August was a training whirlwind for WJC program staff and the stakeholders we work with across the education spectrum: teachers, students, and security officers.  This approach of training stakeholders disperses conflict resolution knowledge throughout an educational institution so that all members of the school community can support one another in using conflict resolution skills.

From August 8-11, WJC offered its third annual Train the Trainers in Conflict Resolution Education to middle and high school educators and youth-serving professionals.  Our lovely and dedicated participants learned conflict resolution concepts and skills from us and one another, discussed how to set up conflict resolution programs for youth at the schools and organizations where they work, and had a lot of fun getting to know, train, and support each other.  The level of connection was awesome and resulted in several attendees collaborating with one another to create new conflict resolution programs.

Just two weeks later WJC delivered Summer 4 Peace, a conflict resolution training program for middle and high school aged youth.  Twelve involved and insightful youth from around Los Angeles County gave up 18 hours of their precious time just before the beginning of the new school year to come together to discuss the conflicts they face, learn new frameworks for analyzing them, and practice skills for positively resolving them.  These skills include negotiation, peer mediation, and dialogue facilitation.  Interestingly, in both iterations of Summer 4 Peace that WJC has presented, about half of the students were incoming twelfth-graders with the other half made up of incoming seventh-graders and a few in-between grades sprinkled into the mix.  While this divide made for some powerful mentoring opportunities, the difference in developmental stages also created a disjointed quality to the training.  Although our curriculum works well for both middle and high school youth, the differing abilities in these age groups provided some roadblocks to a smooth session.  In the future, we will most likely split offerings between the two groups. As always in our work with youth, there were many “aha” moments for both the youth and the trainers.  The youth possessed a level of self-awareness and reflection that is unfortunately often overlooked and dismissed in young people.  It was a pleasure learning and working with our Summer 4 Peace trainees this year, and WJC wishes them a successful and exciting school year!

Finally, to wrap up August, WJC provided the first of a two-part Conflict Resolution training for twenty-seven passionate and engaged Pasadena Unified School District Security Officers and associated staff.  The training focused on situations that district security officers face with students, mainly when security has been called to handle “disruptive” youth.  As in any conflict situation, the youth and security officers, as well as those who have called them in, have needs that they are trying to meet and which must ultimately be met if the conflict is to be resolved in a productive and sustainable way.  Security officers are called into already tense situations, and they often receive the brunt of the emotions that are not, at root, directed toward them.  The way that officers approach students can help to build and strengthen relationships in order to build safer and more peaceful campuses.  The knowledge that officers brought to the training and their willingness to share and improve the skills of their fellow security officers was incredible.

Through all of these training experiences, it is uplifting to witness the strength of commitment that stakeholders across the spectrum bring to learning and using conflict resolution skills.  It is fantastic to see so many youth-serving workers and the youth themselves spreading the message of peaceful conflict resolution and its importance in creating the safe, productive and open environments necessary for learning and growth.  The enthusiasm for using skills and developing programs is very high directly following the training, but if not continually supported and stoked, can easily wane when we return to the continual challenges that day-to-day life and work bring our way.  Especially in these challenging economic times with budget cuts to education, it takes real dedication to find viable solutions to addressing current demands and needs.  Everyone in the school environment has to take on more responsibilities, especially people with strong visions and commitment to improving their campuses.  It is a privilege to work with such individuals, and WJC is eager to expand the level of technical assistance we can provide.  Unfortunately, the greatest gap between learning and ability to apply that learning occurs with the youth with whom we work.  They have the least amount of control over their environments.  That is why we work toward building the skills of the adults who surround them, so that they both have role models to follow and programs in which to engage.  We really look forward to continuing our relationship with everyone who attended our trainings this past month and to hearing about the great work that they do spreading positive conflict resolution in their spheres of influence!