Policymakers and Administrators

Welcome to the Conflict Resolution Education Connection’s resources for policymakers and administrators. Our goal is to provide information that will support administrators interested in promoting or extending conflict resolution work within education. The sidebar menu to your right provides a listing of the content areas we focus on at this site.

A very young administrator working at desk

CRE Conference Presentations

Strategies for Creating a Safe School Environment

  • Presented by: William Pfohl, Western Kentucky University
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

Transitioning CRE into a Classroom Management Course

  • Presented by: Lynnette Mawhinney, Lincoln University
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

CRE Resource Creation and Discovery via CREducation.org

  • Presented by: Bill Warters
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

How to Run a Student Mediation Conference

  • Presented by: Marge Bleiweis
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

New York Guidelines for Social and Emotional Development and Learning (SEDL)

  • Presented by: Mark Barth, New York Department of Education
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

Ohio’s Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program

  • Presented by: Edward M. Krauss, Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

View More Presentations Here


Sample Catalog Resources

Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.

Resource Title Description Links
Clique bullying scenario Web-based interactive scenario which presents children reacting to a clique bullying situation and "taking a stand against the crowd."
Reducing youth crime 4:50 podcast discussing "school-based violence prevention programs [which] have been proven effective at reducing violence, truancy, drug abuse, and delinquency."
Regional Meetings benefit campus conflict resolution efforts Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 1, (Oct 2001), presenting highlights of meetings for conflict resolution professionals across the United States.
Peace education: A pathway to a culture of peace (2nd Edition) 209-page pdf book designed to provide educators with the basic knowledge base as well as the skill- and value-orientations that we associate with educating for a culture of peace. Although this work is primarily directed towards the pre-service and in-service preparation of teachers in the formal school system, it may be used in nonformal education. Part I presents chapters that are meant to help us develop a holistic understanding of peace and peace education. Part II discusses the key themes in peace education. Each chapter starts with a conceptual essay on a theme and is followed by some practical teaching-learning ideas that can either be used in a class or adapted to a community setting. Part III focuses on the peaceable learning climate and the educator, the agent who facilitates the planting and nurturing of the seeds of peace in the learning environment. Finally, the whole school approach is introduced to suggest the need for institutional transformation and the need to move beyond the school towards engagement with other stakeholders in the larger society.
Gender Toolkit: A manual for youth peace workers This guide aims to provide flexible and context-sensitive tools for supporting awareness and gender mainstreaming in youth peacebuilding organisations. It address the challenge of how to include a "gender lens" in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of different projects while integrating gender issues at the structural and organisational levels. These challenges can be addressed first by acknowledging their existence and making corrective entries to the organisations' apparatus of power, and secondly by transforming the challenges into something positive and productive. The 69-page guide provides a short overview of internal gender mainstreaming and gender mainstreaming in project management backed up by checklists and annotated resources in every section, best practices and trouble-shooters, as well as tips, quotes and advice. An appendix provides some activity modules that will lend a hand in addressing gender issues in organisations and projects.
PROS: Peaceful resolutions for Oklahoma [high school] students: Student edition 46-page PDF high school student manual designed to teach peer-mediation techniques as well as communication skills, leadership and problem solving.
Restorative justice in the classroom: Lesson 2 class meetings 8-page pdf lesson which "through role-play and discussion, this lesson will help students understand the motives behind offending and re-offending and to develop problem-solving consequences that will help offenders learn a better way to behave. By developing restorative consequences, the classroom community can help the offender repair the harm he/she has caused and discourage the offender from re-offending. Students practice consensus building and explore the consequence-setting aspect of justice circles."
Community-Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE) organizer's manual: A peace education planning 78-page pdf manual "designed to assist formal, non-formal and grass-roots educators and educational planners by providing ideas and tools for the development of community-based peace education learning projects that might contribute to the reduction of violence at all levels of the global social order. More specifically, it has been developed to aid in the planning of "Community-Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE)," a special community-centered initiative of the International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE) ... As you explore the contents you will see that this manual is arranged like a workbook. It is organized around inquiries into practical considerations for designing peace education initiatives in multiple and varying contexts. These inquiries are designed to engage you - the educator/planner - in reflections upon your own unique situation and possibilities for affecting change through education."
Tips for developing peace education curriculum: Some lessons from Vietnam 4-page tips document, the abstract states, "Teachers and schools around Australia are being asked to take responsibility for ensuring safe schools and promoting citizenship among students. This is part of an international movement to use school-based education to promote a global culture of peace. The International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne recently co-developed a national peace education curriculum for primary schools in Vietnam with Vietnamese educators. This experience highlighted three important peace education tools that can also be used within an Australian context: The UNESCO "peace keys," physical games and reflective material."
What's in a name?: Capturing the essence of campus mediation Pdf article reprinted from the February/March 1995 Issue (Vol 55) of The Fourth R, The Newsletter of the National Association for Mediation in Education which describes the comprehensive set of activities offered by Campus Mediation Center at Syracuse University.
Mixitup: 2008-2009 planner 50-page pdf document, "designed for teachers, counselors, students, administrators and others looking for activities and ideas to organize Mix It Up at Lunch Day, reduce social boundaries at school and promote an inclusive learning environment for all students. It includes lesson plans for early, middle and upper grades based on content standards and can easily be adapted for use in school clubs. For additional activity ideas, online polls and essay prompts, visit www.mixitup.org."
Restorative Practices: Fostering Healthy Relationships and Promoting Positive Discipline in Schools As educators partner with districts to move away from zero tolerance discipline policies and ramp up e orts to strengthen safe and supportive schools, address con ict, improve school climate, and build a positive school culture that students are connected to, many campuses are looking to implement alternative, restorative approaches. This toolkit was developed to illustrate how restorative strategies can be seamlessly integrated into the classroom, curriculum, and culture of schools. It de nes what restorative practices are, explains why they are a transformational tool for fostering healthy relationships in schools and shows how they can be useful processes for students, educators, and learning communities. This toolkit is intended for all educators who support the growth and health of students in schools. It is an introduction for those new to the concepts and will help support and enhance the work of teachers already implementing these practices in their classrooms. e toolkit includes digestible models, frameworks, and action steps for school-wide implementation, accompanied by guiding questions to support re ection for practitioners looking to make restorative methods part of the fabric of daily life in schools. It also recognizes the signi cant role all education professionals play in maintaining a school community that models respectful, trusting, and caring relationships.
Manual for Colleges and Universities Developing Programs in Peace and Conflict Studies
From a predominantly white campus to a culturally diverse campus: Implications for mediation Pdf article reprinted from the June/July 1991 Issue (Vol 33) of The Fourth R, The Newsletter of the National Association for Mediation in Education discusses the notion that when campuses change from homogeneous populations of students to diverse ones that "staff must be trained to deal with and respond to the problems and tensions that are the natural result of the altered campus demographic." The use of the mediation center is seen as an essential tool by which the a campus can smoothly become culturally diverse due to its trained members who take the position that nearly any conflict can be worked out.
Creating and promoting positive school climate in Ohio’s schools: Anti-harassment, anti-intimidation 33-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Second International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education, presenting "A review of an anti-harassment, anti-intimidation or anti-bullying model policy for education from the state of Ohio in the United States."
SACSC Elementary unit and lesson plans Web site developed by the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada whose mission "is to encourage home, school and community practices that teach, model and reinforce socially responsible and respectful behaviors, so that living and learning can take place in a safe, caring and inclusive environment. Achieving this mission requires the involvement not only of parents, teachers, and children, but of all the important adults in children’s lives." The site houses a number of lesson plans and educational units "focusing on adult modeling, the SACSC programs prevent negative social behavior through character education, conflict management training and building respect for diversity. They promote a problem-solving approach to discipline that encourages positive social behavior by expecting young people to fix the wrong they have caused, thereby learning from their mistakes." They focus on 5 topics: Living Respectfully; Developing Self-Esteem; Respecting Diversity and Preventing Prejudice; Managing Anger and Dealing with Bullying and Harassment; and Resolving Conflicts Peacefully for grades K-6.
Conflict resolution protocol for elementary classrooms, A 4-page PDF excerpt from the book, "The First Six Weeks of School" which discusses teaching conflict resolution, "a basic belief underlying The Responsive Classroom® approach to teaching is that how children learn to treat one another is as important as what they learn in reading, writing, and arithmetic. We believe that social skills such as cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and selfcontrol are essential to children’s academic and social success and we emphasize the teaching of these skills, along with academics, throughout the school day. There are many strategies we use to teach these social skills at the elementary level (K-6), one of which is teaching a protocol for conflict resolution."
Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning School Posters The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) materials from the UK Primary National Strategies curriculum provide seven posters for use across the school. They are available for download as pdfs (see attachments in site sidebar). The topics include the following:Feelings detective – understanding my feelings and understanding the feelings of others. These two posters support children when trying to recognise their own feelings and the feelings of others.AssertivenessThis poster uses the ideas covered in the theme sets and provides a reminder about how we might behave assertively rather than timidly, aggressively or manipulatively.Problem solvingThis poster outlines a problem-solving process that might be used in social or learning situations.Peaceful problem solvingThis poster provides a reminder of the SEAL approach to resolving conflicts within the school.Circle timeThis poster is an aid to those who use circle time and provides useful reminders for children to ensure the sessions are positive and productive.The FightThis is a copy of The Fight by L. S. Lowry. It is used as a stimulus for work in Say no to bullying
Challenge to create a safer learning environment for youth, The 83-page PDF report which continues the author's "exploration of how violence affects learning and my search for effective approaches to support learning for those who have experienced violence ... I sought to learn more about how violence affects learning by interviewing young people who are currently struggling with learning, either within or outside the school system. I wanted to explore how responses to trauma support or limit learning possibilities by interviewing young people and professionals engaged in the school system and in other education for youth."
Creating schoolwide prevention and intervention strategies: Effective strategies... 55-page PDF document which is "intended to put the issue of schoolwide violence prevention in context for educators and outline an approach for choosing and creating effective prevention programs. The guide covers the following topics: 1. Why schoolwide prevention strategies are critical, 2. Characteristics of a safe school, 3. Four sources of vulnerability to school violence, 4. How to plan for strategies that meet school safety needs, 5. Five effective response strategies and 6. Useful Web and print resources."