Policymakers and Administrators
Welcome to the Conflict Resolution Education Connection’s resources for policymakers and administrators. Our goal is to provide information that will support administrators interested in promoting or extending conflict resolution work within education. The sidebar menu to your right provides a listing of the content areas we focus on at this site.
CRE Conference Presentations
Using Extracurricular Activities to Broaden Perspectives of a Diverse College Community
- Presented by: Megan Erclauz, Susan Lohwater, Shirien Muntaser, Sarah Smith, Amana Zahriyeh, Cuyahoga Community College
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Citizen Diplomacy as CRE: Building Mutual Understanding and Peaceful Relations
- Presented by: Michelle Watson & Dr. Susan Colville-Hall
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Peer Mediation Partnerships: Linking University with Community
- Presented by: Lisa E. Shaw, Program Advisor and Interns: Rebecca Newman, Roxanne Libby, William Still and Jared Schmidt
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Ohio’s Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program
- Presented by: Edward M. Krauss, Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Strategies for Creating a Safe School Environment
- Presented by: William Pfohl, Western Kentucky University
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Expert Chat Session with Richard Cohen
- Presented by: Richard Cohen
- View Presentation and Abstract: Click Here
Sample Catalog Resources
Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.
| Resource Title | Description | Links |
|---|---|---|
| School-based violence prevention programs: A resource manual | 199-page pdf manual which "provides practical research- and expert-based information on school-based programs to prevent interpersonal violence. We review 79 prevention programs. Each has research evidence, addresses unique "at-risk" populations, such as children with disabilities, or uses innovative approaches to engaging youth." | |
| 25 years: Looking back and looking ahead | 20-page Powerpoint keynote address given at the Sustaining Conflict Resolution Education: Building Bridges to the Future conference in Fairfax, VA, which reviewed "the CRE field from the vantage point of Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR)." | |
| The Dignity in Schools Campaign Model Code on Education and Dignity | The Dignity in Schools Campaign Model Code on Education and Dignity presents a set of recommended policies to schools, districts and legislators to help end school pushout and protect the human rights to education, dignity, participation and freedom from discrimination. The Code is the culmination of several years of research and dialogue with students, parents, educators, advocates and researchers who came together to envision a school system that supports all children and young people in reaching their full potential. Five chapters organize the 104 page document. They cover Education, Participation, Dignity, Freedom from Discrimination, and Monitoring and Accountability.In October 2013, DSC released a new revised version of the Model Code, which includes new sections on: social and emotional learning, prevention and response to bullying behavior, reducing tickets and summonses issued in school, reducing racial disparities in discipline through culturally responsive classroom management, creating safe schools for LGBTQ students and other topics. A community toolkit was also created to help groups make good use of the Model Code. It is available separately. | |
| Teacher development for conflict participation: Facilitating learning for "difficult citizenship" | 15-page pdf article which "examines the professional development-related opportunities available to teachers to support their facilitation and teaching for peacebuilding citizenship, the few teacher learning opportunities offered seem unlikely to enhance teachers' capacity to foster diverse students' development of agency for difficult citizenship, much of the explicit professional development available in the schools examined emphasizes teachers' control of students and containment of disruption (peacekeeping), instead of their facilitation of diverse students’ participation in constructive conflict management (peacemaking and peacebuilding), professional learning opportunities are often relegated to short, fragmented occasions, primarily during teachers’ volunteer time after school: this severely limits their potential to foster critical dialogic learning on the difficult issues of citizenship education practice." Includes bibliography. | |
| Hip-Hop artists: Lesson and activity excerpted from the Tanenbaum curriculum COEXIST | 5-page PDF lesson plan in which students (grade 6-12), "will learn about stereotypes as well as how to identify and challenge their own biases. Students will also make connections to religion as an important aspect of identity and an influence within the realm of Hip-Hop." | |
| Preparing pre-service educators to break up fights -- before they happen | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 4, Number 1, (Oct. 2003), which discusses a project by the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention -- Center for the Prevention of School Violence (DJJDP Center), to prepare future teachers to effectively manage conflict. | |
| Negative interactions with faculty: Graduate student experiences | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 1, Number 3, (August/September 2000), studied the effects of mistreatment of graduate students by faculty on their health and psychological well-being. | |
| Conflict resolution skills ladder | 1-page PDF document which outlines a progression of skills and the behaviors associated with them in conflict resolution. | |
| Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning School Posters | The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) materials from the UK Primary National Strategies curriculum provide seven posters for use across the school. They are available for download as pdfs (see attachments in site sidebar). The topics include the following:Feelings detective – understanding my feelings and understanding the feelings of others. These two posters support children when trying to recognise their own feelings and the feelings of others.AssertivenessThis poster uses the ideas covered in the theme sets and provides a reminder about how we might behave assertively rather than timidly, aggressively or manipulatively.Problem solvingThis poster outlines a problem-solving process that might be used in social or learning situations.Peaceful problem solvingThis poster provides a reminder of the SEAL approach to resolving conflicts within the school.Circle timeThis poster is an aid to those who use circle time and provides useful reminders for children to ensure the sessions are positive and productive.The FightThis is a copy of The Fight by L. S. Lowry. It is used as a stimulus for work in Say no to bullying | |
| Peer mediation programs: An end to school violence? | On-line journal article which "focuses on the ineffectiveness of PMPs [Peer Mediation Programs] to combat higher-levels of school violence, part I discusses school violence, both past and present, part II explores the shift from traditional methods of discipline to more proactive and education-based methods that are used in many schools today, part III addresses the fundamentals of peer mediation including what it is and how it is implemented, part IV examines which students PMPs should be targeting and why PMPs fail to prevent them from committing violent acts on their schools, finally, the conclusion recommends ways to reduce conflict in schools." | |
| Practicing peace: A peace education module for youth and young adults in Solomon Islands: 4th draft | 99-page pdf document developed "to help people resolve interpersonal and inter-group conflict through productive and peaceful strategies, and to teach young people how they can participate in public life. The module is intended for use with youth and young adults in community and school settings in Solomon Islands." Skill areas include: Understanding rights and responsibilities; Understanding cultural diversity; Restorative justice and reconciliation; Gender relationship skills; Ability to live with change; Leadership qualities Conflict prevention; Traditional definitions of peace; Understand[ing] interdependence between individuals and society and Respect[ing] different cultures." | |
| 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." | |
| Conflict resolution, negotiation & team building: Reviewing an impossible course that worked | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 5, Number 1, (Sept 2004), which presents the story of a "course teaching dispute resolution, negotiation and team building (ACS 201: Dispute Resolution and Team Building) [which] was designed to fit into the program's first year curriculum, this essay reviews the nature of the course and in some detail the student response to it." The course was taught at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario. | |
| Evaluation report on progress made through the OSCE's efforts to unify the Gymnasium Mostar: Summer | 51-page Word evaluation "of the unification of the Gymnasium Mostar in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as commissioned by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to BiH ... the Gymnasium Mostar was an historic and premier secondary school prior to the war of 1992-1995. It was completely destroyed during the war and had become the centre of an effort to revitalize the historic Mostar downtown. An initiative to restore the multinational and high-quality nature of the school was viewed as an opportunity to use this divided school in this divided city as a model or beacon for potential reform efforts throughout the country." | |
| Conflict resolution: Citizenship education for young people with special needs | 27-page PDF document which aims to, "develop positive models for dealing with conflict and to practise appropriate responses to deal with conflict." Includes examples of use of universal access symbols to increase retention and understanding when working with low literacy participants and students in special education classrooms. | |
| Gender Toolkit: A manual for youth peace workers | This guide aims to provide flexible and context-sensitive tools for supporting awareness and gender mainstreaming in youth peacebuilding organisations. It address the challenge of how to include a "gender lens" in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of different projects while integrating gender issues at the structural and organisational levels. These challenges can be addressed first by acknowledging their existence and making corrective entries to the organisations' apparatus of power, and secondly by transforming the challenges into something positive and productive. The 69-page guide provides a short overview of internal gender mainstreaming and gender mainstreaming in project management backed up by checklists and annotated resources in every section, best practices and trouble-shooters, as well as tips, quotes and advice. An appendix provides some activity modules that will lend a hand in addressing gender issues in organisations and projects. | |
| Evaluation report: Life skills project implementation in the Armenian education system | 45-page Word report which "represents an evaluation of implementation of the Life Skills Project being conducted in the Armenian education system as [a] component of an overall effort in education reform ... the project was piloted in the first and fifth grades in 16 schools in 1999-2000. In 2000-2001 the project was expanded to 100 schools and to the second and sixth grades. UNICEF provided funding and some logistical support and the MOES provided administrative and logistical project support and workspace for the curriculum development team." | |
| VOV activities: Understanding the value of dialog, grades 7-12 | 13-page PDF document with a number of activities to aid secondary students in improving communication skills. | |
| How We Can Fix School Discipline Toolkit | The 77-page 'How We Can Fix School Discipline Toolkit' contains step-by-step tools and real-life stories about implementing the alternatives to suspension and expulsion that are proven to keep students in school and learning, improve school climate and student behavior, allow teachers to teach more effectively, help administrators meet benchmarks, and keep communities from seeing many of their children ending up in the juvenile justice system. Alternative approaches featured include School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (SWPBIS), Restorative Justice or Restorative Practices, and Social Emotional Learning. The document is structured as follows: 1. Know the problem (pages 4-10) 2. Learn about alternatives from real-life examples (pages 11-48) 3. Advocate for Change (page 63) 4. Monitor progress (pages 68-70) 5. Get the word out (pages 64-67) 6. Contacts (pages 71-78) A companion website is available at http://www.fixschooldiscipline.org. A video archive of a webinar introducing the toolkit is available at http://youtu.be/6PrCh0MiRZc | |
| Conflict resolution across the curriculum | Pdf article reprinted from the Aug/Sept 1997 Issue (Vol 79) of The Fourth R, The Newsletter of the National Association for Mediation in Education which creates an argument for the teaching of conflict resolution in colleges and universities in every academic discipline as a necessary skill for graduation much like basic writing skills classes. "Ultimately, conflict resolution across the curriculum suggests that good conflict resolution skills need broader integration into the culture in which we live, conflict resolution must not simply be the private domain of specialists, it must be a way in which everyone learns to solve problems, it must become a part of every discipline just as good writing is a part of every discipline." |