Running head: STUDENT AND ADULT CONFLICT

Student and Adult Conflict

Michael Miller

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

OLPD 5396: Field Experience in PK-12 Administration

Nancy Rajanen, Ph.D.

February 10, 2017

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Student-Adult and Adult-Adult Conflict

Part A: Meeting with Mentor

I met with my mentor in order to determine the best way to gather data for this project on:

Thursday, February 8. The event that produced the conflict was on Wednesday, February 8 and

the conflict conversation was on Thursday, February 9.

Part B: Gathering Information and Facilitating Conversation

On Thursday, February 8 one of our SEAs (Special Education Assistant) came in the

building from buses and asked me to help her with a student. When I got out to the buses a

student was yelling to call 9-1-1 while the bus aid was blocking him from getting out of his seat.

I asked the student to come with me off the bus. The student came off the bus and we went into

the building as the bus left. Before talking to the student I gave him an opportunity to relax and

calm himself down so we can talk.

Once the student was calm we had an opportunity to talk. He told me that he wanted to

get off the bus to get some cars (toys) that were still in the building. The bus driver started

yelling at the student to sit down in his seat and then the student got really upset. The student

then told me that he started hitting the driver and trying to open the door because he was upset.

To help the student get back to his seat, the bus aid grabbed his coat and put the student back in

his seat. The student started yelling for someone to call 9-1-1 and that is when the SEA came to

get me. After the student shared all of this information with me I called his mom to inform her

and to let her know that we will help the student make his mid-day transition.

Adult to adult conflict. The next day, the students mother came into the school. Her and

I sat down and talked about the situation for about 45 minutes. I assured her that I would talk to

the bus driver and the bus aid when they arrived that day to let them know that the student and
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parent are upset and that we have high expectations (as a school) for how our students are

treated. The students mother and I then went to get the student to wait for the bus so we could

talk to the drive and aid.

When the bus arrived, I started by talking to the driver and the aid about the mother's

concerns, as well as my own concerns. When the student and the mother joined us at the bus, I

quickly went through the situation and a change in our plan to ensure that we are fully supporting

this student. The new plan is to have the bus driver or aid call the school for support if they are

having any difficulty with this student. Someone from the building will then come out and

support the student, bus driver and bus aid instead of escalating to yelling at the student or

grabbing the student. Mom and the bus aid were able to talk to one another calmly and come to

an agreement on the new plan. At the end of the meeting both the parent and the bus aid were

feeling much more comfortable with the situation and the plan moving forward.

Adult to student conflict. Once the mother and the bus driver were done talking the

student came on the bus to make his mid-day transition. Before having the bus leave, I went over

the plan one more time to make sure the student knew the plan and also so that the student could

see that mom, the bus drive, the bus aid and myself were all in agreement on the plan. After

going over the new plan with the student the bus aid apologized to the student for having to grab

his coat. The mother thanked him for apologizing and then asked her son to apologize also. After

the apologize, I went over what the student needed to do in order to make sure he was safe and

successful during his mid-day transition.

At the end of our conversation the student went to his seat and sat down. This was a huge

step because just before we went over our plan, talked as a group and had apologized, the student

was refusing to ride the bus for the day. He was clearly very upset, but after we all met together
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he was in a much different place and was willing to give the bus a try. As we were leaving the

students mother thanked me for helping her student the previous day and taking the time to help

ensure that the situation was resolved.

The next day, I called the mother to check in and see how the midday transition went on

February 9. Mom reported that it was a good transition.

Part C: Personal Reflection

Overall, I was very pleased with how the student to adult and adult to adult conflict was

handled. Prior to talking about what happened the student was refusing to ever ride the bus again.

After our conversation and the apologize the student got on the bus without resistance. Im very

grateful for this change because the school does not have the capacity to help the student make

the transition everyday without the bus and the students mother is frequently at work at that time

and does not have the capacity to help the student make that transition regularly.

The conflict that I was most concerned about was the adult to adult conflict. The students

version of the story was definitely something that would have upset me if I were the parent.

Understanding this, I made sure I had as much information as possible and went into the meeting

to assure the mother that I would talk to the bus driver and the bus aid and I wanted to validate

her concern. I didnt necessarily agree with everything that was said, but I do believe she had a

valid concern given the information she had. The fact that the mother did not yell at the bus drive

or bus aid, or get into an altercation with either of the adults. Overall, I though both the student to

adult and adult to adult conflicts went well.

Part D - Debrief with mentor

I debriefed with my mentor principal on February 9, immediately after the conversations.

Part E - Final Reflection

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After the conversation with the student, parent, bus driver and bus aid, my mentor

principal and I debriefed on the conversation and she gave me some feedback. My mentor

principal thought the conversation went really well and that I did a good job helping the parent

calm down, while also assuring the parent that I wasnt just downplaying the situation. Overall, I

dont think there is anything different that I would do in the situation next time.