Kaitlyn Piro

EDUC 111- Virtual

Professor Myers

3/26/2017

Conflict resolution

This article written for Parenting Exchange titled Teaching Children to Resolve Conflict

Respectfully by Karen Stephens. Stephens is a director of Illinois State University Child Care

Center and an instructor in Child development for the Illinois State University Family and

Consumer Sciences Department. This article is focuses on teaching young children about their

emotions so they can begin appropriately controlling their emotions. We, as teachers, need to

teach children techniques to positively handle conflicts with parents, teachers or other children.

Stephens outlines what teachers are responsible for teaching the children; identify their emotions,

control their emotions, learn choice and decision-making skills and interpret others emotions.

This article does a great job outlining what techniques caregivers should use to help guide the

children towards learning to positively learning their emotions. We should model feelings

vocabulary, set standards and enforce limits, be a good example and encourage language as a

tool. The article suggests offering choices to toddlers as a means to help them sort out the

conflict. Another strategy is resisting the urge to solve problems for the children, and instead

coach the children and give them a learning opportunity.

What did you like about the method they talked about in the article?

I liked that the article gave a multitude of techniques to use in the classroom; the

techniques are practical strategies. The article starts by giving reasons why it is important to

teach children how to recognize their feelings. One part of the article that stuck with me was If

respectful conflict resolution isnt mastered during early childhood, the skills are much harder to learn;

they rarely become second-nature to an adult. The consequence is reflected by domestic violence and

assault crimes that shatter our neighborhoods. It is crucial that we help children learn to develop their

emotions at an early age so they become adults accountable for their actions.

What did you learn from the article?

One thing I learned from the article is a phrase to use with the children when showing them how

to address problems without aggression. The article suggests using I Feel statements when talking to the

children; it also showed an outline of what to say.

I feel ____________ when your _________ because __________. Next time I would like you to

___________.

I feel frustrated when you grab the book because it might tear. Next time, wait for me to ask you to turn

the page

Was there something you had not thought about before?

The article suggests beginning at infancy, begin putting words to emotions; pair words with facial

expressions. Starting at an early age, children can begin to understand feelings. The earlier we can start

teaching children how to express their emotions the better they will be able to understand their emotions

as an adult.
Is there something in the article you think you could incorporate into your classroom?

I want to try using the technique of modeling a rich feelings vocabulary to the children. I want

the children to be able to put words to how they feel and begin to use that language rather than using their

hands. In the center where I currently work, we are working with the children in the preschool classroom

on using their words rather than their hands. It would be great to share this article with the teachers in my

center as a tool when working with the children.

 Works Cited

Stephens, Karen. "Teaching Children to Resolve Conflict Respectfully ." Eastern Florida.

Parenting Exchange, 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.