Social work and mediation for coexistence and wellbeing in schools

Abstract

Social work takes place in various spaces, one of which is the educational environment. The aim of social work in educational institutions is to foster intervention strategies and organisational structures that encourage coexistence, education, positive relationships and the wellbeing of all people who are part of those institutions. Social work has the target of applying actions to prevent, change or alleviate situations of difficulty or conflict, with schools being a space in which conflicts occur on a daily basis as a result of interactions between systems. The main aims of this work were to study the art of school mediation in Spain and to examine the social opportunity that mediation culture represents for schools, in addition to the contributions that social work intervention has made to its social impact. A documentary analysis was undertaken of the reference literature in order to perform this work, enabling us to identify the state of the art from the most recent advances and contributions. With regard to the main outcomes of the study, it can be affirmed that incorporating this initiative into the educational institution means giving skills, awareness and empowerment to the individuals who will become citizens, educating them in the value of coexistence, collaboration and positive social relationships as indispensable elements in social wellbeing.