Resources:
PSHE lessons: KS3 Curious about conflict

This series of six lessons introduces students to the essential skills and valuable understanding needed to effectively de-escalate and resolve conflicts. The concepts, attributes and skills addressed by the lessons are relevant to many aspects of the PSHE curriculum, and can be returned to throughout KS3 and KS4 when teaching about health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world.

These are skills and concepts that are returned to at several points in a spiral PSHE curriculum, allowing teachers to build on the input delivered in the sessions. The pack includes an introduction with guidance on safeguarding and creating a safe learning environment and links to background reading for all the lessons. The Learning Route-map and Lesson 1 are available to download free of charge. Access to the full digital lesson pack can be purchased by clicking the button below.

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Accredited by the PSHE Association

Award Finalist

PSHE Association Subject Specialist Jenny Fox says:
“We are delighted to award our Quality Mark to CRESST’s scheme of work: Curious about Conflict? This set of lessons will support students to manage conflict in relationships, both in school and at home. Students explore the causes of conflict, and how to manage it, through a range of interactive and relatable activities. These lessons will empower students to respectfully disagree, both in person and online, and to handle conflict well.”

Comments from teachers include:

“Brilliant resource, students found it really useful and are more informed about dealing with conflict when it arises.”

“Really good resources – well developed and detailed. Thank you.”

“It dealt with a very sensitive issue in a very practical way.”

What did you/your students find most useful?

“How the brain works during conflict and ways we can calm down the brains fight or flight responses.”

“Why conflict escalates and how to diffuse the situation.”

“All of them – the different activities and the visuals.”

Learning route-map for the six lessons

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Lesson 1: Curious about conflict

Lesson 1 establishes parameters: safe and respectful ways to discuss views which may conflict and an environment of tolerance and acceptance. Starting with an understanding and definition of conflict and its impact, the lesson invites students to assess the frequency and type of conflict around them in school. Learning is focussed on the physiology of how being in conflict affects our bodies and our ability to judgement situations and from this students learn practical ways of responding when disharmony arises.

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Curious about conflict complete lesson pack

This is the complete pack including:

Learning route map
Introduction document
Lessons 1 to 6

The zipped folder to download is 36MB so please download the resources separately if this is too large for your device/broadband (see below for separate files).

Introduction document and teacher additional notes

Introduction document and teacher additional notes including safe space guidelines.

Lesson 2: How conflict grows

Lesson 2 explores the different ways people respond when in conflict to build a wider range of options for students. Our conflict escalator analyses the ‘anatomy’ of conflict to equip students with skills in identifying escalation and ways of taking the heat out of situations, including by identifying and articulating their own and others’ needs.

Lesson 3: Enhanced communication skills part 1

Lesson 3 Sometimes conflicts get stuck – this lesson provides an analytical model for students to see how to get movement when straightforward resolution looks impossible. Detailed guidance and practice opportunities are provided to hone enhanced listening skills as a critical skill for life.

Lesson 4: Enhanced communication skills part 2

Lesson 4 enables students to develop their techniques in skilful questioning, exploring open, closed and leading questions and their impact on the conversation. The second part of the lesson show students how to effectively express themselves so that others listen and can respond, locating this in the context of learning in lesson 3 and exploring how these can be used in the wider world.

Lesson 5: Curious about online conflict

Lesson 5 looks in depth at conflict online, sharing research on what is different from face-to-face interaction and learning how communicating on social media can increase the likelihood, intensity and duration of conflict escalation. The lessons proposes a range of strategies for handling online conflict constructively that students are asked to critically assess. The lesson also briefly practices ways of handling raised tension.

Lesson 6: Speak up and speak out

The final lesson of our series enables students to demonstrate their learning through project work, but to support them in learning to speak up and speak out, an exercise is included to identify persuasive public speaking skills from an inspirational speaker.