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Teaching Students to Resolve Conflicts
Level: High School
Materials: A Resource Guide for A Comprehensive High School Conflict Management Program, pp. 580-587. Duplicate pp. 582, 580, and 581; staple in that order to hand out to students. Each teacher should have a copy of pp. 583-587 to read in advance to prepare to teach this lesson.
Introduction:
Ask students to think of a conflict they recently experienced with a parent, sibling, teacher, employer, etc.
Ask students to think of how the conflict was resolved.
Ask students to raise hands to indicate agreement on the following:
- How many of you got exactly what you wanted?
- How many of you got nothing of what you wanted?
- How many of you got part of what you wanted?
- Who would like to learn a way to resolve conflicts so that you can peacefully reach a decision that is agreeable to you?
Hand out pp. 582, 580, and 581 to the students. Go over page 582 step-by-step with students. Ask them to imagine doing this with the person in the conflict they have just thought about. (If plenty of time is available, go over pp. 580-581; if not, ask them to read these pages later.
Ask for an actual situation that the student would like to share (determine appropriateness for the audience/activity) or ask students to role play the following situation (teacher may choose a more appropriate situation for his/her particular group):
Mike and Susan are good friends. Mike knows that he can put his books in Susan’s locker (her locker is close to the lunchroom.) Recently Mike has also been borrowing Susan’s math book so that he doesn’t have to go all the way back to his locker before class. He knows that she needs the book for 7th period, but he uses it 6th period and puts it back. On Monday, Mike did not get the book back in time, and Susan did not have her homework to turn in. She got a "0" for the day. She was very upset, yelled at Mike, told him that she didn’t want him ever using her locker again, and indicated that their friendship was in serious jeopardy. Mike tried to apologize–he really doesn’t want to lose Susan’s friendship-- he tried to tell her that he wants another chance to be responsible.
Using the TRIBE method, have students role play the conflict resolution process for the class. You can choose one student to take the students through the role play, or you can do this yourself (explain to students that this person is a mediator.) In the remaining time, ask the class to evaluate the process. Talk about its effectiveness, and ask the students to try this method on their own the next time a conflict arises. If appropriate, you can ask the students to report the results of this activity to the class.
Created by: Diana Weasner, Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center, Mansfield, Ohio 2000.
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