Continuing Professional Development - Heal the rift

Dealing with young children's conflicts and disputes can be one of the most challenging aspects of day-to-day practice. High/Scope UK's one- day course, 'The problem-solving approach to social conflict - supporting children to develop positive behaviour', emphasises that such conflicts are natural and healthy, and aims to equip carers with the skills they need to help children resolve conflicts for themselves.

Director and consultant trainer Pam Lafferty says, 'Sometimes we find people attending the course are sceptical about the effectiveness of the techniques, particularly if they have already tried a lot of different approaches to solving disputes. However, once we start to work through our approach, and participants learn techniques for staying calm themselves, they begin to visualise how they can work.'

Objectives for the day include:
- Thinking about interaction strategies
- Exploring our reactions to social conflict
- Looking at why conflicts occur and how we can prevent them
- Looking at different styles in addressing conflicts
- Looking at positive steps to resolving social conflict
- Exploring encouragement and behaviour change

Participants on the course are often interested in whether having a 'naughty step' is a good idea. 'This does not fit in with our philosophy,' Ms Lafferty says. 'The child who is consumed with anger does need to take time out, but this should be in the company of an adult. It is better to stay with an adult and talk it through until they are calm, rather than be left on their own to think.'

She adds that if a practitioner is unavoidably upset or angry it is better that they resist talking to the child until the feeling has passed, or ask someone else to step in.

The course outlines six steps to conflict resolution:
- Approach the situation calmly and stop any harmful or destructive
behaviour
- Acknowledge children's feelings
- Gather information
- Re-state the problem
- Ask for ideas for solutions and choose one together
- Give follow-up support
www.high-scope.org.uk

Currently over 100 professionals are endorsed High/Scope trainers supporting the workforce in the UK to deliver high-quality early years practice. Approximately 17,000 practitioners are using the High/Scope approach and 250,000 children experience it each year.