3rd Key - Education: Teach mediation as a core subject aligned to real world needs

Abstract

Mediation is rarely taught as a core subject in business schools, law schools and other professional curricula, despite the fact that an increasing number of jurisdictions now provide for some form of court sponsored mediation. A number of global companies include courses in negotiation and mediation in their professional development offering, but the courses are not always effective in addressing real life situations. The case for, and benefits of, including negotiation and mediation as core modules in law courses rather than a mere elective has already been made elsewhere (e.g., Riskin 1984; Lewis 2016). Results from the GPC Series 2016-17 for North America published on the International Mediation Institute’s website[3] further confirm that education in law and business schools in these disciplines has become a major demand for users of dispute resolution services throughout North America.