Training & Workshops

Education/Schools

Conflict is a very normal and everyday experience in schools. When it is managed well, this conflict can be very creative and productive. When is managed poorly, it can have a lasting and very damaging effect on both pupils and teachers. There are many possible 'triggers' for conflict both in the classroom and elsewhere. This is true at whatever stage of education. Skills in dealing with conflict and frustration/anger are useful at both a primary and secondary level.

Here are a number of areas that your school could benefit from such training:

• Self-awareness/frustration management
  In many ways, our children learn about how to deal with conflict through a process of osmosis. We need to be more proactive in encouraging pupils, of whatever age, in the skills of dealing with conflicts. These triggers are going to happen every day for the rest of our lives. We have no control over them whatsoever. What we do have control over, is how we respond to them. The most effective way to do this is through self-awareness. We encourage pupils to recognise how their body reacts when they get frustrated. We then encourage them to develop choices of what to do in such situations. We could give children a book to read that has been specifically designed to teach them about conflict management. This will give them knowledge. Our aim is to teach them to read the book that is themselves. This way, they begin to receive wisdom. These skills are like gold. Pupils who leave school with such abilities are in a very strong position to make the most out of life. The earlier age we start such training, the better. It takes practice.
  
  We can deliver a one-hour session with children from year 5 upwards. The session will explore issues around frustration. Anger is a secondary emotion. We get angry because we are tired, hungry, scared etc. This session will begin to look at how we can channel the energy created when we get frustrated in a positive way.
  
  One teacher who experienced such training with her pupils said:
  "I wish I'd had this kind of session twenty years ago!"
• Peer Mediation
  "Mediation is a group of activities that helps two or more parties who are in dispute come to their own solution", Jayaraman and Fryer
  
  A great deal of time is spent by teachers in schools dealing with conflicts and problems that could effectively be managed by peer mediators. Peer mediation is a process that is very common in an increasing number of countries including Canada, USA, Norway and Holland. The programmes that work most effectively are those where they have the full support of the school, from the Head teacher through to the support staff. We can train a team of pupils to be peer mediators in your school. They will be taught conflict management skills, develop a greater understanding of the nature and dynamics of conflict and violence, as well as receive training in working as a mediator. The timing of such sessions can be designed so that they fit best with individual school requirements.
• Teacher Training (Including Learning Mentors and Teaching Assistants)
  
  Teachers have to deal with many stressful situations. There are many possible sources of intense frustration that occur each day. These range from dealing with challenging behaviour through to meeting certain government targets, demands etc. Situations and conflicts can develop in such a way that creates stress, ill health and disillusioned and poorly motivated staff. It doesn't have to be that way. It is almost expected that teachers should be able to deal with anything that arises. This is an unhelpful and unreal demand on staff from whom so much is asked already. We can provide training in techniques that can manage conflict situations. There are no 'magic words' and staff will not receive a magic wand that will vanish any problems. However, training workshops in managing conflict situations will not only provide staff with new ways to deal with a conflict, but they will also give them the confidence to see the bigger picture in a conflict and also to respond to it, rather than react.
  
  A teacher who came on a training day with her colleagues said:
  "One of the most valuable parts of this day was simply the opportunity to talk to fellow staff about situations that we all come across in a positive and creative way."
• Day Workshops for pupils - Citizenship/PSHE
  We can provide a day workshop for pupils on a wide variety of subjects. These workshops can form part of a schools citizenship/PSHE programme and include such topics as:
  • Conflict Management Skills
  • Mediation Skills
  • Diversity Issues
  • Global Politics
  • Dealing with transition and change
  Pupils who have been on such workshops said this about them:
  "It made me think in detail and stretched my skills and developed them. An excellent day!"
  "It made me look at myself closely and examine the way that I interact with others."
  "The day was really well-organised and very good fun for all involved. It was great to be given the freedom to do and say what I wanted to. It really made me think about my actions and the way I act around other people."