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.

CRE Conference Presentations
SEL Conceptual Framework for Positive Youth Development
- Presented by: Molly McCloskey-Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, USA
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Accessing Free Web-based Conflict Resolution Education Resources
- Presented by: Bill Warters
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Safer Campuses: Prevention and Response to Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking
- Presented by: Diane Docis, Katie Hanna, Alex Leslie, Beth Malchus
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Tri-C Sustained Dialogue Campus Network Overview
- Presented by: Ty Olson, Cuyahoga Community College
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Collaboration Across Fields: Implementation and Sustainability of SEL, CRE, PE, and CE
- Presented by: Janet Patti - Hunter College - City University of New York, New York, USA
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Changing the World – Youth Mediators Across the Globe
- Presented by: Tricia Jones
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Summary - The Positive impact of social & emotional learning kindergarten to eighth grade students | 12-page PDF report which, "summarizes results from three large-scale reviews of research on the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on elementary and middle-school students — that is, programs that seek to promote various aocial and emotional skills. Collectively the three reviews included 317 studies and involved 324,303 children. SEL programs yielded multiple benefits in each review and were effective in both school and after-school settings and for students with and without behavioral and emotional problems. They were also effective across the K-8 grade range and for racially and ethnically diverse students from urban, rural, and suburban settings. SEL programs improved students’ social-emotional skills, attitudes about self and others, connection to school, positive social behavior, and academic performance; they also reduced students’ conduct problems and emotional distress. Comparing results from these reviews to findings obtained in reviews of interventions by other research teams suggests that SEL programs are among the most successful youth-development programs offered to school-age youth. Furthermore, school staff (e.g., teachers, student support staff) carried out SEL programs effectively, indicating that they can be incorporated into routine educational practice. In addition, SEL programming improved students’ academic performance by 11 to 17 percentile points across the three reviews, indicating that they offer students a practical educational benefit. Given these positive findings, we recommend that federal, state, and local policies and practices encourage the broad implementation of well-designed, evidence-based SEL programs during and after school." | |
| Restorative justice in the classroom: Lesson 4 the justice circle part 2 | 5-page pdf lesson which provides "students with an understanding of the process of Justice Circles and teaching them how to use this strategy in conflict resolution. Students practice setting restorative consequences and assess whether the consequences they identify would be effective in both healing the victim and helping the offender learn a better way to behave." | |
| Pre-Service Teacher Curriculum | A 247-page pdf document containing a four module curriculum designed to provide pre-service teachers opportunities for analyzing the impact of self as an individual teacher in the classroom. This includes information on pursuing self- assessment, developing communication skills through active and reflective listening, rapport, and trust building, and defining the processes used in managing conflict. The curriculum is also designed to help pre-service teachers identify and strengthen skills used in effective communication to better manage conflicts, especially those in classrooms. Finally, the curriculum is intended to assist pre-service teachers with skills that will be developed through the use of conflict management strategies. |
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| Reaching across boundaries: Talk to create change | 21-page pdf handbook which, "shows you how to conduct Mix It Up Dialogues. In the dialogues, participants will have honest discussions about social boundaries, and they will plan action projects that help cross those boundaries ... Mix It Up Dialogues aren't just about talking, however. They're also about taking action -- changing personal behaviors that may hurt or exclude others and engaging in collective projects to improve school climate." | |
| New directions and issues in the teaching of conflict resolution | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 2, (Feb 2002), which "explores the issues related to understanding the effectiveness of the process and content of conflict resolution (specifically negotiation) teaching and training, it asks whether or not the right approach to training is being used and if the training "sticks," it also questions how the content of the field is evolving and if teaching methods are tracking the evolution." Includes bibliography. | |
| Human rights education in the school systems of Europe, Central Asia and North America: A compendium | 239-page PDF, "compendium of good practice [it] is a compilation of 101 examples of good practice in human rights education in primary schools,ssecondary schools and teacher training institutions ... the term "human rights education" is often used in this resource in a broader sense, to also include education for democratic citizenship and education for mutual respect and understanding, which are all based on internationally agreed human rights standards. These three areas are seen as interconnected and essential within educational systems in order to prepare youth to be active, responsible and caring participants in their communities, as well as at the national and global levels ... this book aims to support quality teaching in these areas and to inspire educational policymakers (those working in education ministries and local school boards) and administrators, teachers, teacher trainers, non-formal educators and all other interested actors, as well as to facilitate networking and the exchange of experience among education professionals." A companion website with additional examples and documents is available at http://bit.ly/2uUsv65 | |
| Youth & conflict: Global challenges, local strategies, 2008 | 21-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Second International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education which "introduce[d] some of the themes and research associated with current thinking in values education | |
| Fitting in: Lesson and activity excerpted from the Tanenbaum curriculum passages to immigration | 6-page pdf lesson plan which explores the ideas of home, belonging and fitting in, for grades 1-6. Activities include, "The Sharing Circle," "I am, we are poems" and "Unity and diversity circles." | |
| Global education guidelines: A handbook for educators to understand and implement global education | 85-page pdf handbook "written on the premise that educational processes in formal and non-formal settings should open the path to a better understanding of an increasingly globalised world. It also raises important issues about the professional responsibilities of educators and teachers and the role of schools and different organisations and institutions in raising global awareness and knowledge on worldwide issues across the curriculum and in non-formal projects and activities ... this document should be regarded as a guide for understanding and practising global education, also as a pedagogical coaching tool to help establish global education approaches where they do not yet exist and enrich existing ones. Its content was set up taking into account in-field practices and references and cultural, geographic, social and economic realities." | |
| Place to work things out, A | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 4, (July 2002), which presents the idea of personal narrative model of mediation and the work at Oberlin College using this model. | |
| National curriculum integration project: Final report, phase two (2000-2001) | National curriculum integration project sought to promote the infusion of conflict resolution education into middle school curriculum, teaching it as part of other subjects, rather than as a stand-alone topic. This report shares the findings which suggest that classroom climate improves over the course of the school year using this approach. | |
| Strategies to prevent youth violence | 92-page pdf chapter from "Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action," which investigates "Social-cognitive interventions strive to equip children with the skills they need to deal effectively with difficult social situations, such as being teased or being the last one picked to join a team. They build on Bandura’s social-cognitive theory, which posits that children learn social skills by observing and interacting with parents, adult relatives and friends, teachers, peers, and others in the environment, including media role models (Bandura 1986). Social-cognitive interventions incorporate didactic teaching, modeling, and role-playing to enhance positive social interactions, teach nonviolent methods for resolving conflict, and establish or strengthen nonviolent beliefs in young people ... Mentoring—the pairing of a young person with a volunteer who acts as a supportive, nonjudgmental role model—has been touted by many as an excellent means of providing a child or adolescent with a positive adult influence when such an influence does not otherwise exist. Evidence has shown that mentoring can significantly improve school attendance and performance, reduce violent behavior, decrease the likelihood of drug use, and improve relationships with friends and parents." | |
| Restorative Justice: A Working Guide for Our Schools | The purpose of this publication, available as a 43-page pdf, is to provide support and guidance for teachers, health workers, community leaders, and school personnel who seek to implement Restorative Justice in their schools. The guide introduces Restorative Justice concepts, articulates what is new about the approach, explores benefits, outcomes and impacts and provides guidance on initiating Restorative Justice at the school or district level. Also included are listings of resources for additional information and support. | |
| 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." | |
| Practicing peace: A peace education module for standards 4 through 6 in Solomon Islands | 87-page word document which presents peace education for the Solomon Islands context. "The primary method used in peace education is generally referred to as a "facilitated" or "interactive" model of teaching. In this method, the teacher becomes a facilitator of learning and a co-learner with the students. Students and teachers use experiential strategies to practice skills for peace. There is a shift in the value placed on being a teacher. Using the facilitated processes of conflict resolution and peace education, teachers and students learn together and teach each other." Covered areas include: Interpersonal skills; Understanding and accepting differences; Children's rights; Building community and Mediation. | |
| Peace education: A pathway to a culture of peace | 178-page pdf document which "helps the educator, whether in formal or non formal settings, to understand that peace is a holistic concept and state of being and that it can not be learned in the traditional lecture-note taking-testing framework. Indeed, peace education can be integrated into many disciplines. The culture of peace must replace the culture of violence if we and our home, planet Earth, are to survive ... teaching the value of tolerance, understanding and respect for diversity among the school children could be introduced through exposing them to various countries of the world, their geography, history, and culture. At the appropriate levels, curricula must include human rights, the rules governing international law, the United Nations Charter, the goals of our global organization, disarmament, sustainable development and other peace issues. The participation of young people in this process is very essential. Their inputs in terms of their own ideas on how to cooperate with each other in order to eliminate violence in our societies must be fully taken into account. In addition to expanding the capacity of the students to understand the issues, peace education aims particularly at empowering the students, suited to their individual levels, to become agents of peace and nonviolence in their own lives as well as in their interaction with others in every sphere of their existence ... We have organized the book into three sections. 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." | |
| Immigration & me: Lesson & activity excerpted from the Tanenbaum curriculum passages to immigration | 3-page PDF lesson plan in which students (grade 2-6) interview family members to investigate their immigration story and discover where family traditions came from. | |
| Conflict in higher education faculty evaluation | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 5, Number 1, (Sept 2004), which examines "the various levels of organizational culture as they relate to faculty evaluation, administrators and faculty can achieve a better understanding of the purposes of evaluation and the best means to use when undertaking it." | |
| Extending campus conflict resolution efforts beyond the mediation table | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 3, (May 2002), which "describes creative responses to campus conflict that don't rely on mediation as their central strategy or approach, providing links to online examples when available." | |
| Promoting better resolution of conflict with "learn for free!" | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 5, Number 1, (Sept 2004), which presents a project at Dalhousie University College of Continuing Education in Halifax, Nova Scotia called "Learn for Free! ... a day of one-hour sessions -- each of which provides a glimpse into the content of our workshops, the expertise of our instructors, and the skills we seek to develop, the objectives of Learn for Free! are to expand our reach with an alternative approach to handling conflict, to boost our profile within the community, to provide a service to the community in which we live, and to attract new workshop registrants." |