Citizens Work on Skills for Community Discourse
Published Jan. 31, 2017 in the Nugget Newspaper
FROM THE ARTICLE:
Oregon State University professor Dr. Gregg Walker utilized two role-playing scenarios to help Sisters residents practice dealing with constructive confrontation and positive criticism at last week's Citizens4Community public forums.
Wednesday evening's gathering started with Soup and Civility, with homemade soup, bread, and cookies before Walker's 90-minute presentation and role-play addressing dealing with conflict constructively.
Walker started by stating that conflict is a natural part of human interaction. Some conflict we should engage in and some we shouldn't. The decision to confront is based on the nature of the relationship, the nature of the issues, and the ability of the other party to engage in the confrontation.
He outlined the four major types of conflict: spontaneous or crisis; strategic; covert (passive-aggressive); and proactive.
Two guiding principles when addressing conflict are situation improvement (reframing problem-solving) and firm flexibility. Walker also shared his principles of FAAITH: fairness; access; accountability; information; inclusion; transparency; and honesty.
"We respond to conflicts by confronting, accommodating, or avoiding. Both accommodation and avoidance are passive. Confrontation can be aggressive and competitive, or assertive and collaborative. The latter approach is generally the most constructive," Walker told the audience. …