Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Preschool Children.

Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Preschool Children--Vestal & Jones

The third study examines the impact of teacher training on Head Start children's conflict resolution strategies and prosocial problem-solving capacities. Sixty-four children between the ages of 3 and 5 years from 11 Head Start classrooms were selected to participate. Thirty-seven children were randomly selected from the classrooms of six teachers who participated in a 40-hour college course on conflict resolution titled I Can Problem Solve (ICPS). Twenty-seven matched control children were selected from the classrooms of five teachers who received the packet of course materials but did not undertake the 40-hour college course experiences for credit. All of the teachers were female and they were matched on age, education, race, and years of teaching experience in Head Start. The teachers were interviewed prior to the ICPS program and again upon completion to validate the training program and to note changes in the type of conflict resolution dialogue used by the teachers with their children. The Preschool Interpersonal Problem-Solving (PIPS) Test was used to measure the problem-solving gains and childhood social competence demonstrated by the experimental and control groups of children. The PIPS Test uses a picture-story technique to measure a child's ability to solve real-life interpersonal problems. The results confirmed the utility of the teacher training program. Teachers who completed the training used more conflict resolution dialogue after the program than before. In addition, the results showed that the children whose teachers received training and used the conflict resolution curriculum were able to think of more relevant ways to solve interpersonal conflicts than did the children whose teachers were not trained. The experimental group children demonstrated greater ability to generate prosocial solutions to conflicts and fewer forceful solutions than the control group of children. This study documents that value of educating teachers in peace education and conflict resolution strategies that can be directly modeled for young children. Not only did the children benefit from the program, but the teachers transformed their own methods and strategies to promote social competence and problem-solving skills.