Bullying Among Young Children: Strategies for Prevention

Bullying is an increasing problem within childcare facilities, preschool programs, and public schools. As a result, many districts are instituting anti-bullying intervention programs. This article defines bullying and explains the direct and indirect forms it can take. First, it examines research on bullying during the beginning years of school. Next, it explains how relational aggression occurs and the importance of positive peer support systems within their schools. The article concludes by examining the effects of consistent anti-bullying initiatives (e.g. conflict resolution strategies, daily check-ins, journals, and peacemaking activities) that address bullying behaviors among young children. Through consistent and clear interventions, students can build positive peer relationships that promote a safe and healthy school climate and culture.     

中学生同伴冲突特点及其对学校教育的启示

中学生同伴冲突受其身心发展水平的制约具有不可避免性。了解中学生同伴冲突特点,正视同伴冲突价值,开展相应的学校教育,将有助于其身心健康及社会化水平的发展。文章中分析了中学生同伴冲突的起因以及冲突解决策略特点,并针对学校教育的开展提出了相应的建议。     

Evaluation of a core team centred professional development programme for building a whole-school cooperative problem solving approach to conflict

This study evaluated a professional learning approach using a core team (CT) model to assist primary (elementary) schools to develop whole-school collaborative conflict resolution processes. Thirteen schools were matched and randomly assigned to the enhancing relationships in school communities programme (n?=?10) or a non-programme control group (n?=?3). Programme schools provided a core (professional learning) team, who attended professional learning days, and disseminated programme content throughout their schools. Programme schools also received one full school staff workshop. After one year, CT participants were more likely to apply a collaborative conflict resolution model to problem scenarios and report greater knowledge and skills compared to non-programme-school control participants. Compared to the non-programme control group, non-core team programme school staff described using more cooperative approaches to handling conflict, especially when they had received more professional development from their CT. Programme school teachers taught more hours conflict resolution curriculum, and increases in hours taught by programme (but not control) teachers were associated with teacher reported increases in student understanding and use of cooperative methods. Patterns also supported a role of self-efficacy in implementation. The potential usefulness of a CT professional learning model for assisting schools to develop cooperative conflict resolution approaches was supported.     

Effects of conflict resolution training integrated into a kindergarten curriculum

The effectiveness of a conflict resolution training program was examined in an American midwestern suburban elementary school. Participants were 80 kindergartners randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition in morning or afternoon time blocks. Children in the experimental condition received 9 hr of conflict resolution training integrated into a curriculum unit on friendship taught daily for 4 consecutive weeks. Children in the control condition were taught the identical friendship unit for the same period of time without conflict resolution training. Teachers rotated equally across conditions. Significant differences between trained and untrained children occurred in their knowledge and retention of the conflict resolution procedure, willingness and ability to use the procedure in conflict situations, and conceptual understanding of friendship.     

4～6年级小学生冲突解决策略的发展特点及相关影响因素

采用问卷与同伴提名相结合的方法,以班级为单位对440名4～6年级小学生冲突解决策略的发展特点及相关影响因素进行研究。结果表明：（1）4～6年级小学生冲突解决策略的发展存在显著的年龄差异,其发展趋势是随着年龄的增长而越加成熟;儿童同伴冲突解决策略的发展存在性别差异。（2）4～6年级小学生的人格维度与儿童同伴冲突策略存在显著相关,方差分析结果表明,人格对儿童同伴冲突解决策略有影响;儿童同伴冲突解决的5个策略中的问题解决策略和外倾化策略与不同同伴关系类型的儿童存在显著差异,同伴关系类型对其有着明显的影响。（3）在冲突解决策略的问题解决维度上,同伴关系类型与人格中的自我意识的交互作用显著。     

Teachers' views of forgiveness for the resolution of conflicts between students in school

This study investigated teachers' views of forgiveness and institutional pardon for conflict resolution at schools. We asked, "Should teachers endorse student resolution of interpersonal conflicts at school by asking for forgiveness and forgiving?" "Considering that students' conflict led to behaviours that violated norms in the school, should schools pardon students' misconduct if students effectively used forgiveness for interpersonal conflict resolution?" Finally, "Is an internal and autonomous orientation for forgiveness related to social harmony or interpersonal ethics of care?" Fifty-three participants answered a background information questionnaire and two dilemmas. Findings showed that teachers endorse forgiveness as social expectation, a humanitarian, moral response to conflicts at conventional levels. Teachers do not endorse institutional pardon because they do not perceive forgiveness as being related to resolving social issues. Opposition to forgiveness and pardon was supported by authoritarian, discipli narian views of education.     

Cross-Contextual Variability in Parents' and School Tutors' Conflict Resolution Styles and Positive Development

ABSTRACT

The authors examined how the variability in adult conflict resolution styles in family and school contexts was related to adolescents’ positive development. Cluster analysis classified 440 fathers, 440 mothers, and 125 tutors into 4 clusters, based on self-reports of their conflict resolution styles. Adolescents exposed to Cluster 1 (inconsistency and withdrawal) reported lower self-control than those exposed to Cluster 2 (inconsistency and dominance), who reported more ability to deal with stress, effective task performance, and positive self-concept and self-esteem, indicating that dominance at the school only was related to positive results. Lower perceived stress, positive self-concept and self-esteem, empathy, and social connectedness were reported by those adolescents exposed to Cluster 3 (consistency in negotiation), whereas those exposed to Cluster 4 (consistency in dominance) exhibited the worst profile in all the measures. In conclusion, the cross-contextual variability in conflict resolution styles was associated with different opportunities for positive development in adolescence.     

The Effect of Conflict Resolution Training on Turkish Elementary School Students: A Quasi-Experimental Investigation

This study investigated the effect of conflict resolution training on Turkish elementary school students' conflict resolution strategies. The participants were 54 fourth grade students. A pre-test, post-test, follow-up control group quasi-experimental design was used. Two 4th grade classes were selected out of three eligible 4th grade classes on the basis of Conflict Scenario Written Measure (Johnson, Johnson, & Dudley, 1992) and randomly assigned as control and experimental group. The experimental group consisted of 28 students (17 boys, 11 girls) and the control group consisted of 26 students (15 boys, 11 girls). Those in experimental group received 45 minutes of conflict resolution training twice a week, for four weeks. The results indicated that treatment was effective in changing the conflict resolution strategies used by the experimental group subjects in three different hypothetical situations and this effect was maintained six months after the treatment.     

CoRE: A conceptual model for incorporating conflict resolution into teacher education

Abstract

School districts throughout the United States have responded in different ways to recent acts of violence. Responses vary from external security measures, which include metal detectors, see‐through backpacks, and fences, to programs that train teachers and students to recognize potentially dangerous threats and behavior. Literature indicates that teacher education programs have generally failed to address this issue in preservice teacher education. The purpose of this article is to present a conceptual model for incorporating conflict resolution in preservice teacher education. The CoRE model offers teachers conflict resolution/ peer mediation skills in a four‐level approach: Foundational Knowledge, Integration, Contextual, and Implementation.     

朋辈调解:培养学生解决冲突的公民技能

朋辈调解是指通过培养学生调解员以帮助冲突当事人在学校环境中解决冲突,其核心原则是由处于矛盾冲突的当事人来共同找到解决问题的途径。朋辈调解的一般过程为建立调解框架、当事人依次讲故事、探索可能的解决策略、达成一致意见并签字。朋辈调解的实践建构首先要争取家长、校长、教师以及学生的支持;其次,需要在全校范围内培育积极肯定、沟通、合作的校园文化,并传播解决冲突技能的相关知识;再次,根据调解员的素质要求选定学生调解员并进行培训。为了保障朋辈调解的顺利开展,需要营造"倾听"文化、赋权学生以及练习解决冲突的技能。     

Education as a mechanism for conflict resolution in Northern Ireland

How education systems operate in divided societies is an increasingly important question for academics and educational practitioners as well as for governments. The question is particularly pertinent in post‐conflict societies, where education is a key mechanism for resolving conflict between divided communities. Using Northern Ireland as a case study, this article sheds new light on the role of education in conflict resolution by examining the long‐term impact of segregated and integrated education on attitudes towards community relations and levels of contact between the Protestant and Catholic communities. The results suggest that individuals who had attended an integrated school are significantly more likely to have friends and neighbours from across the religious divide and that these friendship networks translate into a more optimistic view of future community relations. This is not the case, however, when kinship networks are considered. The evidence from Northern Ireland suggests that the education system can be a source of both conflict and cohesion depending on the nature of the school system as well as the particular source of division to be addressed.     

“The Equitable Powers of the Judge”: The Conflict Between No Child Left Behind and Court-Ordered Desegregation in Richmond County,Georgia

This article consists of a case study and policy analysis of a conflict between two federal mandates that arose during the initial implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 in a southern school system, Richmond County, Georgia. The first part of the article documents the conflict, drawing on primary source documents and interviews with the school superintendent and school board attorney. A U.S. District court judge ruled that the 1972 court order that had mandated county-wide school desegregation was in conflict with No Child Left Behind's public school transfer policy and granted the county a one-year delay so that the school system could study the policy's likely effects. The U.S. Department of Education's response to the judge's ruling instigated a situation that led to a federal-local political disagreement, whose origins and resolution are described. In the article's second section, the author places these events into broader historical perspective, arguing that they reveal how federal policy in elementary and secondary education has shifted during the intervening decades since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's enactment in 1965. The case highlights the changing federal-district relationship, the equitable implementation of the No Child Left Behind public school choice provision, and the nature of federal authority in education policy, and how it is currently being exercised by the Bush administration.     

Gender differences in peace education programmes

Peace education programmes have become part of the school curriculum all over the world, as a way to enhance positive relationships between conflict groups. However, although gender differences are being taken into account when planning various educational programmes, this is usually not the case with peace education. The present study aimed to reveal gender differences regarding peace and peace pedagogy. One hundred and eighty Israeli Jewish and Arab high school students participated in a peace contact education programme. Gender and group differences were examined both before and after participation in the programme. The findings revealed that the Jewish and Arab female youths were more dovish than the males both before and after participating in the programme, and gained more from the encounters. Implications for conflict resolution and peace pedagogy are discussed.     

关于和平教育的思考

和平教育是指学校传授和平与冲突化解理论、传播和平知识与和平文化、提高人们的和平意识、塑造和平文明的教育。和平教育具有跨学科、多层面和现实性等多种特征。在实施和平教育的过程中应着力提高教师的和平素养,重视和平教育的课程与教材建设,探索和平教育的有效方法,注重多元文化的教育,形成家庭、社会与学校的和平教育合力。     

"Somebody Else Making Somebody Else Fight": Aggression and the Social Context Among Urban Adolescent Girls

This study explored episodes of social and physical aggression among members of a low-income, urban sample of adolescent girls. Thirty African American, Hispanic, and Latina girls were interviewed about recent episodes of conflict, disagreement, or fighting in their grade. The study explored (a) the relationship between episodes of physical aggression and social aggression, (b) the importance of group alliances during aggressive episodes, and (c) the resolution of social and physical aggression. Episodes of social aggression frequently led to episodes of physical aggression among these girls, with group alliances solidified in the process. Adults intervened to resolve episodes of physical aggression (using suspension from school), whereas precipitating episodes of social aggression remained unresolved. Adolescents reported that suspension was an acceptable form of conflict resolution.     

Commentary on Comparative Evaluation of Early Intervention Alternatives

Young children's preferences for conflict management strategies were assessed with hypothetical puppet interviews. A total of 48 children enrolled in a university nursery school were each presented 12 vignettes depicting common peer conflicts. Vignettes varied as a function of conflict issue (roles and possessions) and peer friendship status (friends and nonfriends). Three conflict resolution strategies were contrasted: negotiation, power assertion, and disengagement. The results indicated an overwhelming preference for negotiation. In contrast, power assertion was the least desirable means of resolving disputes. No differences emerged as a function of conflict issue or friendship status. Neither were there differences according to the age or sex of the subject. The findings indicate that young children evince a similar preference for resolving conflicts through negotiation and cooperation as has been reported in studies of older children and adolescents.     

Conflict Resolution Among Preschool Children: The Appeal of Negotiation in Hypothetical Disputes

Young children's preferences for conflict management strategies were assessed with hypothetical puppet interviews. A total of 48 children enrolled in a university nursery school were each presented 12 vignettes depicting common peer conflicts. Vignettes varied as a function of conflict issue (roles and possessions) and peer friendship status (friends and nonfriends). Three conflict resolution strategies were contrasted: negotiation, power assertion, and disengagement. The results indicated an overwhelming preference for negotiation. In contrast, power assertion was the least desirable means of resolving disputes. No differences emerged as a function of conflict issue or friendship status. Neither were there differences according to the age or sex of the subject. The findings indicate that young children evince a similar preference for resolving conflicts through negotiation and cooperation as has been reported in studies of older children and adolescents.     

School Problems and Learning About Crime and Justice Systems: Principals' views

This paper examines the attitudes of 207 junior high/middle school and high school principals in Texas regarding: (1) the severity of four school problems (school loyalty, drugs, student-student problems and serious problems); and (2) the possibility of five criminology and criminal justice concepts (type of crime, justice system, juvenile justice, deviance and crime prevention) that are considered important and helpful for junior high/middle school and high school students to learn in order to help deter and prevent school crime. Although school problems were generally found to be relatively minor at both school levels, drug problems in high schools were rated most serious. School principals considered a crime prevention concept (which included information about crime deterrence, crime prevention, social control and conflict resolution) as the most important and helpful topic to learn. The study concluded that schools should make crime prevention information more available to students in addition to other school crime deterrence and prevention strategies.     

小学生社会观点采择和冲突解决策略的关系研究

社会观点采择能力作为一种认知能力,对儿童的社会化起了极大的推动作用。冲突解决策略被看成个体社会化、自主活动和社会性整合水平的指标。个体在冲突过程中使用的策略实际上反映了其社会化水平及社会技能的高低。本研究的目的在于了解小学生社会观点采择和两种角度中的冲突解决策略的关系,为帮助学生更好地发展有效解决冲突的策略提供必要的理论依据。研究得到以下结果：各个年级学生使用较多的冲突解决策略为问题解决、顺从和强制策略。社会观点采择的不同类型影响学生对问题解决的选择。总体上,情感观点采择和问题解决策略呈显著正相关。情感观点采择对问题解决有显著预测作用。