Our browseable glossary of terms related to conflict resolution in education provides quick access to terms you may hear used in the field.

Another useful tool for understanding more general education-related terms is the ERIC thesaurus.

• Interpersonal negotiation strategies

  Definition: Selman's theory of strategies that children use in conflict at various stages of conflict competence

• Intractable conflict

  Definition: conflicts that have escalated to a point where management or resolution is extremely unlikely

  Related term(s): Unsolvable conflict

• Issue proliferation

  Definition: bringing additional issues to a conflict beyond the issues the conflict itself is about, increases conflict escalation

  Related term(s): ",kitchen sink", syndrome

• Joint session

  Definition: In mediation when all the parties to the conflict are in the same room with the mediator(s) and are discussing the conflict

• Kinesics

  Definition: the study of nonverbal communication through body movement

  Related term(s): Body language

• Lead mediator

  Definition: In a co-mediation situation, the mediator who leads or has the most authority to guide the mediation process

• Legitimate power

  Definition: Influence we have because of our formal position or role

  Related term(s): Hierarchical power

• Limbic system

  Definition: the part of the brain that is associated with instinctive survival impulses

  Related term(s): Reptilian brain

• Listening

  Definition: the process of receiving, attending to, and assigning meaning to aural stimuli

• Low-context (LC) communication

  Definition: a message in which the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code, used to define cultures in communication

• Mediation

  Definition: The process of a third party facilitating negotiation between disputants without making a decision for them

• Mediator

  Definition: The third party who helps parties negotiate by facilitating their communication and helping them problem-solve but who does not have decision-making power

• Message levels

  Definition: every time we communicate, we are sending a message with two levels of information: the content and the relational levels

• Meta-communication

  Definition: communicating about our communication

• Meta-emotions

  Definition: how we feel about our feelings, emotions about our emotions