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Strategic Conflict Management Training

A Successful Workplace Model for Schools

Starting career development and effective conflict management in elementary school and continuing into adulthood is the most successful way to prepare students for a productive work life.
The goal is to create a “bridge” model in schools which begins by employing successful workplace skills at an early age and continuing to develop and hone those skills to the post secondary institution and finally to transition them into practical productivity tools in the world of work. 
One of the frequent statements made by employers is “I can teach an employee job skills, but I can’t teach him how to get along with other employees”.  Getting along with others, punctuality, good attendance, problem solving, conflict resolution, good communication skills are all career development skills that need to be introduced early to students and ingrained and cultivated over time. Conflict resolution is both a personal and professional “life skill”. Teachers must have the skills and tools in conflict resolution to pass on to students in order to produce productive employees who are productive and don’t waste time and resources with mismanaged conflict.  This knowledge and training will help students become the ideal candidates that employers’ desire.  The plan is for schools to create a transitional strategic conflict management model creating workers for the 21^st Century who can manage conflict successfully thus becoming more productive than employees without these skills. 

• Strategic Conflict Management is a business practice that includes planning for conflict in an organization both external and internal.  Rather than react blindly to conflict businesses have adopted effective time proven standards for conflict management with measurable results.
• Schools that adopt the same Strategic Conflict Management skills will be “conflict ready”.  They provide “safety nets” to contain conflict and keep minor confrontations from escalating from a “blip” on the screen to a major “crisis”.  There is a time when conflicts can be handled informally before they escalate into violence or crises.  One way to handle these conflicts is by putting the tools of the professional mediator into the hands of every student, teacher and administrator.

Conflict Management has been used by businesses to save money, time, increase communication, increase productivity, and stop frivolous law suits.  Schools are “industries” which also produce a product effective or defective adults as employees.  Today’s students will enter the workforce as employees.  Applying conflict management in schools has many benefits:

-Incorporates “due process” as part of discipline program.
-Cuts down on time spent on discipline.
-Students manage their own problems and resolve conflict.
-Prevents future escalation of the conflict.
-Reduces absenteeism when students stop avoiding their conflicts.

·        Correlates with HB 605 of the Improved Learning Environment and Discipline Act of 1999.  The Department of Education shall provide training programs (opportunities) in conflict management and resolution and in cultural diversity for voluntary implementation by local boards of education for school employees, parents and guardians, and students.

      1.      Cost effective practice
2.      A valuable workplace skill
3.      Can be used by anyone

Can also be taught by the counselor as part of classroom guidance, part of groups, to individual students (Conflict Prevention & Self Mediation), and conflict management tools that can be taught to teachers (Self Mediation).

·        Prevent and Expose Bullying in Schools

With the reality of school shootings, such as Columbine, and revelations of girl “relational aggression” from Rachel Simmons (Odd Girl Out), bullying has become a serious problem in schools.  Bullying intensifies in transitional periods and if bullies are not exposed and made aware of behaviors then they become workplace bullies.  Teachers and staff can model appropriate conflict behavior, establish zero tolerance for bullying behavior, educate students and parents on bullying behavior, and plan for strategies of how to handle bullying situations.  Schools must be prepared for bullying rather than turning a blind eye to it.  

Assessment Tools: Determining the Cost of Conflict in Your School

Schools who are serious about learning more about the cost of conflict in their organization can take an online survey called the “Dana Cost of Conflict” found at www.mediationworks.com/tools. Schools also can identify their staff and students primary conflict style by taking the Dana Survey of Conflict Management Strategies.  Other benchmarks can be assessed such as:  frequency of truancy, frequency of student and teacher absenteeism, voluntary employee turnover, total amount of lost instruction time (correlates to low test scores), and total number of discipline referrals. 

• Conflict costs schools money:

-Truancy costs our country more than $240 billion in lost earnings and predetermined taxes.
-Schools are sued each year from not following Special Education Guidelines.
-Cost of suspension per student-$231.00
-Cost of expulsion per student-$431.00
-Cost of ISS per student-$500.00
-Bullying cost $180 million in lost time and productivity. s

• Other cost of conflict include:

-Wasted time-administrators spend 40% of their day with conflict and teachers spend 22% of their day with conflict.
-Conflict is often responsible for the loss of highly skilled teachers.

Program has measurable results with a high Return on Investment

Sources:  Ohio Commission of Dispute Resolution – http://disputeresolution.ohio.gov/
Orlando Sentinel

Benefits of A Conflict Management System:

Overall benefits:

-Positive publicity for your school.
-Allows more time for instruction by keeping students in class rather than in ISS or OSS.
-Allows teachers and students to work against the problem rather than against each other.
-Reduces office referrals, fighting, and suspension.
-Increases attendance in school.
-Is a “key” workplace skill.

Benefits specifically for counselors:

-Good publicity for your profession within the school community.
-Data driven, meeting the requirements of a research based program.
-Gets counselors into the classroom as a prevention agent rather than students flooding into the office as a “mental health emergency room visit”.
-Strengthens the connection between career development, academic performance, and interpersonal skills for students.

• Schools who employ Strategic Conflict Management can institute informal conflict management as an alternative to formal discipline procedures to reduce the time spent dealing with the consequences of conflict.
• Strategic Conflict Management is not “one more program” and can be used with existing peer mediation programs.

The goal of Strategic Conflict Management is to create “Conflict Ready Schools”.

Sample Strategic Conflict Management System:

• Student Education and Training-
• Coordinators will teach students how to resolve their own conflicts by teaching them how to use conflict management skills to resolve their own conflicts before they escalate into violence or crises. 

• Peer Mediation Programs-
• Mediations are conducted by trained student mediators starting in elementary school this frees up administrators, counselors, and teachers from dealing with the daily “clashes” students encounter in the school environment.  Peer Mediation can also address bullying, providing both victims and offenders with education about bullying and notifying the appropriate authorities of an otherwise “unnoticeable” problem.  Program provides practical skill assessment of student mediators for appropriate application resulting in successful program outcomes.
• Work with 9^th grade teachers and counselors to promote smooth transition from middle to high school.
• Provide alternative conflict strategies-Coordinators can introduce supplemental conflict strategies to enhance traditional discipline methods. These alternatives empower students to resolve their own conflicts, make wiser choices about their future and stay in school, and cuts down on discipline referrals.
• Promote Conflict Management Trainings, Mediation, Alternative Discipline Options to parents, staff, and parents. 
• Provides Program Evaluation-The Coordinator collects data and provides an evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. 

The Strategic Conflict Management Coordinator provides the leadership for his or her school to become a mediating organization.  The Coordinator’s goal is to create a paradigm shift that conflict management is a life-long process where adults must model behavior and help manage school conflicts.   

Target Audience: Lead Teachers, Social Workers, Assistant Principals, Principals, Counselors.  Other outside community resource organizations such as mental health ”Family Connection Coordinators”

2. Dispute Resolution Specialists-

Professional Mediators on campus- a core team of trained mediators at each school. Some specific programs managed by Dispute Resolution Specialists include:

• Responsible for dissemination of materials relating to program benefits and outcomes.  Responsible for promoting the program within their school and county.  Speak at community groups including PTA, Rotary, and any local civic organizations.
• Make recommendations to the administration regarding others who might benefit from the training and make recommendations for the position of Conflict Management Coordinator.
• Assisting Teachers and Administrators in preparing for successful Parent/Teacher interaction including traditional parent conference and high conflict confrontations requiring professional intervention.
• Mediate high conflict situations that are not appropriate for peer mediation or that involve a mix of stakeholders from the student population, teachers, parents and administrators.
• Prior to being selected to participate in the Conflict Management Coordinator program students must meet the following criteria:

1.      Exhibit adherence to the training outcomes and practical skill application. AND

2.      Be registered with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution for one year. AND

3.      Have mediated ten (10 ) cases or twenty (20) hours in the previous twelve (12) months.  At least five (5) cases must involve parents, teachers, administrators or other adult staff.

4.      A letter of support from their administration or supervisor outlining how the program will be implemented their school or system.

Target Audience: Lead Teachers, Social Workers, Assistant Principals, Principals, Counselors, Student Resource Officers, Community Agency Representatives such as Community Service Boards, Human Resource Directors, Professional Standards Personnel, Teacher advocates such as Attorneys, Union Representatives and Teacher Associations.

Advanced training available- Truancy,Special Education and Alternative to Suspension 

© Disputes Limited 2004 All rights reserved

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