Causes of classroom Conflict

Causes of classroom Conflict
What causes conflicts that spring in your classroom? If you look closely, you can see that many of these conflicts are symptomatic of deeper problems. These problems are the true causes of classroom conflict; and, by analyzing them, you can begin to use conflict productively. These causes can be grouped loosely into six categories, based on the peaceable classroommodel just presented.
1. Competitive atmosphere. Where there is a highly competitive atmosphere in a classroom, students learn to work against rather that with each other. Conflicts frequently arise out of:
An attitude of everyone for himself or herself
lack of skill in working in groups students feeling compelled to win in interactions because losing results in loss of self-esteem
lack oftrust in the teacher or classmates
competition at inappropriate times

2. Intolerant atmosphere. An intolerant classroom is an unfriendly and mistrustful one. Frequently it is factionalized and just plain nasty, filled with students who don’t know how to be supportive, tolerant, or even nice. Conflicts may arise from:
formation of cliques and scapegoating
intolerance of racial or culturaldifferences
lack of support from classmates leading to loneliness and isolation
resentment of the accomplishments, possessions, or qualities of others
3. Poor communication. Poor communication creates especially fertile ground for conflict. Many conflicts can be attribute to misunderstanding or misperception of the intentions, feelings, needs, or actions of others. Poor communication can alsocontribute to conflict when students:
don’t know how to express their needs and wishes effectively
have no forum for expressing emotions and needs, or are afraid to do so
cannot listen to others
do not observe carefully
4. Inappropriate expression of emotion. All conflicts have and effective component and how children express their emotions plays an important role in how conflicts develop.Conflicts can escalate when students:
are out of touch with their feelings
don’t know nonaggressive ways to express anger and frustration suppress emotions
lack self-control
5. Lack of conflict resolution skills. Classroom conflicts may escalate when students- and teachers- don’t know how to respond creatively to conflicts. Parents and peer groups often reward violent or very aggressive approachesto conflict, and there are certainly models for this kind of behavior, if only from television. Other factors may affect the acquisition of conflict resolution skills, such as the child’s general maturity and stage of moral development.
6. Misuse of power by the teacher. It may be disconcerting to think that by misusing your power in the classroom, you can create a whole batch of conflicts all byyourself, but it’s true. In the first place, you have a very strong influence on the factors named above. Second, you can contribute to classroom conflict whenever you:
frustrate a student by placing irrational or impossibly high expectation on him her
manage a class with a multitude of inflexible rules
continually resort to the authoritarian use of power
establish an atmosphere of fearmistrust
Did any of those sound familiar? At one time or another, these problems occur in the most well-managed of classrooms. It’s when they become part of a way of life in a classroom that they cause real trouble. And that is what this book is about.


Muchas de las causas de los conflictos aula son porque los alumnos tienen problemas más profundos, que los lleva a ser de esta manera. Y se agrupanprincipalmente en 6 categorías, las cuales son:
1. Ambiente competitivo. Donde hay un ambiente altamente competitivo, los alumnos aprenden a trabajar en contra los demás, en vez de trabajar en equipo y ayudarse mutuamente. Algunos alumnos se toman muy apecho el competir, y llegar a hacer esto, en momentos inadecuados, donde en vez de apoyarse, solo se perjudican uno a otro.
Yo creo, que la...