ABSTRACT
This chapter describes John Dewey’s notions of continuity and interaction as criteria for thinking about the difference between negative, or miseducative, and positive aspects of conflict, or conflict as a source of learning and motivation to continue engaging with others. It also describes strategies that allow conflict to be productive rather than destructive in learning and democratic engagement and addresses ways to diminish the negative aspects of conflict, particularly where differences of opinion coincide with stereotyped ideas about identity like race, class, religion, or sexual orientation. In considering strategies to address conflict, the chapter highlights the importance and difficulty of modeling for students how to engage in conflict ourselves, even when—and perhaps especially when— contentious issues are difficult to manage. Even with the best of instructor scaffolding, conflict in the classroom can sometimes be personal, uninformed, and counterproductive.
