Exercise 8.6. – Punishment versus positive conflict resolution

Living Democracy » Textbooks » Teaching Democracy » Chapter 8 – Dealing with conflict » Exercise 8.6. – Punishment versus positive conflict resolution

Educational objectives	The students are encouraged to accept the notion of law and of rules in a group. The students are able to accept differences and to take part in decision-making processes. They develop their creative potential in resolving conflicts.
Resources	Set of student handouts: “List of punishments”.

The students brainstorm forms of punishment. This introduction to the lesson addresses them as experts, as they may draw on experience and observation. They may already add comments.The teacher distributes the handout “List of punishments” to the students, and they read it in silence.
The students discuss in small groups (three or four) which punishments make sense and which ones do not.
The groups share their results with the other groups (the jigsaw arrangement is useful here; see Exercise 5.3).
The students return to their groups and discuss which punishment, if any, should be imposed in the following situations:
- A student arrives late at school.
- A student has not done his homework.
- A student disturbs work in class.
- A student offends a classmate because of his/her ethnic origin or religious beliefs.
- A male student molests a female student.
- A student is violent in class/during break.
Plenary session: the students present their results.The follow-up discussion could deal with the following question: are there any alternatives to imposing a punishment (e.g. mediation between the wrong-doer and the victim)?

The students act out a scene of positive, creative conflict resolution in class.

Writing a poem
Telling a fairy tale to littie children
Presenting jokes and quizzes to the class
Ten push-ups for swearing
Standing in class after school as many minutes as you came in late in the morning
Standing up while writing
Preparing a lesson for the class
One hour of gardening
Cleaning the recreational area
Cleaning the classroom
To be dismissed from the lesson
Running round the school building ten times
Detention during break
Extra work in one of your weak subjects
Payment of a fine which contributes to cover general expenses
Writing an excuse
Further suggestions …