Understanding the Nature of Conflict in Schools

If you missed the April 16, 2009 workshop Understanding the Nature of Conflict in Schools, you missed an outstanding day of professional learning and networking. The event, originally scheduled to be presented by Heather Clifton, was expertly facilitated by Chrysann McBride, national educational consultant and former Director of Professional Learning in Jefferson County Schools. Due to a family emergency, Heather was unable to be with us.

Chrysann is a master at balancing content, process and context. The workshop was interactive in such a way that people learned together in a variety of different groups. Time was provided for learning content followed by practical application and opportunities to practice skills. Two important areas of focus included “Reflective Listening” and “Building a Sense of Community: Four Stages of Development”. Participants walked away with at least ten strategies they could choose from to help them deal with conflict in a productive way.

Some of the comments on written evaluations include the following:

• This was a great workshop for this time of year!
• I plan to use norms for my meetings.
• I learned that I need to “walk toward conflict, not away from it”.
• This was great! Chrysann had so much to say that was important!
• I learned that I need to set norms when dealing with conflict.

Thanks to Chrysann for an excellent day of learning together! We missed Heather and send her our best!