School communities are buzzing with personalities, beliefs, social norms, and mindsets… such a variety is often stimulating and productive but can also originate conflict.
Unresolved or poorly managed conflict can generate higher levels of job stress and burnout among staff as well as escalating aggression, school phobia, and early school leaving among students.
At the same time, a natural part of any group dynamic, conflict offers precious opportunities for developing self-awareness, social awareness, emotional self-regulation, leadership skills, and democratic values.
The course is intended for all members of the school community, particularly non-teaching staff, who want to work through conflicts constructively and safely with evidence-based methods.
It aims to provide to the participants with the knowledge, tools, and practical strategies to develop an effective conflict-resolution toolkit, and a renewed feeling of purpose in their professional role.
Participants will experiment with a variety of strategies involving conflict mediation, non-violent communication, and role-plays.
By the end of the course, they will feel empowered to support others (students and educational workers) in their relational tension and to increase school-wide trust and well-being, as well as greater self-efficacy and work satisfaction.
Apply the fundamental principles of Non-Violent Communication;
Manage conflict in unpleasant situations.
Tentative schedule
Day 1 – Course introduction
Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
Icebreaker activities;
Presentations of the participants’ schools.
Conflict is inevitable but not a curse
The Overlooked Agents of Change: school staff!
Sharing and comparing across schools.
Day 2 – The Why, Where, When, and How of conflict
Examining the sources of stress and the places where it gets expressed is the first step in becoming pro-active;
The emotions and thoughts behind conflict and how they drive behavior;
De-escalating and creating space for conflicts;
Preventing conflict and having a plan.
Day 3 – Tools when emotions run high
The basics of Non-Violent Communication;
Emotional management for you!
Guiding the conversation: diffusing conflict and mediating effectively.
Day 4 – Conflict as a community builder
Cooling off reactivity with preventative tools: mindfulness, self-regulation games, self-expression;
Restorative practices when things go wrong;
Taking responsibility without losing Face: a life skill.
Day 5 – Feeling empowered to bring it back home
Taking care of yourself when stress gets high;
What you want to leave, what you want to take home;
Closing group activities and certificate ceremony.
Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities
Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
Excursion and other external cultural activities.
Dates and locations
You can register for any date, even if it's not yet confirmed, especially if you're interested in courses several weeks away. Once we have a few more enrollments, we will confirm the date. If we are unable to confirm it, we will offer you alternative options.
Combine a confirmed date of this course with a confirmed date of another course and easily create a two week course by yourself. Start selecting one confirmed date of this course and see which other courses are confirmed in the same Academy the previous week and the following week.
Reviews about this course
Rachel Ann Zammit
I felt very comfortable with the other course participants and the course instructor. There was a very friendly atmosphere which fostered a relationship of trust and safety. The course content was very relevant to me and my work so I could identify a lot with the activities, discussions, and learning components.
Anita Daru
My favourites aspects of the course were theory of mind, empathy, conflict management, origins and reasons for bullying, be and stay open, self-esteem on my work, my role, my knowledge, and who i am as a person ♥️
Ann Marie Mc Donough
Participants took it seriously, there were deep conversations, sharing experience. The trainer was excellently prepared, with humour and gave the opportunity to everyone to express themselves.
Tom Hägglundfrom Florence
All the exercises we did had such an interesting background and was so well put together. It was an interesting group of people and we could learn from each other... It looks like a lot but we also had free time where we could enjoy Italian food and wine.