Reposted from ThirteenOnLine.
Ellen Raider
If I were to give the human species a report card as it enters the 21st century, I would give it high marks in math, science, and technology, but its marks for the management of conflict need much improvement. In far too many interpersonal, intergroup, and international conflicts, we continue to learn and practice intolerance, prejudice, and violence.
Social scientists have told us that these destructive behaviors are learned and passed on from generation to generation. In many polarized communities these behaviors are fueled by self-serving leaders who manipulate the media and promote biased and prejudiced versions of history in the classroom. Schools thus can become part of the problem.
Imagine if all the teachers in the world were suddenly empowered to help their students unlearn the ABCs of hatred and exclusion, and learn the skills to achieve peaceful and just solutions to human conflicts. An unattainable ideal? I think not. Over the past 20 years as a trainer/mediator, I have been a participant/observer of an unprecedented movement in classrooms, communities, corporations, and international councils to better understand the nature of conflict and how to achieve constructive solutions.
WNET’s PEACEFUL SOLUTIONS in part documents best practices in the classroom. It gives educators and students a unique opportunity to critically evaluate for local use outstanding examples of violence prevention curricula. These strategies have been designed to engage young people in building a better future for themselves, in which conflicts will not be eliminated but creatively used to bring about personal, organizational, and social growth.
To learn how to teach these lessons to young people, teachers of course will need to participate in staff development activities such as the ones suggested in this guide. Perhaps more importantly, however, educators and other concerned adults need to broaden and deepen their own knowledge, skills, and constructive conflict resolution practices through in-depth education programs in this emerging field of study. Only enlightened and self-reflective adults can serve as authentic role models and help the next generation make the grade.
Confronting a complex problem
In a massive study of violence, the National Research Council concluded:
“Full understanding of the causes of violence will not be achieved in the foreseeable future, but that understanding is not necessary in order to make progress in reducing violence. A successful intervention at just one point in a long causal chain can prevent some events or reduce their consequences.”
We know that violence has always been a part of the human condition. Now social scientists are coming to believe that while conflict is inevitable among people, aggression or violence need not be. While people have learned to respond to conflict with aggression, they can just as well be taught to respond with constructive methods of problem solving and negotiation.
Introducing conflict resolution into the classroom
The cornerstone of most approaches to conflict resolution is communication skills which, like other social skills, can improve with practice. Good communication prevents conflict from escalating to a destructive level. Role-play exercises work well for teaching students how to actively listen and to use “I” messages, two skills that promote understanding and win-win solutions.
Dealing with the bullying problem
One strategy to consider involves not only addressing aggressive behavior by bullies, but also the behavior of victims and bystanders. Changing habits of thought is an approach that empowers students to change the way they automatically respond to conflict. A curriculum called Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders discourages youngsters from responding aggressively to threats, but encourages potential victims to react assertively and bystanders to act responsibly.
Fitting violence prevention into the curriculum
A number of conflict resolution strategies can be integrated easily into existing curricula. One example is academic controversy, a strategy that helps students learn to appreciate others’ perspectives. Academic controversy is a formal approach to examining all sides of an issue or idea and can be used in the study of almost any subject. Pairs of students take turns presenting opposing arguments. Then they switch sides. It works like a debate, but ultimately each group must arrive at a consensus.
Understanding the effects of media violence
According to an American Psychological Association study, there are four major effects of watching media violence:
1. Increased aggressiveness and anti-social behavior.
2. Increased fear of becoming a victim.
3. Increased desensitization to violence and victims of violence.
4. Increased appetite for more violence in entertainment and real life.
One way to mitigate the effects of media violence is to help youngsters develop media literacy. With skills to analyze and “deconstruct” what they see, students can make responsible choices as media consumers and advocate for constructive change.
Raising bias awareness
Raising bias awareness is a strategy teachers can use to challenge their students to confront their own values, behavior, and responses to racism and cruelty. Facing History and Ourselves is one example of a curriculum with this goal. The program focuses on the Holocaust to help students understand that history develops incrementally, shaped by individual and collective choices and decisions. As they explore complex questions of human motivation and behavior, they must face the question: “What would I have done?”
Resolving conflict through mediation
Mediation is a process of working out disputes with the aid of an impartial third party—a mediator. Research has shown that resolutions reached through mediation are more satisfactory, and more likely to hold up over time, than resolutions imposed through formal disciplinary procedures.
In a growing number of schools, teams of trained peer mediators act as facilitators, guiding the disputants through a communication and problem- solving process to arrive at an agreement that is acceptable to both parties. Some schools even use mediation to settle disputes between students and teachers, using a student-teacher team of mediators.
If mediation is not successful or does not hold up, discipline takes over.
Disputes involving weapons, drugs, or violence are not appropriate for referral to mediation.
Addressing the gang problem
Putnam Vocational Technical High School in Springfield, MA, is one example of a school that has successfully used a variety of approaches to deal with gangs, including a strict behavior code, bias awareness, and mediation. In addition, community service learning has become an integral part of school life. More structured than volunteerism, community service learning is a form of experiential education that calls for students to use problem-solving skills to address community needs. As youngsters at Putnam recognized that they have much to contribute, their self-esteem increased as did their commitment to school. As a result, discipline problems declined significantly.
Fostering concern about global issues of conflict
The Model U.N. program is a simulation designed to help students learn through experience about international conflict and diplomacy. Playing the roles of UN delegates, students grapple with issues confronting the General Assembly and Security Council. In the process of trying to reach a consensus, they use research, writing, communication, and negotiation skills.