Glossary of CRE-Related Terms
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.
- Criteria
- Definition: In principled negotiation and/or mediation, the standards used to determine whether a solution meets the interests of the parties and should be selected
- Related term(s): standards
- Criticism
- Definition: Verbal behavior that attacks the relational partner's personality or character, presents as a general deficit, not of a specific action or issue
- Related term(s): Face attacks, identity threats
- Cultural context
- Definition: the layers of culture that influence our communication in any given interaction
- Cultural display rules
- Definition: rules based on our cultural expectations that guide us in terms of appropriate behavior in a given situation
- Cultural identity
- Definition: views of ourselves that we share with other people in that culture based on influences in the culture
- Related term(s): Ethnic identity, gender identity, national identity, racial identity
- Cultural sensitivity
- Definition: Understanding that there are different emotional cultures as well as the ability to appropriately follow the display rules prescribing and proscribing emotional expression
- Culture
- Definition: shared ways of behaving and interpreting common to an identity group
- Defensive climates
- Definition: a climate or atmosphere that is created when a person perceives or anticipates a threat to their face or identity
- Related term(s): Hostile climates
- Defensive communication
- Definition: Communication that makes someone else more likely to become defensive
- Related term(s): Face-threatening communication
- Defensiveness
- Definition: communication behaviors devoted to resisting or preventing aggression or attack from a relational partner
- Related term(s): Self-protection
- Descriptive communication
- Definition: Non-defensive communication that describes something rather than evaluates
- Direct acknowledgment
- Definition: a confirming behavior that acknowledges the other by directly signaling that you have heard and understand their request or statement
- Disconfirmation
- Definition: behavior that communicates that the sender does not have the right of self-definition
- Related term(s): disrespect
- Display rules
- Definition: a culturally created understanding of how we should strategically show or express something
- Related term(s): Norms of communicating
- Disqualification
- Definition: the most sophisticated form of disconfirmation, looks as if you are responding to the other, but you answer refuses to engage them. Can take one of four forms: disqualify the sender, disqualify the receiver, disqualify the content, disqualify the context