NEGOTIATION AND CONFLICT

At university, one of my favourite subjects was concerned with conflict and negotiation. I've always found this topic interesting, and I believe the interest originally stemmed from my interest in cars.

As a child, my father and I would often go to car yards just to look at the latest model cars and toy with the car dealers.

In particular, I remember my father negotiating with a dealer on Christmas Eve regarding the purchase of a new car, getting as far as looking at options before telling the poor dealer that he had better check with my mum before proceeding further.

Another favourite was a dealer who tried at least four or five different tactics with my father, from telling him he wasn't serious and not to waste his time, to smooth talking and trying to charm him. The funniest part was at the time we were looking to purchase a car for my sister and the poor guy totally blew it.

This topic also makes me think about my father's favourite line - 'I love negotiating'. He always drops this line into conversation when dealing with negotiators who try to appeal to people wanting to just get the 'horrible' process over with.

To me, negotiation is a fascinating game of strategy, acting and brinkmanship, and when I have tried to teach students about it in the past, they have often been intrigued. However, most have had little experience in actual negotiation.

I believe that negotiation is a critical skill that we should be teaching students, it can be great fun and if students gain confidence in this area, it can have an enormous impact upon their future.

Conflict resolution is another oft neglected area. It is a real life skill and many do not understand how to resolve conflict appropriately. There are well established models of conflict freely available and being aware of and practicing these skills is critically important. After all, getting along with people is so important, for so many reasons.

In preparation for a new subject I am writing for my middle school classes on entrepreneurship and soft skills, I decided to write a mini-unit on these topics, as I think that they will provide a really engaging start to the semester.

If you're interested in having a look, the link can be found below:

Conflict and Negotiation mini unit

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