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

Cool School – FMCS Youth Initiative Interactive Game

  • Presented by: F.J. Lennon and Melanie Killen
  • View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here

Making Class Matter and Engaging Difference

  • Presented by: Rachel M. Goldberg
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Supporting Community “Thirdsiders” via the East Side Conflict Resolution Outreach Project

  • Presented by: Bill Warters and Daniela Shuke, Wayne State University MADR Program
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Strategies for Creating a Safe School Environment

  • Presented by: William Pfohl, Western Kentucky University
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SEL Conceptual Framework for Positive Youth Development

  • Presented by: Molly McCloskey-Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, USA
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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
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."
Conflict resolution across the curriculum Pdf article reprinted from the Aug/Sept 1997 Issue (Vol 79) of The Fourth R, The Newsletter of the National Association for Mediation in Education which creates an argument for the teaching of conflict resolution in colleges and universities in every academic discipline as a necessary skill for graduation much like basic writing skills classes. "Ultimately, conflict resolution across the curriculum suggests that good conflict resolution skills need broader integration into the culture in which we live, conflict resolution must not simply be the private domain of specialists, it must be a way in which everyone learns to solve problems, it must become a part of every discipline just as good writing is a part of every discipline."
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.
Preventing and countering school-based harassment: A resource guide for k-12 educators, rev. ed. 76-page PDF guide which "is the result of two conferences on racial harassment and numerous training-of-trainer administrator workshops conducted during the past eight years by the Equity Center (formerly the Center for National Origin, Race, and Sex Equity—CNORSE) where the intersection of the issues of racial and sexual harassment have been made clear by educators in the field. Although much national attention has been focused separately on the issues of racial harassment and sexual harassment, the reality is that when one form of harassment occurs, the opportunity exists for all types of harassment. Focusing only on one type of harassment can allow another type of harassment to go unchallenged. This guide addresses the more comprehensive issue of school-based harassment by capturing similarities in cause of, type of, and remedy for all forms of harassment while also addressing the unique and legal aspects of racial and sexual harassment, as appropriate. The hope is that the material will help school staff, families, students, and communities to create a safe and bias-free learning environment."
Building effective peer mentoring programs in schools: An introductory guide 54-page PDF guide which, "provides a framework for designing a peer mentoring program, where older youth (typically high school students) mentor younger students (elementary or middle school) in a school setting. The guide incorporates the latest research on peer mentoring, and provides solutions to the common challenges faced in implementing a peer mentoring model."
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."
Grasping the nettle: Policy issues for university dispute resolution programs Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 4, (July 2002), which discusses issues and challenges in conflict resolution education at the university level.
Campus conflict hotspot mapping Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 3, Number 3, (May 2003), which discusses the idea of Hotspot mapping, the "opportunistic sampling of campus community members to get their input on where conflict occurs on campus and what its relative intensity may be."
Creating harmony in the classroom: Building safe and inclusive classrooms for special populations 231-page pdf manual designed "to assist teachers with building an inclusive and safe classroom for all students, including special needs, deaf, and visually impaired youth. Teachers who build an inclusive and safe classroom environment are encouraging all youth to excel academically and socially." Includes chapters on building self-awareness in students, enhancing student's problem-solving skills, mediation in school settings, evaluting conflict resolution education programs and a chapter on resources.
Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Teacher activity book 361-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 ... the teacher's main resource it has a lesson-by-lesson curriculum for formal schooling structured according to the children's cognitive and emotional development."
Teaching about conflict through citizenship education 18-page pdf article which examined "Through interviews and observations in case study primary and secondary schools in the West Midlands, we therefore explored what was understood by this notion of global citizenship, and under this umbrella, what it was that students and teachers thought should be learned, we found that the most outstanding concern for students was war and conflict – and in the current context, not just historically, after giving some detail of these concerns, this paper attempts to develop a typology of different ways that schools teach about conflict before making more general arguments about the importance of peace education within a citizenship education framework and the role of teachers in tackling both difference and indifference."
Truancy prevention through mediation program 9-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Second International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education, which "provide[s] an understanding of the structure, philosophy, and value of early intervention truancy mediation as it is practiced in Ohio, the role of the schools, juvenile court, social service agencies, charities, and other entities will be discussed along with information on how to start a program in a community, potential funding sources, the role and training of the mediators, and other relevant material.
To be or not to be: Conflict resolution as a discipline 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 discussing conflict resolution as an academic discipline.
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.
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
Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Background notes for facilitators 37-page pdf summary of the major points covered in the training sessions to be used as a reference. This manual is "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."
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."
SACSC Toward a safe and caring secondary curriculum 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 "purpose of the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities Toward a Safe and Caring Curriculum Secondary Unit and Lesson Plans web-based resource is to provide units, lesson plans and other resources that integrate safe and caring knowledge, skills and attitudes into all subject areas in the Alberta secondary curriculum... this resource was developed by Alberta reachers in whose classrooms the accompanying lessons have been field tested." The lessons address 6 topics: Living Respectfully; Developing Self-Esteem; Respecting Diversity and Preventing Prejudice; Managing Anger; Dealing with Bullying; and Resolving Conflicts Peacefully for junior and senior high school students.
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."
Conflict resolution education in teacher education: Expanding CRE programs and resources 22-page Powerpoint panel discussion presented at the Sustaining Conflict Resolution Education: Building Bridges to the Future conference in Fairfax, VA, which "provided an overview of the CRETE (Conflict Resolution Education in Teacher Education) project ... [a] program to provide pre-service teachers and school-based teaching mentors with critical skills and knowledge of conflict resolution education and class room management necessary for cultivating constructive learning environments for children, enhancing student learning and bolstering teacher retention."