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Guide
to Effective Programs
for Children and Youth |
Teaching Students to be Peacemakers
OVERVIEW
The Teaching Students to be Peacemakers (TSP) program was designed to target conflict resolution and mediation behaviors in elementary school-aged children. Students in the program receive up to nine hours of peer-mediation training over several weeks. The program evaluation, which randomly assigned classrooms, found that the program was effective in teaching children more constructive negotiation strategies for dealing with conflict.
The TSP program is based on five main tenants related to conflict resolution and peer-mediation. The first is that all students in a student body should understand conflict resolution techniques. Likewise, all students should be able to effectively use these techniques. Third, school culture should promote mediation as a conflict resolution technique. Fourth, peer mediators are available to negotiate conflict. Finally, conflict resolution responsibilities are distributed over the entire student body. The actual program involves 3 main parts which demonstrate and define conflict, negotiation, and mediation. Classes of students receive 30-45 minute training sessions several times a week for approximately 10-12 weeks.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., Dudley, B. & Magnuson, D. (1995). Training elementary school students to manage conflict. The Journal of School Psychology, 14, 673-686.
Approach: Teachers who agreed to participate in the study were randomly assigned to the treatment or control condition. Students in the TSP program condition received nine hours of peer mediation and conflict resolution training over six weeks. Students in the sessions were divided into pairs and worked on review exercises, group discussions, role play scenarios, or direct instruction. All training sessions were observed to ensure that each treatment was consistent. Control groups did not receive any training, and were randomly selected to complete one of the program effectiveness evaluations.
Self-report data were collected on three different conflict scenarios and were either written by the student or obtained in an interview. Five different questionnaires were used to assess different aspects of the program and they included: Total Recall Test to measure knowledge of mediation procedures, Delayed Total Recall Measure to test consistency of the knowledge over time, Conflict Scenario Written Measure to test conflict resolution strategies of students in a written format, Conflict Scenario Interview Measure to test conflict resolution strategies of students in a verbal format, and Conflict Resolution Interview Schedule which assessed the teacher’s and the principal’s interpretation of the effects of the program.
Children in the treatment group were tested three times (a pre-test, a post-test, and a the end of the academic year), while control group students completed the post-test.
Results: Children in the treatment condition were found to use more constructive negotiation strategies when compared with controls in two of the three presented written scenarios. For example, after training, 32 percent of student responses involved negotiation, compared with 0 percent in the control group. Likewise, children in treatment conditions were found to manage conflict in a more constructive manner when compared with controls in the interview assessment. At the end of the school year, of those in the treatment group, 92 percent recalled all of the steps involved in negotiation and mediation.
Link to program curriculum: http://www.co-operation.org/pages/materials.html
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., Dudley, B. & Magnuson, D. (1995). Training elementary school students to manage conflict. The Journal of School Psychology, 14, 673-686.
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 2nd-5th grade elementary school children / Program age ranges in the Guide: middle childhood
Program components: school-based
Measured outcomes: social and emotional health and development, life skills, behavioral problems, positive citizenship
Program information last updated 3/16/07
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© Child Trends 2004 |