See the begining: Vol. 1. Issue 2
V. Teaching mediation in Russia and the U.S.A.
1. Cultural, political and legal perspectives of mediation courses in the U.S.A. and Russia
a) Age and professional area of the students
In American education mediation is a course at law school, where people can decide do they want to take it or not. Mediation also it is a separate special course for adult people, who purposefully taking an intensive course during short period of time, 2 weeks or more, with intention to work as a mediators, or to expand their skills in negotiation. As a result, the age range of the students in mediation courses vary from 22 to 50 years old.
In Russia mediation course has only recently been offered, for people who consciously decided to take it. The target audience here — adult people, specialists, mostly lawyers and economists, businessmen (because they are first people who have heard about it and know what is mediation about). The age range is very from 24 to 35 years old, not as wide as in the US, because not a lot of people actually know about mediation itself. Training program for mediators an additional professional education program of professional retraining, implied for the professionals, not for people just finished the high school.
b) Ability and willingness of students to be a high professional specialists of mediation
It is still an open question whether the universities in Russia include mediation as a course in the educational program. In Russia, students are not allowed to choose their courses, they are directed to take the courses according to the faculty’s program. This way there will be a lot of people, certificated as mediators. But the question is — will they be able to provide an appropriate level of proficiency? Some factors play here important role, such as willingness of students, how well they will participate in studying, ability to do it (because it is very emotional and stressful job), preparation and strategies of teachers, development of mediation clinical education.
