Resources for Teachers
This section of the site is focused on providing practical information and resources that teachers, teachers-in-training and teachers-of-teachers will find useful. Use the sidebar menu to explore specific areas of CRE practice.

Classroom Activity Suggestions
Here's a few activities for classroom use that can help infuse conflict resolution ideas into the learning environment. These originally appeared in a Teacher's Conflict Resolution wall calendar that featured activities for each month of the year.- Postcards to the Future
- What’s So Bad About Conflict?
- The Singing Tree
- Exploring Conflict Continuum
- Calming Through Visualization
- Giving Compliments, Acknowledgements, and Appreciations
- Promote Restorative Practices
- Affirmation Song
More examples can be found in the activity collection archive.
Videos of Possible Interest
- A More Accurate RULER – Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
- PAX Good Behaviour Game
- 4Rs (Reading, Writing, Respect & Resolution) in a 2nd Grade Brooklyn Classroom
- Cyberbullying Toolkit for Educators
- In a Responsive Classroom
- Social and Emotional Learning After School
- Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world
- Conflict of Friends
- How to Teach Math as a Social Activity
- Emotional Intelligence: An Overview
See MORE VIDEOS...
Related Conference Presentations (viewable online)
Fairfax County Public Schools Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Training 2010
- Presented by: Joan Packer, Swaim Pessaud, Kristen John
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Developing Courses in Peace and Conflict Studies
- Presented by: Vincent D’Agostino and Patricia Golesic, Sault College
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Effective Ways to Motivate Change in Youth Using Restorative Justice Practices
- Presented by: Keysha Myers, Summit County Juvenile Court; Myron Lewis, Summit County Public Health
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
School Conflict Management Training
- Presented by: Jennifer Batton, Director, Global Issues Resource Center, Cuyahoga Community College
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
District-wide Conflict Resolution, Peer Mediation and Bullying Prevention Model- 30 years of Impact
- Presented by: Kathy Bickmore, University of Toronto
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Online Peer Mediation Platform
- Presented by: Karen DeVoogd, Cynthia Morton, Judy Tindall, Kristen Woodward
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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." | |
| Diversity training | Pdf article reprinted from Aug-Sept 1997 issue (Vol. 79 pp. 17-19) of The Fourth R, the Newsletter of the National Association for Mediation in Education, introducing The National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI), an international organization which leads diversity programs on college campuses. | |
| Conflict resolution education: The field, the findings and the future | Article on conflict resolution education, the programs (peer mediation, anti-bullying), research findings on CRE and the future of conflict resolution education, with bibliography, originally published in Conflict Resolution Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 1-2, Fall-Winter 2004. | |
| Teach kids a lesson ... or help them to learn? | 11-page PDF paper which promotes the idea of restorative justice practices in education as opposed to punitive ones. "Restorative justice philosophy views misbehavior in terms of how it has impacted upon relationships in the school community. Once the harm is acknowledged in a concrete way the process moves beyond harm to ask how can this harm be repaired? If schools are places of learning, where young people are encouraged to be independent and creative thinkers, are able to share their ideas and opinions, learn to accept the view of others, to be responsible and accountable for their learning, it stands to reason that the "punitive school" is being counter productive in achieving these desired outcomes." | |
| Men stopping rape exercises | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 6, Number 1, (Nov 2005), which presents a "list of some of the exercises developed by the members of Men Stopping Rape in Madison, WI, for use in anti-rape workshops, I compiled this list for use in Syracuse at a Man-to-Man training program entitled 'Practical Strategies for Ending Abuse: A Skill Training for Educators.'" | |
| Making friends, being friends: Cooperative conversations for grades K-6 | 26-page pdf handbook which "show[s] K-6 teachers how Mix It Up themes can be woven into classroom discussions, issues, events, holidays, routines and academic content. Mix It Up is about talking with and connecting with those around you. The lessons center on group conversations combined with cooperative learning — termed “cooperative conversations†in this handbook. These conversations help children reach across social boundaries, get to know each other and gain respect for different viewpoints." | |
| Evaluation of respectful conflict resolution and peer mediation program | 35-page pdf report of project whose "primary purpose is to provide data for schools and their surrounding communities to become more peaceful by empowering teachers, students, parents, and community leaders to constructively address conflict and violence in their families, schools, and communities through integrated, sustainable, and comprehensive respectful conflict resolution skills programs ... a total of seven schools were visited for this study, seven administrators, six parents, and twenty-nine students participated, interviews were conducted with school administrators and focus groups were conducted with parents and students." | |
| Community-based bullying prevention: tips for community members | Pdf document, geared toward community members, discussing bullying prevention. | |
| Coaching youth initiatives: Guide for supporting youth participation | 150-page PDF guide which, "explores the concepts of coaching, youth initiatives and youth participation, including practical tools and methods, advice and information, opportunities and support for those encouraging young people’s participation in youth initiatives ... As a handbook which aims to offer practical support for people active in coaching youth projects, the biggest part of this publication deals with ‘coaching’ itself and the adaptation of different coaching techniques to the field of youth work." | |
| Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Sara's choice a collection of stories and poetr | 59-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 activities on behalf of the government." A collection of stories and poems, each reflects an aspect of peace education or responds to particular needs in the community. | |
| Role of conflict/conflict resolution in anti-racism education curriculum | Essay which "examine[s] the role of conflict and conflict resolution in antiracism education curriculum in school settings, the role of explicit antiracist curriculum in facilitating questioning, talk back, rethinking, positive conflict, and re-evaluating, are important conditions in teaching for equity and social justice, the impact of how the curriculum is used will also be analysed and explored throughout this paper." Includes bibliographical references. | |
| Northeast Ohio Juvenile Corrections Officer (JCO) pilot curriculum | Web-based pilot-project under the coordination of the Global Issues Resource Center at Cuyahoga Community College. "This 120 hour pilot curriculum attempts to address training deficiencies which often lead to high levels of [Juvenile Corrections Officer] staff turnover and increased operational costs ... The challenges associated with the supervision, rehabilitation, and treatment of these [incarcerated] youth has compounded over the last two decades; placing juvenile corrections officers on the front lines. Juvenile detention facilities primarily house youth who have committed a violent or sexually oriented crime, suffer from persistent mental illness, are repeat offenders and have a history of substance abuse (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2004). This youth population has increased the challenges faced by juvenile detention personnel, thereby creating a demand for more professional, higher skilled detention employees ... For the first time in Ohio, the Northeast Ohio Juvenile Detention Professional Development Project established a comprehensive curriculum for entry level staff that went beyond the current minimum standards to address growing risk factors ... The Project’s Advisory Committee and partners believe that by investing in Ohio’s juvenile corrections officers, agencies can reduce staff turnover, increase employee morale, and improve relationships between staff members as well as between staff and incarcerated youth. It is the Committee’s hope that the pilot curriculum will facilitate the implementation of a formal certification process for staff and agencies utilizing the comprehensive training tool. The existence of a formal certification process will help provide the foundation for recognizing juvenile corrections as more than a job, but rather a profession characterized by motivated and dedicated staff." |
|
| SCORE Quick Reference Guide to Peer Mediation for Students | 10-page guide for student peer mediators that reviews the mediation process and provides practice tips. Developed for use by the Student Conflict Resolution Experts (SCORE) program in Massachusetts as "a quick reference guide for students to accompany their training". | |
| International Day of Peace Educational Resource Packet | This 16-page pdf provides a framework for educating about the culture of peace and offers suggested activities and resources for use on the International Day of Peace. Includes ideas for Elementary, Middle and High School level classrooms. | |
| Managing and resolving conflicts effectively in schools and classrooms | A multipart learning module developed by the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Drug Prevention and School Safety Coordinators which contains a five-day curriculum which providing educators and administrators with the skills and techniques to manage and eventually reduce conflict in schools. Day 1 addresses conflict and conflict management in education, day 2 presents curriculum infusion and peer mediation, day 3 introduces the peaceable school and classroom, day 4 presents best practices in conflict resolution education and day 5 helps educators develop a conflict management plan. Includes annotated bibliography and list of CRE organizations and programs. | |
| Making class matter and engaging difference | 42-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Sustaining Conflict Resolution Education: Building Bridges to the Future conference in Fairfax, VA, which "explore[d] ways to make ideas relevant and memorable so students take the ideas home and apply them to their every day lives, examples will include exercises on how to understand and engage difference well." | |
| 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. | |
| Tips for selecting materials from the resource list | Pdf document providing tips for choosing materials on bullying. | |
| Peer mediator training: Student workbook (web version) | 27-page pdf web version of student workbook for peer mediation training. Discusses topics such as communication skills, conflict resolution and mediation procedures (with role play exercises), and agreement writing. Designed as part of a 1-day peer mediation training. | |
| 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." |