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Conflict
Resolution ~ Unit Introduction
Successful
functioning in a community--whether it be a group of
friends, classroom, school, town, country or world--depends
on developing proficiency in conflict-resolution skills.
Students should begin developing these skills in preschool.
However, with each stage in life there are increasingly challenging
lessons to learn about these skills. I find that it is extremely
valuable to dedicate a few days to teach my students the
conflict-resolution skills
I expect from them at the beginning of the school year. These
lessons will also support them in all of their Hidden Villa
field trips and classroom projects, which
frequently depend on cooperative work and may include the
exploration of social justice concepts.
At
the beginning of the unit, I generally make a big poster
of the four steps to Respectful Resolutions that I can keep
up on the walls as long as
necessary.
- Be
Aware - This
step introduces students to the idea that their body
gives them important
clues about how they
are feeling in a given situation.
- Take
Care - After
realizing how they feel, students need to be responsible
for their
feelings. This could mean cooling
off, taking a deep breath, walking off their tempers, or doing something that makes them feel good about themselves.
- Prepare
- Before approaching the person with whom they've had the conflict, students should think about and practice what they are going to say.
This includes learning to develop effective I-Messages.
- Listen
and Share - Once students are ready to talk
with the person in question, they need to be ready
to listen
to the other person's point of view without interrupting and make appropriate compromises.
I
have adapted many of my conflict-resolution lessons from
the curriculum "Talk-It-Out" by Barbara Porro,
which can be easily purchased on the internet. I highly
recommend this book. It provides a thorough background of
information about why and how to implement a conflict resolution
program in your classroom. It also offers many more specific
situations you can use in teaching the steps to Respectful
Resolutions. (ISBN- 0-87120-262-X) |
