This 6-page pdf provides colorful poster and handout examples excerpted from the Teacher’s Guide for Harmony Island by Academic Edge, Inc. Harmony Island is a multimedia-enhanced conflict resolution curriculum designed to help learners broaden their understanding of conflicts and develop their conflict resolution skills. Students are introduced to core strategies that have proven to be effective in conflict resolution. STAR (Stop, Think, Act, Refect) is a series of steps learners can take to think about and avoid or resolve conflicts. APE (Active Listening, Problem Solving, and Emotional Awareness) is an acronym that summarizes some of the key skills involved in avoiding and resolving conflicts. The full teachers guide and information on purchasing the game materials is available via www.harmonyisland.org
Archive
Making a difference: Creating more skillful educators & students & more peaceful schools through CRE
24-page pdf report which documents the work of the “Conflict Resolution Education Partnership (CRE Partnership)[which] has given over 80 grants to schools in Maryland that have resulted in significant and meaningful changes. Beyond implementing short-term safety measures, Conflict Resolution Rducation (CRE) involves teaching problem solving, anger management snd life lessons for effectively de-escalating and resolving conflicts in productive and peaceful ways. The tesults of the CRE Partnership show dramatic improvements in schools: duccessful conflict resolution programs reduce school discipline problems, improve student decision-making skills and increase academic achievement.”
Ferdinand the bull: The story of a bull who wouldn’t fight: Resource guide for teachers on NV
23-page pdf study guide created to accompany “The Hudson Vagabond Puppets’ production of Ferdinand tthe Bull [which] can serve as a focus point for an indepth look at conflict resolution in the classroom. The performance will end with a brief lecture-demonstration developed in conjunction with ENACT, a not-for-profit organization that teaches social skills to young people.”
Schools conflict resolution and mediation competition: Manual
27-page pdf manual for SCRAM a, “Year 9 & 10 interactive role play program which encourages the development of mediation skills in secondary school students. The mediation is based on fictitious community based scenario. A team of 6-8 students is given background information on an issue which is causing conflict among 4 participants. The team uses this information to practice their mediation skills.” Objectives for the students include: Learning to manage conflict in a productive way, to encourage the development of self esteem through self awareness, to encourage the development of self esteem through self responsibility, to encourage the parties to identify the issues that are in dispute, considering options, working towards an agreement that will meet the needs of all parties and encouraging the development of self esteem. For practice training scenarios go to: http://www.scram.business.ecu.edu.au/scenario.htm To find out more information about SCRAM see their website at: http://www.scram.business.ecu.edu.au/
Tackling tough topics: An educator’s guide for working with military kids
12-page pdf booklet “created by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to assist educators in better understanding and being responsive to the unique issues facing military kids whose parents or loved ones have been or are currently deployed. It provides practical, hands-on information to help those in school settings deal with the “tough to talk about†topics students experience in the schools setting including: Talking to Kids About Violence, Terrorism, and War; Supporting Military Kids During Deployment, Homecoming, and
Reunion; Helping Kids Cope with Stress; Understanding the Impact of Grief and Loss; Coping with Death and Fostering Resilience.”
In the mix lesson plan: Managing anger
Web based lesson plan “designed to teach anger management and conflict resolution through the ‘I-Message’ communication technique and other group activities.” Draws on materials provided by PBS’s In the Mix program http://to.pbs.org/2sX2aD2
In the mix lesson plan: A primer on peer mediation
Web resource “designed to introduce students to the process of mediation. If Peer Mediation is an ongoing program at your school, this lesson can be used to inform students of what they can expect if they choose to solve a problem through mediation. It can also be used to encourage students to train to become mediators. If Peer Mediation is new to your school, this lesson can be the jumping-off point to bringing a training program into your building. If possible, the PBS In the Mix episode http://to.pbs.org/2sX2aD2 should be used because it shows an actual mediation (re-enacted) and shares viewpoints from both the participants and the student mediators.”
Road to peace, The: A teaching guide on local and global transitional justice
10-chapter teaching guide “that introduces students who have a general knowledge of human rights to the concept of transitional justice. Using the expertise of The Advocates’ human rights monitoring teams, who carried out work in Peru and Sierra Leone, The Advocates for Human Rights has created this teaching guide to be used with ninth grade through adult learners … The Road to Peace, as its title suggests, does not just teach about justice, but seeks to advance justice. The lessons are planned to encourage creative thinking about conflict resolution and restoration of justice, so that students feel empowered to promote justice in their own communities as well as around the world. The Road to Peace teaches about justice on a local and an international scale, asking students to make connections between instances of justice and injustice in their own lives, and in situations where justice has been or is being threatened in other countries … this comprehensive teaching guide introduces students to the concept of transitional justice through:
* Lessons on the root causes of war and conflict
* An overview of human rights and different transitional justice mechanisms
* Mock war crimes tribunal and mock truth commission role plays
* In-depth country case studies
* Individual case studies on human rights abuses
* Investigative tools to study the need for transitional justice in the U.S.
* Skill-building resources on how to apply reconciliation on a local level
* Conflict resolution and peer mediation exercises
* A transitional justice glossary
* Resources for further study and action on peace and justice.” Includes detailed glossary, organizations list and bibliography.
Peer mediator training: Student workbook (web version)
27-page pdf web version of student workbook for peer mediation training. Discusses topics such as communication skills, conflict resolution and mediation procedures (with role play exercises), and agreement writing. Designed as part of a 1-day peer mediation training.
Peer mediator training: Student workbook
27-page pdf student workbook for peer mediation training. This is the high-quality version designed for printing. Discusses topics such as communication skills, conflict resolution and mediation procedures (with role play exercises), and agreement writing. Intended for use as part of a 1-day peer mediation training.
Curriculum in mediation, A: Lesson plans gateway
5-page pdf document which presents a teacher’s guide for training peer mediators, provides links to workbook lesson plans for conflict management, communication skills, role playing exercises and agreement writing.
Strategies to prevent youth violence
92-page pdf chapter from “Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action,” which investigates “Social-cognitive interventions strive to equip children with the skills they need to deal effectively with difficult social situations, such as being teased or being the last one picked to join a team. They build on Bandura’s social-cognitive theory, which posits that children learn social skills by observing and interacting with parents, adult relatives and friends, teachers, peers, and others in the environment, including media role models (Bandura 1986). Social-cognitive interventions incorporate didactic teaching, modeling, and role-playing to enhance positive social interactions, teach nonviolent methods for resolving conflict, and establish or strengthen nonviolent beliefs in young people … Mentoring—the pairing of a young person with a volunteer who acts as a supportive, nonjudgmental role model—has been touted by many as an excellent means of providing a child or adolescent with a positive adult influence when such an influence does not otherwise exist. Evidence has shown that mentoring can significantly improve school attendance and performance, reduce violent behavior, decrease the likelihood of drug use, and improve relationships with friends and parents.”
Social and emotional learning (SEL) and student benefits
12-page pdf document brief which “shares the latest research on the effects of social and emotional learning SEL) on students and includes strategies for implementing SEL, it explains how SEL works, elaborates on how SEL can be an integrative prevention framework that addresses the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) core elements, and spells out implications of the research for SS/HS grantees.”
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.”
Managing and resolving conflicts effectively in schools and classrooms
A multipart learning module developed by the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Drug Prevention and School Safety Coordinators which contains a five-day curriculum which providing educators and administrators with the skills and techniques to manage and eventually reduce conflict in schools. Day 1 addresses conflict and conflict management in education, day 2 presents curriculum infusion and peer mediation, day 3 introduces the peaceable school and classroom, day 4 presents best practices in conflict resolution education and day 5 helps educators develop a conflict management plan. Includes annotated bibliography and list of CRE organizations and programs.