Conflict Resolution

A conflict often comes up at my job because I work for a state funded program called Illinois Action for Children while the school also has a federally funded program called Early Reading First.  The conflicts arise because each of these grants is based on a different philosophy of education.  Preschool for All follows The creative Curriculum and The Project Approach which promotes teaching skills through allowing children to follow their own interests and through research projects.  Early Reading First, on the other hand, is a very scripted, curriculum led program that focuses directly on literacy skills.  For instance, I might have children writing lists of ingredients they need for a recipt they want to make whild Early Reading First has them naming the first sound in a prescribed list of words.

These differences, in general, are manageable, but there are times when the two programs butt heads.  One of these times was when the Early Reading First coach was using flashcards with the children.  This is not allowed in Preschool for All.  We had discussed this, but she felt strongly that the flashcards were essential.  Well, the conflict escalated when my Project Manager came in to see her doing flashcards with the children and held me responsible for allowing this in a Preschool for All classroom.

The most recent conflict is regarding choice time in the classroom.  during this time, according to Preschool for All, all of the areas of the classroom are open and the children choose where they would like to work.  The Early Reading First coach wants particular popular areas to be closed during this time because she is having a difficult time coaxing particular children away from these areas so that she can work with them.  She also wants particular children to be required to work with her rather than go to the areas of their choice.  This, again, goes against the mandates of The Preschool for All grant as well as going against my personal philosophy of education.  I have suggested that she go to the areas where the children choose to be and work with them there, but she insists that she needs a table at which to work.  Often, when these conflicts occur, she simply claims that her grant trums my grant because her funding is Federal and mine is State.  I have found it very difficult to compromise in these situations.

Compromise, however is what is needed.  I have learned this week that sometimes all people really want is to be heard.  A good approach might be to simply hear out her feelings and needs without arguing, and then stating my needs and wants without invoking the grants or their mandates.  Another thing to keep in mind is that we should be looking for a solution that allows us both to win.  We should be looking for a way to merge the two approaches rather than viewing them as completely different.