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

25 Years: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

  • Presented by: Larry Dieringer
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Words Work

  • Presented by: Tricia Jones and Tim Hedeen
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Peer Mediation Partnerships: Linking University with Community

  • Presented by: Lisa E. Shaw, Program Advisor and Interns: Rebecca Newman, Roxanne Libby, William Still and Jared Schmidt
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Cool School – FMCS Youth Initiative Interactive Game

  • Presented by: F.J. Lennon and Melanie Killen
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Strategies for Teaching Peace and CR in U.S. Undergraduate Environments

  • Presented by: David Smith
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Hemispheric Course on Evaluation of Policies and Programs in Citizenship Education

  • Presented by: Adriana Cepeda-Organization of American States, Washington, DC, USA
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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
Developing departmental communication protocols Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 4, Number 1, (Oct. 2003), which presents the concept of a "Communication Protocol [which] is a set of guidelines for day-to-day communication and informal problem solving developed in a mediation context involving a group of co-workers, these Protocols are most effective when developed with the full participation of both staff and management, although difficult to achieve, in academic units the chair needs to participate, the more inclusive the group, the more the Protocol will reflect the culture and norms of the organization."
Recommended standards for school-based peer mediation programs Twenty-eight page document presenting standards for school-based peer mediation programs that are designed to enhance quality and stimulate thought among youth and adult participants in peer mediation programs. Aids in the creation and implementation of programs, designing curricula and evaluation procedures, funding and promoting programs, providing professional development and setting guidelines for research.
Exploring emotional literacy through visual the arts: With embedded literacy and numeracy skills 21-page PDF document created to "enable staff who are not Arts practitioners to carry out this [art based] work. They are designed as individual projects but can equally be extended into small group activities ... The aim is to encourage the young person to express visually emotions that are difficult to articulate verbally." Projects include: Making masks (expressing feelings using facial expressions); Abstract art (expressing feelings using colors and shapes); Designing a chair (expressing how I feel about myself); Creating a book (expressing how I feel, exploring what I know about an issue in my life); and Drawing a neighborhood map (exploring safe and unsafe areas where I live).
Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL): Improving behaviour, improving learning This fully articulated curriculum resource from the United Kingdom is available as a 90MB zip file containing the full kit or as individual pdfs. It aims to develop the underpinning qualities and skills that help promote positive behaviour and effective learning. It focuses on five social and emotional aspects of learning: self-awareness, managing feelings, motivation, empathy and social skills. The materials help children develop skills such as understanding another's point of view, working in a group, sticking at things when they get difficult, resolving conflict and managing worries. They build on effective work already in place in the many primary schools who pay systematic attention to the social and emotional aspects of learning through whole-school ethos, initiatives such as circle time or buddy schemes, and the taught personal, social and health education (PSHE) and Citizenship curriculum. The materials are organised into seven themes: New Beginnings, Getting on and falling out, Say no to bullying, Going for goals!, Good to be me, Relationships and Changes. Each theme is designed for a whole-school approach and includes a whole-school assembly and suggested follow-up activities in all areas of the curriculum. The colour-coded resources are organized at four levels: Foundation Stage, Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6. Pupil reference material and photocopiable teacher reference material accompany each theme.
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.
VOV activities: Preventing feelings of isolation through trust and cooperation, grades 7-12 6-page PDF with activities for 7-12 graders to improve communication skills and build trust.
Emergence of campus mediation systems, The: History in the making Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 1, (Oct 2001), which "explore[s] historical changes in the campus context as it relates to mediation and conflict resolution, and make[s] note of apparent trends in the writing and research on campus conflicts and conflict resolution." Includes bibliography
Virginia Tech shooting: Lessons for dismantling norms about violence 10-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Second International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education, which "offers a Preliminary inquiry into pedagogical actions for addressing the intersections among gender, race, ethnicity, social class, mental illness, and violence, the limitations of the thinking that pervaded the recent public discourse on the Virginia Tech Shooting will be revealed and a responsive pedagogical action proposed."
Mediation on campus: A history and planning guide 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 exploring the role of mediation at colleges and universities, with a list of questions that those thinking of starting mediation programs should ask themselves.
10 challenges facing campus mediation programs Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 2, (Feb 2002), which discusses the role and challenges among college mediation programs based on interviews with university campus mediation programs, and then "extrapolating examples to look at the larger issues facing these programs."
Peace education curriculum: Programa pendidiken damai (pdf) 84-page pdf translation of the Indonesian "Kurikulum Pendidikan Damai" which "was the first of its kind to be developed in Indonesia, representing peace education from an Islamic and Acehnese perspective. It promotes a positive, comprehensive peace encompassing peaceful relations with God the Creator, with oneself, with one's fellow humans, and with the environment. The curriculum teaches communal peace in accordance with the positive Islamic approach, namely the absence of war and discrimination and the necessity of justice in society. This manual emphasizes that peace is neither a subjugation to situations nor a passive acceptance of injustice, discrimination, and war, but rather a recognition of these problems and addressing them in a peaceful manner. The curriculum also stresses the importance of process and ends, since peace is both process and results, as reflected in active involvement of students in a system of learning by doing ... The materials and learning activities were authored in such a manner to allow the students dominant roles in the learning process. The students are guided to observe, analyze, and seek for solutions to existing conflicts. We feel that this strategy can better improve the students' knowledge on conflict and peace, build their skills in managing conflicts without violence, and actualize them all in their real life."
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.
Building bridges in conflict areas: Educational report 23-page PDF report in which, "the reader is invited for an overview of the methods, theories and tools that were offered to the participants. It shows how the process of theoretical presentation becomes "alive" when participants interact with trainers and share their opinions through brainstorming or reflecting on the concepts that were discussed for a better understanding of conflict resolution ... Theoretical inputs, practical exercises, thematic energizers and interactive activities created suitable atmosphere to raise awareness among participants, deepen their knowledge and raise their skills and abilities in pro-active interventions in youth field of conflict zones. Mainly during the two last days of the training course, participants were involved in partnership building activities."
Recommended Guidelines for Effective Conflict Resolution Education Programs These Recommended Guidelines for Effective Conflict Resolution Education Programs, released in 2002, are the product of work begun by a committee of the Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet) and completed by the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR). The Guidelines outline how elementary and secondary school teachers, administrators, conflict resolution education practitioners, and policy makers can measure progress toward effective conflict resolution education programs. By addressing core goals, components, content and qualities of effective school-based conflict resolution education programs, these Guidelines are intended to also help leaders to make decisions about the resources and strategies needed to support such educational programs in their schools.
Learning to live together: Building skills, values and attitudes for the 21st Century 167-page pdf study which, "represents an attempt to interpret the aim of ‘learning to live together’ as a synthesis of many related goals, such as education for peace, human rights, citizenship and health-preserving behaviours. It focuses specifically on the skills, values, attitudes and concepts needed for learning to live together, rather than on ‘knowledge’ objectives. The aim of the study is to discover ‘what works’ in terms of helping students learn to become politely assertive rather than violent, to understand conflict and its prevention, to become mediators, to respect human rights, to become active and responsible members of their communities—as local, national and global citizens, to have balanced relationships with others and neither to coerce others nor be coerced, especially into risky health behaviours ... The recommendation emerging from the study for national policy-makers and curriculum specialists is that a core national team of educators committed to the goals of peace-building, human rights, active citizenship and preventive health should be created, in order to put together and pilot test materials and methodologies related to these goals."
Graduate peace & conflict studies programs: reconsidering their problems & prospects Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 5, Number 1, (Sept 2004), which discusses the proliferation of graduate coursework in peace and conflict studies to, "consider how peace and conflict type programs are created and developed, reflect on their prospects and problems, and introduce topics that I believe will have to be dealt with in the future."
Thinking about variations in campus mediator style Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 1, Number 4, (Nov/Dec 2000), which presents different "mediator's style[s] [which] may now be described as bargaining vs therapeutic, problem-solving vs transformative, evaluative vs facilitative, or settlement-oriented vs restorative, among other terms," for campus mediation.
Good Practice Guidelines for Peer Mediation Initiatives A one-page summary of guidelines for best practice for peer mediation program initiatives. Based on a larger evaluation of Peer Mediation Programs in New South Wales Government Schools published in 2003
Profile of the CMHE REPORT's "Early Adopters" Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 1, Number 2, (March/April 2000), presenting a survey of users and subscribers of the Conflict Management in Higher Education Report electronic newslettter.
Incorporating restorative approaches 82-page PDF topic guide which presents a, "session plan, guidance and resources for training day focusing on incorporating restorative approaches. Aims to develop an understanding of restorative approaches and their role in behaviour and attendance improvement. The aim is also [to] develop an understanding of the leadership issues in incorporating restorative approaches and explore how restorative approaches might be developed in [one's] own setting." Also available is a related set of 12 slides in ppt format for use in training event.