediator at SIS, you don't need any special training, but one thing is absolutely necessary: “You have to have time,” says Kraemer.
And the volunteers must be ready to have the effectiveness of their actions checked.
Bullying, marginalization, and even physical confrontation are already common in elementary schools.
Anyone who shows the children ways out of the conflict is setting important accents from which the children will benefit throughout their lives.
In addition, the mediators relieve the teachers.
Anyone who feels that they are being addressed is invited to train as a voluntary arbitrator at SIS.
Mediator training is free of charge.
Interested parties will receive initial information on March 24th at 2 p.m. at a Zoom meeting, registration by email at info@sis-bayern.de.
A mediator training course will start on April 12th in Munich - provided that face-to-face events can then take place.
Further training is to be offered in autumn.
The training lasts 85 hours and comprises four modules over three days.
Matthias Kraemer has found his second calling in dispute resolution.
He used to do something completely different, he entertained people, made them laugh and think: After studying philosophy, he founded the street theater “Die fiegen Bauten” in Munich.
First his ensemble performed in the open air, then Kraemer bought a circus tent and a construction trailer and traveled with his troupe through Germany until the theater got a permanent place of business in Hamburg.
In 2004, Kraemer gave up management after 25 years.
By chance, he became aware of SIS and noticed how much it boosted him personally to settle disputes.
Registration:
Those interested can register for the information day on March 24th by sending an email to info@sis-bayern.de.