December 16th, 2008 by Learning Systems
Student and staff responses to conflict resolution learning systems have been overwhelmingly positive. As schools open dialogue between students and provide processes for conflict resolution, teachers report fewer fights and more caring student behavior.
Another positive effect is improved attendance. Teachers are able to concentrate more on their class learning systems, and students experience a safer and less distracting learning environment. Administrators, noticing less absenteeism and decline in the number of student suspensions, also find they spend less time on disciplinary issues.
But the long-term benefit of conflict resolution learning systems is that students, teachers and parents can change their attitude toward conflict; it changes from a natural spark of confrontation, to a process to be worked through. Energies are redirected, and often the best student mediators are those who were previously considered troublemakers.
December 15th, 2008 by Learning Systems
As with any learning system, there are a variety of styles out there for conflict management. G.H. Varney’s negotiation process is just one of many that trainees in a conflict management learning system may employ.
Varney recommends bringing disputants together and asking: 1. What is the problem as you perceive it? 2. What does the other person do that contributes to the problem? 3. What do you want or need from the other person? 4. What do you do that contributes to the problem? 5. What first step can you take to resolve the problem?
Trainers should ensure that each person is questioned while the other listens. Then the two parties should discuss a mutual definition and understanding of the problem. These steps require good listening, self-awareness, low-defensiveness, and the ability to remain in a problem-solving mode. In Varney’s conflict resolution learning system, the ultimate goal of mediation is an agreement on what steps will be taken to resolve the problem.
December 15th, 2008 by Learning Systems
Online mediation training courses can greatly enhance conflict management education. Trainers can combine personal, face-to-face training with media such as television and LMS-hosted material. An LMS mediation course should include not only interactive material, quizzes and games, but also videos. Videos can provide trainees with real life conflict managing examples, and professionally acted dramatizations.
An LMS training course can also provide student role plays, trainer role plays, and information on cultural diversity, mediation structures and processes, and communication skills. After an introduction to the tenets of conflict resolution and the strategies for solving different kinds of disputes, trainees should begin practicing the mediation process. As with any social skill, conflict managing is best learned in a cycle of learn, demonstrate, and practice.
December 15th, 2008 by Learning Systems
In addition to the disparity in conflict resolution learning system resources between schools across America, the scope and purpose of each program also varies. Some districts offer only mediation programs, hoping to mitigate school violence. Others begin with mediation programs and create a more comprehensive learning system, adding a conflict resolution curriculum that calls for more active student participation.
Mediation programs often involve training student mediators and facilitating communication between disputants. Curriculum usually involves lessons on intergroup relations, cooperative learning, and dispute resolution techniques. While some districts have attempted to operate these learning systems on a very lean budget, others have received outside support, and have deeply integrated conflict resolution programs and curriculum.
December 15th, 2008 by Learning Systems
If you’re searching for funding for a conflict resolution learning system, your school district isn’t the only resource available. You can also seek donations and apply for grants. Donations can be the result of school fundraising activities. Donations are given by people who believe they supporting an important cause. For learning systems such as peer mediation training, donations are often rewarded more swiftly and easily than a grant.
Foundations and organizations normally reward grants to schools based on the perceived merits of a proposed project and its expected outcomes. When applying for a grant, it’s critical to understand the values and priorities of the grantmaker, and to reflect them in your grant proposal. When writing grants for a conflict resolution learning system, keep in mind the fact that grantmakers view awards as investments in an improved future.
December 15th, 2008 by Learning Systems
The need for early conflict resolution education is being addressed, with an increasing number of school districts adopting conflict resolution learning systems. However, the disparity in resources from school to school can create a major barrier for some districts to adopt this kind of learning system.
How can teachers find funding to implement a conflict resolution program? The first place to request funding is your own school district. Most schools districts receive formula grant funds from state departments of education to support certain learning system programs, like local Safe and Drug Free School programs. Talk with school district grant program coordinators and assistant superintendents for curriculum and instruction about your ideas.
December 12th, 2008 by Learning Systems
There are now thousands of school-based programs in the U.S., from rural to inner-city learning systems and from kindergarten to high school. According to ERIC Digest’s Morton Inger, three-fourths of San Francisco’s public schools have conflict managers. In New Mexico, a statewide mediation program involves 30,000 students.
In NYC, more than 100 schools with about 80,000 students have a similar program. One of New York’s conflict resolution learning systems, Resolving Conflict Creatively, is a prime example of a curriculum-based program. It offers a ten-unit curriculum with lessons on intergroup relations, cooperative learning, and dispute resolution techniques.
In Chicago as well, all students experience a dispute resolution learning system in ninth or tenth grade. And in Ann Arbor, a conflict management curriculum reaches all students in the city. With all of these programs running, I believe we can hope to see less aggression and school tragedies in the U.S.
December 12th, 2008 by Learning Systems
What exactly does conflict resolution look like for children and teens? The major points of conflict resolution learning systems are active listening, where participants are called on to summarize what each person has said; cooperation between disputants; acceptance of each other’s differences; and creative problem solving, which takes into account each person’s position.
The learning systems focus on learning from experience, with teachers serving not as instructors but as facilitators and coaches. Students engage in role-playing and team projects to learn how to deal with anger and work with others to arrive at win-win solutions. Schools with mediation learning systems use students as mediators so they can learn from experience how conflicts may be resolved in a peaceful way.
