Te enfrentas a un conflicto en tu salón de clases. ¿Cómo se puede desescalar la situación de manera efectiva?

The question here are you a part in this or not - if you are not involved - keep your distance, as you might be disadvantaged. However, if you are the teacher/lecturer in the classroom, you need to tread very carefully, stay calm, listen carefully, not only to respond but read between the lines as both parties or whoever is involved tell their side of the story. As you listen and read between the lines, you will try to find a common ground, where you can commence your negotiating tactics to defuse the situation, and try to find solutions together. What some might do wrongly, allowing one party to overtake the discussion, and provide their input rather than allowing both parties the same time and same space thus, coming up as neutral..

I am reminded of a scenario that took place at Texas two years ago. A students started shooting his peers and he did that to about 19 students and by failure to keep calm, two teachers followed suit and indeed, it was a horrific incident.

Your reaction largely determines whether a conflict escalates or not. By remaining calm, you convey that you control the situation. You can do this by maintaining an even but firm tone and addressing the conflict directly. Depending on the type of conflict, you may need to call for assistance, send a student for help, or separate students. Keeping your cool will allow you to do what needs to be done quickly to diffuse the situation.

Most conflicts in the classroom require good stakeholder management. To keep a clear overview of the situation, it is beneficial to stay in touch with several stakeholders, such as the faculty. Conflicts should not be taken personally; they are part of a regular semester. Use journaling and/or meditation to balance your emotions and work towards a conflict resolution. This might be easier and sometimes more challenging. Conflicts are not a sprint but a marathon; prepare yourself adequately, and you will be able to win the race.

The awful "Pretend to hit baby head" challenge trending on tik tok the past few weeks, clearly shows that an adult's nervous system and response to a situation will inform how children will respond or react. We can use our nervous system as a bridge to students. When we're calm, it's strong, letting them feel safe, connect and get regulated. But the urgent stress response weakens it, making that connection harder. Breathing, movement, sensory disruption can help. Calm-regulated adults can help a dysregulated child calm down, this only works when we are using the tools for ourselves when we aren't in crisis to make us more resilient when we are.

Listening carefully without interruption is essential to exchanging viewpoints and understanding the counter side. Understanding, in general, resolves conflicts. However, be aware of manipulation, which aims to trigger negative emotions in yourself. This method abuses your careful listening without interruption. Withdrawal or a strong statement can help you to avoid manipulation. It's best to follow a common debate culture in settings without manipulation.

Listening carefully is normally compromised in conflict resolution by teachers. They normally take sides of those that they favour which results to a lack of balance in resolving the conflict, instead, spark a lot of debate which becomes endless. I forthwith beseech my colleagues to be good listeners in order to be good problem solvers.

Setting boundaries can create conflicts, and students often want to avoid adhering to these rules for various reasons. Beyond rules, students need a local counselor to talk through their problems. Faculty needs to be involved, and how the students present themselves in other classes should be monitored to have a comparison. Usually, higher-level faculty needs to talk to the students and get to the bottom of things. Solving conflicts in the classroom is not advisable because the teacher needs to face the student regularly during the semester, which might cause tension. The teacher, per se, should be a contact point for the students rather than necessarily the one who solves the problem. Rules by the faculty can be applied case by case.

Remind students of the classroom rules and the importance of respect, even during disagreements. Clearly state that abusive language or behavior won’t be tolerated. By maintaining a calm demeanor and reinforcing these boundaries, you create a safe space for students to express themselves and resolve conflicts constructively. 🗣️🛑

This is partly true; engaging students over shared values can be beneficial. However, the teacher needs to learn the students' values from scratch, which would take some time. Sometimes, a teacher can accompany students over several semesters or years, allowing for more strategic and educational designs. The reality is that teachers, especially at the university level, spend a limited amount of time with students per week. University education also involves respectful disagreement rather than only working past differences. In a modern classroom, you can mix frontal teaching with interactive exercises, which leave you in control, to some extent, of how to educate them toward shared values.

In most cases people know the solution of their problem, hence I agree with allowing the students to brainstorming the solution to their conflict. Actually they would have been the ones who started and surely they are fully aware of how they can solve their problem.

After addressing the conflict, follow up with involved students to show ongoing support and care. 🤝 Check in soon after the incident to reinforce positive behavior and provide further assistance if necessary. This approach fosters a respectful classroom environment and helps prevent future conflicts.