College students around the world confer by computer in the International Communications and Negotiation Simulation. The simulation is offered by schools within the curriculum or as an extracurricular activity, with faculty as coordinators. Student teams are given scenarios and country assignments, prepare a position paper, and participate in the…

Although the Total Quality Management (TQM) system offers an admirable goal and offers promise of organizational improvement, the process it recommends is not a panacea and may only forestall the conflict inevitably arising from decision making, individual accountability, and organizational change. The approach is being abandoned by some. (MSE)

A five-month ethnographic study of friendship development identified major issues in first graders' disputes with friends. Examined consequences of the disputes for children's relationships. Stressed the importance of detailed, historical investigations of specific interactive events for an accurate understanding of human development and…

A study of over 200 Belgian and U.S. labor grievances showed that persistence through several episodes was risky but positively related to satisfaction with outcomes. Focus on formulation of grievances and behavioral analysis provide a model for managing grievances that favorably influences worker beliefs about the organization. (SK)

Designed by a leading public health administrator, the Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents tries to raise teens' violence threshold by creating a nonviolent classroom ethos and extending students' repertoire of responses to anger. An ideal schoolwide program teaches social skills and features peer-mentoring and conflict resolution…

Discusses the factors affecting the course of conflict as the orientation to the conflict of the parties involved, their personalities, the issues, and the conflict's sociocultural patterns. The article concludes with a discussion of the skills involved in constructive solutions and offers suggestions for research. (GLR)

Tests an intervention model of constructive conflict resolution (CCR) and cooperative learning in three urban high schools. Findings show that improvements in CCR increased social support and decreased victimization for the students. These changes improved student's attitudes, self-esteem, interpersonal relations, and academic achievement. (GLR)

The University of Minnesota trapped and killed birds to reduce bird damage to research grain plots. When the Animal Rights Coalition demanded the practice be stopped, the situation became a public controversy. Presents an abridged form of this case as a focus for consideration of research methods, interest group agenda, and the universities' role…

Manipulatives make possible an indispensable form of hands-on investigation in science instruction. A Yale University study found that simple objects kept elementary-age children involved and entertained with very high levels of attention and concentration. Manipulatives also encourage social interaction, enhancing cooperation, harmony,…

Examines the problem of bullying in and around schools, providing information to help those involved in school life recognize the characteristics of a bully and understand the symptoms of children who are victims of bullying. Provides a basis from which caregivers can understand and implement workable intervention strategies. (SM)

Presents discipline tips from several teachers to keep classrooms running smoothly all year. Some of the suggestions include the following: a bear-cave warning system, peer mediation, a motivational mystery, problem students acting as the teacher's assistant, a positive-behavior-reward chain, a hallway scavenger hunt (to ensure quiet passage…

Offers brief descriptions of 10 books for children and adolescents in which characters attempt to sort out the cultural conflicts that result when cultures meet. (SR)

Interpersonal conflict is a fact of daily life for the dean. Examines how conflict can be altered into a source of constructive change. Delineates three myths about conflicts. Describes sources of conflict in higher education between administrators and faculty and students and faculty. Describes new approaches to dealing with conflicts. (VWC)

Interviews with 22 parents who had participated in a special education appeals process, 16 school officials, and 6 mediators found 8 factors that escalate parent-school conflict: discrepant views of a child or a child's needs, knowledge, service delivery, reciprocal power, constraints, valuation, communication, and trust. (Contains references.)…

Preservice teachers must learn to work cooperatively with other adults. In practica, teacher educators can successful negotiate conflicts with team members and build on similarities by listening carefully to students' concerns, modeling respect and appreciation for challenges experienced by school staff, exploring the strengths of students'…