Conflict Management

This week, we've been focusing on Conflict Management. Since we all experience conflict in our lives, I recently had an experience that deserved some of the skills that we learned this past week.

As I teach Child Development at a high school, our first week of preschool was this week. However, a committee that I'm on was to have an all-day meeting on Thursday. When I first viewed the Outlook invitation, I thought that there was no way I could make it as it was the first week of preschool - only the fourth day. The preschool students nor the high school students would be in enough of a routine for me to not be there (even though a substitute would be present - but even they wouldn't know the routine). Because of my concern, I walked down to the principal's office and discussed the issues with him.

What I noticed during this conflict was that he listened to me. He understood my point on why I felt it was important for me to be present at preschool. Then, he asked what specifically it was that I felt uneasy about, and I replied that it was the arrival and dismissal of the preschool students. After I was finished talking, he then explained to me why it was important that I was at the meeting. Even though I didn't want to, I could understand why he wanted me there.

After having this discussion we came to the conclusion that I could be present for arrival and dismissal (and I would be late for the meeting in the morning and after lunch). He also suggested that I ask the retired teacher to come back in and supervise. Although it was four years ago that she taught, she was there for 35 years, so I was definitely thankful for his suggestion.

All in all, we each were able to actively listen to one another's wants and needs. Furthermore, we were able to compromise on these needs. I was able to be at the preschool when I wanted to, as well as be a part of the meeting. Last, his suggestion of having the retired teacher come back in to supervise helped me feel more at ease while I was gone. We each were able to leave the conversation feeling as though we had both been heard.