Conflict Resolution

Standards: Content Standard Social Studies Standard C (Political Science and Citizenship)

NCSS:

·         Help learners to explain conditions and motivations that contribute to conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among groups, societies, and nations.

MMSD:

·         Cooperate in group settings to establish and achieve mental goals and promote the welfare of its members.

·         Demonstrate responsibility for their role within the school environment (i.e., school rules, respect the rights of self and others, appropriate behaviors).

·         Identify and evaluate ways conflicts can be resolved.

UW Madison Teacher Education:

·         Standard 6: Connects School and Community – Each school has a different discipline system; however, most have a goal of teaching students how to deal with conflict on their own without getting teachers involved.  Being able to handle conflict in a healthy way will help the students to be better citizens in their community when conflicts arise.

·         Standard 13: Is a Reflective Practitioner – Often I make the assumption that students understand how to solve problems on their own or to just ignore the problem and keep playing.  After speaking with several students I discovered that they need to be taught and modeled how to resolve conflict in a healthy way.

Materials Needed:

·         Three posters each with a word and its definition (idea borrowed from Debbie Haren):

o   Negotiations: When the people involved solve the problem by agreeing on a solution.

o   Mediation: A person not involved sets rules for the conversation and helps to be sure the rules are followed.

o   Arbitration: A person not involved gets involved and suggests solutions to solve the problem.

Objectives:

·         Students will be able to define what negotiation, mediation and arbitration mean.

·         Students will be able to dramatize the different types of conflict resolution by acting them out in front of the class.

Lesson Context:

·         Students have discussed what a conflict is and how we should use our words to resolve a conflict rather than violence.  This lesson will teach students different styles of conflict resolution and how they can handle a conflict without getting an adult involved.

Lesson Opening:

·         Have the students come over to the rug and review what was discussed during the previous lesson about anger and conflict.  Remind them that we learned that we need to use our words to resolve conflict but not hurtful words. 

Procedures:

·         Conflicts are very hard to work out and sometimes we need to get someone else involved to help us out.  First, we should try to resolve the conflict with the person that we had the conflict with directly.  This is called negotiation when no one else gets involved and the two parties involved find a solution.  Ask the students if they have ever worked out a problem with another person directly.  How did it go?  Did you make a decision that was beneficial for both sides? 

      o   Have two students volunteer to come to the front of the classroom and act out a conflict resolution.  As the teacher, provide a conflict that might come up and walk the students through the process of resolving it.

·         Ask again if anyone has had a conflict where someone else had to get involved.  There are two different ways that people get involved when they are helping to solve a conflict.  They must be a neutral party which means that they are not likely to take one side over the other just because they are friends with one and not the other.  One way is for the third person to set ground rules that the other two parties have to follow.  This is called mediation.  What could some of those rules be? (One person gets 2 minutes to talk and the other person has to listen and then they switch and the other person gets 2 minutes to talk.)  Make it clear that the third party does not get involved in the issue.

      o   Again have students volunteer to act out this kind of conflict resolution.  Have a third party volunteer that will remain neutral.

·         The other way a third person gets involved is to share their opinion and try to help the two parties come to a solution.  This is called arbitration.  Can anyone think of a time that they have had to have a third person help come up with a solution?  This should always be a lasts resort because we should be able to work out conflict with our peers.

      o   Ask for volunteers to act out arbitration.  You could have multiple children in each party. For example, out a recess two teams are playing soccer and a fight starts.  Have some students be one team, some be the other and choose an arbitrator.

·         Explain to the students that even adults use these three forms of conflict resolution but it is best for everyone if the two parties can take care of the problem without getting anyone else involved.

·         Remind students that if they don’t feel safe they should always ask for an adult to get involved.  There are certain conflicts that require an adult.

Closure:

Ask the students to tell you the three words and what they mean as a quick review.  Tell the kids that you think they did an awesome job and you are really excited to see them resolve conflicts on their own in the future.

Assessment:

Informal: Listen to the students’ review of what a conflict is and see if they understood what we talked about the day before.
Informal: Watch as students try out resolving conflicts with support.
Informal: Ask questions at the end of the lesson to check for understanding and review.