Conflict Resolution Online Course

Course Introduction

Welcome to the Clay Center’s course on Conflict Resolution. This course will explore conflicts in our lives and how to resolve them in three modules:

• Module 1: Learning from the Arts and Media
• Module 2: Applying to Real Life Scenarios
• Module 3: Changing the Culture of a Community

The definition of an “interpersonal conflict” according to the American Psychology Association is:

disagreement or discord between people with respect to goals, values, or attitudes.

While the majority of this course is geared toward interpersonal conflict in our lives – between family members, or friends – it will also touch on how to approach conflict resolution at the community level.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Identify different kinds of conflicts your life.
2. Craft a number of strategies to attempt resolution of a conflict.
3. Learn how to engage your child, teen or young adult in resolving a conflict.
4. Identify when a conflict is getting worse and attempt to de-escalate the problem.
5. Understand when a conflict is fully resolved, or when more work needs to be done.
6. Help advise your children, or others, who might need help resolving conflicts.
7. Consider ways to address conflict at a community or societal level.

Conflict Resolution Slides Intro.pdf

Some Ground Rules in Implementing This Curriculum:

1. When you engage another individual, such as your child, partner or another individual ensure that this is an exercise and should be conducted with respect.
2. Discuss that the exercise will be confidential or agree with whom you might discuss what you have learned.
3. As you watch the actors, try to put yourself in the place of each – demonstrating respect, and honesty, and giving the other person “airtime” without interrupting.
4. If you or someone is getting overwhelmed when you take what you have learned and implement the module with your child or another adult, agree to take a break if anyone feels overwhelmed. But agree to come back to complete the exercise at a defined time.
5. Have fun! While these are tough and complex issues, learning and practicing should be entertaining, though laced with a bit of stress.
6. Take some time after watching the video module and when you implement the exercises in real life to reflect and have conversations about what you experienced and learned.
7. Thank you for joining in this course. We all need a little more resolution in our lives. Now, let’s get started.

Key Principles of Conflict Resolution:

1. Appreciation of Differences. This is being able to identify the key opposing positions in a specific conflict. This involves active listening. That is, listening to understand, versus listening to respond with a counterargument. It requires validation of the other person’s position.

2. Acceptance. This is being able to understand the perspectives of all sides of the conflict. It requires an attempt to empathize and put oneself in the other’s shoes.
3. Tolerance. This is being able to express the other’s point of view, so they know you appreciate their opposing position. This step is an active demonstration of your personal appreciation of differences and acceptance of the opposing view. For example, you should be able to state their point of view without judgment as if you were in their shoes presenting their position. If you can do this accurately, the other will know that you got it.
4. Ability to Honor and Respect Each Other, Despite Disagreement. This principle is about utilizing steps one, two, and three to seek common ground. This is an important final step for seeking resolution because we all want to feel respected by others, especially when there are strong emotions tied to a conflict.