ABSTRACT
Viktor Komac, an eighth-grade teacher from Ohio, attended a
professional meeting at which the speaker mentioned that American children
have few strategies for dealing with public conflicts. Having noticed that his
own students had precisely this difficulty, he decided to begin the year by
underlining the controversial nature of history and helping students develop
skills in conflict management. He began by asking each student to bring in
newspaper articles regarding current local, national, or world conflicts. He
arranged a large bulletin board with four columns: Conflict, Perspectives,
Resolutions, Changes. After students categorized the conflicts they had
identified, Viktor asked them to read over the articles and see if they
could identify at least two sides to each conflict. Next, students cut
out letters to the editor, editorials, and articles representing these
perspectives. Small groups formed around each of the conflicts. Their
first task was to see if their textbook could provide any background
information. The group investigating the conflict over altering an an-
tidiscrimination law, for instance, found a section of their textbook
on the Civil Rights movement useful. Another group discussing cutting
funding for the arts found information on the establishment of govern-
mental agencies such as the NEA and NEH useful. For the most part,
however, their textbooks had little or nothing on their topics. Instead,
they had to rely on other sources, especially newspapers and periodicals.
