Abstract—Within the eclectic history of conflict research,
subsuming number of theories and models of conflict resolution,
the roles of mediators are often labeled based on cultural milieu.
Using an in-depth semi-structured interview, this
phenomenological study probed into the conflict mediation of
10 school administrators representing the Philippine Schools
Overseas in the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman
and the State of Qatar with a view to understanding their
unique roles as mediation persona. Transcribed field texts were
read and reread for purposes of naïve understanding after
which a structural analysis was done via a dendogram. To
emerge a collective and comprehensive understanding of the
phenomenon, transcendental subjectivity was observed and was
first subjected to the member- checking procedure. Themes
were emerged following the inductive approach in theme
development.
Interestingly, results of cool and warm analyses paved the
identification of trilogy of mediator’s roles at Philippine
Schools Overseas School administrators namely bracketing,
balancing, and blending roles. The emerged mediator’s trilogy
of roles expands the overall capability of school leaders while
viewing their role not only from the technical and managerial
perspective but also from the humanistic point of view where
conflict resolution is treated and interpreted in a way that it is
less stressful yet humane and productive.
Index Terms—Balancing role, blending role, bracketing role,
Philippine school overseas.
The author is with the Philippine School Doha, Qatar and Technological
University of the Philippines, Graduate School, Manila, Philippines (e-mail:
xandreacts@yahoo.com).
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Cite: Alexander S. Acosta, " The Mediator's Role in Philippine Schools Overseas (PSO's)," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 5, no. 12, pp. 1009-1016, 2015.