SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

Advanced Mediation

Five day course; 24-28 August 2009

Instructor: Professor John Wade

Faculty of Law

Bond University

Qld 4229 Australia

Phone: +61 7 5595 2004

Fax: +61 7 5595 2036

Email: john_wade@bond.edu.au

Pre-Requisites:  This course is only available to registrants who have completed Introduction to Dispute Resolution, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution as well as a five day basic Mediation course. If possible, it will be helpful if some participants have mediated or observed mediations.

Learning Objectives:  Participants will learn about current major issues in the dispute resolution industry globally and in each registrant’s locality; five humble preparation hypotheses; conversion of negotiation from one type to another and back again; different types of mediation; variables in the basic problem-solving model; listening, acknowledging, reframing and question-drafting skills; Moore’s and Rubin & Kim’s models of conflict analysis; conducting a preparation meeting; completing preparation charts; ten common hurdles in mediation and a catalogue of responses to each of these, conditional linked bargaining and packaging offers, legal risks and ethical tensions for mediators and possible responses to these; skills and tensions of drafting reports and agreements; extract from fellow students the different models and skills used by them as mediators and negotiators; attempt to place this diversity into different systematised models.

Learning Methods:  Pre-reading; writing of two case studies (if applicable); lecture; fishbowl demonstrations; responding to difficult clients on video; role-plays; self reflective writing and interviews; completing a mediator survey.

Assessment and Feedback:  All registrants must:

1.        Attend and participate at every class during the five day period. This is essential as SMU issues an “attendance” certificate which can be used to gain access to certain mediator “lists” in the USA and elsewhere.

2.        Write a one to one-and-a-half page reflective journal each night on how certain events from class either challenged or confirmed your own life experiences. (20%)

3.        Write a 20 page assignment, with footnotes, or endnotes, and a bibliography, chosen from a list of topics distributed during the course (80%) (or a topic developed and drafted with the instructor).

4.        Items 2 and 3 must be emailed as annexures to the SMU office NO LATER THAN 30 days after the course finishes. Items 2 and 3, as annexures to your email, must be identified ONLY by your student number; not by your name.

5.        Feedback will be sought from students during the course, on what knowledge or skills they would like to gain, practice or revise. Constant feedback will be given to students on skills which they demonstrate.

6.        Prepare two reflective case studies of cases where they have been mediators and bring five copies of these to the course for discussion in small groups.

7.        Complete an extensive mediator skill survey at the course. These will be summarised and distributed to all.

Materials

1.        L. Boulle, M. Colatrella, T. Picchioni, Mediation – Skills and Techniques (2008)

2.        Bond University Advanced Mediation Workbook.

3.        Handouts distributed during the course.

Pre-Reading

L. Boulle, M. Colatrella, T. Picchioni above.

Class Times

Days 1, 2, 4, 5                         8.30 am to 5.30 pm

Day 3                                      8.30 am to 12.30 pm

Reminders about certain SMU Policies

1.             Students are reminded of the SMU Honor Code as referenced in the Student Handbook. Intellectual integrity and academic honesty are both the foundation and the goals for this program. Please reference and review the university policies on the responsibilities, policies, and penalties regarding academic honesty. http://www.smu.edu/studentlife/PCL_05_HC.asp

2.             Religious Observance: Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their professor in writing at the beginning of the term, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence.

3.             Disability Accommodations: Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first contact Ms Rebecca Marin, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities (214-768-4557) to verify the disability and establish eligibility for accommodations. They should then schedule an appointment with the professor to make appropriate arrangements.

4.             Class Decorum: Turn off (or set on vibrate) all cell phones or pagers. Do not read newspapers, books for other classes, or other outside reading materials during class. Walking into class late is disruptive as is leaving early. If you have to leave early, make arrangements before class begins, and then, when you leave, do so quietly. Professional respect and courtesy for your fellow students is imperative at all times.