|
Child Care
with a Future Preventing
Teen Dating Violence Conflict
Resolution Southwestern
Food Factory On
the Bridge |
|
Conflict Resolution |
Created by: Jean Pryzbylkowski Introduction and Description This program is a unit in which students learn the skills of effective communication, anger management, problem solving, and conflict resolution which are needed for living and working today and in the future. The program is meant for middle or junior high school students to equip them with skills needed to effectively get along with a diverse population. This program is intended to help young people learn to resolve problems in positive ways with their families and friends. Description Conflict Resolution/Getting Along With Others is a unit in which students
learn the skills of effective communication, anger management, problem solving,
and conflict resolution, which are needed for living and working today and in
the future. Ideally, the unit
should be presented in the beginning of the first year of middle or junior high
school so that developing adolescents are equipped with the skills needed to
effectively get along with the diverse populations that populate our schools.
A variety of methods
are used to teach the unit and one method used is team teaching.
I was fortunate to have as a partner a FCS teacher who shared the same
ideas about our field and the need for this unit to be taught.
We were able to combine our classes for many activities, which gave us
the opportunity to model for our students cooperation, courtesy, teamwork, and
respect which are the basis of getting along with others.
Many times, a student’s comments or situation in class prompted a spontaneous vignette by us to expand an idea or
illustrate a point. Drama appeals to this age group and so magazine articles and stories such
as The Wise Men and the Elephant are rewritten as plays.
Other techniques used are role-playing and drawing cartoons to practice
skills. We have even used a magic
trick to transform put-downs into flowers.
Cooperative learning approaches are used when appropriate to teach
students the value of collaboration and cooperation in the problem solving
process. Daily classes are based on the
Elements of Effective Instruction model designed by Madeline Hunter.
An agenda for the lesson is posted which includes an anticipatory set,
objectives, activities, guided practice and a summary.
Songs and quotations are used for the anticipatory set, which help
students focus on the concept of the lesson.
The music selections are coordinated with the music teacher who
incorporates the songs into her curriculum.
The students learn to sing the songs and discuss the meaning of the
lyrics in music class thereby reinforcing the concepts learned in Family and
Consumer Sciences class. Some of
the songs used are That’s What Friends Are For, Lean On Me, Stand By Me, and
Place In This World. Quotations are also used to focus on
the concept of the lesson and are displayed as posters in the classroom.
One quote used that is especially appropriate for conflict resolution
comes from the Lancaster Mediation Center Handbook.
The statement is “We don’t always create the conflicts that enter our
lives, but we can always choose our response to the conflict.” This quote is referred to, not only during the unit, but also
when a problem or conflict arises at other times. At the end of the lesson, students are
asked to reflect on the concepts of the lesson and relate the lesson to their
personal life. The reflections are
written as we have found that this age group will reveal feelings in writing,
but are reluctant to share their thoughts with their classmates. |