Communication with parents helps teachers know children well and provide appropriate levels of support to each individual child in classroom conflict situations. Applying knowledge to provide differential support to children When teachers provide differential support to children, they are planning their own specific interactions for individual children. Differential support means teaching individual children in individual ways. Children are reassured that their behaviors are understood by the teacher and that the classroom will remain safe, especially when conflict occurs. When classroom rules are broad, they can be applied to specific situations.
Broad rules account for children's development, skill, and individual needs.
Very young children or older inexperienced children need more direct support from an adult in peaceful conflict resolution. The teacher of a young or inexperienced child may likely need to be more physically protective of children in conflict. A teacher's attention will need to be very high to assure physical safety or to assure that a verbal child does not overwhelm a less verbal child in some conflict situations. Older or more experienced children may need less intervention in their peaceful conflict resolution. A teacher can and should have the same expectations for all the children in the classroom.