Managing classroom conflicts - What to do

My English Didactics teacher Iñaqui once said that a teacher is not only a person who teaches, but also a judge, a psychologist, a counselor, a policeman... and more often than we think, teachers have to deal with conflicts within the class. 

And how shall we do this?

Quote by Franklin P. Jones

Jose Antonio, psychologist, teacher and counselor in Medico Pedro Herrero School (Alicante) shows us some strategies to resolve classroom conflicts.

The first thing to bear in mind is that conflicts have to be considered as a way of learning. When facing a problem in the classroom, the teacher has to:

• Look for the roots of such problem and try not to make it bigger than it is. 
• Adapt the strategies to the context and the teaching style.
• Create positive coexistence conditions.
• Act on principles.
• Use as easier procedures as possible (economy of papers, people, resources and time).
• Divide the teacher work equally.
• Change directions instead of changing behaviors.
• Find out the causes of the behaviors.
• Use punishing measures as a last resort.
• Depersonalize the conflicts by priorizing the collective rights, mentioning the classroom rules, establishing reciprocity relations.
• Bear in mind 3 essential keys: BEHAVIOR, CONSEQUENCE AND CONTEXT