ABSTRACT

How should citizenship education be addressing conflict to build peace? State-funded schools are key locations for diverse young people to have guided opportunities to practise roles, skills, understandings and relationships for participation in democratic dialogue about the inevitable conflicts of social life. Yet constructive conflict learning opportunities in schools are often quite limited – for students in general, and especially for marginalized students. Teachers seem to have little institutional support, and few opportunities to develop skills and confidence, as conflict dialogue facilitators. Based on review of scholarly literature, this chapter examines diverse ways in which facilitated dialogue on difficult issues may be implemented in schools in various cultural and social contexts, and the implications of such learning opportunities for diverse student participants. The chapter juxtaposes different types of school-based conflict dialogue emerging from different roots in research and practice, arranged on a continuum from post-incident restorative justice problem-solving to pro-active critical discussion of contentious issues.