It’s about Relationships: Creating Positive School Climates

When teachers wonder “What should I do?” in response to challenging student behaviors, the answers are not as simple as they might seem. What teachers can do also depends, at least in part, on external demands (e.g., discipline codes, principal expectations, time pressures on teaching content and testing) that can either facilitate or thwart positive resolutions of conflicts. The most effective teachers in working with challenging students had very positive relationships with them. For years, many school districts have provided training or support around positive discipline but with little evidence of improving the culture of punishment that pervades many New York City schools. This author found that most educators were not directly trained in the strategies their schools were trying to implement. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a tiered framework of positive behavior systems in a school. Success depends on having clear expectations that are taught, rehearsed, and reinforced consistently across settings. In spring 2012, The Atlantic Philanthropies awarded a three-year, $300,000 grant to the consortium that helped cover start-up costs, technology, and professional development. With this grant, the consortium has sought to support schools regarding student behavior. This was the beginning of what would become the Positive Learning Collaborative (PLC), an initiative jointly run by the United Federation of Teachers and the New York City Department of Education to help educators create positive school environments. The Positive Learning Collaborative (PLC) is a holistic approach that focuses on teaching reflective and restorative practices and was implemented in the New York City school system. To that end, educators are coached to be mindful of their own internal dialogue and to teach students coping skills to deal with feelings such as anger and frustration.

Be Civil! The Search for Civility

This classroom resource was developed as part of the Catholic Schools Opposing Racism (COR) initiative, which ran for eight years (2000-2008) in the Chicago Illinois area. It is part of a much larger collection of materials available at http://racebridgesforschools.com

Circle Time Poster

This poster, designed for use with primary age students in the U.K., is an aid to those who use circle time and provides useful reminders for children to ensure the sessions are positive and productive.

Leading a Workshop on Conflict Management for Teaching Assistants

Article Abstract: The aim of this article is to share a conflict management workshop that the authors developed to train teaching assistants to proactively manage conflict, achieve productive results for conflict, and establish a climate of trust in which relationships beneficial to learning can flourish. The article begins by defining an approach to conflict management and explaining the rationale behind the workshop. A detailed plan of the workshop is then presented. Finally, results are reported of a “before the workshop” and “after the workshop” survey from two recent groups of workshop participants that shows improved perceived ability to deal effectively with conflict.

Don’t Laugh at Me Teachers Guide: Grades 2-5 Creating a Ridicule-Free Classroom

Don’t Laugh At Me provides an effective tool for establishing a caring climate in which the emotional and physical abuse children suffer because of peer ridicule, bullying and other asocial behaviors is far less likely to occur. Operation Respect developed the Don’t Laugh at Me (DLAM) programs, one for grades 2-5, another for grades 6-8 and a third for summer camps and after-school programs. All of the programs utilize inspiring music and video along with curriculum guides such as this one based on the well-tested, highly regarded conflict resolution curricula developed by the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) of Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR). Visit http://www.operationrespect.org to sign up for the full free curriculum kit which includes evaluations, CD and Video along with the curriculum guides.

Coaching Children in Handling Everyday Conflicts

This newsletter article from the Responsive Classroom provides an example of a teacher assisting two second grade students as they work to resolve a conflict in the moment. Five basic skills are focused on to help build children’s capacity for conflict resolution. These include:
– Cooling off when upset
– Speaking directly to each other
– Speaking assertively, honestly, and kindly
– Listening carefully to others and accurately paraphrasing their words
– Proposing solutions and agreeing on a solution to try

The author explains the importance of using the teachable moment: “Beginning with the first days of the school year, students have predictable conflicts about sharing materials, choosing work partners, or deciding whom to play with. These are times when you can teach the basic skills by guiding the children in navigating a difficult interpersonal moment. You’ll send a strong message about how disagreements will be handled in your class. You’ll also give children opportunities to experience themselves as problem-solvers in situations that really matter to them.”

UNESCO Peace Pack (Combined)

The UNESCO Peace Pack is a set of materials for the elementary school teacher. It was prepared following a series of seven subregional Culture of Peace Children’s Festivals held in 1995. A thousand Peace Packs were produced on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations and UNESCO (1995). These resource materials were tested successfully in 125 countries. As its contribution to the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, UNESCO distributed the Peace Pack worldwide beginning in 2001. The various pieces are no longer directly available via UNESCO’s website, but this combined document retrieved from the internet archive extends its availability.

Included in the combined document is a teacher’s handbook explaining and describing the various materials in the package. Also included is a set of topical posters on a series of topics of concern to children with corresponding questions for discussions. In addition, there are seven activity cards which deal with the following topics:
– What is peace?
– Tolerance and respect
– Conflict the wrong way
– What are my rights?
– It’s our world
– Getting to know you – intercultural learning
– Learning together

Also included is a set of Appeals to world leaders that were written by the children at the seven regional UNESCO Peace Festivals. Students are encouraged to review the appeals and suggest changes or additions.

How to Have a Conference – Coloring Book

An 8-page pdf coloring book written and illustrated by Friends School of Minnesota 5th grader Patrick Raines. It is designed to introduce students to the conference meeting (conflict resolution meeting) used by the school to resolve student disputes.

Getting to Know You – Classroom Activities for Starting Off the School Year from Morningside Center

As a new school year begins, teachers and students renew relationships after the long summer break, see new faces, and establish their routines for the year. The activities in this packet are designed to help you get the year off to a good start by engaging you and your students in getting to know each other, practicing listening skills, and discussing the values that will shape your classroom community. There are separate sets of activities for grades Pre-K to 2, grades 3 to 5, and grades 6 to 12. They are adapted from exercises in the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program and the 4Rs Program (Reading, Writing, Respect & Resolution) developed by the Morningside Center.

Beginning with the Children – A guide to creating a Peace Helpers program, grades K-2

This 73-page guide presents a field-tested, step-by-step process schools can use to train and support young students (K-2) in serving as “peace helpers” in their classrooms. After training sessions to develop their skills in listening, handling feelings, and mediating conflicts, they help their teacher establish a peace corner. Upon request they are available to work in the peace corner, listening to a student who is upset or helping two classmates talk out a conflict.

Chapter 1 of the guide describes the Peace Helpers Program at P.S. 24 in Brooklyn, NY, to provide a vision of what’s possible. Chapter 2 describes the ingredients for a successful program and a process a school planning team can use to decide whether now is the time for a Peace Helpers Program at their school. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 describe the steps for establishing and sustaining the program, including detailed agendas for workshop sessions to train the peace helpers. The Appendix has handouts for the peace helpers’ training and other aids for implementing the program.

Conflict Resolution Education in Indonesia: Mapping Adaptations and Meanings

This study, available as a pdf, examined the ways professors in teacher education departments in two universities in East Java translated and adapted Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) methods. To map the ways they adapted and understood cooperative learning (CL) and non-coercive classroom management (NCCM), a critical ethnography (a blend of ethnography and action research) was done based on Carspecken’s (1996) design. It was conducted from October 2004 to February 2008 in two universities in East Java. The results were based upon field work that included passive and participatory observations, semi-structured interviews, document analysis, surveys, and critical dialogues with primary informants. Analysis was framed using Roger’s (1995) diffusion stages. Findings indicated that although there were some very serious challenges to the adoption of these two innovations, there were points where bridges could be built in both practice and understanding. Barriers included informants’ struggles to shift from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction while still maintaining culturally prescribed expressions of authority. Related themes were challenges instructors encountered in engaging students through facilitation practices and reciprocal communication.

Class Meetings as a Tool for Classroom Management and Character Development: An Annotated Bib

Classroom management literature emphasizes non-punitive methods of managing a classroom of students, suggesting that democratic class meetings are an important or central element to developing student character. Class meetings are presented as a method of teaching children problem solving skills, conflict resolution, and a means for encouraging character education through intrinsic motivation and self regulation in academics and behavior. This annotated bibliography presents a list of resources for teachers seeking ways to increase character education through classroom management techniques. (Contains 1 note and 19 references.)

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.”

Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Teacher training manual 3

50-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 manual looks at ‘good teaching’ and the skills required to develop ‘good teaching’, these skills are useful not just for a Peace Education Programme but also for all aspects of the professional life of the teachers whom you are training.”

Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Teacher training manual 2

58-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 manual looks at “good teaching” and the skills required to develop “good teaching”, these skills are useful not just for a Peace Education Programme but also for all aspects of the professional life of the teachers whom you are training.”