Conflict Resolution Education - National Criminal Justice Reference ...

♦ What strategies did students use to manage
conflicts prior to program training?
Before training, students generally managed their
conflicts in one of three ways: verbal or physical
abuse, teacher intervention, or withdrawal from
the conflict and the other person. A teacher stated
in her log, “Before training, students viewed conflict
as fights that always resulted in a winner
and a loser. To avoid such an unpleasant situation,
they usually placed the responsibility for resolving
conflicts on me, the teacher.” Students did
not know how to engage in problem resolution
or integrative negotiations.
♦ Did the program training successfully teach
students negotiation and mediation procedures?
After the training ended, students knew the negotiation
and mediation procedures and retained
this knowledge.
♦ Could students apply the negotiation and
mediation procedures to conflicts?
For the three measures used (written responses
to conflict scenarios, oral responses to conflict
scenarios given in an interview, and role-playing
responses to conflict scenarios that were videotaped),
students were able to apply the negotiation
and mediation procedures to various conflicts.
♦ Did students transfer the negotiation and mediation
procedures to nonclassroom and nonschool
situations?
The findings showed that students used the negotiation
and mediation procedures in the hallways
and lunchroom as well as on the playground.
They also used the procedures in family settings.
♦ Did students rely on “win-lose” strategies or negotiation
strategies when presented with an option?
After completing the program training, students
were placed in a negotiation situation that presented
the opportunity either to win or to maximize
joint outcomes. Although untrained students
frequently tried to win, the majority of trained
students focused on maximizing joint outcomes.
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♦ Did the program training increase overall
academic achievement?
In three of the studies, the training was integrated
into English literature units. While studying a
novel, students learned the negotiation and mediation
procedures, which were applied to the
dynamics among the major characters. At the
conclusion of the unit, students were given an
achievement test, and several months later they
were retested. The results indicated that the students
who received the integrated training earned
significantly higher achievement and retention
test scores than the students who studied the novel
but did not learn conflict resolution procedures.
♦ Did the program training result in fewer discipline
problems that required teacher and administration
management?
During the studies, the number of discipline
problems requiring teacher management decreased
by approximately 80 percent, and referrals
to the principal were reduced to zero.
♦ Did the program training create more positive
attitudes toward conflict?
Untrained students uniformly had negative attitudes
toward conflict. After training, students
developed more positive attitudes toward conflict.
Teachers, administrators, and parents believed
that the Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers
program was constructive and helpful. Many
parents whose children did not participate in the
project requested that their children receive the
training in the upcoming year. A number of parents
also asked if they could receive the training to
improve conflict management within the family.
Other Research
Additional assessment of the conflict resolution education
field supports the need for conflict resolution
programs and legitimizes the contention that effective
programs must be based on proven negotiation theory,
which can be translated into instructional procedures
that educators can use in the classroom. The following
items highlight some of the findings of this research: