Session 1 Introduction to Peace Games and Creating a Language for Conflict

The goals of session 1 are to introduce the philosophy and responsibility of the Peace Games program and to allow students to develop a language for defining and examining conflict in its different levels. Conflicts examined range from global and national issues to local and personal ones.

I. INTRODUCTION

Peace Games at Yale teaches conflict resolution skills to middle school students in Connecticut through playing and creating cooperative games. Based on the observation that we learn more effectively by doing and creating than by listening and studying, we will be using creative group learning to teach the concept of cooperative problem solving.

II OPENER/ ICEBREAKER

Students play activities designed to break the ice and establish a rapport between the students and teachers and encourage the students to become comfortable with one and other. These include the Adjective Name Game, Think! and Crossing the Line.

III. DEFINING CONFLICT

This activity examines definitions of conflict supplied by the students during a group discussion. The activity encourages students to draw upon examples from their own experiences as well as local and national current events.

IV. CONFLICTS IN THE NEWS

Students are encouraged to select articles from newspapers provided by the instructors and define the elements that contribute to and perpetuate the conflict in the story. Students then discuss their own personal views on the event and suggest possible solutions.

V. CONFLICT WAVE (OPTIONAL)

The class is presented with a story which illustrates the three settings of conflict: setting, action and resolution.

VI. CLASS DISCUSSION

In this activity, students discuss the positive and negative aspects of conflict. For instance, a conflict is a good way to externalize viewpoints, or to make your opinion known. What is tricky, though is to identify when and how conflicts get out of hand. It isn't healthy to insult each other to get out frustration

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