The major focus of early year classrooms is the holistic development of young children which includes all developmental domains i.e. physical, cognitive, social, moral and emotional. A child who develops holistically well during the early years is more likely to be a happy and productive member of society than one who does not. Thus their contribution to the society and culture will be effective as well. Research indicates that during the first eight years of life, children are highly influenced by the social values, expectations, attitudes, traditions and cultural norms and values that are transmitted from their environment. Therefore, in order to develop peacemaking behaviours and the skills to resolve conflicts, the children are required to be supported and provided ample opportunities to deal with conflict since very beginning.

The National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education (2007) also emphasizes the holistic development of children and highlights that it is crucial that emotional intelligence be developed in the early years. This includes the development of “confidence, curiosity, purposefulness, self-control, connectedness, and capacity to communicate and cooperate.” In the ECE classrooms, this area of development can only be enhanced if the teachers are ready to accept differences and intelligently manage conflict situation in their classrooms. Moreover, the head teachers or school administrators need to shun the notion that ‘a good classroom has no conflict’ because this attitude often leads to extreme disciplinary regulations which can only stall disagreements.

Katz and Lawyer (1993) state that conflict is the state which develops when there is a difference in the opinion, notions and perceptions among individuals. It’s an internal state of a person and at times depends upon the assumptions of others. Depending on how they are dealt with, conflicts may end up in the form of depressing feelings and behaviours or on the contrary result in improved efficiency and strengthening the relationship among individuals. So the strategies one utilizes in order to deal or cope with any conflict situation are critical.

What’s So Good Or Bad About Conflicts?
Behaviour management is a key issue for all teachers and education support staff. It has been observed quite often in the current practice, that if any conflict situation occurs in classrooms, the usual response of teachers is to intervene by either snubbing children to stop the conflict or separating the two students to sit in different groups. Perhaps this is a convenient strategy to avoid conflicts in the class setting. However by evading conflicts in this manner teachers are unable to realize conflict situations in classrooms as potential opportunities for developing self control, cooperation and patience amongst children. Handling conflicts seems difficult and challenging but if handled in a productive and healthy manner, conflict actually serves the purpose of building bridges for greater cohesiveness and improved relationships. Conflicting situations provide opportunities for creativity, transformed energy, production, development and growth to individuals, groups and organizations and results in increased cohesion and trust among individuals. It can lead to effective personal and organizational performance.