School Coexistence, Mediation and Conflict Resolution: Evidence-Based Approaches for Inclusive Educational Communities

Schools worldwide face a deepening relational crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted peer relationships, school belonging, and emotional regulation across educational levels - from primary through higher education - while simultaneously accelerating AI-enabled harassment, deepfake bullying, and algorithm-amplified conflict that existing frameworks were not built to address.

School coexistence, as defined here, is the active cultivation of respectful, participatory, and inclusive school communities - a positive educational goal, not merely the absence of conflict. It is grounded in identifiable psychological mechanisms: belonging, empathy, emotional regulation, civic participation, and the quality of social relationships. These processes are the connective tissue linking restorative practices, mediation, inclusive policy, and digital conflict response within this Topic. Coexistence manifests differently across developmental stages and cultural contexts, making attention to educational level - primary, secondary, and higher education - and to vulnerable and marginalized populations a central concern.

Restorative practices, peer mediation, and coexistence-centered policy have emerged as leading alternatives to exclusionary discipline. Yet implementation evidence remains fragmented, particularly regarding cultural adaptation, developmental appropriateness, and equity for marginalized students - including those with disabilities, migration backgrounds, or experiences of intersectional discrimination.

This Research Topic invites empirical, policy, and review contributions across three areas:
1. Restorative and Relational Practices - Restorative justice in school discipline; peer and school mediation as community-building tools; emotional competency development; sustainable implementation across contexts and educational levels; higher education applications.
2. Coexistence Policy and Implementation - Comparative national frameworks; school climate and inclusive policy; family-school-community collaboration; teacher preparation for mediation roles; equity and sustainability challenges.
3. Conflict in Digital and Hybrid Environments - AI-enabled harassment and deepfake bullying: What are the psychological impacts on victims, especially from vulnerable groups? What educational and relational frameworks can schools use to respond? How can restorative approaches extend to digital contexts? Cross-cultural perspectives on digital conflict norms.

We welcome empirical studies, intervention evaluations, systematic reviews, longitudinal research, mixed-methods designs, and policy analyses from education, psychology, sociology, social work, and related fields. Contributions from diverse national and cultural contexts are strongly encouraged.

Out of scope: This Topic will not consider studies focused exclusively on academic achievement or teaching methods without a clear connection to school relationships, conflict, inclusion, or school climate. Descriptive studies of bullying or cyberbullying that do not address prevention, intervention, mediation, or restorative approaches are also outside the scope.

Three forces make this an urgent research moment: post-pandemic school climate data are now available at scale; AI-driven harassment has outpaced current school response frameworks; and policy across multiple countries is shifting toward restorative, non-exclusionary discipline - while implementation evidence consistently lags behind.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: School coexistence, Restorative practices, School climate, Peer mediation, Social-emotional learning, Cyberbullying, Inclusive discipline policy, Comparative education policy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.