Conflicts Resolution

                                                     

    I have recently experienced a conflict at my current job between a staff person and myself. I was placed in a classroom with a teacher who had been there for two years working in the classroom by herself. However, the director needed two teachers per classroom in which I was the lucky person who was hired for the position. The conflict raised when I decided to set the table for the children. I just wanted to be a team player and do my share of the work load and not leave all the work up to the other teacher to perform by herself.However, she watches me set the table and after I was done placing everything on the table, she walk over to the table and pick up all the dishes and silverware. After the children laid down to take a nap and felt to sleep, I said, "Did I do something wrong" and she said, "to me this is the way I like for the table to be set". I said Okay. Next, I said, "I like to put up some pictures on the walls that I believe the children will like I am a very good artist" and she said to me, "you don’t need to focus on putting up any pictures that’s the last thing you need to worry about".

     Furthermore, she said you can go and get the sheets out of the dryer while the children are sleeping. I realized at this point that she was treating me unfair and she didn't want to talk to me because I try to address my concern and she ignored me. Therefore, on my break, I ask to speak to the director and informed her of the problem. I let her know that I am a teacher and I wasn't her teacher assistant.The director agrees with me and address the problem by having a meeting with the both of us. However, that didn't change anything, the other teacher insisted on treating me as if I was her personal assistant and wouldn't let me do circle time or anything for the children without intervening me from doing my job. Therefore, I ask if I can be placed within another classroom and my request was accepted by the director.   

       I was placed in a classroom with a teacher who appreciated my skills and I have been working with her for two years and we share the workload and we have a loving fun learning environment for the children in which we serve. The two strategies I have learned about that might help me manage or resolve the conflict more productively, and why these strategies might be effective. For example, I should have respected her feelings by asking her opinion about how she set the table and not assume my way was the correct way to set the table. Furthermore, I should have observed how she demonstrated the daily routines in which she used within your classroom that help meet the individual needs of the children. For example, I could have used reciprocal and asked her if she would like to have a meeting during nap time about how we could work together as a team to ensure a positive atmosphere and freedom of self-expression for the children and share the responsibility of our job. I could have been responsive to speak to the director to assistance me concerning this problem. Therefore, I realized within my workplace if I cannot discuss a problem with my co-worker and work out a solution between us in order to resolve the problem. I learned to ask for responsive interactions with management to resolve whatever conflict that may have occurred to find a peaceful solution to the disagreement between us within the workplace.

     I learned to address the problem right away to the individual, but in a respectful and fair way by applying the 3 R’s respects, reciprocal and responsive interactions management so that the conflict want to escalate to a bigger problem. The reason why these three prospective are effective is because it helps me to acknowledge the validity of diverse perspectives and provide an equal voice for those perspectives by observing my own personal views and beliefs and other individual views and beliefs and how they may affect interactions with others within my environment. Also, it help me to be reminded that everyone don’t think the same or do things the same way that is why it is better to ask questions about something you don’t know than to assume you know something you don’t have personal knowledge about in order to understand other individual differences in life. According to, Gouran (2003) “the ways to fostering a more positive experience with one or more groups as follow; 

Avoid dominating another person or group.

·
     Stay focused on the task the person or group must accomplish.

·    
      Be friendly.

·      Show sensitivity to and respect for other members.

·      Demonstrate that you value other’s opinions.

·      Cooperate with other members rather than compete with them.”

(O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012, p. 269).