What do you do if students in your classroom are constantly in conflict?

Intervene promptly when conflicts arise, listening to each student involved without interrupting, ensuring that each student has opportunity to express their feelings and perspectives. Maintain a neutral stance and facilitate constructive dialogue between students. Develop clear classroom rules for behaviour emphasising mutual respect, kindness, and conflict resolution. Nurture a positive classroom environment where students feel valued, supported, and connected through teamwork and empathy-building activities. Keep thorough records of conflicts to help inform future interventions. Finally, seek assistance from school counsellors or leadership if conflicts persist, collaborating with colleagues for targeted interventions and support plans.

Una de las principales herramientas para la resolución alterna de conflictos es el diálogo, por lo que es necesario crea espacio para que el estudiantado genere confianza y seguridad para expresarse. Se pueden integrar técnicas participativas y lúdicas que promueva la identificación la importancia de la complementariedad de la diversidad (diferentes inteligencias, vivencias, experiencias,capacidades, habilidades, etc.) y los beneficios del trabajo en equipo. Además es importante la construcción colectiva del conocimiento, pues a través de esta se generará inclusión e integración grupal, por ejemplo si se crean desde el estudiantado los acuerdos de convivencia, seran capaces de identificar, analizar y solucionar su incumplimiento.

Setting expectations in the classroom isn't just about imposing rules that you think would calm things down. Your students need to buy-in to the expectations before they will follow them. The best way to ensure buy-in is to collaborate with students on those expectations. Ask them, what problems and conflicts do we face in this classroom? What standards do they think need to be upheld in class? What should the consequences be if these standards aren't met? Once an agreement is reached, clearly post these standards and consequences in the classroom. Remind students of this agreement that they've reached. Once these guardrails are in place, reinforcing these standards and giving consequences becomes a matter of policy, not personal bias!

As a music teacher who only has 40 minutes with my students every class, setting aside time to talk through these issues can seem daunting. But I view it as a time investment! Imagining the potential hours of learning lost to reminders and student outbursts makes a 20-minute dialogue on classroom expectations seem much more attractive. Ideally, the first few classes should be spent on fostering a culture of respect among your students. Ask them questions such as, "What does respectful speech and body language look like?" Facilitate these discussions and ensure that all student voices are heard. You might be surprised at how insightful and understanding your students can be when given the space and time to have a real discussion!

If a conflict escalates beyond the classroom and you find that you need external stakeholders such as principals, safeguarding staff, or parent involvement, ensure you understand your school's policies regarding behavior management. Many schools have staff dedicated to resolving specific types of issues: emotional conflict and turmoil, behavior or academic issues, and reports of abuse or neglect, just to give a few examples. Each of these is unique and could require a specific type of training to most effectively resolve. Knowing who to turn to when a certain type of conflict arises is best practice, and will usually result in the most favorable outcome when seeking external help!