Latest Updates

Above: Christina giving a short presentation on the Peace Foundation mahi.

Christina Barruel Recognized as a Leader in Peace Initiatives for Aotearoa

Our congratulations to Christina Barruel, Head of Peace Education, who was recently awarded a prestigious Resolution Institute award. Christina was the recipient of the 2024 Service to Dispute Resolution Award. This acknowledges practitioners who go ‘above and beyond’ in their work and are ‘outstanding practitioners’. Resolution Institute is a Trans-Tasman organisation.

Christina has worked in conflict resolution and mediation in schools for 35 years. She has been the Head of Peace Education for the Peace Foundation for 18 years. Over time, Christina has trained thousands of students as peer mediators and numerous teachers as trainers/coordinators in schools. Within the Peace Foundation, she leads a team of national facilitators and co-manages office staff, interns and volunteers.

Taking conflict resolution and mediation skills beyond New Zealand has been one of Christina’s goals. She has taken the Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme to schools in Fiji, Hong Kong, Iceland, and Los Angeles. In 2018, Christina developed and facilitated a four-week conflict resolution module at Auckland University of Technology. Aspects of this module were taught to Japanese students at Hirosaki University, northern Japan.

Christina is mindful that Peace Foundation resources must be culturally responsive and honour te Ao Māori (the Māori world). With others she has developed and adapted resources and practices to better reflect tikanga Māori (the appropriate/right way from a te Ao Māori perspective). These efforts have been positively received in schools by students, teachers and school leaders.

This is not the first time Christina has been honoured for her mahi/work. In 2013, she was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship. This enabled her to travel to Seattle in the United States. There she looked at different approaches to conflict resolution and mediation in schools. Then in 2015, Christina was awarded a Resolution Institute scholarship. This enabled her to train and gain accreditation as an adult mediator.

In the words of her Resolution Institute award referee Tamkeen Saeid:

“Christina has immense passion and enthusiasm for dispute resolution and for teaching peer mediation skills to students – primary and secondary, and her enthusiasm is infectious.”
“I have had the absolute privilege of seeing Christina deliver many training sessions, her joy and genuine belief in the benefit of training students with communication skills, listening skills and helping them to understand conflict and our different responses to conflict.”

The long-term impact of Christina’s work is captured well by Alathea MacSweeney, the second referee for this award. Alathea wrote:

“The success of Christina’s initiatives is reflected in the numerous testimonials from students, parents, and colleagues. Teachers consistently describe a positive shift in the school’s atmosphere, and students describe a transformative experience, noting increased self-awareness, improved communication skills, and a greater sense of responsibility towards their peers. One of the most common pieces of feedback I hear from students who have gone through these training sessions is that the skills are useful both within the school environment and outside of it, with their families, their communities and friends.”

Like many busy people, Christina is careful to balance her work with things that bring her joy and keep her healthy. She enjoys running, cycling, yoga and gardening, but her greatest pleasure is spending play time with her partner Pete and their three grandchildren.

Tracy Scott - Te Waipounamu/South Island Facilitator

Tracy is contracted by the Peace Foundation to facilitate training for Cool Schools (primary) and the Leadership in Peer Mediation (secondary schools). She has worked for the Peace Foundation for over a decade. However, she has many, many years of experience in peer mediation and conflict resolution in the United States and in New Zealand. Tracy has a Masters degree in Conflict Resolution, Community Change and Civic Leadership. In addition to her Peace Foundation work, Tracy works independently as a mediator and mediation and conflict resolution trainer. Tracy is based in Christchurch but works with schools throughout most of the South Island.

Earlier this year, Tracy hosted a Peer Mediators’ BIG DAY OUT. Over 80 students from 12 Canterbury Schools, with 15 parents and coordinators, came together at Lincoln Primary School. Lincoln Primary has been a Cool School for over a decade. They have over 40 mediators. These students did an amazing job of hosting, supporting and presenting at the Big Day Out.

Canterbury Peer Mediators’ BIG DAY OUT

Students and adults participated in a range of activities. The keynote speaker focused on environmental action, highlighting the link between a healthy, sustainable environment and world peace. Lyttleton and Oakland Schools talked about the implementation of the Cool Schools programme and its impact. Finally, Menna Harries facilitated discussions about Peace Idols. These discussions seeded ideas and excited students and teachers in their preparation for Peace Week activities.

In the afternoon, adult coordinators met to discuss the challenges of Year 7/8 students mediating their own age group and how to keep mediators enthusiastic and involved as mediators and leaders in their school. The day was a great opportunity for experienced schools to share their knowledge and skills with other schools.

It was a proud moment for peer mediators when Tracy Scott (centre) presented Mediators’ Big Day Out Certificates. One student from each school received the award.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published.