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Reflecting on Conflict and Its Resolution in Our School-Community
Recommended Content of the Three-hour Introductory Session for Staff
The Place of Conflict Resolution in Schools
Perceptions and Definitions of Conflict - (pdf)
Personal Style Assessment - (pdf)
Overview of the Conflict Resolution Process - (pdf)
Conflict Inventory - (pdf)
Visioning our Future - (pdf)
Next Steps - (pdf)
Training Materials - (pdf)
Click here to download the complete document in pdf format:
Reflecting on Conflict and Its Resolution in Our School-Community (pdf)
The Place of Conflict Resolution in Schools
by Marina A. Piscolish, Ph.D.
Introduction-- Conflict Resolution has been gaining acceptance in government and business for the past twenty years and in education for the past fifteen years. It is a phrase applied to a range of skills and activities that share concern for responding to conflicts in the manner that uncovers and exploits the opportunities inherit in them. These skills and activities are designed to promote justice and protect the interests of all those involved in a conflict situation; they consist largely of collaborative problem solving, negotiation, group process facilitation, arbitration and mediation.
The idea of non-violent, collaborative problem solving in response to conflict is increasingly viewed as a critical skill for the health and effective functioning of individuals, groups, communities, organizations and society at large. We are turning to the field of conflict resolution for help in addressing some of our most pressing and systematic problems such as: rampant violence, overburdened courts, overcrowded and non-rehabilitative prison systems, family relations, community disputes, discrimination and prejudice, poor labor relations, international relations, organizational and institutional gridlock, and unending continuous public debates about social problems.
Unresolved conflict exact very high costs in both human and material terms. Realization of this fact is fueling a ground-swell of interest in conflict resolution and the various forms of practice that it takes. In practical terms, conflict resolution is approached through a handful of strategies including specialized services, skills training, and program development.
Specialized services involve the use of individuals with expert knowledge in this field to intervene and provide a range of services and technical assistance to individuals, groups and organizations. Such services include group and meeting facilitation, arbitration and mediation. Specialized services also include the design of education and training programs, as well as the design of alternative dispute resolution systems for communities, groups and organizations.
Skills training includes assisting others in the acquisition of dispositions and skills necessary for resolving inter- and intra-personal conflicts, negotiating effectively, functioning in collaborative groups, using consensus decision making, and mediating the disputes of others.
Program development services relate to the design, implementation and evaluation of programs intended to institutionalize the capacity for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) within an organization or unit. ADR is a phrase used to describe a host of techniques that provide an alternative to continuous, positional approaches (including violence or litigation) to handling conflict. These alternatives include principled negotiation, arbitration and third-party mediation.
Conflict Resolution in Education-- Within any single sector, such as the legal system, counseling, labor relations or education there is a wealth of opportunities for application of the basic principles of conflict resolution. For example, within education alone there are numerous avenues through which the work is pursued. Intervention work in schools tends to target activity at four different levels: discipline (e.g., classroom management practices); curriculum (e.g., conflict resolution curricula); pedagogy (e.g., cooperative learning) and culture (e.g., governance, labor-management and school-community relations).
Currently, the majority of school-based activity focuses on working with teachers and students on matters of discipline, curriculum and pedagogy. However, we have only begun to view conflict resolution as a key partner in affecting change in schools in more profound and fundamental ways: by shifting power structures; by addressing those conflicts that inevitably arise in intense change efforts; by changing critical intra- and interpersonal habits; and by facilitating the conversations regarding the expectations we hold for ourselves, our students, our institutions and our communities.
The real contribution of this work lies in its ability to reshape the culture of schools in a manner that promotes the development and institutionalization of dispositions and skills required of a true democracy: debate, dialogue, consensus building and collaborative problem solving. Schools and school systems are stratified, hierarchical, often autocratic institutions that have a reputation for being both conflict ridden and at the same time conflict avoiding. Schools have a high need for maintaining order and individuals have a high need for saving face. These needs inhibit, causing fear of confrontation and avoidance of dealing with differences. Conflict resolution offers schools the tools for transforming themselves into a true student-centered, learning communities where diversity is seen as a strength and conflict is viewed as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Such a transformation of school culture requires a systematic approach to change. This would require that all of the various stakeholders in education examine current practices in light of the goal of collaborative approaches to the resolution of conflict. The work can be pursued on many fronts. These include:
- Board development;
- Professional development of administrators;
- Professional development of teachers, counselors, and other staff;
- Facilitation of educational reform planning and implementation;
- School policy and practice re: discipline and classroom management;
- Prejudice reduction and diversity training;
- Crisis intervention and violence prevention;
- Labor-management relations;
- School-community relations;
- Curriculum programs in conflict resolution;
- Peer mediation programs; and
- Design of decision making and dispute systems for schools
Many are looking to our educational system for help in addressing problems of the larger society. This is fueling debate about the nature of education and the future of schooling. That debate is happening in halls of government, in board rooms, on campuses and in faculty lounges. There is a tremendous opportunity to rethink our goals and most especially our strategies for pursuing a vision of what education could be.
Unfortunately, our collective efforts are being shortchanged due to our inability to communicate effectively with one another. Too few posses the skills to disagree agreeably, to educate one another, to be persuaded by relevant and compelling evidence, and to channel strong emotion into constructive dialogue. While peer-mediation, curriculum-based student programs and new instructional methods are key strategies for bringing about needed changes in schools, the real opportunity of this moment lies in our ability to negotiate a collective future with one another. Schools and their constituents need help navigating the uncharted waters of authentic school reform. Conflict resolution is a natural partner to this change process. Transforming schools into conflict resolving cultures is not the ultimate end goal, but it is certainly a critical means to our desired end, quality education for all.
" . . . Through understanding, flexibility, and negotiation, children learn to resolve problems assertively, without violence.
But the real challenge presented to education and to all is to become what we teach.
The example that we set tells children more about how we really feel and think than words do . . ." |
Yogesh K. Gandhi, Founder
Gandhi Memorial International Foundation |
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