Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in Preschool Children

Abstract

This study was designed to examine whether teacher training facilitates greater conflict resolution strategies and whether conflict resolution training leads to prosocial solutions by preschoolers who are at risk for conflict and violence in their environments. Head Start teachers were trained in a 40-hour college-level course. Teachers were instructed in the theory of conflict, conflict management, and socio-emotional development in addition to following a problem-solving curriculum with their preschool students. Sixty-four children were assessed at 4 and 5 years of age. Results showed that preschoolers of trained teachers had more skills in generating solutions to interpersonal problems. Furthermore, children of trained teachers relied on more relevant solutions and fewer forceful, and thus more prosocial, solutions to solve interpersonal problems. These findings will be discussed in a framework for teaching conflict resolution and social-emotional skills to preschool children.