@MINDSET Project
Resolving Conflict
Ask for two student volunteers. Propose the following scenario to the class.
Person A:
You’ve recently bought a pair of expensive shoes. Your friend broke into your gym locker and wrote all over them with a permanent marker. They’re ruined. You feel hurt and somewhat violated.
Person B:
Your friend’s been bragging about his or her expensive shoes to everyone.
Yesterday he or she made fun of the way you were dressed in front of your entire class.
You felt humiliated and angry, and you wanted to teach him or her a lesson, so you broke into his or her gym locker and wrote all over the shoes.
(See Start off script on the Information Sheet)
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After the students are finished, ask the class for specific reasons why they thought the conflict escalated. Write these on the board. Once they’ve come up with a few reasons, ask the class for other options the students could have used to de-escalate the conflict. Suggest looking at the opposites of what they did wrong. As they mention suggestions close to or exactly matching the following list, write them in a separate place on the board.
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Direct the class to stand in a circle. Ask for two new volunteers to act the parts of Persons A and B. Put them in the centre of the circle. Direct them to begin the scene again, this time using the class’s suggestions and the steps for resolving interpersonal conflict. As people in the outer circle think of ways to incorporate the new steps they’ve learned into the scene, they may tap an actor on the shoulder and take his or her place. The previous actor will then re-join the outer circle.
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After the exercise is over, ask students to work with a partner and reflect on a conflict they’ve had with someone else. How could they have used these new steps? Would these have de-escalated the situation? Why or why not?