Belinda Hopkins explains how restorative approaches are key to responding to bullying incidents. She refers to the new book by key anti-bullying and violence reduction campaigners Professor Helen Cowie and Dr Dawn Jennifer – New Perspectives on Bullying (Mcgraw Hill/OUP 2008) which advocates a restorative approach as a key part of a whole school response to bullying.
Archive
Lessons for Helping Students Develop Emotional Awareness to Support CRE
Richard Bodine and Donna Crawford defined six foundation abilities students need in order to participate in healthy conflict resolution, including orientation, perception, emotion, communication, creative thinking, and critical thinking. In this workshop, participants will learn multiple, developmentally appropriate, lowcost activities that can be used in classroom or counseling settings to develop emotion foundation abilities, in students grades K-8. Adaptations that would suit students with cognitive, behavioral and emotional challenges will be shared.
Virginia Tech Shooting: Lessons for Dismantling Norms About Violence
On April 17, 2007, the Virginia Tech shooting in the U.S. drew immense attention to Seung-Hui Cho as an “atypical” or even an “extraordinary” violent perpetrator. This presentation offers a preliminary inquiry into pedagogical actions for addressing the intersections among gender, race, ethnicity, social class, mental illness, and violence. The limitations of the thinking that pervaded the recent public discourse on the Virginia Tech Shooting will be revealed and a responsive pedagogical action proposed.
Working with Angry and Disruptive Youth in the Classroom
This workshop will provide insights into youth anger and strategies to positively address these challenges in the classroom. Participants will understand the reasons behind escalating behavior and will practice how to respond effectively to strong willed and/or out-of-control youth. Participants will learn strategies to deescalate emotions, maintain dignity and respect, and help the student focus on learning. Note: The six workshop handouts are packaged as a single .zip file.
Creating and Promoting Positive School Climate in Ohio’s Schools
A Review of an Anti-Harassment, Anti-Intimidation or Anti-Bullying Model Policy for education from the State of Ohio in the United States.
Values Education, Quality Teaching and Safe Schools (Australia)
Values-based education has received national attention in Australia over recent years as a means to address cultural identity, citizenship and environmental sustainability. Increasingly schools are being asked to articulate their values and translate these into practice. Values-based education for many schools is central to achieving quality learning and teaching outcomes. This interactive presentation will introduce some of the themes and research associated with current thinking in values education
Ohio’s Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program
This workshop will provide an understanding of the structure, philosophy, and value of early intervention truancy mediation as it is practiced in Ohio. The role of the schools, juvenile court, social service agencies, charities, and other entities will be discussed along with information on how to start a program in a community, potential funding sources, the role and training of the mediators, and other relevant material.
Cyberbullying & Relational Aggression: Who is it & What Can be Done?
Research shows that indirect aggressive acts such as cyberbullying and relational aggression are difficult for adults to detect and often harder to prove in a school setting. This workshop is designed to help school personnel understand the dynamics underlying indirect aggression, detect indirect aggression, discover who is doing it, and ways they can intervene and prevent this covert form of bullying. Results from a study examining the relationship between media and relational aggression and ways to infuse the information into the new anti-bullying legislation in Ohio will be shared. A comprehensive program being used in two Northeast, Ohio schools for teachers, families, and students will also be shared.
Changing the World – Youth Mediators Across the Globe
This presentation by Tricia Jones was the keynote for the Middle School peer mediators attending the Northern Virginia Student Mediation Conference held in conjunction with the ACR Education Section conference Sustaining Conflict Resolution Education: Building Bridges to the Future held at George Mason University. The slide show was complemented by a display of physical items from the various regions of the world being discussed and stories of peer mediation from that region.
Peer Mediation Partnerships: Linking University with Community
This workshop highlights best practices pertaining to peer mediation partnership initiatives between undergraduates and high school peer mediation programs. Faculty advisors and students currently participating in CAR/Mason’s Peer Mediation Partnership (PMP) initiative will discuss recent research on best practices and students will describe their experiences. Issues to be addressed include team-building and motivation, skills-sharing and training, program assessment, and leadership and guidance.
Conflict Resolution Education in Teacher Education: Expanding CRE Programs & Resources
This panel session provided an overview of the CRETE (Conflict Resolution Education in Teacher Education) project. CRETE is a national pilot funded by the George Gund Foundation and the US Dept of Education’s FIPSE program to provide pre-service teachers and school-based teaching mentors with critical skills and knowledge of conflict resolution education and class room management necessary for cultivating constructive learning environments for children, enhancing student learning and bolstering teacher retention. Included are preliminary results from some evaluations of the project and information on the number and kinds of activities carried out as of March 2008.
Making Class Matter and Engaging Difference
This workshop will explore ways to make ideas relevant and memorable so students take the ideas home and apply them to their every day lives. Examples will include exercises on how to understand and engage difference well.
25 Years: Looking Back and Looking Ahead
In this keynote address, Larry Dieringer reviews the CRE field from the vantage point of Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR). Larry has been a staff member at ESR for 24 years and has been its executive director for the last 15 years. He has overseen the national dissemination of the widely acclaimed Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) to 25 school districts and over 275 schools across the country, and the launch of a Masters Degree Program in Conflict Resolution and Peaceable Schools with Lesley University. An experienced workshop leader, school consultant, and university lecturer, he teaches nationally on topics including conflict resolution, diversity and anti-bias education, social and emotional learning, character development, and secondary school reform.
Connected and Respected: Lessons from Resolving Conflict Creatively
One of the challenges of sustaining comprehensive conflict resolution programs involves integrating conflict resolution education into the fabric of classroom life. This session will explore a model, five approaches, and practical strategies for integrating conflict resolution education into elementary classrooms based upon experiences in the widely disseminated and well-evaluated Resolving Conflict Creatively Program. The session will also look at how conflict resolution education can be linked with social and emotional learning competencies, character education, and national standards.
Strategies for Teaching Peace and CR in U.S. Undergraduate Environments
This workshop provides an overview of approaches that undergraduate institutions are using to teach about peace and conflict resolution. All forms of undergraduate education will be considered including liberal arts institutions, religious affiliated schools, state universities and community colleges.