From Practice to Theory to Practice: A Brief Retrospective on the Transformative Mediation Model

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

The Beaten Path to Mediator Quality Assurance: The Emerging Narrative of Consensus and Its Institutional Functions

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Mediation Theory and Policy: The Legacy of the Pound Conference

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Identifying Practice Competence in Transformative Mediators: An Interactive Rating Scale Assessment Model

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

Assimilative, Autonomous, or Synergistic Visions: How Mediation Programs in Florida Address the Dilemma of Court Connection

Over the past twenty-five years, the state of Florida has been recognized across the United States as a leader in the development of court-connected alternative dispute resolution programs. Mediation, in particular, has flourished across the state, with one hundred eleven programs in place in family, civil, community, and dependency sectors. Administrative support and oversight for court-connected mediation programs are provided by The Florida Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) - the administrative arm of the Florida Supreme Court - housed within the Office of the State Courts Administrator. In collaboration with the DRC, we designed and conducted a benchmarking study of seven selected mediation programs in the family, civil and community sectors. Our focus in this article is on certain insights that emerged at the macro level regarding the very nature of court-connected mediation, as we analyzed and tried to develop explanations for our empirical findings. Specifically, we will address the fundamental value-based dilemma of court-connected mediation programs, three different approaches to addressing this dilemma through which mediation programs and the courts have forged their relationship in Florida, and some implications of these insights for practice and policy

Clarifying the Theoretical Underpinnings of Mediation: Implications for Practice and Policy

In this article we examine developments in explaining and understanding the when and why of mediation practice - from the lay theories that have informed much of the field, to Bush and Folger\u27s articulation of three distinct and coherent ideologically based theoretical frameworks: the problemsolving framework, the harmony framework, and the transformative framework. We then trace the development of the transformative framework since its articulation in 1994, and share the insights we have gained along the way regarding the impact of increasing theoretical clarity and differentiation in the mediation field. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of ideologically based theoretical distinctions for mediation practice and policy, and recommendations for a fresh, theoretically informed, approach to policy initiatives

Questions That Get Answered: The Construction of Instructional Conversations on Online Asynchronous Discussion Boards

Abstract On online asynchronous discussion boards, instructor questions are considered a driving force in student engagement and learning. Yet, students can and do choose not to answer questions from instructors. In this paper, the authors report on a qualitative study in which they analyzed instructor-student interaction on an asynchronous discussion board in order to determine which instructor's questions students were more likely to answer and why. They found that students were more likely to answer those instructor questions that were authentic and exhibited uptake of students' comments. Moreover, the students' orientation to those features suggests that students actively choose to engage in -and construct -coherent instructional interactions that characterize conversation rather than recitation

Questions That Get Answered: the Construction of Instructional Conversations on Online Asynchronous Discussion Boards

On online asynchronous discussion boards, instructor questions are considered a driving force in student engagement and learning. Yet, students can and do choose not to answer questions from instructors. In this paper, the authors report on a qualitative study in which they analyzed instructor–student interaction on an asynchronous discussion board in order to determine which instructor\u27s questions students were more likely to answer and why. They found that students were more likely to answer those instructor questions that were authentic and exhibited uptake of students\u27 comments. Moreover, the students\u27 orientation to those features suggests that students actively choose to engage in– and construct –coherent instructional interactions that characterize conversation rather than recitation