This isn’t my weekly practicum reflection but… While I was at my school visit today, one teacher went out of her way to explain to me her method for dealing with conflicts between students after a disagreement occurred. I was very grateful for her care and advice, and decided to take note of it.
Her method of dealing with conflicts is to call both students to speak with her. She asks one student to tell her what happened while instructing the other to listen without interrupting, then they switch. After hearing both sides of the argument, she asks the perpetrator (if one is clear) to propose a way to make amends, and asks the victim to accept/renegotiate the proposal.
I think that this is an excellent way to deal with conflict, particularly because the teacher takes the role of facilitating the conversation, rather than choosing sides and telling the students what to do. It also gives the students the opportunity to reflect on their actions and come up with an appropriate solution on their own. Through performing the actions to reconcile the problem, the perpetrator also gains the opportunity to realize what that the actions they performed led to such consequences, which in turn should reduce the chances that they repeat the offence.
Although there may be circumstances under which this type of conflict management will not be applicable, I walked out of today’s practicum with a valuable new tool to handle conflict in the classroom that I will eventually be placed in. I hope to continue adding to the list!