Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Conflict Resolution

One nursery tried a positive approach to giving children the power and independence to sort things out among themselves. Mariette Heaney describes the process and the results.

In our nursery, we had observed the usual disputes common to all children. We looked at our culture and agreed that there were occasions when we were stepping in too quickly to sort out children's conflicts and that they were running to us to be their 'fixers'. Were we encouraging this ethos of dependence, we wondered?

As a new team, we were open to change and spent time talking about our values as individuals and what values we hoped to promote. Together, we also watched the HighScope video 'Supporting Children in Resolving Conflicts'. We felt we were well on the way to achieving most of what it suggested. Following our discussions, we agreed to support the children with conflict resolution and to move towards a time when they could solve their problems independently.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included