Cultural Aspects of Conflict Resolution Education

Culture influences both the development and the delivery and reception of conflict resolution education.

Conflict Resolution education (CRE) should be culturally sensitive. Some people assume that conflict management can only work in certain cultures and certain school populations. The research demonstrates that many CRE programs are equally effective in a variety of cultural contexts. However, programs may be more effective and more readily adopted by students and staff if they are clearly sensitive to the school culture and the student culture. In some schools this may mean that an Afro-centric approach to CRE is used. In alternative education or special needs populations, where CRE has proven very effective, this could mean tailoring the program training or content to the special needs student.