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

Columbine Facilitation: Lessons Learned

  • Presented by: Lisa Loescher and Myra Isenhart
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

Words Work

  • Presented by: Tricia Jones and Tim Hedeen
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

Cyberbullying: What the research is telling us…

  • Presented by: Amanda Lenhart
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

25 Years: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

  • Presented by: Larry Dieringer
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

Creating and Promoting Positive School Climate in Ohio’s Schools

  • Presented by: Ohio Department of Education
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

Peer Mediation Creating Life Long Conflict Practitioners

  • Presented by: Mary Alice Smallbone and J. Frank Rizzo
  • 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
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."
Leadership development: Conflict management for college student leaders Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 3, Number 1, (Oct 2002), which "examines the effectiveness of conflict management skills intervention training on the conflict management style of college student organizational presidents, key leaders within the larger campus community." Includes bibliography.
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."
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."
Making the case for campus mediation Pdf article originally published in The Fourth R, Vol. 55, (Feb/March 1995) presenting arguments to assist organizers of college and university mediation programs who often must make a case for their programs to reluctant administrators.
PeaceKidz manual 101-page Word document created by PeacekidZ, "a program that aims to develop children's ability to understand, analyze and resolve conflicts in their everyday lives. PeacekidZ teaches children the three R's of conflict resolution: recognize, respect, resolve." "Through each year of PeaceKidZ, each group of SAIS student teachers builds a curriculum detailing the lessons and activities they taught during the course of the nine-week program. They then compile these into a final document. The Conflict Management Toolkit will assemble and offer these curricula as a resource for other universities and outreach programs that are interested in developing similar programs. We will also provide a bibliography with more detailed books and resources on teaching. Currently, the manual from the first year of PeaceKidZ and a bibliography of the materials SAIS students consult to design the program are available for download."
Building for the future: Connecting up with high school mediation program alumni Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, (Volume 1, Number 1, Jan/Feb 2000), which puts a call out to people and organizations interested in helping to build a national networking system for high school mediation program alumni as they continue their eduacation often at colleges and universities with no mediation programs.
Theater and conflict resolution education 8-slide Powerpoint presentation "examining the ways theater is being used to teach and learn about conflict."
Lessons and activities for Florida's fourth annual mediation celebration 41-page pdf manual which can be used "as a general guide to activities that can be easily incorporated in your classroom to make everyone aware of measures that help ensure peaceful schools ... mediation skills and other methods of conflict resolution are life-long skills that help promote positive interactions among all people ... the intention of this booklet is to help peak your interest and awareness in the area of mediation, and let you see how easily and subtly these concepts can be integrated into the existing curriculum." Includes bibliography.
Application of the transactional view, An: A unique role for ombudsmen in campus protest Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 3, Number 3, (May 2003), which examines the role of the Observer Program at University of Colorado, created by the Ombudsman office, in student protests.
Hip-Hop artists: Lesson and activity excerpted from the Tanenbaum curriculum COEXIST 5-page PDF lesson plan in which students (grade 6-12), "will learn about stereotypes as well as how to identify and challenge their own biases. Students will also make connections to religion as an important aspect of identity and an influence within the realm of Hip-Hop."
Culture of honesty earns a degree of respect, A: Facilitating academic honesty at the University of Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 3, (May 2002), discusses the University of Georgia's mediation policies and procedures for resolving academic dishonesty disputes.
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.
Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Facilitators and trainers training guide 13-page pdf manual which is "one of the components of the "Inter-agency Peace Education Programme." "The programme is designed for education managers of ministries dealing with both formal and non-formal education and for agencies which implement education activies on behalf of the government ... This training guide in peace education is divided into four areas: content, method, environment (both physical and psychological) and output (or product). Often method and psychological are dealt with together as there is overlap."
Statement of restorative justice principles: As applied in a school setting: 2nd edition 24-page PDF document of "Principles [which] form the basis for restorative practices in all settings, using all models, where the primary aims are to repair harm and promote dialogue ... Restorative practices are underpinned by a set of values, these include: Empowerment, honesty, respect, engagement, voluntarism, healing, restoration, personal accountability, inclusiveness, collaboration, and problem-solving."
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."
Mediation for Young Homeless People: A Good Practice Guide UK government guidelines recommend that mediation should be explored by local authorities as a homelessness-prevention strategy. This 2004 guide aims to be a simple, practical, and easy-to-use tool for those working with young people who are, or may become, homeless.
Public policy and conflict resolution in education project: Final report, July 2002 17 page pdf report of the The Western Justice Center Foundation, Pasadena, California, in partnership with the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), which "undertook a project funded by the Compton Foundation to develop recommendations for integrating conflict resolution education (CRE) throughout California public schools. We interviewed and met with relevant practitioners, educators, policymakers and others to assess needs and gather their views with respect to CRE and public policy."
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.
Education for peace: A curriculum framework K-12 14-page pdf document which presents a "conceptual framework from which schools may devise a program comprising the transmission of universal values and enduring attitudes, and the development of skills which will enable our students to become active global citizens ... the implementation of this conceptual framework recognizes the practice of peaceful relations at all levels: personal, familial, communal, inter-cultural and global, it entails a process of knowledge acquisition and skill-building which affects the behavior of individuals and groups and provides a model for the formal and informal curriculum of the school, education for Peace is a process and condition which permeates all aspects of school life, with implications for learners, teachers, and administrators and it extends beyond the school to society as a whole."