Managing and Resolving Conflicts Effectively in Schools and Classrooms

Day 3: Peaceable Classroom Model and Peaceable School Model

Link to Academics

Teachers can include conflict resolution creatively in the teaching of all subjects. Below are a few examples of infusion and specific examples of links that provide more information about how these have been used in school like yours.

Art:  Varying perspectives, ranges of feelings, effects of biases and use of contrast are a few of the conflict management concepts that might be discussed through the making or studying of art.

Drama and theater are often used to handle large issues that create or contribute to conflict. After 9/11 several NYC schools used drama and expressive arts to deal with conflicts caused between Muslim and Christian students.

Health:  Students can learn skills to handle emotions in a healthy manner, to assertively resist what is unhealthy, and to recognize and evaluate consequences when solving problems and making decisions.

Health education often uses conflict management components with ongoing curriculum like DARE to reinforce healthy decision making. In the Needham Public Schools the entire district created a wellness program that identified core competencies for K-12.

Language Arts: The whole language approach is ideal for weaving conflict management concepts into a wide variety of subjects.

Conflict management and children’s literature are a natural. For example, in K 1-3 you can use Kevin Henkes’ works Lily and the Purple Plastic Purse to teach emotional control, (Chysanthemum) to teach respect and perspective-taking.

In high school you can take required novels like Elie Weisel’s Nightwatch and use it as a basis for an extended 4-5 week unit on prejudice, social oppression and social justice.

Reading: In schools with established peer mediation programs, mediators are called in to mediate disputes between fictional characters. During discussions about stories students are asked to analyze and identify the root causes of specific conflicts and to brainstorm other potential options for resolving conflicts that arose in the reading. Readings ranging from The Great Pretenders to Across Five Aprils provide opportunities for discussion and learning.

Speech: The difficulty and challenge of speaking in such a way that another gains a clear understanding of your perspective is easily reinforced in such activities as presenting a persuasive speech, explaining directions to a game one has invented, or describing a design in such a way that another can draw it.

Writing: Story starters provide daily opportunities for students to think about and apply conflict management/resolution skills. Starters can range from simple phrases such as "the good thing about conflict is...,”, to longer introductions which invite students to brainstorm alternative methods of resolving a conflict and to anticipate the possible consequences of each. Students can keep track of their progress in using and improving their skills through logs or journals.

Math: Mathematical problem solving involves the following steps: reading and formulating the problem; analyzing and exploring the problem and selecting strategies to solve it; finding and implementing solutions; and verifying and interpreting solutions to ensure that they are correct. A teacher might ask students to develop a plan for a city park that meets a variety of community interests while staying within a maximum budget. Another approach teachers might use requires students to use math skills and conflict resolution knowledge to solve story problems. For example, a story problem might ask students to resolve a conflict in which one friend has loaned another friend money, but repayment is not made on the promised date. The resolution of the problem may include interest calculations, as well as an apology or an agreed-to payment plan.

Music: Conflict management concepts can be reinforced through song and taught in principles of harmony and discord. Lyric writing offers students the opportunity to present conflict management concepts in interesting and often entertaining ways.

Physical Education: This subject provides opportunities for students to experience and discuss the differences between competitive and cooperative games. It is an ideal setting for students to learn how ground rules can encourage a safe and cooperative or a competitive climate.

Science: One could say that the earth, as we know it now, has undergone many conflicts.  What have been some positive/negative effects of volcanoes, earthquakes, fires, etc. What are some “win-win” resolutions in nature? Symbiotic relationships, such as the mutually advantageous partnership between algae and fungi in lichens, are an example.

Social Studies: Teachers ask students to analyze local, state, national and international conflicts and to discuss potential conflict resolution strategies to resolve those issues. The conflict may be a current event or a past occurrence that are found in textbooks. For example, many texts describe the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted over a year and had a negative economic impact on the city. African-Americans instituted the boycott to protest a law that required them to ride only in the rear of the bus and to relinquish their seats to Caucasians upon demand. Teachers can ask students to identify the interests of each side and to propose solutions that might have prevented the boycott or ended it in a more timely manner. Middle grade students can develop the same concept when studying the relationship between the early North American settlers and the Native Americans. Students might be asked to act out a conflict that was described in an assigned reading.

For example, students could decide to analyze the conflict between Egypt and Israel. To do this, student could rely on information from their readings to play the roles of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat in a mock negotiation. The class could then discuss the Camp David Accords and other important events in the Middle East.

Sample Resources For Educators:

 

"Link to Academics"- Taken from the OCDRCM publication: "Introduction to School Conflict Management" OCDRCM, 1998, available at:  www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov