CRE PowerPoint Presentation
Type of Organization(s) [government or non-government organizations such as universities]:
Non-Government
Contact Information:
Georgia State University
College of Law
Director of Conflict Resolution
Education and Training
140 Decatur Street, Atlanta, GA. 30303
E-mail:linlow@gsu.edu
E-mail:cbenne@gsu.edu
Tel: 404-651-0344
Fax: 404-463-9789
Contact Person(s):
Carolyn Benne, Director
Lin Inlow, Director of Conflict Resolution
Education and Training
Summary
The Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (CNCR) located in the College of Law at Georgia State University is an inter-institutional, interdisciplinary program supporting theory building and practice in conflict prevention and resolution. CNCR’s mission is to understand the institutionalization of conflict prevention and resolution in organizations or through policies and disseminate the resulting knowledge.
Description of Organizations’s Work in CRE
The Conflict Resolution in Schools Program (CRiSP) and the University System of Georgia’s Initiative and Policy Direction on Conflict Resolution (The Initiative) examine the institutionalization of conflict resolution education in K-12 schools and higher education respectively.
The CRiSP was initiated in 1998 as a service-learning pilot engaging university students to teach conflict resolution knowledge, skills, and abilities to students in the Atlanta Public Schools. The pilot was completed in 2001 and the CRiSP moved to its current research phase. Consortium members are examining issues of institutionalization of CRE in K-12 schools with the objective of producing practical, accessible materials for school stakeholders and conflict resolution theorists and practitioners.
Legislation and Policy Initiative
The Board of Regents ‘ Initiative and Policy Direction on Conflict Resolution, enacted in 1995, required each of the 34 institutions within the University System of Georgia to design and implement a conflict management program to meet their individual needs.
With a near decade of practice and study of institutionalizing conflict management in large public education systems, CNCR continues to develop a better understanding and appreciation of the necessary elements for handling conflict in our schools.
Resources
In collaboration with the Chancellor's Office, CNCR provides technical expertise and training support for the Initiative; administers the System-wide Mediation Program; and, conducts periodic evaluation on the development and implementation of conflict management.
Type of Organization(s) [government or non-government organizations such as universities]:
Government
Contact Information:
Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management
77 S. High St., 24th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-6108
United States
Tel: (614) 752-9595
Fax: (614) 752-9682
E-mail: jennifer.batton@cdr.state.oh.us
Web site:www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov
Contact Person(s): Jennifer Batton, Director of Education Programs
Summary:
The Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management was established by the State of Ohio's General Assembly in 1989 to provide dispute resolution [1] and conflict management [2] resources, training, and direct services to Ohio schools, colleges, universities, courts, communities, and state and local government. It was the United States' first and currently only government-sponsored Commission to promote dispute resolution at all levels in society. The nationally recognized programs and services that the Commission provides are both relevant and unique to state government. In addition the Commission's evaluations demonstrate that its work leads to significant reductions in inter-personal conflict particularly in education settings leading to cost-savings and a more effective educational institutions.
Description of Organization's Work in CRE:
The State of Ohio leads the United States in school-based conflict management through the work conducted and coordinated by the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management. Between 1990 and 2003 the number of school districts with conflict management programs grew from 30 to more than 400 (Ohio has 612 school districts) reporting some form of a conflict management program. While in 1993 there were a mere 208 schools that reported having a conflict management program, in 2005 there are more than 1,900 schools with programs. During the 2002-2003 biennium the Commission served more than 95,000 students and over 7,000 staff through its grant training program. The majority of the Commission's resources, training, and programming are offered at no cost to schools and universities in the state of Ohio.
The Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management (the Commission) in partnership with the Ohio Department of Education has promoted conflict resolution education programs in primary and secondary schools, and colleges and universities through grants, training, and resource development with the goal of institutionalizing conflict resolution education into the daily operations of the educational institutions. The resources and programming are linked to state policies and standards of education such as the Ohio Graduation Tests, the curriculum standards, the proficiency tests, and Ohio's Guidelines for Effective Programs to Increase Safety, Security and Social and Emotional Competency of Students in Ohio Schools
Ohio's model is based on a comprehensive approach verses the more traditional peer mediation program that focuses primarily on student-student conflicts which has limited scope and benefits. The Commission's model spans a building, district, and ideally the community. Effective institutionalization requires sustained in-school capacity for program development. Ohio's model for building this capacity relies on a framework first developed by Ellen Raider of Columbia Teacher's College and later adapted by Marina Piscolish. Piscolish's adaptation includes four levels of intervention: school culture, pedagogy, curricula, and student programming. The key to a comprehensive approaches effectiveness is curriculum integration of these life skills for all students and training all adults who interact with students, including parents, administrators, classroom educators, bus drivers, playground aides, school secretaries, and cafeteria workers. This concept of wide-spread training is important so that the skills be modeled and reinforced in the daily operations of the entire school experience, and at home.
To achieve this goal of institutionalization, the Commission has developed a variety of resources, programs, and activities to help schools and universities build the capacity to effectively institutionalize CRE. These include a grant training program for public schools Pre-K-12, professional development, a truancy prevention through mediation program, an annual Higher Education Institute for Education Department Faculty, conferences, traditional and distance learning courses through the universities, and the development of a distance learning course for all educators through the United States Department of Education.
The grant training program has enabled more than 800 elementary, middle, and high schools to integrate non-violent dispute resolution techniques into their overall curriculum, teaching conflict management as a life skill. In addition to the grant awards, the Commission makes training, technical assistance, and age-appropriate lesson plans and resource materials available to grantee schools. Educators are provided with age appropriate curriculum resource guides of more than 500 pages each organized by subject area and linked to the Ohio Graduation Tests, State Proficiency tests, and the State Curriculum Standards. Teachers, staff and administrators are trained in how to integrate conflict resolution as a life skill into existing curricula and how to facilitate positive change within the school community by aligning school mission statements, disciplinary procedures, and team-building efforts with conflict resolution concepts and theories which match Ohio's Guidelines for Effective Programs to Increase Safety, Security and Social and Emotional Competency of Students in Ohio Schools.
Educators across the state are invited to attend regional professional development workshops to learn about conflict resolution and how to design and implement programs; such invitations are offered regardless of whether or not their school has received a grant training package.
The Commission's Truancy Prevention through Mediation Program uses the mediation process to address truancy and tardiness in over 350 public schools. Mediations take place in the school, during or immediately before or after school hours. In grades K - 6 the teacher always attends, and often is the only person meeting with the parent[s]. The goal is to, in a non-punitive, non-disciplinary way, identify the family problems that are causing the poor attendance, and to then help the family reach a voluntary solution. Those solutions often involve reaching out to a government agency or social service provider.
Higher Education
Six years ago, the Commission began a pilot project with the American Association of Health Educators and the Conflict Resolution Education Network to integrate conflict resolution into higher education. Faculty at Ohio's colleges and universities are invited to take part in this annual Conflict Resolution Education Institute. Currently 36 Ohio colleges and universities have participated. The objectives for participants are to understand the rationale for the integration of conflict resolution into higher education, to demonstrate the knowledge of core concepts, and to develop an action plan to implement conflict resolution education in teacher education, thus providing tools for integrating conflict management into their curriculum for new teachers. Educators also have access to university-based distance learning courses on how to implement school conflict resolution programs offered through the University of Cincinnati and the Commission.
To further expand its work in this area, the Commission recently partnered with Temple University, Cleveland State University, and Kent State University to design the Conflict Resolution Education in Teacher Education Project which addresses two crises in urban education across the U.S. - teacher attrition and unsafe, conflict-ridden learning environments. Through this project we will develop a conflict resolution education (CRE)/social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum and training process for higher education faculty and develop a CRE/SEL curriculum and training process for education majors outside the higher education course delivery system. The impact of curricula and training processes on teacher success in classroom management, establishing positive classroom climate, student learning and academic achievement, and on teacher satisfaction and teacher retention will be evaluated. A version of the curriculum suitable for use in traditional and on-line/distance education formats will be developed along with a mentoring structure that utilizes university-based teacher educators and school-based educators. It is funded by the United States Department of Education's (USDE) Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education and the George Gund Foundation.
The Commission and Temple University have partnered to design a distance learning course on conflict management for the USDE which will be available on their Web site in September 2005.
In an attempt to further integrate conflict resolution methods into the daily operations of Ohio's colleges and universities, the Commission also offers trainings for university ombuds offices, residence life offices, judicial affairs offices, and human resources. These cover topics of conflict resolution systems design in higher education and mediation in university settings. These trainings are offered in partnership with Georgia State University and community mediation programs.
Legislation/Policy Initiative
In 1989 Richard F. Celeste, governor of Ohio created the Governor's Peace and Conflict Management Commission to review the status of peace and conflict management programs in the state of Ohio and to develop new initiatives to help Ohioans better resolve their disputes. The Commission focused on four primary areas: primary and secondary education, higher education, the courts, and community and public policy. As part of its final report to Governor Celeste, this Commission recommended that the state of Ohio create a permanent Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management to develop practical programs that teach people how to resolve disputes without conflict and without resorting to lawsuits.
Under Governor Celeste, former Peace Corps director in the Carter administration, Ohio had the philosophical conditions for mediation and conflict resolution programs to flourish. In 1989 the Ohio General Assembly, with the support of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Bar Association, and the Ohio Council of Churches, enacted legislation that created the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management. The Commission is jointly governed by members appointed by the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government.
The Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management was created in 1989 by Amended House Bill 453.
Resources on Conflict Resolution Education
Please see a sample listing of the resources available from our state government office. Additional materials and resources can be obtained from our Web site at: www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/schools
Curriculum Integration www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/schools/curriculumintegrationscm
Teaching Skills of Peace Through Children's Literature: Annotated Bibliography
www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/pdfs/biblio.pdf
Learning Skills of Peace Through Everday Conflicts: Picture Cards
www.disputeresolution.ohio.goc/eccards/earlychildhoodcards
Professional Development/Training www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/schools/professionaldevelopmentscm
Assessment/Evaluation
www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/schools/assessmentevaluationscm
Evaluating Your Conflict Resolution Education Program: A Guide for Educators and Evaluators
www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/schools/evaluatingcrep
Consumer Guide: School Conflict Resolution Training
www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov/brochures/cgscmtrainer
[1] Dispute resolution is the study and practice of resolving disputes using processes such as negotiation, mediation, and facilitation.
[2] Conflict management includes the study and practice of concepts and skills needed to effectively manage conflicts constructively and without violence. Conflict management programs are implemented in a variety of ways and may incorporate: win-win negotiation strategies, mediation skills, anger management, and violence prevention. Conflict management skills include understanding conflict, understanding how emotions influence conflict, anger management, effective communication, and problem solving.
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