Pre-course assignments

There are three assignments and they are designed to assist in preparing you towards your role as a mediator who meets and talks with children and young people whose parents have chosen mediation to resolve future family arrangements.

The assignments complement the pre-course reading that you are asked to do and also encourage you to use your reading and research in completing the assignments, especially the essay assignment (Assignment 1)

Pre course assignment 1 – Essay

As part of preparing for your role to talk with children, we would like you to write an essay in response to the following question:

‘What are the cognitive and social developmental aspects you would need to consider when talking with a child of:

• 10 years,
• 13 years and;
• 16 years of age?’

We would like you to consider this question and particularly have regard to how being part of a separated family may impact on the child/young person.

The essay is an ‘open book’ assignment and we encourage you to do as much reading and research as possible to aid and guide you. You may record any particular references to texts you have read as part of your assignment and which evidence your thinking.

(2000 words)

Pre course assignment 2

We would like you to arrange to have a discussion, at a time that suits a parent and yourself, about the following scenario:

We would like you to ask a parent to imagine that their child (the age is likely to be dependent on their own child) is being asked to take part in a survey for a Young Person’s Foundation to consider internet use by children and young people.

The details of the arrangements for the survey is that the interviewer will meet with the child for an hour which will be arranged on a one-to-one basis. We would like you to ask the following questions:

How might they approach this meeting? What concerns might the parent have? How might they wish to prepare their child for such a meeting? What might they expect? What might they need or expect to know after the meeting has taken place? Would they like to have a meeting with the interviewer? How might they want to support their child?

There may be other questions that you might like to ask the parent. The purpose of this exercise is to form some understanding of the concerns, worries and expectations of a parent when the child is seen on an individual basis by an adult. As this will form part of your pre-course assignments, please explain to the parent that you will be recording on paper their responses and any reflections you may have and that you will do so on an anonymous basis.

(Min. 1000 words)

Pre course assignment 3

Please arrange to spend some time with a child who you know. The child can be any age between 8 and 17. We would like you to talk to the child about their views about how adults talk to children and young people. You will clearly need to seek permission from the parent in the first instance and please ensure that the child is willing to talk with you. The child will need to understand, as will the parent, the purpose of you having a conversation with them. You may wish to say that you’re doing a course to learn how better to talk with children and young people and you’d be really keen to hear from them what they think you might need to do or understand. Please also ensure you explain that although you will be writing down what they say, you will be doing so without identifying them individually and that what they say will remain anonymous.

Ensure that when you meet with the child you take the time to make them feel comfortable. Having a pack of cards, doing some colouring or an age appropriate connecting activity can be a way of easing them into spending time with you. Think about using some of the following questions:

Who are the adults in their lives that talk to them? What do adults talk to children about? What do they get right? What do they get wrong? What do they enjoy adults talking to them about? Why do they think adults talk to children? What would they prefer them not to do? What would they like adults to do differently? If they were giving advice to an adult in terms of how to talk with child, what advice would they give them? Would they give them different advice depending on the age of the child? How might this advice change depending on it being age-related?

Please record the child’s/young person’s responses on paper together with your own reflections. Please do this on an anonymous basis.

(Min. 1000 words) 

Once you have completed your assignments, please send them to us not less than 16 days before the start of your course. Please send them electronically to louisa.grisdale@resolution.org.uk

Please ensure your name is added to any documents as a header.

Please also bring a hard copy of Assignments 2 and 3 with you to the start of your course.