• ARTICLES, Special Section, XIIIth Biennial Conference of the EPCA - 2016

A PCP approach to conflict resolution in learning communities

Davidson, A.-L., Naffi, N., Raby, C.

Keywords:
Repertory grid test, PCP, learning communities, principals, teachers, school personnel, group work, conflict

Abstract:
Over the past three years, we have been developing learning communities (LCs) with teachers and other school personnel. The objective of these LCs is to improve school success and student perseverance. We took a grassroots perspective to develop a pedagogical leaders LC with the purpose of generating specific LCs between schools. This involved determining priorities, identifying strengths, interests and ambitions collectively. The process generated a significant amount of tensions, especially when participants had opposite visions and perspectives. This paper describes the emergence of conflict and discusses how we used Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) to allow the constructs that underlie these tensions to emerge and turn them into engines of development for LCs.