Academic Infusion
“When am I supposed to fit THAT in?“ — Any teacher, Anywhere USA
Teachers feel enormous pressure to teach within prescribed curriculum frameworks and to ensure their students perform well on standardized tests. It is helpful to provide teachers with options for teaching conflict resolution that don’ t involved adding a new program onto an already full curriculum. Infusion of CRE concepts into core curricula is one of these options. Teachers can seek out opportunities to teach about conflict resolution while proceeding with their normal lesson plans.
Definition: What Is Infusion?
Infusion can be implemented by identifying where conflict and social/emotional skills and concepts are related to core curriculum content. Alternatively, infusion can be organized by themes, for example, using a theme of heroes and courage and connecting that to multiple content areas while observing and practicing the skills that would support heroism and courage. Teachers have used themes to frame the positive and negative behaviors that promote effective conflict resolution and social/emotional development - friendship versus bullying, community versus isolation, tolerance versus prejudice, for example. Other themes that teachers have organized include justice, peace and security, honesty, responsibility and other character traits.
The PBS Teachers site uses the phrase “Thematic Teaching.“ They provide a useful collection of sample conflict resolution activities that cut across the various areas of the curriculum.
For more information and examples on Academic Infusion, see Day 2 of our curriculum on Managing and Resolving Conflicts Effectively in Schools and Classrooms
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Managing and resolving conflicts effectively in schools and classrooms | Website developed by the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Drug Prevention and School Safety Coordinators which contains a five-day curriculum module which provides educators with the skills and techniques to manage and eventually reduce conflict in schools. Day 1 addresses conflict and conflict management in education, day 2 presents curriculum infusion and peer mediation, day 3 introduces the peaceable school and classroom, day 4 presents best practices in conflict resolution education and day 5 helps educators develop a conflict management plan. Includes annotated bibliography and list of CRE organizations and programs. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving Orgs | A manual in pdf format providing an overview of various models for conflict resolution education program implementation. The first chapter defines conflict as a natural condition and examines the origins of conflict, responses to conflict, and the outcomes of those responses. It introduces four approaches to implementing conflict resolution education. Each of the next four chapters discusses one of these approaches and presents examples of programs that use the approach. One chapter describes an approach to conflict resolution education characterized by devoting a specific time to teaching the foundation abilities, principles, and one or more of the problemsolving processes in a separate course or distinct curriculum. Another chapter describes an approach in which selected, trained individuals provide neutral third-party facilitation in conflict resolution. A chapter presents an approach that incorporates conflict resolution education into the core subject areas of the curriculum and into classroom management strategies, and another chapter presents a comprehensive whole-school methodology that builds on the previous approach. The next two chapters address conflict resolution education in settings other than traditional schools. The final three chapters address more overarching topics: conflict resolution research and evaluation; a developmental sequence of behavioral expectations in conflict resolution; and the process of developing, implementing, and sustaining a conflict resolution program. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| NCIP resource guide: "Developing caring citizens and skilled problem solvers" | Pdf document presented as a guide for integrating the principles and practices of conflict resolution into the middle school classroom culture and curriculum. Topics addressed include: Educational Theories; Core Components of an Integrated Program; Integrating Four Related Fields; Comprehensive Conflict Resolution Curriculum Outline; Creating a Caring Classroom Climate; Benchmark Abilities of a Peaceable Classroom; Outline for a Successful Integrated Conflict Resolution Program; Getting Started Questionnaire; Implementation Timeline; and Curriculum Mapping | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Integrated lessons: Collection from the National Curriculum Integration Project | Pdf document presenting a series of lessons for both language arts and social studies classes which examine conflict, explore positive solutions and examine how issues of culture and bias, social and emotional learning and law related education impact conflict and its resolution. Written above title on document: NCIP (National Curriculum Integration Project). | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Promise of integrating conflict resolution into the curriculum | Pdf document which discusses the integration and infusion of conflict resolution education into the curriculum. Written above title on document: NCIP (National Curriculum Integration Project). | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Making the case for infusing conflict resolution into the high school classroom and curriculum | Pdf document which argues the need for conflict resolution education in high schools, discusses subject areas where CRE fits well, the skills students acquire and the benefits of such education. Written above title on document: NCIP (National Curriculum Integration Project). | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Analytical review of selected peace education | 271-page pdf document which "is one of the components of the Inter-Agency Peace Education Programme, the programme is designed for education managers of ministries dealing with both formal and non-formal education and for agencies which implement education activities on behalf of the government ... this document presents a compilation of resource materials in peace education ... the purpose is to give an overview of materials used by practitioners and provide references for those searching materials." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Teaching all students constructive conflict resolution through academic coursework | Pdf document proposing the teaching of conflict resolution through academic coursework, with bibliography. Written above title on document: NCIP (National Curriculum Integration Project). | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
| Comprehensive peer mediation evaluation project: Insights and directions for curriculum integration | Pdf document which discusses the Comprehensive Peer Mediation Evaluation Project, conducted over a three year period. Written above title on document: NCIP (National Curriculum Integration Project). | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource |
