Purpose: Class council has become a popular approach for character education and democracy learning in German schools. However, it is not clear if the expectations are met in social practice. Approach: The data was gained with an ethnographical multiple method approach within three contrasting secondary schools. The study is informed by practice…

Communicative self-efficacy serves as an important link between discussing controversial issues and civic engagement because confidence in one's discourse skills is important to managing conflicting perspectives and developing solutions to community-based problems. Freely available to schools, "Word Generation" is a cross-content…

Milwaukee's gay-friendly Alliance High School was conceived to be a welcoming and confirming school for kids who have been teased and bullied and had their interests marginalized in traditional schools. The result is a group of teens who feel they have found a safe place as they explore who they will be and how they will live the rest of their…

Thanks to the Winning against Violent Environments (WAVE) mediation program, many of Cleveland, Ohio's public high school students have the right and responsibility to resolve most of their own conflicts, nonviolently, with peer assistance instead of adult punishment. WAVE allows adults to work on educational tasks and students to develop…

The Imaginitis Learning System is an integrated product development curriculum that is aimed at achieving stronger cooperation and conflict resolution skills among students who use it at elementary through adult education levels. It is a performance-based instruction product in which students learn to apply communication skills and work…

Presents a case study of efforts by teachers in a large urban school district in Wisconsin to address problems of student violence by using peace-education strategies, describing district-wide initiatives, summarizing curricular reforms at the elementary and secondary levels, and explaining how urban teachers are teaching alternative…

Examines the use of mediation skills in elementary and secondary education. Discusses the rise in school violence; and describes mediation techniques, the rationale for their use, school programs to introduce mediation, peer mediators, and long-term benefits to students and the school community. Offers resources. (JB)

This study examined the effectiveness of an urban peer mediation program. Third- and fourth-grade students were trained as conflict managers to mediate schoolmates' conflicts. They mediated 323 conflicts during the school year; most successfully. Most conflicts involved physical and verbal attacks. Mediation usually resulted in agreements to avoid…

This study used conflict resolution role play vignettes and self-report surveys of 450 New York City 6th graders to examine associations between adolescents' conflict resolution efficacy and social skills. Vignettes covered 3 social contexts, conflict with a peer (disagreement over activities), with a parent (raise in allowance), and with a…

This applied dissertation was designed to decrease confrontation among African American females at an alternative evening school for high school students who were at least 2 years behind grade level academically. The program involved developing a small group guidance curriculum, creating and videotaping role playing scenarios, arranging for…