They Argue Here – And They Really Go At It

The conflict resolution team at the Freie Waldorfschule am Kräherwald in Stuttgart.

Quote: «With the right tools, conflicts among classmates can be resolved during breaks or in class.»

Quote: «Each group focuses on topics such as active listening, identifying behaviors that lead to conflict, recognizing and naming emotions, and using I messages.»

On the playground of a Waldorf school in Germany: Children are running and laughing, climbing the ropes of the wooden tower, and playing tag on the large steps. Everyone is enjoying the warm rays of sunshine in the winter air. Everything is peaceful—until suddenly a hat lands in the mud. The mood quickly changes. «You've done that on purpose!”» The shoving turns into a scuffle until a teacher steps in and helps resolve the situation. Scenes like this are commonplace in schoolyards. Conflicts are a natural part of communities. «The older the students get, the more personal the arguments become. Then it’s less about hats or lunchboxes, and more about boy-girl issues or secrets that have been passed on», eports Margaux, a 17-year-old conflict mediator at the Freie Waldorfschule am Kräherwald in Stuttgart. Her fellow mediators Evelyn, Til, and Theresa nod in agreement, and Til adds: «When the kids get cell phones, things get really complicated. That’s when it starts with photos being taken without permission and sent around. It quickly gets out of hand.» 

20 years of experience

«Due to the pandemic, but also because of the changing media landscape, we often face different kinds of conflicts today», reports Sebastian Volk, a Waldorf teacher and one of the three educators in charge of the school’s conflict resolution project, which has been in place there for 20 years. The conflict resolution year at the Kräherwald Waldorf School always kicks off in the fall with a one-day training session for everyone who wants to participate that year. On this day, participants practice intervention techniques and review team-building games. In groups, mediation is practiced through role-playing exercises.

During the next few weeks, four mediators will visit each first-grade class to introduce themselves. They will also lead cooperative games during regular class time to help new students bond and grow into a community. Now the foundation has been laid: the young children have someone to turn to and know where to find their older peers in the mediation room during every recess. Photos displayed in the hallways also let the student body know who is on the conflict resolution team for the current school year.

Every four to six weeks, there is a team meeting during lunch break. During this meeting, difficult cases are discussed and addressed with the relevant teachers. Tasks are also assigned: Which class teacher has identified an issue in their own class and would like support from the mediators? In which grade level would an awareness-raising workshop on cyberbullying be appropriate? Who can take on which responsibilities?

«Once the tasks have been assigned, we’ll briefly discuss which games are appropriate and how best to lead them just before the event», says Daniel Wallmann, an educator on the conflict resolution team and a physical education teacher at the school. «In the younger grades, we do a lot of activities based on stories. The children then take on the roles themselves and try to imagine how it feels and how they might act differently.»

As students get older, the focus shifts more toward cooperative games or challenging group tasks, such as building a Leonardo bridge without communicating. A Leonardo bridge consists of interwoven wooden pieces that support themselves without any additional fasteners.

The team at the Waldorf School at Kräherwald is therefore very diverse. Some of their responsibilities even extend into the realm of school social work, which is likely due to the fact that the school does not yet have a school social worker. «It just so happened that we started with the mediators, and we see great value in children and teens helping one another. That’s a whole new level of responsiveness», says Volk.

Preparations at the self-catering house

Nevertheless, the school is currently considering how to incorporate additional school social work. However, there are no plans to limit the scope of responsibility of the trained mediators. This is because the project has become indispensable both for the school environment and for the personal development of the students.

«The students in the project learn important key skills, such as coordinating as a team, working together, and leading an entire class», Wallmann says, and Evelyn adds: «I used to always be nervous during presentations, but now I've become much more confident.» «Plus, it's fun to be part of the team», Til adds.

One of the highlights is the weekend retreat in the spring, when the team rents a self-catering cabin. Seventh-grade students who were eligible to apply for the project are now part of the group as «the new ones», and the team is coming together again. The foundation of the training is «the booklet». Here, the educators have compiled a variety of games and interventions, as well as a framework for conflict resolution. Well-equipped, conflicts among classmates can then be resolved during breaks or, for more serious issues, even during a class period. In the process, rules for conversation are followed, and confidentiality applies. Finally, a mediation agreement is signed, and a follow-up meeting two weeks later checks in on how things are going.

The problem of continuity

With 24 to 28 mediators per school year—two to four per grade level—and a team of three teachers, the school is very well equipped. This is by no means the case at all Waldorf schools. Quite the contrary: Research for this article showed that at many schools, such and similar conflict resolution projects have fallen by the wayside. Where efforts were once underway, everything has fallen apart again. Why is that?

Kirsten Heberer, who works at the Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen (German Association of Waldorf Schools) in the resource center for physical, psychological, and sexual violence and is also responsible for safety protocols, knows that there are many reasons for this: «Often, it’s because there’s no one to take it over.» This can affect both students and teachers. If a single teacher was responsible for the project and they leave, a successor isn’t always found. On the student side, too, many—especially in upper secondary school—are already at their limit.

«“It’s therefore important to have a well-established safety net», says Heberer. In practical terms, this means having several responsible adults. These can include teachers as well as school social workers, and perhaps even parents. It’s also important to recruit several students from each grade level to participate. At the Waldorf School at Kräherwald, too, they know that the ranks thin out in the upper grades. There, they therefore start with four to six mediators in seventh grade, which provides a good buffer.

«A second important point is to integrate the training and responsibilities into the school day so that it doesn’t become a time-consuming volunteer role», says Heberer. Time slots must be set aside for mediations as well as for training sessions and team meetings, for example during off-peak hours. Third, it is important that mediators receive some form of peer support so they can discuss difficult cases that weigh on them. It is also essential to be aware of one’s own triggers or to hand off certain cases when one cannot handle them. At Kräherwald, while there is no formal peer support program, there is always the opportunity to speak with teachers and classmates as part of the team.

«After every mediation, we ask the others, ‹How are you feeling now?› Then we discuss it among ourselves», Til explains. That’s usually enough. Still, just like Theresa, he’s had a case that just wouldn’t let him go. In those cases, the project team works to find a solution, and the case is handed over. «If a conflict can’t be resolved by the students, one of the teachers supervising the project steps in and intervenes», explains Wallmann.

Convincing teachers

The «Learning to Resolve Conflicts» project at the Freie Waldorfschule Kassel is different but has a similar focus. School social worker Viola von Wechmar launched this project back in 2013. She conducts it with all the children in small groups across all fifth-grade classes. Over the course of ten hours, each group explores topics such as active listening, identifying behaviors that lead to conflict, recognizing and naming feelings, and using I messages. Through this, all students acquire the skills to resolve conflicts independently. According to von Wechmar, this has a positive effect on classroom dynamics. She notes that this approach can even be used with children in the lower grades.

Do class teachers ever feel that these processes are encroaching on their responsibilities, given that fostering a positive classroom atmosphere and resolving conflicts are part of their role? «That certainly happens», says von Wechmar. «I experienced that often, especially in the beginning, and I found a way to handle it: not to push them to accept the offer, but to be there when students who need support turn to me». Over time, projects like this have the chance to establish themselves and win over even skeptical teachers. Kirsten Heberer from the Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen (German Association of Waldorf Schools) considers mediators to be a highly effective preventive measure that can reduce bullying and violence in schools and raise teachers’ awareness of conflict resolution.

If you would like to train conflict mediators at your school, please contact:

Viola von Wechmar, FWS Kassel:
v.wechmar@waldorfschule-kassel.de

Kirsten Heberer, BdFWS: 
heberer@waldorfschule.de

Verein Interesse: 
kontakt@interesse-ev.de