Restorative Practices Health and Physical Education Partnership
Team Members
- Pam Brown, AP Professor, Kinesiology, Director, Doctor of Education in Kinesiology Online, UNCG
- Cheryl Donahue-Wright, Site Director, Dudley High School, Communities in Schools
- Omari Dyson, AP Assistant Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies, UNCG
- Rinda Estes, Assistant Director & Programs Operations, Communities in Schools
- Michael A. Hemphill, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, UNCG
- Yongsun Lee, Doctoral Student, Kinesiology, UNCG
- Darlene Mitchell, Physical Education, Dudley High School
- Meagan Patillo, Director of Clinical Services and Health Education, Triad Health Project
- Sarah Ragab, Undergraduate Student, Kinesiology, UNCG
- Amy Reese, Director of High Point Services, Triad Health Project
- Jeremy Rinker, Assistant Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies, UNCG
- Melvinia Robinson, Chair, Physical Education and Health, Dudley High School
- Jimmi Williams, Executive Director, Communities in Schools
Abstract
Early in our collaborative process, our community partners identified “peaceful conflict resolution” as a need for all students at Dudley. Teachers and administrators at Dudley noted students inability to resolve conflicts as a root cause of the issues leading to behavioral referrals and school suspension. The school has several measures in place to help students navigate conflicts once they occur, but did not have proactive measures to teach all students peaceful conflict resolution skills. This preventative approach to conflict provides many advantages to positively affecting the school climate and building on best practices of community engaged research and praxis of conflict transformation. Furthermore, our partners identified 9th grade health and physical education as the most beneficial place for such curricular intervention. Besides the state requirement that all 9th grade students pass physical education and health, the North Carolina Essential Standards for Curriculum emphasizes teaching conflict resolution in both subject areas. This proposal aims to address the community identified approach by building on the strengths of Dudley and UNCG as equal partners in establishing a conflict competencies among Dudley students.
