Conflict Resolution Education A Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and Juvenile Justice Settings. Program Report MENU TITLE: Conflict Resolution Education: Front Matter Series: OJJDP Published: October 1996 11 pages 19,455 bytes Conflict Resolution Education A Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and Juvenile Justice Settings Program Report Donna Crawford and Richard Bodine October 1996 Shay Bilchik, Administrator Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention U.S. Department of Justice Gerald N. Tirozzi, Assistant Secretary Office of Elementary and Secondary Education U.S. Department of Education ------------------------------- The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime. The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is a component of the U.S. Department of Education. Among the programs within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program. ------------------------------- Conflict is a natural, vital part of life. When conflict is understood, it can become an opportunity to learn and create. The challenge for people in conflict is to apply the principles of creative cooperation in their human relationships. Richard Bodine, Donna Crawford, and Fred Schrumpf Creating the Peaceable School: A Comprehensive Program for Teaching Conflict Resolution ------------------------------- Foreword Safe and orderly environments in our Nation's schools are essential to promoting high standards for learning and ensuring that all children have the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. No teacher should ever fear to walk into a classroom, and no child should ever stay home from school because he or she is afraid. Too often, however, young people face conflicts before, during, and after school. They are subjected to bullying, teasing, and senseless, sometimes fatal, disputes over clothing and other possessions. Many of these conflicts either begin at school, or they are brought into school from the home or the community. A growing body of evidence suggests that we are not powerless to prevent these destructive behaviors. We can intervene successfully to prevent conflicts from escalating into violent acts by providing young people with the knowledge and skills needed to settle disputes peacefully. Conflict resolution education can help bring about significant reductions in suspensions, disciplinary referrals, academic disruptions, playground fights, and family and sibling disputes. It is important to understand that conflict resolution education is a critical component of comprehensive, community-based efforts to prevent violence and reduce crime. Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving Organizations, and Community and Juvenile Justice Settings was developed for educators, juvenile justice practitioners, and others in youth-serving organizations to heighten awareness of conflict resolution education and its potential to help settle disputes peacefully in a variety of settings. A joint project of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education, this Guide provides background information on conflict resolution education; an overview of four widely used, promising, and effective approaches; and guidance on how to initiate and implement conflict resolution education programs in various settings. As adults, we cannot solve young people's problems for them. We can, however, provide them with the knowledge, skills, and encouragement to resolve conflicts in a nonviolent manner, using words instead of fists or weapons. Conflict resolution education includes negotiation, mediation, and consensus decisionmaking, which allow all parties involved to explore peaceful solutions to a conflict. When these problem-solving processes to conflict and strife become a way of life, young people begin to value getting along instead of getting even or getting their way. We urge you to help make our schools and our communities safer places. We invite you to use this Guide as a means of working with your schools, community organizations, and other youth-serving and juvenile justice settings to give our youth the skills, techniques, and tools they need to learn and to resolve disputes in a safe and nonviolent environment. Janet Reno Attorney General Richard W. Riley Secretary of Education ------------------------------- Acknowledgments The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) recognize the dedication and commitment of Donni LeBoeuf, Senior Program Manager, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, DOJ; and Charlotte Gillespie, Group Leader, Program Service Team, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, ED. Their diligence, work, and enthusiasm for this project have helped to bring the vision of this Guide to fruition. We are indebted to Donna Crawford and Richard Bodine of the Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution who spent countless hours writing and refining the manuscript to convey the variety of approaches within the field of conflict resolution education and the potential of all these approaches for bringing about peaceful resolution of disputes in a number of settings. We also thank Judith Filner of the National Institute for Dispute Resolution for her work in drafting an initial outline for the manuscript and providing her knowledge of effective and promising programs. In addition, we thank the following members of the Conflict Resolution Education Planning Committee whose ideas and expertise helped bring this project to its completion: Lee Arbetman, Margery Baker, Shay Bilchik, Noel Brennan, Eileen M. Garry, George Henderson, Emily Martin, William Modzeleski, Gail Padgett, John J. Wilson, and Judith Zimmer. We are grateful to the following individuals for their counsel, guidance, and support throughout this project: Terry Amsler, Ron Ativissimo, Rebecca Atnafou, Vicki Baldwin, Linda Barnes-Robinson, Marcia Choo, Richard Cohen, Irene Cooper-Basch, Jared Curhan, Mary Czajkowski, Robin Delany-Shabazz, Larry Dieringer, Dennis D. Embry, Lucy Friedman, Lynn Glassman, Barbara Greenberg, Mark Greenberg, J. David Hawkins, Shelia Heen, Patti Holman, David Johnson, Ted Johnson, Marianne Klink, Nancy Langan, Linda Lantieri, Linda Lausell, Ray Leal, Raul Martinez, John Mazzarella, Pamela Moore, Marilyn Moses, Cheryl Niro, Dennis Noonan, Gayle Olson-Raymer, Laura Otey, Kenneth E. Powell, Ellen Raider, Tom Roderick, Laura Parker Roerden, David Roush, Melinda Smith, Ronald Stephens, Susan Stroud, Marcia Sweedler, Annette Townley, Lloyd H. Van Bylevelt, Martin Walsh, and Terry Wheeler. This Guide would not have been possible without the steadfast effort and careful review provided by all of these experts and practitioners. Finally, we wish to express our appreciation to the staff of the Juvenile Justice Resource Center, especially Laurie Shah and Janet McNaughton, who gathered information, edited the manuscript, and prepared the document for publication. Additionally, the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, under the guidance of Catherine Doyle, deserves our thanks for their work in bringing the final manuscript through the publication process. ------------------------------- Table of Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Prologue Introduction Purposes of Conflict Resolution Education Responsible Citizenship Violence Prevention and Safe Schools Systemic Change Rationale for Establishing Conflict Resolution Programs How the Guide Is Organized Chapter 1: Understanding Conflict Resolution Origins of Conflict Basic Psychological Needs Limited Resources Different Values Responses to Conflict Outcomes of Soft, Hard, and Principled Responses Problem-Solving Processes Principles of Conflict Resolution Foundation Abilities for Conflict Resolution Steps in the Problem-Solving Process Approaches to Conflict Resolution Education Chapter 2: Process Curriculum Approach The Program for Young Negotiators Teacher Training and Community Involvement Negotiation Curriculum Followup Opportunities Ongoing Curriculum Development and Innovation The Peace Education Foundation Mediation Parent Involvement National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law Middle and High School Programs and Curricular Materials Elementary Programs and Curricular Materials Process Curriculum in Juvenile Justice Settings Chapter 3: Mediation Program Approach The Mediation Process Peer Mediation Programs Peer Mediation Training Peer Mediation Opportunity Peer Mediation in Schools Program From the New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution Teacher Modeling Curriculum Component Mediation Component Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution Phase I: Develop the Program Team and Commitment Phase II: Design and Plan the Program Phase III: Select and Train the Mediators Phase IV: Educate a Critical Mass Phase V: Develop and Execute a Promotional Campaign Phase VI: Program Operation and Maintenance Chapter 4: Peaceable Classroom Approach Curriculum Integration and Classroom Management Cooperative Learning and Academic Controversy Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers Program Faculty Create a Cooperative Environment Faculty Teach Students To Be Peacemakers Faculty Implement the Peacemaker Program Faculty Refine and Upgrade the Students' Skills Educators for Social Responsibility ESR Core 4-Day Training Model Ongoing Followup and Support Chapter 5: Peaceable School Approach Peaceable School Transformation Systemic Change Resolving Conflict Creatively Program Professional Development for Teachers and Other Staff K-12 Curriculum Peer Mediation Administrator Training Parent Training Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution Fundamental Skill Areas Building a Peaceable Climate Understanding Conflict Understanding Peace and Peacemaking Mediation Negotiation Group Problem Solving Other Areas of Development Professional Development Parent Education Community Initiatives Chapter 6: Juvenile Justice and Alternative Education Initiatives Juvenile Justice Facilities The Community Board Program Voluntary Participation Types of Disputes Handled by Conflict Managers Types of Conflicts Not Handled Conflict Manager Selection Conflict Manager Training Conflict Manager Supervision Potential Benefits of Conflict Manager Programs Alternative Schools International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution Training Components Impact of the ICCCR Conflict Resolution Project Chapter 7: Parent and Community Initiatives Parent Education Primary Prevention Early Intervention Parents as Teachers Program Parents Anonymous, Inc. Franklin Mediation Services and Head Start of Franklin County, Massachusetts Community Programs Community Mediation Programs Lawyers Adopt-a-School Program East Cleveland Youth Services Mobile Mediation Project Roxbury Conflict Resolution Project Community Component Recruitment and Selection of Community Youth Community Outreach Component Community-to-School, School-to-Community Component Community Buy-In and Implications for Replication The Community Board Program Parental Involvement in Whole-School Work Partnerships Between School and Community Mediation Programs Boys & Girls Clubs of America AmeriCorps Conflict Resolution Training Project Community Relations Service The Arts and Conflict Resolution Urban smARTS Program Pathways to Success Program Arts and Prevention Projects California Lawyers for the Arts Chapter 8: Conflict Resolution Research and Evaluation Early Research Studies on the Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers Program Other Research Implications of Research on Risk Factors and Resilience Risk Factors for Violent and Antisocial Behavior Protective Factors The Relation Between Resilience and Conflict Resolution Chapter 9: Developmentally Appropriate Practice Age-Appropriate Instruction Chapter 10: Establishing Conflict Resolution Education Programs Analyzing School Conflict: Needs Assessment Selecting Conflict Resolution Education Programs/Curriculums Implementing Conflict Resolution Education Selecting Staff Development Providers/Trainers Important Factors for Successful Implementation Administrative Commitment and Support Faculty Commitment and Support Parent Involvement and Support Program Evaluation Appendices Appendix A: Contact Information Conflict Resolution Consultation and Training Resources Programs Cited in This Guide Appendix B: Conflict Resolution Curriculum Resources Foundation Abilities Process Curriculum Mediation Peaceable Classroom Peaceable School Appendix C: Conflict Resolution Reading List Appendix D: Conflict Resolution Glossary NOTE: Because of the limitations of the ASCII plain-text format, Appendixes E, F, and G were omitted from this file. They can be found in the Adobe Acrobat and hardcopy versions of this document. Appendix H: Strategic Planning Process Appendix I: The Story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Retold Through Negotiation List of Figures Figure 1: Understanding Conflict Figure 2: Seven Elements of Negotiation Figure 3:The Six Developmental Phases of the Mediation Program of the Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution Figure 4: The Problem-Solving Negotiation Procedure Figure 5: C.H.O.I.C.E.S. for Managing Conflict Figure 6: Risk Factors for Health and Behavior Problems Figure 7: Sample Needs Assessment Questionnaire Figure 8: Sample Conflict Resolution Survey List of Tables Table 1: Recommended Time for Peer Mediation Training Table 2: Punishment Versus Discipline Table 3: Characteristics of Resilient Children Table 4: Age-Appropriate Sequence for Acquiring the Foundation Abilities of Conflict Resolution Table 5: Age-Appropriate Sequence for Acquiring the Problem-Solving Processes of Conflict Resolution ------------------------------- Prologue Grandmother," she said, "what big arms you have!" "The better to hug you with, my dear." "Grandmother, what big legs you have!" "The better to run with, my child." "Grandmother, what big eyes you have!" "The better to see, my child." "Grandmother, what big teeth you have!" "They're to eat you with!" And at these words, the wicked wolf pounced on Little Red Ridinghood and ate her up. --"Little Red Ridinghood"[1] Wolf: Now wait a minute, Red. I know your granny. I thought we should teach you a lesson for prancing on my pine trees in that get-up and for picking my flowers. I let you go on your way in the woods but I ran ahead to your granny's cottage. When I saw Granny, I explained what happened, and she agreed that you needed to learn a lesson. Granny hid under the bed, and I dressed up in her nightgown. When you came into the bedroom, you saw me in the bed and said something nasty about my big ears. I've been told my ears are big before, so I tried to make the best of it by saying big ears help me hear you better. Then you made an insulting crack about my bulging eyes. This one was really hard to blow off, because you sounded so nasty. Still, I make it a policy to turn the other cheek, so I told you my big eyes help me see you better. Your next insult about my big teeth really got to me. You see, I'm quite sensitive about my teeth. I know that when you made fun of my teeth I should have had better control, but I leaped from the bedand growled that my teeth would help me to eat you. But, come on, Red! Let's face it. Everyone knows no Wolf could ever eat a girl, but you started screaming and running around the house. I tried to catch you to calm you down. All of a sudden the door came crashing open, and a big woodsman stood there with his ax. I knew I was in trouble . . . there was an open window behind me, so out I went. I've been hiding ever since. There are terrible rumors going around the forest about me. Red, you called me the Big Bad Wolf. I'd like to say I've gotten over feeling bad, but the truth is I haven't lived happily ever after. I don't understand why Granny never told you and the others my side of the story. I'm upset about the rumors and have been afraid to show my face in the forest. Why have you and Granny let the situation go on for this long? It just isn't fair. I'm miserable and lonely. Red: You think that I have started unfair rumors about you, and you are miserable and lonely and don't understand why Granny didn't tell your side of the story. Well, Granny has been sick--and she's been very tired lately. When I asked her how she came to be under the bed, she said she couldn't remember a thing that had happened. Come to think of it, she didn't seem too upset . . . just confused. --"The Story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Retold Through Negotiation"[2] Fairytales and folktales are read to children to entertain them, but these stories also communicate common ideas and modes of thinking about relationships, morals, values, and how to get along in the world. Fairytales present children with a model of how to think and act. In the original story of Little Red Riding Hood, one of the morals is to beware of strangers. The two sides in this fairytale are sharply drawn--one good, one bad; one innocent, one cunning; one right, one wrong. If the retelling of the tale seems odd, it is because it challenges the stereotype of the "Big Bad Wolf" and asks us to consider his side of the story. The tenets of conflict resolution present a new model of interacting with and thinking about other people--one that challenges us to go beyond stereotypes, to consider the other's point of view, and to reach mutually satisfactory agreements in which all parties win. "The Story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Retold Through Negotiation," which is reprinted in its entirety in appendix I, is an illustration of one of the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution. If we can succeed in teaching our youth this framework for resolving their disputes, the results for them and for our society could be profound. ------------------------------- Notes 1. Bierhorst, J. (translator). 1981. The Glass Slipper: Charles Perrault's Tales of Times Past. New York: Four Winds Press. 2. Bodine, R., D. Crawford, and F. Schrumpf. 1994. Creating the Peaceable School: A Comprehensive Program for Teaching Conflict Resolution. Champaign, IL: Research Press, Inc. MENU TITLE: Conflict Resolution Guide: Introduction, Chapters 1-3 Series: OJJDP Published: October 1996 48 pages 107,654 bytes Introduction ------------------------------- "We have a juvenile justice system that in many states is bankrupt and is starting too late. You cannot start with a 16- or 17-year-old who has dropped out of school and who was the drug dealer's gofer when he was 13. You've got to start earlier. . . . We can do tremendous amounts of good through conflict resolution programs in our public schools." -- Attorney General Janet Reno[1] ------------------------------- This Guide was developed through a collaboration of the Departments of Justice and Education to advance the development of conflict resolution education programs in schools, youth-serving organizations, and community and juvenile justice settings. It is designed to be a reference tool that offers both basic information and the experience of experts in the field of conflict resolution to assist educators and other youth-serving professionals in building effective conflict resolution education programs. The Guide is based on a shared vision that youth of all ages can learn to deal constructively with conflict and live in civil association with one another. Its goal is to build the capacity of educators in a variety of youth-serving settings to understand and act on the knowledge that conflict resolution skills are essential to successful relationships in all facets of our lives. Purposes of Conflict Resolution Education To fulfill their mission of educating youth and preparing them to function effectively in adult society, American schools* must first be safe places. Our schools are challenged to provide an environment in which: o Each learner can feel physically and psychologically free from threats and danger and can find opportunities to work and learn with others for the mutual achievement of all. o The diversity of the school's population is respected and celebrated. Conflict resolution programs can help schools promote both the individual behavioral change necessary for responsible citizenship and the systemic change necessary for a safe learning environment. Responsible Citizenship The ability to resolve disputes effectively and nonviolently is central to the peaceful expression of human rights. Conflict resolution can be viewed as a responsibility of law-abiding members of our society. Responsible citizens in a democracy express their concerns peacefully and seek resolutions to problems that take into account common interests and recognize the human dignity of all involved. Schools can be places where children learn to live in civil association with one another and prepare to assume their future roles as parents, as community members and leaders, and as productive members of the workforce. Conflict resolution skills are essential to public life in schools, communities, and workplaces. These skills encompass more than a set of complex problem-solving processes. The ability to resolve larger issues depends, at least to some extent, on how people deal with each other daily. Building effective relationships among citizens is important not just for reaching agreements, but for shaping how people choose to disagree.[2] Education can be turned into a force for reducing intergroup conflict. It can emphasize common characteristics and goals and can broaden our understanding of diverse cultures, even in circumstances of conflict. The question is whether human beings can develop a constructive orientation toward those outside their group while maintaining the values of group allegiance and identity. It seems reasonable to believe that, in spite of very bad habits from the past and very bad models in the present, we can indeed learn new habits of mind: "It is not too late for a paradigm shift in our outlook toward human conflict. Perhaps it is something like learning that the earth is not flat. Such a shift in child development and education . . . might at long last make it possible for human groups to learn to live together in peace and mutual benefit."[3] Many conflicts in schools arise out of differences. Cultural conflicts are based on differences in national origin or ethnicity. Social conflicts are based on differences in gender, sexual orientation, class, and physical and mental abilities. Personal and institutional reactions to differences often take the form of prejudice, discrimination, harassment, and even hate crimes. These conflicts are complex because they are rooted not only in prejudice and discrimination related to cultural and social differences but also in the resulting structures and relationships of inequality and privilege. Conflict resolution education programs provide a framework for addressing these problems. The programs promote respect and acceptance through new ways of communicating and understanding. Conflict resolution education offers schools strategies for responding affirmatively to the following questions:[4] o Do members of school communities possess the skills and knowledge to create an environment in which diversity thrives and in which tolerance of differences is encouraged? o Do members share a cultivated willingness to accept the inevitable conflict that arises from differing values and cultures within the school community? o Are the participants in the school community convinced that conflict is an opportunity for growth, self-awareness, and development of understanding and respect for others? o Do the participants in the school community articulate a shared vision that conflicts are inevitable and that they enrich and strengthen school communities? o Young people must be challenged to believe and to act on the understanding that a nonviolent, multicultural society is a desirable, realistic goal.[5] ------------------------------- The best school-based violence prevention programs seek to do more than reach the individual child. They instead try to change the total school environment, to create a safe community that lives by a credo of nonviolence. -- William DeJong, Harvard School of Public Health[6] ------------------------------- Violence Prevention and Safe Schools Strategies that empower students to deal constructively with interpersonal conflicts, cultural differences, and the violence embedded in American culture need to be grounded in day-to-day experience. The fundamental challenge is to engage young people in learning the skills and processes that will enable them to manage and resolve conflict constructively. When youth experience success with negotiation, mediation, or consensus decisionmaking in school or other youth-serving settings, they are more likely to use these conflict resolution processes elsewhere in their lives. Schools alone cannot change a violent society; however, they can: o Teach alternatives to violence. o Teach students to act responsibly in social settings. o Teach students to understand and accept the consequences of their behavior. Conflict resolution education provides youth with the knowledge, abilities, and processes needed to choose alternatives to self-destructive, violent behavior when confronted with interpersonal and intergroup conflict. The expectation is that when youth learn constructive ways to address what leads to violence, the incidence and intensity of that conflict will diminish. Systemic Change A conflict resolution program provides an effective alternative to a traditional discipline program. Youth who grow up in circumstances in which they are socialized to violence, physical abuse, or even death will not be brought readily into submission by such punishments as lowered grades, time out, detention, suspension, or even expulsion. Alternatives that lead to long-term changes in attitudes and behavior are needed. Conflict resolution programs are an important part of those alternatives because they invite participation and expect those who choose to participate to plan more effective behavior and then to behave accordingly.[7] To realize maximum results from conflict resolution education programs, schools need to examine their systems and, if necessary, reform them to create a context that facilitates the development and support of the program. Systemic change calls for cooperation to be the normative expectation, both behaviorally and academically, and for adults to interact noncoercively with youth. The goal of making school a safe haven in which youth can gain respite from violence in order to think and learn is a good one. However, it cannot be realized apart from creating an antiviolent vision shared by everyone in the building.[8] Conflict resolution, when implemented not only as a curriculum to be taught but as a lifestyle to be lived by both adults and youth, fosters continuous academic and social growth. Implementation of a conflict resolution program can help schools create their governance structures, develop policies, identify goals, make curriculum decisions, and plan for assessment of learning. Faculty and students work and learn together while supporting one another. When conflict resolution is practiced by all, respect, caring, tolerance, and community building become "the way we do things around here."[9] ------------------------------- The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. -- Albert Einstein -------------------------------- Rationale for Establishing Conflict Resolution Programs There are compelling, valid reasons for every school to implement a program to teach youth conflict resolution:[10] o The problem-solving processes of conflict resolution (negotiation, mediation, and consensus decisionmaking) can improve the school climate. o Conflict resolution strategies can reduce violence, vandalism, chronic school absence, and suspension. o Conflict resolution training helps students and teachers deepen their understanding of themselves and others and develops important life skills. o Training in negotiation, mediation, and consensus decisionmaking encourages a high level of citizenship activity. o Shifting the responsibility for solving nonviolent conflicts to students frees adults to concentrate more on teaching and less on discipline. o Behavior management systems that are more effective than detention, suspension, or expulsion are needed to deal with conflict in the school setting. o Conflict resolution training increases skills in listening, critical thinking, and problem solving - - skills basic to all learning. o Conflict resolution education emphasizes seeing other points of view and resolving differences peacefully -- skills that assist one to live in a multicultural world. o Negotiation and mediation are problem-solving tools that are well suited to the problems that young people face, and those trained in these approaches often use them to solve problems for which they would not seek adult help. How the Guide Is Organized This Guide is designed to provide sufficient information and tools to initiate the development of comprehensive youth-centered conflict resolution programs. It provides a framework for making informed decisions to implement conflict resolution education programs and select resources to support program development. Chapter 1, "Understanding Conflict Resolution," defines conflict as a natural condition and examines the origins of conflict, responses to conflict, and the outcomes of those responses. It presents the essential principles, foundation abilities, and problem-solving processes of conflict resolution; discusses the elements of a successful conflict resolution program; and introduces four approaches to implementing conflict resolution education. Each of the next four chapters discusses one of these four approaches and presents examples of programs that use the approach. Chapter 2, "Process Curriculum Approach," describes an approach to conflict resolution education characterized by devoting a specific time to teaching the foundation abilities, principles, and one or more of the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution in a separate course or distinct curriculum. Chapter 3, "Mediation Program Approach," describes an approach in which selected individuals who have been trained in the principles and foundation abilities of conflict resolution and in the mediation process provide neutral, third-party facilitation to help those in conflict to reach resolution. Chapter 4, "Peaceable Classroom Approach," presents an approach that incorporates conflict resolution education into the core subject areas of the curriculum and into classroom management strategies. Chapter 5, "Peaceable School Approach," presents a comprehensive whole-school methodology that builds on the peaceable classroom approach, using conflict resolution as a system of operation for managing the school as well as the classroom. The next two chapters address conflict resolution education in settings other than traditional schools. Chapter 6, "Juvenile Justice and Alternative Education Initiatives," discusses conflict resolution education in juvenile justice facilities and alternative schools. Chapter 7, "Parent and Community Initiatives," examines linkages between conflict resolution education programs in schools and the greater community, including programs for parents and youth. The final three chapters address more overarching topics. Chapter 8, "Conflict Resolution Research and Evaluation," reviews research findings on conflict resolution education programs in schools and considers the value of conflict resolution education in the light of developmental research on resilience and risk factors. Chapter 9, "Developmentally Appropriate Practice," presents a developmental sequence of behavioral expectations intended to provide guideposts for developing and assessing proficiency in conflict resolution from kindergarten through high school. Chapter 10, "Establishing Conflict Resolution Education Programs," discusses the process of developing, implementing, and sustaining a conflict resolution program. The appendices to the Guide offer a variety of resources for those establishing conflict resolution education programs. Appendix A, "Contact Information," lists addresses and telephone numbers of organizations that provide national leadership in the field of conflict resolution education. Appendix B, "Conflict Resolution Curriculum Resources," is an annotated compilation of conflict resolution curriculums and texts. Appendix C, "Conflict Resolution Reading List," presents the titles of recommended articles and books on conflict resolution. Every program, resource, or text mentioned in the Guide is referenced either in one of these three appendices or in a chapter endnote. A glossary of conflict resolution terminology is given in appendix D. Appendices E through G contain sample forms, including forms for assessing staff and programs/curriculums. Appendix H presents the components essential to a strategic plan for implementing a conflict resolution program. The complete text of the Little Red Riding Hood story retold through negotiation, excerpted in the prologue, is found in appendix I. ------------------------------- Notes 1. Goldberg, S.B., and H.J. Reske. 1993. "Talking with Attorney General Janet Reno." American Bar Association Journal 79:46. 2. Amsler, T. 1994 (March). "Educating for Citizenship: Reframing Conflict Resolution Work in K-12 Schools." Paper presented at the Coulson Festshrift Meeting, Aspen Institute, Wye Conference Center, Queenstown, Maryland, March 13-14, 1994. 3. Hamburg, D. 1994. Education for Conflict Resolution. Report of the President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, p. 15. 4. Adapted from Townley, A. "Introduction: Conflict Resolution, Diversity and Social Justice." Education and Urban Society 27(1), pp. 5-10, copyright þ 1994 by Corwin Press. Reprinted by permission of Corwin Press, Inc. 5. Moore, P., and D. Batiste. 1994 (Spring). "Preventing Youth Violence: Prejudice Elimination and Conflict Resolution Programs." Forum, no. 25, p. 18. 6. DeJong, W. 1994 (Spring). "School-Based Violence Prevention: From the Peaceable School to the Peaceable Neighborhood." Forum, no. 25, p. 8. 7. Bodine, R., and D. Crawford. In press. Developing Emotional Intelligence Through Classroom Management: Creating Responsible Learners in Our Schools and Effective Citizens for Our World. Champaign, IL: Research Press, Inc. 8. Haberman, M., and V. Schreiber Dill. 1995. "Commitment to Violence Among Teenagers in Poverty." Kappa Delta Pi Record 31(4):149. 9. Adler, A. 1995. "Implementing District-Wide Programs: If I Knew Then What I Know Now." The Fourth R 57:5. 10. Adapted from Davis, A., and K. Porter. 1985 (Spring). "Dispute Resolution: The Fourth R." Journal of Dispute Resolution, 1985:121-139. Reprinted with permission of the authors and of the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. *Throughout this Guide, the term "school" is intended to encompass youth-serving organizations and programs in community and juvenile justice settings in addition to traditional schools. ------------------------------- Chapter 1: Understanding Conflict Resolution ------------------------------- Learning can take place only when schools are safe, disciplined, and drug free. Schools in all types of communities -- urban, rural, and suburban -- are taking steps to be free of violent and disruptive behavior. Incorporating conflict resolution education into the curriculum can be an important step in ensuring a safe and healthy learning environment. -- Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley ------------------------------- Conflict arises from a discord of needs, drives, wishes, and/or demands. Conflict in and of itself is not positive or negative. Rather, it is the response to conflict that transforms it into either a competitive, destructive experience or a constructive challenge offering the opportunity for growth. Since conflict is an inevitable part of life, learning how to respond to it constructively is essential. Constructive conflict resolution begins with developing an understanding of conflict and the principles of conflict resolution (see figure 1). Origins of Conflict Almost every conflict involves an attempt by the disputants to meet basic needs that, if not satisfied, cause the conflict to persist, even when an agreement is reached about the subject of the dispute.[1] Basic Psychological Needs All individuals are motivated by needs. Dr. William Glasser identifies four basic psychological needs that motivate behavior:[2] o Belonging: Fulfilled by loving, sharing, and cooperating with others. o Power: Fulfilled by achieving, accomplishing, and being recognized and respected. o Freedom: Fulfilled by making choices. o Fun: Fulfilled by laughing and playing. Conflicts may occur, for example, when two individuals in a relationship have different ideas about how to belong or because one is more concerned with building the relationship and the other with maintaining a sense of freedom. When conflict arises, individuals have essentially two choices: to continue the conflict or to problem-solve. The problem-solving strategies of conflict resolution address needs and create opportunities for those needs to be satisfied. When individuals choose to continue the conflict, no one's basic needs are fulfilled. Basic psychological needs are at the root of almost all conflict. Limited Resources Conflicts may arise over limited resources. Conflict resolution principles suggest that when limited resources are at issue, individuals' best interests lie in cooperating, not competing. In cooperating, disputants share in the process of problem solving, recognize each other's interests, and create choices. This process usually provides satisfaction because the psychological needs of belonging and power, and perhaps even of freedom and fun, are addressed in the fair allocation of limited resources. Conflicts over limited resources may not be resolved if basic needs are not addressed along with the resource issue. The resource issue by itself may not define the problem. When solutions deal only with the limited resource that appears to be the source of the conflict without addressing other underlying interests, conflict between the parties will likely occur again. Different Values Conflicts involving different values (beliefs, priorities, principles) tend to be more difficult to resolve. When an individual holds a value, he or she has an enduring belief that a specific action or quality is preferable to another action or quality. Many times disputants think in terms of "right/wrong" or "good/bad" when values are in opposition. Even conflicts over differing goals can be viewed as value conflicts. The source of a goal conflict relates either to the goal's relative importance for each disputant or to the fact that the disputants value different goals. Resolving a values conflict does not mean the disputants must change or agree on their values. Often a mutual acknowledgment that each person views the situation differently is the first step toward resolution. If the disputants can learn not to reject each other because of differences in beliefs, they will be better able to deal with the problem on its own merits. One of the fundamental principles of conflict resolution is to address separately the relationship issues and the substantive issues involved in the conflict. To resolve values conflicts, the disputants must look for interests that underlie the conflicting values. Again, psychological needs are enmeshed in values conflicts, and those needs likely frame the interests of each disputant. Values disputes may be rooted in issues of social diversity (differences in cultural, social, and physical/mental attributes), which are often expressed as different beliefs, convictions, and/or principles. Issues of social diversity also often involve prejudice. Although complex, these conflicts can be resolved by increased awareness, understanding, and respect. When a conflict is rooted in prejudice or bias against another, ignorance, fear, and misunderstanding often guide behavior toward that person. Responses to Conflict Responses to conflict can be categorized into three basic groups: soft, hard, and principled responses.[3] In both soft and hard responses, disputants take positions or stands relative to the problem. They negotiate these positions by trying either to avoid or to win a contest of wills. Soft and hard negotiations either bring about one-sided losses or demand one-sided gains. In principled responses, disputants use conflict resolution strategies to produce lasting "wise agreements" that address the legitimate interests of both parties, resolve conflicting interests fairly, and take into account how others will be affected by the agreement. Soft responses such as avoidance, accommodation, and compromise usually occur between individuals who are friends or who want to be pleasant to each other because they will continue to have contact in the future. Individuals may attempt to avoid conflict altogether by withdrawing from the situation, ignoring it, or denying that the conflict even matters. Accommodation involves one disputant giving in to the position of the other without seeking to serve his or her interests. Disputants who compromise agree to something that does not really address the interests of either one in order to end the dispute. Soft responses typically result in feelings of disillusionment, self-doubt, fear, and anxiety about the future. Hard responses to conflict usually occur between individuals who are adversaries and whose goal is victory. Hard responses to a conflict are characterized by confrontations that involve force, threats, aggression, and anger. Hard negotiators demand concessions as a condition of the relationship and insist on their position. They often search for a single answer to the problem -- namely, the one the other side will give in to. Hard negotiators frequently apply pressure, trying to win a contest of wills. They use bribery and punishments such as withholding money, favors, and affection. Hard responses are detrimental to cooperation and relationships and often result in hostility, physical damage, and violence. Principled responses occur between individuals who view themselves as problem solvers and whose goal is a wise outcome reached efficiently and amicably. Principled negotiators understand that communication is fundamental to cooperative interaction, and they understand what it means to participate in developing a common understanding. Principled negotiators are skilled, active, empathic listeners. They attempt to see the problem from different perspectives. Principled responses to conflict create the opportunity for the needs of both disputants to be met through an agreement that addresses the interests of both. Principled responses to conflict preserve relationships. Outcomes of Soft, Hard, and Principled Responses The three types of responses to conflict produce different outcomes. Soft responses typically result in two types of outcomes. In situations in which individuals give in on their positions for the sake of the relationship, with the result that no one's interests are met, lose-lose outcomes result. In situations in which one side accommodates the other, lose-win outcomes occur. Individuals who avoid conflict by accommodating others lose, in the sense that their basic needs are not acknowledged or met. Often, individuals who avoid conflict see themselves as victims, and their relations with others suffer. Hard responses also typically result in two types of outcomes. Win-lose outcomes occur when the more aggressive party wins and the adversary loses. Hard responses to conflict often lead to a situation in which the desire to punish or get even provokes adversaries to take vindictive actions that harm themselves as well as their opponents. This results in a lose-lose outcome. Stressful situations follow when these adversaries are required to continue to interact in some manner. Principled responses to conflict typically lead to a win-win outcome. Using a problem-solving process based on principled negotiation theory, individuals in conflict come to consensus on a joint resolution without locking into positions or destroying relationships. The interests and needs of each party in the dispute are met. Problem-Solving Processes The structured problem-solving processes of conflict resolution are negotiation, mediation, and consensus decisionmaking.[4] All problem-solving processes in conflict resolution are based on integrated negotiation theory. In conflict resolution literature and practice, the terms "negotiation" and "mediation" are often used interchangeably. In this Guide, the three structured problem-solving processes are defined as follows: o Negotiation is a problem-solving process in which either the two parties in the dispute or their representatives meet face to face to work together unassisted to resolve the dispute between the parties. o Mediation is a problem-solving process in which the two parties in the dispute or their representatives meet face to face to work together to resolve the dispute assisted by a neutral third party called the "mediator." o Consensus decisionmaking is a group problem-solving process in which all of the parties in the dispute or representatives of each party collaborate to resolve the dispute by crafting a plan of action that all parties can and will support. This process may or may not be facilitated by a neutral party. Principles of Conflict Resolution Effective implementation of the conflict resolution processes of negotiation, mediation, or consensus decisionmaking requires an understanding of the following four essential principles: o Separate people from the problem. Every problem involves both substantive issues and relationship issues. By separating these issues, individuals come to see themselves as working side by side, attacking the problem, not each other. Fisher and colleagues state, "Where perceptions are inaccurate, you can look for ways to educate. If emotions run high, you can find ways for each person involved to let off steam. Where misunderstanding exists, you can work to improve communication."[5] Focus on interests, not positions. Understanding the difference between positions and interests is crucial to problem solving. Interests, not positions, define the problem. Positions are something that individuals decide they want; interests are the underlying motivations behind the positions they take. Fisher and colleagues note that "compromising between positions is not likely to produce an agreement which will effectively take care of the human needs that led individuals to adopt those positions."[6] Where such interests are not identified, temporary agreements may be reached, but typically do not last because the real interests have not been addressed. o Invent options for mutual gain. Disputants focus on identifying options for resolving the conflict without the pressure of reaching a decision. A brainstorming process is used to invent a wide range of options that advance shared interests and creatively reconcile differing interests. The key ground rule to brainstorming is to postpone criticism and evaluation of the ideas being generated. To broaden their options, those in a dispute think about the problem in different ways and build upon the ideas presented. o Use objective criteria. Using objective criteria ensures that the agreement reflects some fair standard instead of the arbitrary will of either side. Using objective criteria means that neither party needs to give in to the other; rather, they can defer to a fair solution. Objective criteria are determined by disputants based on fair standards and fair procedures.[7] Foundation Abilities for Conflict Resolution Effective implementation of the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution requires various attitudes, understandings, and skills for dealing with a problem or dispute. Conflict resolution occurs when individuals change from being adversaries in a face-to-face confrontation to being partners in a side-by-side search for a fair agreement that is advantageous to both. Training in the six foundation abilities of conflict resolution helps to promote the effective use of the four principles of conflict resolution. The six foundation abilities are as follows: o Orientation abilities encompass values, beliefs, attitudes, and propensities that are compatible with effective conflict resolution. Orientation abilities include: -- Nonviolence. -- Compassion and empathy. -- Fairness. -- Trust. -- Justice. -- Tolerance. -- Self-respect. -- Respect for others. -- Celebration of diversity. -- Appreciation for controversy. o Perception abilities encompass the understanding that conflict lies not in objective reality, but in how individuals perceive that reality. Perception abilities include: -- Empathizing in order to see the situation as the other side sees it. -- Self-evaluating to recognize personal fears. -- Suspending judgment and blame to facilitate a free exchange of views. o Emotion abilities encompass behaviors to manage anger, frustration, fear, and other emotions effectively. Emotion abilities include: -- Learning language for communicating emotions effectively. -- Expressing emotions in nonaggressive, noninflammatory ways. -- Exercising self-control in order not to react to the emotional outbursts of others. o Communication abilities encompass behaviors of listening and speaking that allow for the effective exchange of facts and feelings. Communication abilities include: -- Listening to understand by using active listening behaviors. -- Speaking to be understood. -- Reframing emotionally charged statements into neutral, less emotional terms. o Creative thinking abilities encompass behaviors that enable individuals to be innovative in defining problems and making decisions. Creative thinking abilities include: -- Contemplating the problem from a variety of perspectives. -- Approaching the problem-solving task as a mutual pursuit of possibilities. -- Brainstorming to create, elaborate, and enhance a variety of options. o Critical thinking abilities encompass the behaviors of analyzing, hypothesizing, predicting, strategizing, comparing/contrasting, and evaluating. Critical thinking abilities include: -- Recognizing existing criteria and making them explicit. -- Establishing objective criteria. -- Applying criteria as the basis for choosing options. -- Planning future behaviors. Although these foundation abilities are necessary to the successful implementation of the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution, programs that teach only these skills are not genuine conflict resolution programs. Steps in the Problem-Solving Process Genuine conflict resolution programs require two major components: the principles of conflict resolution (separate the people from the problem; focus on interests, not positions; invent options for mutual gain; and use objective criteria as the basis for decision-making) and a problem-solving process (negotiation, mediation, or consensus decisionmaking). The conflict resolution processes are characterized by a series of steps that enable the disputants to identify their own needs and interests and to work cooperatively to find solutions to meet those needs and interests. Each process gives support and direction to the cooperative effort, assisting the parties to stay focused on the problem rather than on each other and to find a mutually acceptable resolution. In addition, genuine conflict resolution education programs include extensive training and practice using the principles and problem-solving processes of conflict resolution. The six steps in each problem-solving process are: o Set the stage. o Gather perspectives. o Identify interests. o Create options. o Evaluate options. o Generate agreement. Approaches to Conflict Resolution Education There are four basic approaches to conflict resolution education in operation across the country: o Process Curriculum: An approach to conflict resolution education characterized by devoting a specific time to teaching the foundation abilities, principles, and one or more of the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution as a separate course, distinct curriculum, or daily lesson plan. o Mediation Program: A conflict resolution education program in which selected individuals (adults and/or students) are trained in the principles and foundation abilities of conflict resolution and in the mediation process in order to provide neutral third-party facilitation to assist those in conflict to reach a resolution. o Peaceable Classroom: A whole-classroom methodology that includes teaching students the foundation abilities, principles, and one or more of the three problem-solving processes of conflict resolution. Conflict resolution education is incorporated into the core subjects of the curriculum and into classroom management strategies. Peaceable classrooms are the building blocks of the peaceable school. o Peaceable School: A comprehensive whole-school methodology that builds on the peaceable classroom approach by using conflict resolution as a system of operation for managing the school as well as the classroom. Conflict resolution principles and processes are learned and utilized by every member of the school community -- librarians, teachers, counselors, students, principals, and parents. The lines dividing these four approaches are sometimes difficult to draw in practice, but the categories can be useful in describing the focus of each approach. The strength of each approach lies in its application of the conflict resolution principles and problem-solving processes. Some of the best programs have evolved in schools where the principles and problem-solving processes of conflict resolution allowed for gradual expansion from one approach to another. Each of these approaches to conflict resolution education is described in detail in the next four chapters. Operational examples of each approach are included to illustrate the variety of options for program implementation. These representative programs were selected through a nomination process by national leaders in the field of conflict resolution education. Programs were chosen for their advancement of knowledge, teaching, and comprehensive support for the peaceful resolution of disputes among all people, regardless of age, race, ethnic background, or socioeconomic status. Their selection does not constitute an endorsement by either the Department of Justice or the Department of Education. Readers are encouraged to inform themselves about the range of programs available and the purposes of these programs. ------------------------------- Notes 1. The discussion in this section is adapted, with the permission of the authors and of Research Press, Inc., from Bodine, R., D. Crawford, and F. Schrumpf. 1994. Creating the Peaceable School: A Comprehensive Program for Teaching Conflict Resolution. Champaign, IL: Research Press, Inc., pp. 52-53. 2. Glasser, W. 1984. Control Theory. New York, NY: Harper & Row. 3. The discussion in this section is adapted, with the permission of the authors and of Research Press, Inc., from Bodine et al., Creating the Peaceable School, p. 54. 4. The discussion in this section is adapted, with the permission of the authors and of Research Press, Inc., from Bodine et al., Creating the Peaceable School, pp. 56-57. 5. Fisher, R., W. Ury, and B. Patton. 1991. Getting To Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. New York, NY: Penguin Books, p. 21. 6. Ibid., p. 11. 7. Ibid., p. 15. ------------------------------- Figure 1: Understanding Conflict Origins of Conflict o Limited Resources -- Time -- Money -- Property o Unmet Basic Needs -- Belonging -- Power -- Freedom -- Fun o Different Values -- Beliefs -- Priorities -- Principles Conflict Responses to Conflict o Soft -- Withdrawing -- Ignoring -- Denying -- Giving In o Hard -- Threatening -- Pushing -- Hitting -- Yelling o Principled -- Listening -- Understanding -- Respecting -- Resolving Outcomes to Conflict o Soft -- Lose-Lose -- Lose-Win o Hard -- Lose-Lose -- Win-Lose o Principled -- Win-Win Source: Bodine, R., D. Crawford, and F. Schrumpf. 1994. Creating the Peaceable School: A Comprehensive Program for Teaching Conflict Resolution. Champaign, IL: Research Press, Inc., p. 92. Reprinted with permission of the authors and Research Press. ------------------------------- Chapter 2: Process Curriculum Approach ------------------------------- Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed the passage with you? -- Walt Whitman ------------------------------- Process Curriculum: An approach to conflict resolution education characterized by devoting a specific time to teaching the foundation abilities, principles, and one or more of the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution as a separate course, distinct curriculum, or daily lesson plan. Teachers who use the process curriculum approach teach conflict resolution through a time-limited course, daily lessons over the length of a semester, or a series of workshops, perhaps conducted during the homeroom advisory period in middle and high schools. The daily lesson method is most often part of elementary school offerings. Although the process curriculum could be integrated into the existing curriculum, teachers usually present it separately. The lessons, which cover the principles and problem-solving processes of conflict resolution, are unified in scope and sequence, taking place through structured activities such as simulations, role-plays, group discussions, and cooperative learning activities. This chapter describes three examples of the process curriculum approach. The Program for Young Negotiators The Program for Young Negotiators (PYN), a process curriculum program developed by Jared Curhan, aims to teach individuals how to achieve their goals without violence.[1] Participating students, teachers, and administrators are taught a means of goal achievement and dispute resolution that has at its heart the practice of principled negotiation. This type of negotiation challenges the notion that disputes are resolved only when one side wins at the other's expense, and it helps students envision scenarios and generate options in which both sides are satisfied with the outcome and both are able to achieve their goals. The foundation abilities of perception and thinking that are taught in negotiation courses help students learn that, to satisfy their own interests, they must empathize with the interests of others. PYN consists of four components: o Teacher training and community involvement. o Negotiation curriculums. o Followup opportunities. o Ongoing curriculum development and innovation. Teacher Training and Community Involvement The program first trains schoolteachers and administrators to negotiate their own issues. During a training seminar, participants learn negotiation from professionals such as negotiation professors and practicing negotiators. After teachers begin teaching negotiation concepts to their students, they continue to attend regular curriculum implementation meetings and are provided with ongoing technical support. Each teacher may request up to three community volunteers, who are recruited by the program, to help implement his or her first negotiation course. A diverse corps of volunteer teaching assistants includes professional negotiators, graduate students, parents, and community leaders. Volunteer teaching assistants make a commitment to attend training seminars and learn and teach negotiation techniques with their partner teachers. Negotiation Curriculum The PYN curriculum is based on the seven basic elements of negotiation that have been developed by the Harvard Negotiation Project (figure 2). The curriculum presents negotiation skills not simply as an alternative to violence, but as a necessary condition for a successful and meaningful life. As in successful adult negotiation courses, the curriculum relies heavily on experiential learning. The courses begin with cases that highlight basic principles, but as the curriculum unfolds, examples are increasingly drawn from the lives of teenagers. The students actively participate in games and role-play exercises. Through mock negotiations, they experience empowerment first hand as they learn to collaborate, communicate carefully, and think in a win-win manner. ------------------------------- Now, because of PYN, I don't have to argue with my brother -- we can sit down and talk. -- Seventh grader, Charlestown, Massachusetts The results of the program were dramatic. The class we targeted for the PYN course had a history of being the most disruptive in the seventh grade. Those same students have internalized the skills they learned in PYN, resulting in a marked change in behavior. Students think before they speak, dialog using negotiation, and offer negotiation to other students as an acceptable option for solving conflicts. -- Principal, Roxbury, Massachusetts ------------------------------- Followup Opportunities When teachers complete the basic curriculum in the classroom, they are presented with a number of followup opportunities. Each teacher receives a list of the following options: o Training a new group of students with the same curriculum. o Integrating the negotiation concepts into a subject area. o Arranging negotiation workshops for parents and community members. o Developing a Young Negotiators Club. o Training student council members. o Holding weekly or monthly negotiation periods in which students help each other with their personal conflicts. o Organizing student focus groups to develop new teaching cases. Ongoing Curriculum Development and Innovation Throughout each semester, PYN collects feedback from teachers and other training participants. New cases are developed for the curriculum, and existing ones are modified as part of the ongoing curriculum development and revision process. Each year, teachers receive revisions or newly submitted cases developed during the previous year. For example, one teacher developed a negotiation case in his history class to present the issue of Mayan farmers and landholding; he submitted this case to PYN for history teachers to use. Violence prevention is an important benefit of PYN courses, but negotiation theory can also be applied in circumstances where violence is not imminent. From inner-city neighborhoods to small country towns, negotiation skills are universally applicable and essential to effective communication. The PYN course emphasizes the futility of adversarial aggression and the utility of collaboration. The Peace Education Foundation The Peace Education Foundation (PEF), based in Miami, Florida, offers a grade-level-specific, classroom-tested curriculum for prekindergarten through grade 12.[2] The curriculum has a unified scope, sequence of content, and sequence of skills. PEF views conflict resolution as a body of knowledge and skills that equips individuals with the ability to use a nonviolent, constructive approach when dealing with life's inevitable conflicts. PEF focuses on children and the adults who facilitate children's social, emotional, and intellectual growth. Since much of this growth occurs in schools, PEF's goals are to make schools safe and more disciplined, improve school climate, make instructional strategies more effective, and foster resiliency in children. To make conflict resolution "standard operating procedure" in schools, PEF programs are purposefully linked to school improvement and related initiatives. The content of the PEF conflict resolution curriculum encompasses a range of social competency skills that are grouped into five components: o Community building: Establishing trust, exploring common interests, and respecting differences. o Understanding conflict: Identifying conflict, the elements of conflict, escalation and deescalation, and different conflict management styles. o Perception: Understanding different points of view, enhancing empathy, and increasing tolerance. o Anger management: Understanding the pros and cons of anger, anger triggers, and anger styles; increasing tolerance for frustration; and learning anger management plans. o Rules for Fighting Fair: Learning the rules that provide a framework for appropriate behavior and the associated skills, such as identifying and focusing on the problem; attacking the problem, not the person; listening with an open mind; treating a person's feelings with respect; and taking responsibility for one's actions. o These rules are central to the PEF conflict resolution program because they are the principles of nonviolent conflict resolution that promote a peaceful, disciplined environment. The rules also provide a constructive alternative to "fouls" -- inappropriate behaviors that attack the dignity of others and escalate conflict, such as putting the other down, being sarcastic, bringing up the past, hitting, not taking responsibility, getting even, not listening, and making excuses. All PEF curriculums include an age-appropriate poster of the rules, a helpful visual reminder for all members of the school community. Once the rules have been mastered, more sophisticated content and skills from the PEF components can be added to enhance students' social competency. These additional components include affirming self-identity, refusing peer pressure, acting in a self-empowering way, dealing with bullies, establishing self-control, setting goals, acting with courage and conviction, understanding violence, having healthy relationships with boyfriends/girlfriends, and being a peacemaker. Teachers facilitate the process of the PEF conflict resolution curriculum by using five strategies: o Model: Profess the attitudes expected of students and practice the associated behaviors. The goal is to let students know how, in "real life," to use the Rules for Fighting Fair and skills such as reflective listening, "I" statements, and problem solving. o Teach: Teach the students what to do and why. Break the skills into understandable parts and give them the chance to practice through role-play. The goal is for students to learn the techniques so they can repeat the vocabulary and techniques when prompted. o Coach: Assist students in using the techniques appropriately in real-life situations. Offer support and corrective feedback when needed. The goal is for students to practice what they have learned. o Encourage: Remind students to use their skills. Express confidence in their ability to succeed. Recognize students' appropriate use of skills. The goal is for students to behave appropriately without depending on adults. o Delegate: After students become proficient, let them teach or coach less experienced students. The goal is for students to demonstrate their competence and acknowledge the value of habitual use of the skills. ------------------------------- When I was in the fifth grade, I was always fighting and always bad, and sixth grade, too. When I moved to Charlestown and came to the Edwards School, I learned how to negotiate, and I have not had a fight since then. I want to tell you that if I can do it, you can all do it, too. -- Seventh grader, Charlestown, Massachusetts Our partnership with the Peace Education Foundation has reduced the number of referrals and improved the classroom climate in our schools. -- Safe Schools Program Director, Palm Beach County -------------------------------- Schools Mediation Schools report that, as the number of students and adults skilled in mediation increases in a school, the incidence of conflict in the school decreases. The mediation curriculum, therefore, is the next step in a well-implemented conflict resolution program. The PEF program includes mediation curriculums for grades 4 though 7 and 8 through 12.[3] These curriculums provide step-by-step instructions for training peer mediators and monitoring a school-based mediation program. Parent Involvement Parent involvement in and support for a school-based conflict resolution program is critical. PEF's text Fighting Fair for Families offers families a chance to reinforce conflict resolution at home.[4] The text covers communication skills, anger management techniques, and basic mediation skills in English, Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole. PEF has devised a variety of implementation models that can be used in a classroom, school, or school district. PEF conflict resolution components may be incorporated into traditional academic lessons. In addition, the conflict resolution components or specific PEF curriculum lessons may be taught with subject areas. Drop Everything for Peace is a PEF approach that sets aside time on a regular basis to teach only PEF components and curriculums. ------------------------------- I learned how to keep calm and keep the disputants calm -- to help them solve their problems and not to solve the problem for them. -- Student, North Carolina ------------------------------- National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law To promote cooperation instead of competition, the National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law (NICEL), a grantee of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), has interwoven strategies for conflict management and mediation into many of its programs and curriculum materials. NICEL's text Street Law: A Course in Practical Law is used in schools, juvenile justice settings, and communities nationwide and has been adapted for use in other countries.[5] Middle and High School Programs and Curricular Materials In 1985, NICEL, in partnership with the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), formed the Teens, Crime, and the Community (TCC) program, which is funded by OJJDP. The TCC program helps teens understand how crime affects them and their families, friends, and communities, and involves them in a service focused on making their communities safer. Conflict management lessons are a key student activity. This program includes comprehensive program design, teacher and community resource training and preparation, and student and teacher materials development. With funding from OJJDP, NICEL and NCPC produced conflict resolution education curriculums designed for specific student audiences: We Can Work It Out! Problem Solving Through Mediation (elementary and secondary school editions) and The Conflict Zoo. We Can Work It Out! Problem Solving Through Mediation for secondary schools involves a step-by-step design to teach the skills of personal conflict management and the process of mediation.[6] Through these lessons, teachers can impart valuable skills in analytical reasoning, active listening, patience, empathy, and generating opinions. The curriculum teaches students key terms and concepts and allows them to learn experientially. Students apply the skills they learn in scenarios in which they assume the roles of disputants and mediators. An outgrowth of We Can Work It Out! is the Mediation Showcase. NICEL, in partnership with the National Institute for Dispute Resolution (NIDR), designed mediation showcases to popularize conflict management skills. At these showcases, students are given conflict scenarios where they role-play the disputants and mediators. Community resource people, including community mediators and other volunteers who use skills involved in conflict management, provide feedback to the students on their ability to resolve the conflicts presented to them. This forum provides an opportunity for students to celebrate their newly learned skills and interact with adults in a constructive and affirming environment. In turn, these events provide an excellent opportunity for authentic assessment. Elementary Programs and Curricular Materials After its initial secondary school curriculum, NICEL developed two elementary curriculums. The Conflict Zoo is a curriculum for the third and fourth grades designed to teach the building blocks of conflict resolution and the concepts of justice and fairness.[7] The lessons are given at the beginning of the school year to help students understand conflict management and develop fair rules to live by. The lessons begin with the story of a junior zoo where baby animals play together. To do this, the baby animals must resolve their conflicts nonviolently and build a sense of community. The students experience these everyday conflicts through the eyes of the animals. The philosophy, principles, and skills of conflict resolution are interwoven in role-plays about junior zoo conflicts. Students gradually move from helping the animals resolve their conflicts to resolving conflicts in their own lives. Over the course of the lessons, children learn important terms, create journals, and apply these new ideas to their lives. Role-plays, art, and journal keeping are used to keep the children interested and provide ways for them to internalize and apply the skills they learn in a range of situations. Another curriculum, We Can Work It Out! Problem Solving Through Mediation for elementary schools, follows the same format as We Can Work It Out! for secondary schools, except that the terminology used and the scenarios created are appropriate for elementary school students.[8] Elementary mediation showcases parallel the secondary ones described above. Scenarios for students often involve fairy tales, cartoons, and interpersonal conflicts. Process Curriculum in Juvenile Justice Settings NICEL's lessons for juvenile justice settings focus on developing an understanding of practical law. Life skills like anger management, communication, and the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution are at the heart of every lesson. The interactive strategies and real-world scenarios keep participants engaged in applying newly learned information. NICEL provides training and materials for juvenile justice professionals in prevention, intervention, and youth development under an OJJDP grant. NICEL programs can be used separately or integrated into existing curriculums and programs. Schools that have a peer mediation program can use the We Can Work It Out! curriculum to extend the philosophy and skills to the rest of the school population. If a school has not yet developed a conflict resolution education program, a logical first step might be to teach the philosophy and skills of conflict resolution to the entire school community and then to set up a mediation program. The use of these programs and curriculums can help develop a corps of trained practitioners in the school community who have the skills to handle everyday conflicts. ------------------------------- I learned that you can work out problems without going to the principal's office. -- Student, North Carolina ------------------------------- Notes 1. Curhan, J.R. 1996. Life Negotiations: The PYN Curriculum for Middle Schools. Cambridge, MA: Program for Young Negotiators, Inc. 2. Some of the curriculums available from PEF are Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids, Pre K-K (F. Schmidt and A. Friedman, 1993), Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids, Grade One (D. Berkell, K. Kotzen, and S. Rizzo, 1996), Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids, Grade Two (E. Brunt, A. Friedman, F. Schmidt, and T. Solotoff, 1996), Peace Scholars: Learning Through Literature, Grade Three (D. Carlebach, 1996), Creative Conflict Solving for Kids, Grade Four (F. Schmidt and A. Friedman, 1991), Creative Conflict Solving for Kids, Grade Five (F. Schmidt and A. Friedman, 1985), Creating Peace, Building Community, Grade Six (J. Bachoy, 1996), and Creating Peace, Building Community, Grade Seven (J. Bachoy, 1996). For more information on these curriculums, see the section "Process Curriculum" in appendix B. 3. The PEF mediation curriculums include Mediation for Kids (F. Schmidt, A. Friedman, and J. Marvel, 1992) and Mediation: Getting to Win/Win! (F. Schmidt and J. Burke, 1994). For more information on these curriculums, see the section "Mediation" in appendix B. 4. Schmidt, F., and A. Friedman. 1994. Fighting Fair for Families. Miami, FL: Peace 10 Education Foundation. 5. Arbetman, L.P., E.T. McMahon, and E.L. O'Brien. 1994. Street Law: A Course in Practical Law, 5th edition. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company. 6. Glickman, S., and J. Zimmer. 1993. We Can Work It Out!: Problem Solving Through Mediation, Secondary Edition. Washington, DC: National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law. See "Process Curriculum," appendix B, for more information. 7. Glickman, S., N. Johnson, G. Sirianni, and J. Zimmer. 1996. The Conflict Zoo. Washington, DC: National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law. See "Process Curriculum," appendix B, for more information. 8. Barnes-Robinson, L., S. Jewler, and J. Zimmer. 1996. We Can Work It Out!: Problem Solving Through Mediation, Elementary Edition. Washington, DC: National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law. See "Process Curriculum," appendix B, for more information. ------------------------------- Figure 2: Seven Elements of Negotiation Harvard Negotiation Project o Communicate unconditionally both ways. o Build a relationship in which you work side by side. o Clarify everyone's underlying interests. o Without commitment, generate options to meet the interests. o Find external standards of legitimacy by which to evaluate and improve options. o Think about the walk-away alternatives if no agreement is reached. o Carefully draft terms that are better than the best alternatives. Then make commitments. Program for Young Negotiators o Understand their perceptions and communicate your own. o Be trustworthy all the time and collaborate. o Explore their underlying interests, as well as your own. o Brainstorm options without criticizing each other. o Identify fair reasons for choosing options. o Know your backup plan. o Package options based on both of your interests. Source: Adapted with permission from materials of the Harvard Negotiation Project, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and of the Program for Young Negotiators, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts. ------------------------------- Chapter 3: Mediation Program Approach ------------------------------- We help kids who are fighting talk about their problems. Some people think kids can't help other kids solve their problems. But we can. It's real neat because we don't work out things for kids who are fighting. They solve their own problems and we help. -- Fourth-grade mediator, Wilmette, Illinois ------------------------------- Mediation Program: A conflict resolution education program in which selected individuals (adults and/or students) are trained in the principles and foundation abilities of conflict resolution and in the mediation process in order to provide neutral third-party facilitation to assist those in conflict to reach a resolution. The mediation process is a mechanism for resolving conflicts that can be used within schools, the community, youth-serving organizations, and juvenile justice settings. Within these settings, mediation programs are established to: o Reduce the number of disciplinary actions, such as detentions, suspensions, and lockdowns. o Encourage more effective problem solving. o Reduce the time adults or youth leaders spend dealing with conflicts between youth. o Improve school or agency climate. o Provide youth and staff with an alternative forum for problem solving. Mediation programs can help manage and resolve conflicts between young people, between young people and adults, and between adults. The principal, teachers, or other adults can be trained as mediators to help young people and adults resolve their disputes. For example, an adult mediator can assist adults in resolving conflicts such as work problems between staff members, disciplinary actions disputed by parents, and disputes over the development of appropriate programs for children with special needs. Youth mediators help resolve disputes between peers involving jealousies, rumors, misunderstandings, bullying, fights, personal property, and damaged friendships. In addition, youth and adults may co-mediate conflicts such as personality clashes, issues of respect and behavior, and other conflicts that damage youth-adult relationships. Youth-adult mediations are usually an outgrowth of established peer mediation programs or adult mediation programs. The Mediation Process Mediation is a process in which one or more mediators serve as neutral facilitators to help disputants negotiate an agreement. In this process, the mediator creates and maintains an environment that fosters mutual problem solving. During mediation, the mediator uses the six problem-solving steps of conflict resolution: o Set the stage -- establish ground rules for problem solving. o Gather perspectives -- listen to each disputant's point of view. o Identify interests contributing to the conflict. o Create options that address the interests of both disputants. o Evaluate these options according to objective criteria. o Generate an agreement satisfactory to each disputant. Although the mediator controls the process, the disputants control the outcome. Participation in mediation is voluntary, and the mediator does not judge, impose an agreement, or force a solution. Mediation is powerful because conflicts can only be resolved if the disputants choose to resolve them. Disputants can judge best what will resolve the conflict and are more likely to execute the terms of an agreement if they have authored them. Peer Mediation Programs Peer mediation programs are among the most widely chosen types of conflict resolution programs in schools. Young people can become effective mediators because they understand their peers, make the process age appropriate, empower their peers and command their respect, and normalize the conflict resolution process.[1] Young people can connect with their peers in ways that adults cannot. Peer mediators can frame disputes in the perspective, language, and attitudes of youth. Young people perceive peer mediation as a way to talk out problems without the fear of an adult judging their behavior, thoughts, or feelings. Peer mediators are respected because they uphold the problem-solving process and honor the disputants in the way they conduct the mediation sessions. The self-empowering process appeals to youth and fosters self-esteem and self-discipline. When young people solve their own problems, they feel they are in control and can make a commitment to the solutions they have created. Peer Mediation Training In schoolwide peer mediation programs, a cadre of students is trained in conflict resolution. Peer mediation training is flexible and accommodates the school's schedule and resources and the developmental level of the students involved. For example, training for elementary students might be conducted in 2-hour sessions over several weeks, whereas training for high school students might be done in full-day sessions. Peer mediation training takes a minimum of 12 to 20 hours with ongoing opportunities to develop the skills of the mediators (see table 1). Respect for diversity and cultural competency are also taught to peer mediators. Incorporating simulations with cross-cultural themes and social justice issues into training activities effectively prepares peer mediators for conflicts deriving from diversity. Developing skill in the mediation process is a lifelong activity. Peer mediators are encouraged to practice and use their training in conflict resolution as often as possible and to take refresher classes. Peer Mediation Opportunity Peer mediation programs offer all young people constructive means of resolving conflicts. Peer mediators who are properly trained acquire and internalize conflict resolution skills that can benefit them in many different ways throughout their lives. For this reason, many experts believe that peer mediation programs should be implemented not as a solitary entity, but as an integral part of a total school conflict resolution program that offers mediators and others the opportunity to develop conflict resolution skills. In the following sections, two mediation programs are described. Peer Mediation in Schools Program From the New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution The Peer Mediation in Schools Program developed by the New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution (NMCDR) is designed to train staff and the entire student body in the mediation process, with selected students trained as peer mediators. The program has three components -- teacher modeling, a curriculum, and mediation -- and is intended for use in a wide range of contexts and settings, which are described in detail on the following pages. Teacher Modeling The program's success depends on the support and commitment of the entire school staff. At an orientation meeting, staff are presented with several options. They can: o Pledge general support for the program. o Refer students to mediation and encourage participation in the process. o Agree to participate in mediation with a student if appropriate. o Take part in conflict resolution training if training is offered at the school. o Participate in mediation training and serve as a staff mediator. o Serve as a member of the mediation implementation team. o Serve as a program coordinator. In any of these roles, teachers demonstrate the value and importance of problem solving and communication by applying these skills in the classroom, the hallway, the office, and in interactions with colleagues and with parents. Curriculum Component Teaching the curriculum is mandatory at the elementary level and optional at the middle and secondary levels. At the elementary level, the curriculum is designed to teach and reinforce communication, develop vocabulary and concepts related to conflict, and develop problem-solving skills. Two manuals are used: Resolving Conflict: Activities for Grades K-3 and Lessons in Conflict Resolution for Grades 4-6.[2] The curriculum is used in all class settings, allowing all students to develop conflict resolution skills. At the secondary level, a 15-lesson curriculum, Managing Conflict: A Curriculum for Adolescents, is used in homeroom and social studies, civics, language, and English classes.[3] The curriculum teaches and reinforces skills in communication, problem solving, and anger management. Mediation Component Selection of peer mediators is similar at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels. Students and staff nominate potential mediators, and a committee of teachers makes the final selection based on a balance of "negative" and "positive" factors. Selected staff and students are then trained in the mediation process. At the elementary level, selected mediators from grades 4 through 6 receive an additional 9 hours of training after they complete the mediation curriculum. After a publicized graduation ceremony, student mediators in teams of two watch the playground for developing conflicts and offer their help in resolving them. Some schools also use a classroom referral system. The NMCDR Training and Implementation Guide for Student Mediation in Elementary Schools provides a detailed description of program implementation.[4] At the secondary level, selected teacher and student mediators receive 12 hours of training after they complete the mediation curriculum. After training, students and staff refer conflicts to the program coordinator for mediation; participation is voluntary. Disputes between two students are handled by a team of two student mediators, and disputes between a staff member and a student are handled by a student and staff mediator team. The NMCDR Training and Implementation Guide for Student Mediation in Secondary Schools contains information on training mediators and implementing the program.[5] NMCDR initially conducts district staff orientation workshops to discuss the philosophical and organizational realities of conflict resolution. Thereafter, NMCDR and the school district enter into an agreement that specifies the responsibilities of each party. NMCDR's responsibilities are to: o Help create district implementation teams composed of teachers, parents, community youth workers, juvenile probation officers, and students. o Provide onsite training; each district receives a number of service days based on the district team's plan. o Provide technical assistance that includes training students and staff in mediation and conflict resolution skills; giving presentations to school board members, parents, administrators, and staff to build program support; planning program development; providing program management assistance to district team members and school program coordinators; and providing other assistance identified by the district. o Supply implementation manuals and curriculum materials with permission to duplicate as needed for the school district's use. o Work on site with the district team to assess district needs, exchange information that defines services to be provided, plan strategies for problem-solving or development activities, develop long-term plans for program implementation, and mentor district trainers for up to 2 years. o Conduct an annual evaluation examining the strengths and weaknesses of all new and ongoing NMCDR programs. The school district's responsibilities over a period of 3 to 5 years are to: o Maintain a district implementation team that includes a district-level administrator and community members and meets at least twice a year. o Maintain programs at all schools where a program has been implemented. o Provide substitute and inservice time for staff and coordinator training. o Develop a written plan that includes a 3- to 5-year plan and goals for districtwide expansion, annual district goals, and a list of services needed for the year. o Identify new schools for program implementation in the following academic year. o Maintain originals of curriculum materials and mediation training manuals provided by NMCDR and provide and distribute copies to schools. o Select four to six candidates to be trained as internal district trainers and provide support such as release time and substitute salary to allow them to train within the district. o Support programs during transitions (e.g., during changes of staff). o Establish policies for mediation programs. o Integrate mediation into the schools' and the district's disciplinary policies. o Build connections with the community, including private and public agencies such as juvenile probation and social services. By training educators to become conflict resolution trainers, NMCDR helps districts become independent, thereby ensuring a smooth transfer of responsibility. The district trainers assume responsibility for creating and maintaining mediation and conflict resolution programs and for conducting training in the schools. At that point, NMCDR staff withdraw from the school district's program. ------------------------------- I have been through student-teacher mediation this semester and found it to be a positive, equitable method of achieving conflict resolution. The student and I had repeated confrontations about attitude and academic performance. Through the mediation the student felt more at ease -- less pressured. I became aware of my own actions and his concerns and modified my behavior accordingly. The student has become less disruptive and confrontational. -- Teacher, Ortiz Middle School We need to face the reality that what we are doing is not working. We must do something different. This is different and I believe it will work! -- Assistant principal, Chicago, Illinois My first-grade son came home the other day and told me, "Mom, I have a problem with Jessica. We need to talk." I came in to ask the teacher what was going on because he usually says that she's mean and he hates her. I was excited about the change in his way of talking. The teacher told me he was having a class in conflict resolution. -- Parent, Bayard Elementary School ------------------------------- Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution The Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution (IIDR) implements and operates its peer mediation program in six developmental phases (figure 3). During the first phase, the conflict resolution program team is created and trained, the program coordinators are designated, a needs assessment is conducted, and faculty consensus for program development is built. IIDR is actively involved with the school or district in this phase, providing technical assistance and training for the program team. Throughout all six phases, IIDR provides technical assistance to the program team, including first-time training to other staff, community members, parents, and student peer mediators. In any of these trainings conducted by IIDR, program team members always participate and provide followup training after the program's first year. Phase I: Develop the Program Team and Commitment A peer mediation program must be perceived as fulfilling the needs of both faculty and students. A broad-based coalition of administrators, classroom teachers, special educators, counselors, deans, social workers, and health educators interested in developing a conflict resolution program is necessary for a successful program. This team may also include parents, students, or community members. The team is the key to a successful program because the members initiate the program and are charged with gaining the support of the entire school staff. After the team is formed, it must build its capacity to develop a quality peer mediation program. The program team must be trained to become informed decisionmakers, effective implementers, and strong advocates for the program. Since the program team will be responsible for the supervision and training of student mediators, the team members must be trained in the principles of conflict resolution and mediation and methods for mediation training. Content for the training includes: o Understanding conflict. o Principles of conflict resolution. o Social and cultural diversity and conflict resolution. o Mediation process and skills. o Program organization and operation. o Role of peer mediation in the school. o Rationale for peer mediation. IIDR believes that trainers should have mediation experience. The team members should therefore be involved in mediation training and continue to increase their skills through practice. During phase I the program coordinators are designated. The effectiveness of the peer mediation program is strongly linked to the quality of program coordinators, who are responsible for the ongoing organization and operation of the peer mediation program and must personify the conflict resolution principles they promote. Program coordinators: o Facilitate the program team in designing and planning the peer mediation program. o Plan and conduct orientation sessions for faculty, students, families, and the community. o Coordinate the selection of peer mediators and the training of students. o Establish and facilitate the advisory committee. o Promote the program. o Receive requests for mediation and schedule mediators and mediations. o Arrange for supervision of mediators and provide for ongoing mediator training and support. o Facilitate ongoing communication with the program team. o Develop parent and community participation. o Collect mediation data and evaluate the program. This phase also includes a needs assessment conducted to establish school and community support for a conflict resolution program. Broad-based support is essential to sustaining a school conflict resolution program. Faculty consensus on the program's development must also be built. Without shared vision among faculty, the program will not grow and is not likely to survive. ------------------------------- Mediation met a deep-seated need. . . . Conflict is resolved on a verbal level and does not get to the physical. . . . Peer mediation teaches that different is not necessarily bad. . . . We tend to realize that the other person is just like us. -- Teacher, Rockford, Illinois The training was great. . . . Everybody left the training so enthused and committed to developing the program. . . . Never before had anything been done districtwide, and we wanted to do it with this type of program so the students would get the same message across grades. . . . We had a vision that we could make this work in Freeport. -- Counselor and program team member, Freeport, Illinois ------------------------------- Phase II: Design and Plan the Program Following phase I, IIDR encourages the school to establish an advisory committee of 10 to 12 members representing the varied interests of the school and community, including parents, teachers, school and district administrators, students, support staff, community representatives, and corporate sponsors. The advisory committee oversees the development of the program, including the role of mediation within the school's discipline program; assists the program team in developing timelines for implementation; and identifies and develops funding sources. Phase III: Select and Train the Mediators Phase III encompasses recruiting, selecting, and training student mediators. IIDR suggests that nominations be broadly solicited from staff and students, including self-nominations. Several processes may be used to select mediators, but IIDR believes that one of the more effective is a lottery. Selection by lottery is preferable because interested students will take the risk of applying when they do not fear rejection. It is also important that students not have a negative experience with the peer mediation program. Lottery selection is perceived as an opportunity, whereas selection by criteria can be perceived as a personal risk. A student rejected as a peer mediator may reject the mediation process if he or she later experiences a conflict. This attitude can potentially spread from one individual to groups of peers, who would then also refuse to participate in the mediation. The lottery must also provide for the proper representation of the school's diverse groups if it is to work well. The IIDR program for student mediation training involves 12 to 15 hours of basic training and 12 to 15 hours of additional advanced training. The basic training activities include understanding conflict, responses to conflict, sources of conflict, communication skills, the role of the mediator, and the mediation process. The advanced training includes bias awareness, social/cultural diversity, advanced communication, uncovering hidden interests, dealing with anger, caucusing, negotiation, and group problem solving. Students who complete the basic training can mediate most disputes between peers. The advanced training strengthens their abilities to use the mediation process and expands their understanding of diversity with regard to conflict resolution. Phase IV: Educate a Critical Mass The fourth phase of the program focuses on educating a critical mass about conflict, conflict resolution, and the mediation process via workshops for faculty, students, parents, and the community. In the IIDR program, the staff inservice training is a minimum of 6 hours. The purpose of the inservice training is to help the staff develop a common understanding of conflict, learn the principles of conflict resolution, develop an understanding of the mediation process, learn how to support the development of the peer mediation program through curriculum integration and referral of conflicts to mediation, and prepare to conduct student workshops. Workshops for students last about 5 hours and are designed to develop an understanding of conflict, peace, and peacemaking; communication and negotiation skills; and an understanding of peer mediation and procedures for requesting peer mediation services. Student peer mediators are often used to provide orientation programs for and assist in training faculty, students, parents, and community groups. ------------------------------- Even some of the tougher kids are starting to see fighting as pretty stupid. -- Middle school mediator, Champaign, Illinois There are so many more problems today that they naturally affect our kids. They need ways to deal with their own problems. -- Parent, Chicago, Illinois I don't have nearly the number of conflicts to deal with as I used to. A referral must be pretty serious now for it to come to me. My playground supervisors also see a big difference. School peacemakers (peer mediators) aren't enough. Mediation must get into the classrooms. -- Principal, Mt. Carmel, Illinois ------------------------------- Phase V: Develop and Execute a Promotional Campaign The fifth phase consists of developing and executing a promotional campaign. Like many new ideas, peer mediation can be greeted with skepticism. Students may be reluctant to try a new approach. Many students may feel as if they are backing down or losing face if they talk problems through. Promoting the program among the student population is crucial to its success, but the campaign activities must be revived periodically and continue through the life of the program. Phase VI: Program Operation and Maintenance Phase VI encompasses every aspect of program operation and maintenance -- requesting mediation, scheduling mediations and mediators, supervising mediators, recording mediation data, providing ongoing training and support, and evaluating programs. Conducting a program evaluation builds a solid case for ongoing support for peer mediation and provides information to improve the program and change the school system. IIDR promotes peer mediation as a way to establish conflict resolution programs in schools and works with schools in the process of developing and implementing peer mediation programs to extend conflict resolution training to a broader constituency within the school than the few who are trained as peer mediators.[6] ------------------------------- Notes 1. Cohen, R. 1995. Students Resolving Conflict: Peer Mediation in Schools. Glenview, IL: GoodYear Books, pp. 44-45. 2. Copeland, N., and F. Garfield. 1989. Resolving Conflict: Activities for Grades K-3. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution. Lessons in Conflict Resolution for Grades 4-6. 1994. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution. For more information on both curriculums, see "Mediation," appendix B. 3. Copeland, N.D., and M. Smith (editors). 1989. Managing Conflict: A Curriculum for Adolescents. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution. For more information, see "Mediation" in appendix B. 4. Keeney, S., and J. Sidwell. 1990. Training and Implementation Guide for Student Mediation in Elementary Schools. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution. For more information, see the section "Mediation" in appendix B. 5. Smith, M., and J. Sidwell. 1990. Training and Implementation Guide for Student Mediation in Secondary Schools. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Center for Dispute Resolution. For more information, see "Mediation," appendix B. 6. Schrumpf, F., D. Crawford, and R. Bodine. 1996. Peer Mediation: Conflict Resolution in Schools. Revised edition. Champaign, IL: Research Press, Inc. ------------------------------- Table 1: Recommended Time for Peer Mediation Training Grade Level: Elementary school Minimum Number of Hours of Training: 12-16 Grade Level: Middle school Minimum Number of Hours of Training: 12-16 Grade Level: High school Minimum Number of Hours of Training: 15-20 Source: National Association for Mediation in Education. 1995. Standards for Peer Mediation Programs. Washington, DC: National Institute for Dispute Resolution. ------------------------------- Figure 3: The Six Developmental Phases of the Mediation Program of the Illinois Institute for Dispute Resolution Phase I: Develop the Program Team and Commitment o Create program team. o Train program team. o Designate program coordinators. o Conduct needs assessment. o Build faculty consensus for program development. Phase II: Design and Plan the Program o Develop timeline for implementation. o Establish advisory committee. o Develop policies and procedures. o Identify and develop funding sources. Phase III: Select and Train the Mediators o Conduct student orientation. o Select peer mediators. o Train mediators. o Recognize peer mediators. Phase IV: Educate a Critical Mass o Conduct faculty inservice training. o Conduct student workshops. o Provide family and community orientation. o Offer parent workshops. Phase V: Develop and Execute a Promotional Campaign o Execute initial campaign. o Develop ongoing promotion. Phase VI: Program Operation and Maintenance o Request mediation process. o Schedule mediations and mediators. o Supervise mediation session. o Provide mediators ongoing training and support. o Evaluate program. Source: Schrumpf, F., D. Crawford, and R. Bodine. 1996. Peer Mediation: Conflict Resolution in Schools. Revised edition. Champaign, IL: Research Press, Inc. Reprinted with permission of the authors and Research Press. MENU TITLE: Conflict Resolution Guide: Chapters 4-7 Series: OJJDP Published: October 1996 59 pages 125,276 bytes Chapter 4: Peaceable Classroom Approach ------------------------------ Each of us must be the change we want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi ------------------------------ Peaceable Classroom: A whole-classroom methodology that includes teaching students the foundation abilities, principles, and one or more of the three problem-solving processes of conflict resolution. Conflict resolution education is incorporated into the core subjects of the curriculum and into classroom management strategies. Peaceable classrooms are the building blocks of the peaceable school. Peaceable classrooms are initiated on a teacher-by-teacher basis. The peaceable classroom approach integrates conflict resolution into the curriculum and into the management of the classroom and uses the instructional methods of cooperative learning and academic controversy. Curriculum Integration and Classroom Management Curriculum integration occurs when the skills and concepts needed to resolve conflicts constructively are incorporated into core subject areas. Teachers who integrate conflict resolution into their curriculums help create classroom environments that support conflict resolution and prosocial behavior. William Kreidler, a pioneer of the peaceable classroom, views the classroom as a caring and respectful community having five qualities: cooperation, communication, emotional expression, appreciation for diversity, and conflict resolution.1 Peaceable classrooms incorporate learning activities and teachable moments that encourage youth to recognize and choose nonviolent options in conflict situations, meet the needs of the individuals involved, and improve relationships. Cooperative Learning and Academic Controversy Teachers in peaceable classrooms extensively use the cooperative learning and academic controversy methods developed by David Johnson and Roger Johnson. In cooperative learning, students work in small groups to accomplish shared learning goals. Students have the responsibility to learn the assigned material and ensure that other group members learn it.2 Academic controversy methods are used when one student's ideas, information, conclusions, theories, and opinions are incompatible with those of another and the two seek to reach an agreement. Controversies are resolved through deliberate discourse -- the discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of proposed actions. Such discussion is aimed at creative problem solving by synthesizing novel solutions.3 In peaceable classrooms, youth learn to take responsibility for their actions and develop a sense of connectedness to others and their environment. Peaceable classrooms build the capacity of youth to manage and resolve conflict on their own by learning to: o Understand and analyze conflict. o Understand peace and peacemaking. o Recognize the role of perceptions and biases. o Identify feelings. o Identify factors that cause escalation. o Handle anger and other feelings appropriately. o Improve listening skills. o Improve verbal communication skills. o Identify common interests. o Brainstorm multiple options that address interests. o Evaluate the consequences of different options. o Create a win-win agreement. The Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution's Conflict Management Resource Guide for Elementary Schools suggests the following ways to incorporate conflict and conflict resolution into the core areas of the curriculum:4 o Art: Study contrast, perspective, and feeling in the production or study of art. o Health: Recognize and evaluate the consequences of unhealthy behavior and brainstorm alternative choices. o Language Arts: -- Reading: Analyze factual or fictional stories to identify the causes of conflicts and their solutions while discussing additional options for resolving them. -- Writing: Use story starters to provide opportunities for students to think about and apply conflict resolution skills in their creative writing. o Mathematics: Ask students to develop a plan for a city park that meets a variety of community interests and budget constraints. o Music: Reinforce the principles of harmony and discord and their similarity to the problem-solving processes of conflict resolution. o Physical Education: Discuss the differences between competitive and cooperative games and ground rules that encourage or discourage a peaceful sports climate. o Science: Discuss and analyze the symbiotic relationships found in nature. o Social Studies: Analyze past or present local, State, national, and international conflicts and discuss various conflict resolution strategies to resolve them. The Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR) curriculum Making Choices About Conflict, Security, and Peacemaking offers other examples for incorporating conflict resolution into primary and supplementary lessons for the secondary level:5 o Literature: Explore the concept of conflict escalation in novels and short stories, or read selections about American and global peacemakers whose life work has made a positive difference for others, for example, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cesar Chavez, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ralph Bunche, and Jane Addams. o Science: Introduce the concept of global ecology by examining environmental problems that require international cooperation. o Civics: Explore tools of public policy and political pressure that are employed at local, State, national, and international levels. Study State and Federal legislation or international policies on controversial issues. o Introduction to the Law: Explore the tuna fish controversy (drift net fishing and the Law of the Seas) as a way to understand the impact of change in the law on local and national economies and international relations. o World Geography: Compare different nations to identify how geographic features influence economy and quality of life. o American History: Study the successes and failures of international peacekeeping in the 20th century, specifically contrasting the League of Nations and the United Nations. Two examples of peaceable classroom programs follow. Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers Program The Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers (TSP) program offered by the Cooperative Learning Center of the University of Minnesota is a 12-year spiral program for schools in which students learn increasingly sophisticated negotiation and mediation procedures each year.6 In the TSP program, the school's faculty create a cooperative environment, teach students to be peacemakers, implement the peacemaker program, and refine and upgrade the students' skills. Faculty Create a Cooperative Environment Cooperative learning creates a context for the constructive resolution of conflicts. It also reduces the factors that place students at risk for using violence, such as poor academic performance (with an inability to think decisions through) and alienation from schoolmates. Cooperative learning, compared with competitive or individualistic learning, results in higher academic achievement and increased use of higher level reasoning strategies, more caring and supportive relationships, and greater self-esteem. Faculty Teach Students To Be Peacemakers Under TSP, all students receive 30 minutes of training per day for approximately 30 days and then 30 minutes of training approximately twice a week for the rest of the school year. The training includes: o Understanding the Nature of Conflict. Learning includes recognizing conflicts by focusing attention on problems, clarifying disputants' values, revealing how disputants need to change, increasing higher level cognitive and moral reasoning, increasing motivation to learn, providing insights into other perspectives and life experiences, strengthening relationships, adding fun and variety to life, and increasing disputants' ability to cope with stress and be resilient in the face of adversity. o Choosing an Appropriate Conflict Strategy. Students, faculty, and administrators learn that they have two concerns when facing a conflict: achieving their goals and maintaining a good relationship with the other person. The balance between the two determines whether they should: -- Withdraw, giving up both the goals and the relationship. -- Force, achieving the goal at the other person's expense, thereby giving up the relationship. -- Smooth, giving up the goal to enhance the relationship. -- Compromise, giving up part of the goal at some damage to the relationship. -- Negotiate, solving the problem, thus achieving the goal and maintaining the relationship. Participants are taught that in long-term relationships, such as those with schoolmates and faculty, the most important strategy is the problem-solving process of negotiation. o Negotiating To Solve the Problem. It is not enough to tell students to "be nice," or "talk it out," or "solve your problem." They must be taught specific procedures for resolving conflicts. This part of the training teaches students, faculty, and administrators specific procedures for negotiating agreements that result in all disputants achieving their goals while maintaining or even improving the quality of their relationships (see figure 4). o Mediating Others' Conflicts. Participants are taught the four-step mediation procedure: -- Ending hostilities. The mediator ensures that disputants end hostilities and cool off. If the disputants are too angry to solve their problems, they must cool down before mediation begins. -- Ensuring disputants are committed to the mediation process. The mediator introduces the process of mediation and sets the ground rules. -- Helping disputants successfully negotiate with each other. The mediator carefully takes the disputants through the negotiation procedure. -- Formalizing the agreement. The mediator formalizes the agreement by completing a report form and having disputants sign it as a commitment to implement the agreement and abide by its conditions. Faculty Implement the Peacemaker Program When the students have completed the initial training, the teachers implement the program. Every day the teacher selects two class members to serve as official mediators of any conflicts students cannot resolve themselves. The mediators work in pairs. They wear official T-shirts, patrol the playground and lunchroom, and mediate conflicts. The role of class mediator is rotated throughout the class or school so that all students have an equal chance to serve as class mediator. Teachers and adults who are trained mediators may also mediate student disputes. Faculty Refine and Upgrade the Students' Skills Under the TSP program, students receive training every year from the 1st through the 12th grades. Each year, the training becomes more complex and complete, and the faculty teach negotiation and mediation skills weekly throughout the school year to refine and upgrade the students' skills. Students practice the procedures over and over again until they become automatic. Teachers can enhance the TSP program through academic controversy procedures to create intellectual conflicts that increase learning and higher level reasoning and let students practice their conflict resolution skills. The TSP program is implemented through a combination of bottom-up and top-down strategies. Teams of faculty members are trained to implement the TSP program through 30 to 40 hours of training given throughout the school year or in an intensive summer session. Following the training sessions, trainers provide support to the teaching teams by giving demonstration lessons, helping members prepare lessons, observing their implementation efforts, and providing feedback. Educators for Social Responsibility Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR), based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, promotes children's ethical and social development through its programs in conflict resolution, violence prevention, intergroup relations, and character education. ESR helps create peaceable classrooms in schools by providing onsite professional development training with followup support for the schools. By the term "peaceable," ESR means a safe, caring, respectful, and productive learning environment. ESR provides workshops, curriculums, and ongoing support to help educators develop instructional and management practices that foster skill in cooperation, caring communication, appreciation of diversity, expression of feelings, responsible decisionmaking, and conflict resolution.7 ESR first conducts a needs assessment of a school or district to help the institution more clearly define the problems it seeks to address, current program strengths, specific needs, and short- and long-term goals. At this stage, ESR recommends the creation of a program steering committee, multiyear planning, voluntary staff participation in training, and the development of local leadership capacity. ------------------------------ Since implementing the Peaceable Classroom approach, I can spend my time doing what I love to do. Teach! -- Kindergarten teacher, Brookline, Massachusetts ------------------------------ ------------------------------ We attended two ESR conflict resolution institutes and brought one of their trainers into our school for 3 days. Since we started this work, so many wonderful things have been happening. -- High school English teacher, South Bend, Indiana ------------------------------ ESR Core 4-Day Training Model The ESR model provides a theoretical background on key topics such as social and emotional learning and developmentally appropriate classroom teaching activities. Woven throughout the training are direct instruction strategies, ideas for incorporating conflict resolution into the curriculum, classroom management ideas, and discipline applications. This training is participatory and experiential, placing emphasis on community building. Participants in workshops develop action plans appropriate to their classrooms and schools. A major premise is that teachers are taught to model the behavior they seek to teach through direct instruction, and schools develop and reflect the values they seek to nurture among young people in all facets of their program. ESR recommends that students and teachers make decisions together about classroom norms and guidelines at the beginning of the school year and that teachers provide early instruction in problem solving and decisionmaking so that the skills can be used and reinforced throughout the year. Ongoing Followup and Support A staff development specialist provides onsite followup. The activities offered include demonstrations of teaching, coaching, planning, and problem solving. For many teachers, seeing is believing, and the opportunity to watch a staff development specialist model the teaching of conflict resolution for their students is essential. Colleagues who go through the training together are encouraged to meet, share ideas, and discuss difficulties on a periodic basis. Interviews 6 to 18 months after conflict resolution education training and followup sessions have revealed that participants bring new ways of thinking about teaching and learning to their classrooms. Teachers transform their classrooms, empowering young people to help create a caring classroom community in which they use conflict resolution skills daily. Even more significant change results when a critical mass of teachers engaged in creating and sustaining peaceable classrooms is joined by counselors, administrators, parents, and others to forge a peaceable school and connections to other conflict resolution initiatives in the community. The ESR peaceable classroom model helps teachers naturally integrate conflict resolution and intergroup relations into their classrooms through direct instruction and reinforcement of skills. It also helps them foster desired behavior through teachable moments and institute systematic classroom management practices. Notes 1. Kreidler, W. 1990. Elementary Perspectives I: Teaching Concepts of Peace and Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Educators for Social Responsibility, p. 43. 2. Johnson, D., and R. Johnson. 1995. Reducing School Violence Through Conflict Resolution. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervisors and Curriculum Development, p. 25. 3. Ibid., pp. 104-105. 4. Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management. 1995. Conflict Management Resource Guide for Elementary Schools. Columbus, OH: Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, pp. 7-8. 5. Miller-Lieber, C. 1994. Making Choices About Conflict, Security, and Peacemaking--Part I: Personal Perspectives. Cambridge, MA: Educators for Social Responsibility, p. 11. 6. Johnson, D.W., and R.T. Johnson. 1987, 1991, 1995. Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company. For more information, see the section "Peaceable Classroom" in appendix B. 7. Several ESR curriculums are listed under "Peaceable Classroom" in appendix B. ------------------------------ Figure 4: The Problem-Solving Negotiation Procedure Describe what you want. "I want to use the book now." This involves using good communication skills and defining the conflict as a small and specific mutual problem. Describe how you feel. "I'm frustrated." Disputants must understand how they feel and communicate it accurately and unambiguously. Describe the reasons for your wants and feelings. "You have been using the book for the past hour. If I don't get to use the book soon, my report will not be done on time. It's frustrating to have to wait so long." This step includes expressing cooperative intentions, listening carefully, separating interests from positions, and differentiating before trying to integrate the two sets of interests. Take the other's perspective and summarize your understanding of what the other person wants, how the other person feels, and the reasons underlying both. "My understanding of you is . . . ." This includes understanding the perspective of the opposing disputant and being able to see the problem from both perspectives simultaneously. Invent three optional plans to resolve the conflict that maximize joint benefits. "Plan A is . . . . Plan B is . . . . Plan C is . . . ." These are creative optional agreements that maximize the benefits for all disputants and solve the problem. Choose the wisest course of action and formalize the agreement with a handshake. "Let's agree on Plan B!" A wise agreement is fair to all disputants, maximizes joint benefits, and strengthens disputants' ability to work together cooperatively and resolve future conflicts constructively. It specifies how each disputant should act and how the agreement will be reviewed and renegotiated if it does not work. Source: Johnson, D.W., and R.T. Johnson. 1991. Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company, pp. 3:52-3:60. Used with permission of the authors and Interaction Book Company. ------------------------------ Chapter 5: Peaceable School Approach ------------------------------ In the peaceable school, the pervasive theme touching the interactions between students, between students and adults, and between adults is the value of human dignity and self-esteem.1 ------------------------------ Peaceable School: A comprehensive whole-school methodology that builds on the peaceable classroom approach by using conflict resolution as a system of operation for managing the school as well as the classroom. Conflict resolution principles and processes are learned and utilized by every member of the school community -- librarians, teachers, counselors, students, principals, and parents. The peaceable school approach integra