Question of the week Would your school benefit from a conflict resolution program?

How would you include all students in such a program including those with emotional or behavioral problems? The primary goal of RCCP is to increase childrens levels of knowledge regarding ways in which to approach conflict situations, to develop childrens conflict resolution skills, and to promote childrens positive interpersonal and intergroup relations. In addition, RCCP attempts to combat prejudice and stereotypes, and the various types of conflict and violence that may arise as a result of these issues, by teaching children how to recognize and oppose prejudice and by increasing their respect for and understanding of diversity (RCCP). While I am not currently teaching in a specific school, I believe all classrooms, in all schools, regardless of background, would benefit greatly from this program. No matter socio-economic background, general or special education population or age, learning how to resolve conflicts peacefully is vital to any community, small or large. Proof of this can be seen with situations such as road rage among adults, a very obvious example that supports my case. I am going to use my student teaching experience to complete this assignment. I was placed in a 3rd grade inclusion room in a Queens K-5 building. I believe that if the students were able to relate to each other in a more positive way, by having lessons integrated into the curriculum, an important developmental experience could have taken place. The classroom teacher did not have a positive attitude toward helping the students resolve their conflicts. Instead, it was more of a screaming, reprimanding type of response that did little to teach students how to settle problems between each other. Using these classroom moments to build awareness in resolving issues constructively would have been of great benefit to not only the students but to the adult in the room as well. I dont think we are ever too old to reap the rewards of this type of training as suggested by the authors. Creating a school-wide discipline program focused on empowering students to regulate and control their own and their classmates' actions allow teachers and administrators can then spend more of their energies on instruction(Johnson, 2004). Is it not often we hear teachers and administrators complaining of their lack of energy and increased stress due to disruption and conflict amongst students? Finally addressing prejudices and stereotyping can stop a bad situation before it starts. Therefore, enacting structured programs, training and lessons in the early grades would alleviate a lot of the destructive behavior seen in middle school. The findings from Aber et al. (1998) and Aber, Brown, and Henrich (1999) indicate that the program is less effective on older children (RCCP). Incorporating this into the

curriculum prior to adolescence would garner greater results from these programs than if introduced later on. Johnson, R.T. (2004). Implementing the Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers Program. Theory into Practice, Retrieved on 2/20/11, http://findarticles.com/p/articles Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP). Promising Practices Network on Children, Families, and Communities. Retrieved on 2/20/11 from http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp? Wormeli, R. (2001). Meet me in the middle: Becoming an accomplished middle-school teacher. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.