Fri, Apr 30, 2004
Groupthink Vaccine
Psychologists for Social Responsibility now provides an online Flash-based “vaccine” to counter a phenomenon known as Groupthink. Groupthink, a term coined by social psychologist Irving Janis (1972), occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” (p. 9). ÜGroups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups.Ü In addition to the vaccine, links to a powerpoint presentation and reading lists on the topic are provided.
Tue, Apr 27, 2004
A Volcano of Conflict Resolution Options
Signal Tree Resolutions, a conflict resolution consulting group, has devoted part of their website to the “Conflict Resolution Volcano.” This section provides a set of roll-over images of a volcano in various stages of eruption that changes if you choose war, or arbitration, or mediation, or negotiation, etc. When you click on a term, you get a fuller description of this approach to handling conflict. Interesting…
Mon, Apr 26, 2004
Making Civics Real: A Workshop for Teachers
Making Civics Real is a video workshop for high school civics teachers developed by Annenberg/CPB. It includes eight one-hour video programs, a print guide to the workshop activities, and an accompanying Web site. Each of the eight programs presents authentic teachers in diverse school settings modeling constructivist teaching strategies. The goal of the workshop is to give teachers new resources and ideas to reinvigorate civic education. Included are sessions on teaching controversial public policy issues, of particular interest to conflict resolution folks.
To view the videos, free registration is required for first-time users. To hear the sound and view video, you need Windows Media Player, DSL, a cable modem, or a LAN connection to a T1 line or greater, and have Javascript enabled.
Fri, Apr 23, 2004
TV Turnoff Poster Collection
As part of annual TV Turnoff Week (April 19-25 this year), adbusters.org runs a poster contest. Check out the creative TV Turnoff Posters from 2002 as an example. I just hope mediabusters doesn’t decide to focus on turning off our computers too! Their message is hard to resist!
Beyond the Fire - Teen Experiences of War
BEYOND THE FIRE, produced by the Independent Television Service, uses Flash to introduce the real-life stories of 15 teenagers, now living in the U.S., who have survived war in seven war zones. The stories tell of loss, hope, fear, strength and despairÛand most of all, resilience.
Flash Animation 3Plus-U from the International Labour Organization Explores Workers Rights
Every student will one day become a worker or an employer. Explore this new digital adventure on the World of Work developed by the International Labour Organization and discover why it is important to protect people at work.
World Bank YOUTHINK! site Explores Conflicts Using Multimedia
The World Bank explains that their Youthink! website is a place where “you’ll find information about global issues that matter to young people today. Explore the research, knowledge and experience gathered by World Bank experts on issues like poverty, development, and conflict.” Materials include short video clips from World Bank experts and interviews with youth from war torn areas.
Thu, Apr 22, 2004
Resource Pack for Conflict Transformation
International Alert has made available their Resource Pack for Conflict Transformation as a set of PDF files. The IA Resource Pack is designed for a wide range of users in many settings, including:
- people engaged in conflicts
- facilitators and trainers
- individuals, groups and local communities involved or interested in getting involved in conflict resolution as third parties.
The Pack is not intended to be a ‘how-to’ training manual prescribing a ‘right’ way to resolve conflicts, nor as a continuous narrative to be read from cover to cover. Instead, as a Resource Pack, it may provide a start in the field of conflict resolution for some people, and add to the knowledge others have already gained. Trainers are encouraged to select from it parts which are useful additions to their existing resources and preferred methods
Tue, Apr 20, 2004
Lesson Plan: Thinking Critically About Video Games that Play at War
The Media Education Foundation has handouts promoting media literacy, many of which are designed to supplement their DVD collections on various media themes such as their most recent Beyond the Frame: Alternative Views on 9/11. One that caught my eye is the pdf handout entitled War Games: Thinking Critically About Video Games That Play at War. This exercise invites students to view several game-related websites supporting the video game Conflict: Desert Storm, and then compare that to the US government sponsored America’s Army video game used to recruit young men and women into the Army. Interesting and perhaps troubling stuff…
Fri, Apr 16, 2004
Materials from Workshop on Technology and Pedagogy: Teaching the Digital Age Law Student
The Association of American Law Schools annual meeting included a one-day workshop this past January on technology and pedagogy, and now the materials from the session are available online at their conference website. Available materials include:
- Distance Learning: Taking an Existing Course Online
- Microsoft Word for Student (and Faculty) Writing
- Classroom Presentation Technology
- Delivering and Using Digital Course Materials
- Interactive Exercises
- Course Management Tools
- Integration in Clinical Settings
- Teaching Visual Persuasion
- Technology and Externships
- International Institutional Connections Using the Internet to Bring Guest Lecturers into the Classroom
- What Does It Take To Make It Work?
Wed, Apr 14, 2004
Consensus Building Training Manual and Workshop Outlines
The Managing Wholes website has a section entitled Consensus Building: Managing change, conflict, scarcity, diversity, and power. It includes a full set of materials on running consensus building workshops packaged as a manual. The practical learning manual entitled Beyond Conflict to Consensus was developed by Bob Chadwick for the Workshops for Sustainability in Washington State, 2002. Also included are two other workshops that are described on the website as below:
Managing power by Bob Chadwick.
Nothing makes people more uncomfortable than the management of the power struggles that exist in every environment. The subject is often too threatening to even confront. Instead, people avoid it. Yet this basic instinct and behavior lies behind many conflicts. This module allows the participants to experience others’ needs, and their own needs, for power and control over others and events. The participants will experience power experientially and visually, and understand its impacts on them.
Managing scarcity and stereotypes by Bob Chadwick.
This module introduces the participant to the skills, attitudes, and understandings needed to manage behaviors and conflicts that result from moving from an environment of plenty to one of scarcity. The participant will learn the power that survival, or lower needs, have over consensus seeking and develop the ability to move people to the higher-level needs.
Online Audio - The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis
The National Security Archive at George Washington University has mounted a website The Cuban Missle Crisis, 1962: The 40th Anniversary that includes audio tapes and transcripts of the briefings held at the Kennedy Whitehouse during the Cuban Missle Crisis. Requires RealAudio to play. These would be even nicer if they were woven into a webquest on handling international conflict situations… Anybody???
Mon, Apr 12, 2004
NPR Offers Series on Web Search Business - hear audio online
NPR Morning Edition has launched a series about the search business. The series started this morning and runs all week. You can listen online using the NPR audio archive.
Tue, Apr 06, 2004
Dealing with Conflict Situations - Professional Development for New Faculty
Santa Barbara City College has developed a nice set of learning materials for new faculty that includes a good section on Conflict Management for New Faculty. The materials use a framework known as DREAM. This framework divides the materials into an opening section called Discover (D), followed by Read (R), then Explore (E), Apply (A), and Measure (M). Within the Conflict Management set of materials, there are learning modules on a number of topics as listed below. The one of most interest to me was the section on Managing Conflict with Students and Peers. This section includes a large number of “Conflict Capsules” which are quite plausible situations a community college faculty member might find themselves facing. After presenting the situation, the reader is walked through a simple model based on Stop, Look, Listen, and Respond that addresses the case at hand.
- Conflict Situations (Managing Conflict with Students and Peers)
- Safety Guidelines (Dealing with Potentially Violent Situations)
- Disruptive Students
- Student Conduct (Standards for Student Conduct)
- Troubled Students (How to Assist an Emotionally Troubled Student)
- Sexual Harassment (Sexual Harassment Policy)
Mon, Apr 05, 2004
Nonviolence Training Project
NonviolenceHelp, previously linked here, has retired its site, moving its resources to the Nonviolence Training Project, now linked here. If you look under the Resources section, you’ll see all the content from the previous site. They’ve pulled together available on-line resources on the history, theory and practice of nonviolence. It is both an introduction to nonviolent social change and a resource for trainers and activists.