Addressing Conflict: Creative Approaches for Conflict Transformation

March 5 –7, April 2 – 3, 2008

Course Code: ACF1

FETAC Accredited (Level 6) at Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconciliation

Course Description:
Conflict is an ever-present reality. It can also provide creative alternatives if we know how to address it. However, failure to transform conflict in our personal and working lives can make things worse and may lead to serious difficulties. This course will provide a practical approach to help people work creatively with conflict situations and develop confidence to transform conflict into something more productive. By drawing on personal experience of conflict and applying some theory to practical skills, participants will have a chance to develop their ability to transform conflict.

Course Objectives:
During the five days, participants will have the opportunity to:

Examine personal responses to conflict situations
Analyse their style of conflict management
Understand the function of conflict within groups
Compare strategies for addressing conflict
Distinguish between conflict management and transformation
Learn and rehearse practical communication skills

Course Options:
The course can be taken as a three-day introductory option in March with a Glencree certificate of participation

Participants who take the further two days in April and complete the three assignments may register for a FETAC level 6 certificate in ‘Conflict Management’

For FETAC accreditation the following assignments must be presented for assessment

Personal style of managing conflict – To be completed in the first three days
Case study of conflict related to workplace situation – To be completed before the second two days
Learners record – To be completed in the final two days

Who would benefit from this course?
Transforming conflict is a life skill as well as a vital resource in a variety of relational and work settings. This course would be useful for anyone who manages or supervises staff and has to deal with situations where conflict often arises. Anyone who works in groups where conflict can threaten to undermine the primary purpose or waste energies and time would benefit. The skills taught and practised are useful in youth and community work and can be applied in a wide range of different contexts where constructive relationships are crucial.

Course Trainer/Facilitator
Korey Dyck is a Canadian mediator, educator, and trainer with mediation certificates in both conflict resolution (Mediation Services, Winnipeg, CANADA), and victim offender reconciliation (Center for Community Justice, Elkhart, USA). As a university lecturer for over five years, he taught in the Conflict Resolution Studies Program at Menno Simons College, University of Winnipeg and throughout Canada with Booth College through their Distance Education Program. Currently, he is a M.Litt/PhD research student at Trinity College Dublin where he is researching the practical aspects of interfaith dialogue in deeply divided societies.

Cost:
€600 for the five day course
€350 for the three days only

Cost includes lunch, tea & coffee and course materials

A minimum deposit of €200 is required to confirm a place on the course

Schedule: 10am – 5pm on each day of the course

Registration must be completed by the end of February 2008

Click here to Register

Dealing with Anger

January 23-24, 2008

Course Code: DAF1

Course Description:
Anger is one of the most difficult emotions for people to address. When anger gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems at home, at work and in the community. Dealing with Anger focuses on developing an understanding of the effects of anger on conflict situations. Participants have the opportunity to increase self-awareness about their own patterns and beliefs about anger. Through a combination of experiential learning, reflection and analysis of practice, particular concepts and skills will be introduced that will enable participants to learn both about managing their own anger and responding to another’s anger effectively.

Course Objectives:
During the two days, participants will have the opportunity to:

Identify the root causes of anger, the function that the body plays in anger, and the role that personal history relates to how we respond to anger
Increase self-awareness regarding their own beliefs about anger and personal patterns of response
Learn to effectively respond to our own anger
Learn to constructively respond to another’s anger using particular communication strategies and skills
Develop the ability to defuse situations before they escalate, speak up assertively to set boundaries, and bring a conversation to a close when it is “getting out of hand”
Develop confidence about responding to anger in daily life through healthy and constructive ways

Who would benefit from this course?
This introductory course is for participants who find themselves in situations where conflict escalates to levels of anger requiring specific strategies to diffuse, confront, or disengage from others exhibiting such anger. This course would be especially suitable for people in leadership positions, to people who relate to youth, or who find that others approach them for advice.

The major focus of the workshop will be on three skill areas: · Defusing a difficult situation before it escalates · Assertively confronting inappropriate behaviour and setting boundaries · Disengaging from destructive encounters which are becoming volatile

N. B: This course is not anger management counselling or therapy.

Cost:
€200 including course, lunch, tea & coffee, course materials

A minimum deposit of €100 is required to confirm a place on the course

Schedule: 10am – 5pm on both days

Registration must be completed by 18 January 2008

Click here to Register

Culture and Conflict

February 12-13, 2008

Course Code: CCF1

Course Description:
Participants will develop an understanding that while conflict is universal, how we deal with conflict is not. They will learn to recognize the cultural elements of conflict resolution and will be provided with a framework of how to work in cross-cultural settings within Ireland. Culture will be viewed holistically and will include ethnicity, socioeconomic status and gender.

Course Objectives:
During the two days, participants will have the opportunity to:

Examine the meaning of culture and work towards articulating one’s own culture
Create an understanding of how one’s own culture is perceived by another culture
Develop skills to understand other cultures
Work with tools to enhance communication between cultures and review a general framework for cross-cultural communication

Who would benefit from this course?

This introductory workshop is intended for people who have the opportunity to work and live in culturally diverse settings and who will therefore encounter circumstances in which culture plays a role in both the dynamics leading to conflict as well as to the resolution of such conflict. This course is particularly suited to those who are working with people from other cultures for the first time.

Cost:
€200 including course, lunch, tea & coffee, course materials

A minimum deposit of €100 is required to confirm a place on the course

Schedule: 10am – 5pm on both days

Registration must be completed by 8 February 2008

Click here to Register

For registration and further information contact Nicky Butler on 2829711 nicky.butler@glencree.ie