Youth4Peace Training Toolkit

The Youth4Peace Training Toolkit that will guide you through the concepts and practice of delivering educational activities on conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and the creation of peaceful narratives.
This toolkit has been developed for beginners and intermediate youth trainers and educators in the field of peacebuilding and we hope that this is going to be a useful tool for you to start or further implement educational programmes on peace and transforming conflicts and narratives targeting youth through non-formal education.

Family Engagement in Peace Education Workbook

Children play a crucial role in creating social change and a better future for all. The “Family Engagement in Peace Education Workbook,” developed by Katie Santarelli of the DC Peace Team <dcpeaceteam.com/our-work/peace-education/>, encourages children to investigate the role that conflict plays in themselves, their community, and the world. The 32-page PDF has sections for elementary, middle school and high school youth, each providing 5 suggested activities. Throughout this exploration, activities are designed to pique a child’s curiosity in peaceful living and the role that nonviolent peacemaking can play in transforming conflict.

Peer Mediation Session for Stan and Susan

This 7-page scripted role-play illustrates the peer mediation process. It is designed to be used in the classroom with middle school age youth. It is based on scenario wherein Stan tripped, saw Susan laughing with her friend Misty, and immediately jumped to the conclusion that Susan was making fun of him. He called her a bad name in revenge. In classroom use, this activity may be preceded by the same scenario being played out as a negotiation between Stan and Susan. See related document “A Negotiation between Stan and Susan” for more details on the conflict.

Learning Skills of Peace through Every Day Conflicts

Practical Activities and Resources for Families, Teachers and Other Caregivers. Noting that the conflicts arising daily for young children provide an opportunity for adults to model and teach skills for handling conflict peacefully, this guide provides tips for preventing unnecessary conflict, offers “first aid” for conflict moments, and provides resources for addressing common situations that can cause conflict. Developed cooperatively by Ohio’s Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, Head Start Association, and Department of Education Division of Early Childhood, with implementation facilitated by many Ohio public libraries, the guide is comprised of 40 thematic units of instruction for the early childhood setting, with most units accompanied by home cards providing tips for preventing conflict and suggested activities. Each unit contains information on the importance of the topic for conflict management and its link to peace, suggested books, activities, and copies of home cards. The 40 units cover: (1) anger and aggression; (2) art; (3) bad day; (4) bad language; (5) bathtime; (6) bedtime; (7) behavior; (8) big and little; (9) big brother, big sister; (10) biting; (11) conflict; (12) cultural diversity; (13) death; (14) disabilities; (15) divorce; (16) dressing; (17) family; (18) fears; (19) feelings and emotions; (20) free choice; (21) lying; (22) mealtime at school; (23) mistakes; (24) nap time at school; (25) new baby; (26) teaching the problem-solving process; (27) safety; (28) school; (29) security objects; (30) self-esteem; (31) sharing; (32) siblings; (33) sickness; (34) stealing; (35) stress; (36) tantrums; (37) time out; (38) transitions; (39) whining and nagging; and (40) work. Also included in the guide are additional resources, such as a list of books for each unit, information on child development and child needs from birth to five years, and suggested readings for teachers and parents.

Let’s Resolve Conflicts Together: Middle School Classroom Activities

A 30-page guide filled with suggested activities designed to be used during Conflict Management Week (May 1-7, 2000) in Ohio Middle Schools. In the middle school classroom, making use of themes of conflict can invigorate subject areas across the curriculum. This activity booklet/guide offers ideas for improving the overall climate of the school and for learning how to resolve conflicts in the classroom. The guide first presents ideas for drawing attention to issues of conflict and peace. It then provides activities for helping students become aware of underlying causes of conflict. The guide cites the six steps to conflict resolution and states that, in addition to learning steps of a conflict management process, teachers may also work with students to enhance communication skills used in conflict management. According to the guide, these skills include understanding blocks to communication, using “I” statements, and improving listening skills–resources to teach these skills are included in the guide. The guide is divided into four broad sections: School-Wide Activities; Learning about Conflict; Communication Activities; and Conflict Management across the Curriculum.

Let’s Resolve Conflicts Together: Elementary School Classroom Activities

A 30-page guide filled with suggested activities designed to be used during Conflict Management Week (May 1-7, 2000) in Ohio Elementary Schools. This activity booklet/guide first offers ideas for how schools can engage in school-wide activities. The guide then describes a process for improving the overall climate of the school through the use of the classroom meetings. Six steps to conflict resolution are offered in the guide, as well as activities for helping students become aware of underlying causes of conflict. According to the guide, in addition to learning steps of a conflict management process, teachers may also work with students to enhance the communication skills used in conflict management; these include understanding blocks to communication, being aware of nonverbal communication, using “I” statements, and using active listening skills. The guide is divided into four broad sections: School-Wide Activities; Learning about Conflict; Communication Activities; and Conflict Management across the Curriculum.

Pioneer Peace Pack

This resource collection includes information and activities for groups of 10 – 12 year olds who are participating in the U.K.-based outdoor education group known as the Woodcraft Folk. The resource includes instructor overviews and associated handouts and reading materials for activities focused on the following themes: Bullying, Conflict Resolution, War Toys, War Detectives, Child Soldiers and Positive About Peace. The Conflict Resolution module alone includes 6 separate activities.

The Woodcraft Folk group describes their goals as follows: “Our aim is to have great fun, but also to try and develop children’s self-confidence and build their awareness of society around them. Through our activities, outings and camps we help our members understand important issues like the environment, world debt and global conflict and, in recent years, we have focused on sustainable development. By encouraging children to think, we hope they will help build a peaceful, fairer world.”

Peace and Nonviolence Curriculum Grades 1-6

This curriculum focused on nonviolence in daily life provides profiles of 12 peacemakers and provides suggested activities and a bibliography with suggested readings. The peacemaker profiles include Franz Jagerstatter, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Anwar Sadat, Eleanor Roosevelt, Dag Hammarskjold, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Will Rogers.

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.

Step Up: A Curriculum for Teens Who Are Violent at Home

The Step-Up curriculum is designed for counselors who facilitate groups with teens who have been violent towards a parent or family member. The curriculum uses a cognitive behavioral approach to help teens stop the use of violent and abusive behaviors and teaches nonviolent, respectful ways of communicating and resolving conflict with family members. The curriculum also includes materials for a parent group. The curriculum is designed to include parents at the beginning of each group session and then separate into a parent group and teen group or stay together for the session to work on learning a skill together.

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.

A negotiation between Stan and Susan

This 7-page scripted role-play illustrates the six-steps of the Negotiation process. It is designed to be used in the classroom with middle school age youth. It is based on scenario wherein Stan tripped, saw Susan laughing with her friend Misty, and immediately jumped to the conclusion that Susan was making fun of him. He called her a bad name in revenge.

11 Conflict Simulations for Peer Mediation Role-Plays

An 11-page classroom handout featuring 11 conflict scenarios that can be used by students to develop role-plays depicting a mediation. Includes peer mediation process script that walks students through a basic mediation process. The author explains “these Conflict Simulations were culled from over 150 written and oral interviews about He Said/She Said situations the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students at Clinton Middle School in Anderson County, Tennessee, faced during the 1998-1999 school year. A few of the simulation situations came from descriptions in books, TV talk shows, or personal conversations with teachers and middle school students in other parts of the country.”

Peer Mediation Student Handbook – Mediator Mentors

58 page mediation training manual in .doc format used to train peer mediators working at the elementary school level. Used as part of the Mediator Mentor program at California State University Fresno. The program is a university-public school partnership in which future teachers, counselors, social workers and school psychologists support the development of conflict resolution skills in school children. Teachers and students in the public schools receive eight to 10 hours of communication and conflict resolution training and university students coach and mentor at lunch periods. More than 5,000 children and teachers have participated in the program as of Spring 2010.