Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/six-small-steps-and-a-giant-leap-for-conflict-resolution/5024459/
Conflict resolution specialist Betsy Evans has often said, “Children don’t misbehave—they make mistakes.” In preschool classrooms, mistakes abound, often because children are not equipped to express their needs in socially acceptable ways. The conflicts that inevitably arise in a preschool classroom, though, are best seen as opportunities for children to experience social-emotional growth with the help of competent adults. To that end, Evans, author of several conflict resolution books, including You Can’t Come to My Birthday Party! and You’re Not My Friend Anymore!, developed a successful six-step problem solving process to help children resolve conflicts on their own. The goal for adults in the six-step process is to encourage children to resolve disputes by discussing how the conflict occurred and expressing their feelings in a safe environment.
The following scenario demonstrates how the six steps of conflict resolution work in the preschool classroom.
During work time, Mark and Allen were in the block area. Allen had a majority of the blocks and told Mark he wanted to use all of them. Mark, who had already planned to use the blocks to build a house, started to scream at Allen. The teacher approached calmly and placed himself between ...