Expressive Arts Programs
Arts are a vital complement to conflict resolution skill-building. When we couple arts activities with discussions that build conflict resolution skills, the skills can be more tangible and reflection can deepen. These third graders explored anger when upset feelings weren’t actually erupting; they used writing to befriend anger. Students tried out new ideas: that anger sends a message that we can pay attention to, and that we can learn to express anger’s message constructively. By interlacing the lesson with songs and creative writing, the skills themselves were anchored in a multi-faceted way.
Expressive arts include a panoply of activities like drama, dance, musical theatre, graphic art, visual art, performance art; music, and creative writing to name the most common forms. All of these artistic endeavors offer opportunities for conflict discovery – a process of reflection and increasing awareness about one’s orientations to and reactions to conflict.
Art has the power to connect people and build community. In addition to developing an affirmative classroom climate, activities with music, storytelling, creative movement, poetry, and dramatics can help students gain deeper understanding of social situations, reinforce important social messages, and provide direct opportunities to practice skills relating to conflict resolution. Assignments in drawing, painting, and sculpting, as well, can be structured to explore the dynamics of relationships. Over the past two decades, in particular, songwriters, poets, and conflict resolution trainers have been devising new material to explore peace building creatively.
Related Resources
Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.
| Resource Title | Description | Links |
|---|---|---|
| School conflict management resource guide for grades K-8, 3rd ed., Fall 2002 | Pdf document of 1107 pages exploring school conflict management resources for K-8 graders, with introduction, table of contents, a for teachers section, eight academic subject sections containing hundreds of age-appropriate lessons, a section-specific table of contents within each academic subject section and a references section. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Non-verbal active listening skills | Word document which describes active listening and outlines five body language postures that mediators should use when listening. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Name that emotion | Word document that presents an exercise to identify emotions as people act them out without words or sound. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| School conflict management resource guide for grades 7-12, 3rd ed., Fall 2002 | Pdf document of 987 pages exploring school conflict management resources for 7-12 graders, with introduction, table of contents, a for teachers section, eight academic subject sections containing hundreds of age-appropriate lessons, a section-specific table of contents within each academic subject section and a references section. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Peace bridges: Newsletter of Peace Education Centers, issue #9, 2007 | Pdf newsletter of a conflict resolution education program in Armenia, with most stories written by school children. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Training overview | Word document with training overview for faculty participants in nonverbal communication training. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Peace new birth, number 8 | Newsletter of a conflict resolution education program in Armenia, with most stories by school children. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Conflict styles | Powerpoint presentation which defines conflict style, outlines two key dimensions of conflict style, (concern for self and concern for others) and discusses verbal styles of avoidance, competition and compromise. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Nonverbal communication card game: Gesture version | Word document with instructions for game in which groups identify nonverbal gestures. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Communication for competency | Word document exploring nonverbal and verbal communication with emphasis on direct and indirect language, with exercises. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Introduction to nonverbal communication | Word document introducing workshop on nonverbal communication, with exercises and games. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| The Art of Peacemaking: A Guide to Integrating CR Education into Youth Arts Program | This resource guide provides information and tools that introduce arts teachers to conflict resolution skills and processes. The guide also contains various arts-based exercises that can be used to introduce conflict resolution concepts to young people in the classroom. These exercises serve merely as a starting point; arts teachers are encouraged to develop their own activities that will work best within the settings in which they teach. Because this guide wad developed after four years of the Partnership's initiative to integrate conflict resolution into arts programs, it contains descriptions of how arts organizations have integrated conflict resolution into their work with youth, schools, and other community organizations. (Author) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Core nonverbal communication concepts | Twenty-six page training packet exploring nonverbal communication. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Role play for nonverbal involvement activity | Word document presenting a role play exercise in nonverbal communication. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Peace new birth, number 2 | Newsletter of a conflict resolution education program in Armenia, with most stories by school children. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Peace bridges: Newsletter of Peace Education Centers, issue #10, 2007 | Pdf newsletter of a conflict resolution education program in Armenia, with most stories written by school children. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Peace new birth, number 4 | Newsletter of a conflict resolution education program in Armenia, with most stories by school children. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Marital and partnership communication | Powerpoint presentation discussing communication in relationships: including gender differences, nonverbal communication, marital communication, marital conflict and domestic violence. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Peace new birth, number 5 | Newsletter of a conflict resolution education program in Armenia, with most stories by school children. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Iconic communication activity | Word document which presents iconic communication activity taken from M. Remland's, "Gesture and Movement as Iconic Communication Activity." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
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