Webinar 2: Using Conflict Mapping to Get to a Better Place in Special Education Meetings
Date and Time:
March 11, 2026, from 1:00-3:00 PM
Description:
Conflict is confusing -- especially when dealing with new people and new systems. "Where am I?" "Who are you?" "What's happening now?" We may lose track of the bigger picture of relationships and possibilities for action. We focus on a few and may miss others who can help make a positive difference. Conflict mapping is a fun and valuable graphic tool to help someone define the people in the conflict, how they are related, and how these relationships are supporting or blocking a constructive way forward. In this webinar we'll introduce a basic conflict mapping tool for special education conflict and demonstrate how it can reveal what people are seeing but also what they are assuming that may get in their way. 2 CTLE Credits
Presenter:
Tricia Jones is a Professor of Communication and Social Influence and Director of the Center for Conflict Management and Media Impact at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. She is a senior consultant for CADRE, the national Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education. Dr. Jones brings more than 35 years of experience in conflict resolution to improving special education dispute systems. She designs conflict education, coaching, and mediation interventions that support students, families, educators, and state agencies, with extensive work in K–12 settings and statewide dispute resolution systems. Since 2013, she has strengthened special education dispute resolution across New York by integrating conflict coaching into the 62-county Community Dispute Resolution Center network and partnering with the New York State Dispute Resolution Association to train mediators and empower families, most recently through the New York State Education Department (NYSED) funding. She has also advised Maryland, Massachusetts, and California SELPAs on building capacity for conflict coaching and best practices for resolving special education disputes. Through her national consulting, research, and training—including directing the Conflict Resolution Education in
Teacher Education project, which has prepared thousands of educators in conflict resolution—Dr. Jones continues to advance equitable, accessible, and family-centered approaches to special education dispute prevention and resolution.
