Attitudes to Conflict Resolution in the English Classroom: An Action Research Study

Abstract

This project was aimed at developing ‘The Peace Lecture’ (Decree 1038 of 2015) in an English class of Las Villas Public School. To do so, the researcher designed a didactic unit to promote the development of conflict resolution skills in five English lessons. The activities of the didactic unit sought to influence the students’ attitudes toward conflict resolution while reinforcing their communicative competence. The impact of those activities was explored through reflections the participants wrote at the end of every lesson. Regarding the type of study chosen, this research was based on a mixed paradigm with an action research approach. The data analysis showed that students tended to have attitudes in favor of peaceful coexistence. Therefore, it can be assumed that the participants developed new compromising attitudes or reinforced previous ones after carrying out the activities of the didactic unit. In other words, students probably became more aware of the existence of alternative responses to everyday conflicts.