This paper offers a process for organizational decision making that will assist educators involved in school restructuring. The first part, which focuses on the nature of theory and the relationship of theory to practice, concludes that current organizational theory on decision making is inadequate. The next section outlines four stages of a…

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" depicts sibling relationships between Data and Lore (android), Worf and Kurn (Klingon) and Jean-Luc and Robert (human) that illustrate conflictual communication and suggest teaching applications. The most disturbing empirical communication research on conflict between brothers reports that male sibling…

Violent crimes, especially those committed with guns, have been increasing at an alarming rate among children and teenagers. This manual is intended to help teach young people in Ohio how to prevent violence and to assist individuals, groups, and organizations in planning and implementing antiviolence conferences, forums, or workshops for children…

Few school principals receive training on how to handle problems with parents. Strategies that principals can use for dealing with such problems are presented in this book. Chapter 1 describes the parents of today's children and discusses the critical issues that cause misunderstandings in schools. Next, strategies for defusing parents who are…

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify a range of conflicts that had occurred between several parents and the schools their children attended. The parents of 12 families were interviewed in depth about unresolved conflict situations that involved their children. In 10 cases the child had been moved to another school as a consequence…

Teachers' attempts to establish and maintain authority in their classrooms give rise to one of the essential tensions of teaching: reconciling caring and controlling. This paper examines sociopolitical questions about the nature of classroom authority and the uses of power to understand this tension. The first part presents an overview of the…

Conflict-mitigation is a concept and methodology that emphasizes a broad societal understanding of conflicts obtained mainly through in-depth interviewing with many and varied actors. Developed through the work by the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF), the conflict-mitigation process is intended to serve a number of…

While the basic course in communication cannot eradicate the violence sweeping American society, it can take important steps to reduce violence and conflict by acquainting all college students with alternative means for handling conflicts. First, the instructor should ask the students to try to define "conflict," and then responses to…

A study examined the means by which inferences and emotions combine to motivate conflict escalation in response to nonverbal displays of status. Subjects, 64 male and 105 female volunteers enrolled in communication courses at a university located in the northeastern part of the United States, completed a verbal aggressiveness scale and a personal…

This practicum was designed to decrease the number of aggressive responses to conflict by fifth grade students. The goal was to increase student awareness of peaceful resolutions while decreasing the number of teacher interventions in student conflicts. To educate students on conflict resolution, the Community Board Curriculum for conflict…

A practicum was executed with the primary purpose of enhancing prekindergarten students' ability to address conflicts in a positive prosocial manner. The location of the practicum was an urban elementary school which houses prekindergarten through grade 6. A literacy program (consisting of storytelling activities using the various forms of…

This paper is concerned with placing conflict resolution and nonviolent alternatives firmly at the center of peace education. A brief review of theoretical tendencies in peace education in Australia is offered, and how this is consonant with, and different from, what is actually taught in Australian schools. Some discussion also is given about the…

The annual conference of the National Public Policy Education Committee (NPPEC) is held to improve the policy education efforts of extension workers responsible for public affairs programs. This publication contains 26 conference papers: "Rural America and the Information Revolution: An Exploration of Possibilities and Potentialities"…

Reported are results from two runs of the simulation "Bureaucratic Bargaining," developed to help students understand the inherent tension between roles and belief systems in American foreign policy decision making. To determine their belief systems, 165 students enrolled in an introductory international relations course were tested with…

Testimony of witnesses, including senators and professors, newspaper articles, press releases, communications, and other publications in support of legislation that would create a Department or Academy of Peace and Conflict Resolution are provided. The academy would have 3 major functions: (1) to perform and assist research about international…