Ten Lessons for Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills

A teaching packet provided by the Fairfax County Public Schools and the Student Safety and Wellness Office consisting of 10 lessons designed to help students learn conflict resolution skills. Each activity takes about an hour to complete and is designed to be interactive. As the authors note: “These skills are important for many reasons. Not only are they essential life skills, but they also help each individual acquire and maintain relationships, help make and maintain cohesive families, and increase the probability of attaining a job through communication and collaboration skills. These are pro-social skills which, in turn, increase student achievement levels and improve student resiliency.”
Topics covered include the following.
Lesson One: Introduction to Conflict and Types of Conflict
Lesson Two: Conflict Styles and Outcomes
Lesson Three: Different Points of View, Identifying Biases and Perspectives, Prejudice Awareness
Lesson Four: Steps for Solving Your Interpersonal Conflicts
Lesson Five: Nonverbal Communication Skills
Lesson Six: Communication
Lesson Seven: Effective Questioning Techniques
Lesson Eight: How to Handle Difficult Conversations
Lesson Nine: Problem Solving and Decision Making
Lesson Ten: Building Relationships, Developing a Win-Win Outcome Through Communication and Collaboration

GIRC Annotated Bibliography of Conflict Resolution Resources

An annotated bibliography from the Global Issues Resource Center on conflict resolution resources covering the topics of bullying prevention, classroom management, and trauma & violence prevention. Includes books, curricula, videotapes, simulations and games.

Conflict Resolution Day school toolkit

14-page pdf toolkit to aid in the planning of programs to celebrate Conflict Resolution Day on the third Thursday in October. It includes strategy tips, an activities list, publicizing advice and sample proclamations.

Harmony Island STAR and APE Activity Handouts

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

Institutional and Program/Practitioner Guidelines For Conflict Management in Higher Education

Document (30-page pdf) provides a set of guidelines designed to support the development of comprehensive, educational, integrated and conflict-friendly approaches to managing conflict and disputes in institutions of higher education. The target audience includes key decision makers such as senior administrators, deans and department heads, ombudspersons, anti-harassment officers, housing and security administrators, faculty, student affairs professionals, and various frontline conflict services staff. The consensus document was developed by a national working group including the full spectrum of campus conflict resolvers. Presents a set of nine core principles that are elaborated on reflecting best practices in the higher education ADR field. Includes appendix with resource links.

International Day of Peace Educational Resource Packet

This 16-page pdf provides a framework for educating about the culture of peace and offers suggested activities and resources for use on the International Day of Peace. Includes ideas for Elementary, Middle and High School level classrooms.

New national conflict resolution information initiative launched

Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 1, Number 1, (Jan/Feb 2000), introducing the Conflict Resolution Information Project (CRInfo), a cooperative effort to strengthen the conflict field’s information infrastructure.