Young to Old, Diffusion Strategies of the Bold

           I would like to write about our interesting and informative lecture by Geoff Colvin this past Wednesday. I found it extremely fun and enjoyable to hear what he had to say about interacting with school aged children, but also found his lessons to be easily translatable to adults and to conflict in general. I would first like to give a little background and explain why some of you thought that I might have talked a little too much.

            My father is a teacher at a local school and instructs elementary school children with learning disabilities. This Life Skills class is an alternative to a traditional classroom in that there are mixed grade levels, but a general theme amongst the students. Each of the students has certain needs or challenges that are not met in a “regular” classroom. Often times these students will act out and cause disturbances, react with violence, or have difficulty with a given subject beyond what is usual. Almost every week that I talk to my dad he has a new story about a student who bit, punched, kicked, cussed, or made some other action that is not acceptable. I often listen in amazement as he explains how he calmly deals with these students and how he interacts with their parents.

            The methods Prof. Colvin talked about such as creating entry tasks for students, using a student’s name, and probing were all seemingly common sense, but are not so commonly used. I recognized many of these methods in the stories that my dad has told me and was intrigued to hear more about them. Often it seems we are quick to react without thinking which leads to a much larger conflict. I believe that with the tools we learned, we may be able to pause and contemplate our next move better. If we only have a hammer to put a screw in the wall, that is what you use, but if we have a drill and a screwdriver, we make our work easier and we have options.

            One of the great things about this class has been the accumulation of tools to diffuse conflicts. We have learned how to identify conflict styles, the models for conflict, and resolution types related to conflict. Having these tools does not necessarily mean that we will use them, but the fact that they are somewhere in the back of our heads will allow us to at least analyze the situation better before, during, or at least hopefully, after a conflict has arisen.