Webinar 1: Listening to De-escalate and Understand in Special Education Settings
Date and Time:
March 4, 2026, from 1:00-3:00 PM
Description:
Listening is one of the few behaviors that communicates respect in every culture. When people need to be respected and understood, listening to them is essential before you can partner to share perspectives, see options, and make decisions. Yet, we often listen to meet our needs more than theirs. This webinar focuses on three listening skills that always make things better -- reflecting, refining, and reframing -- skills that are also the core of effective special education mediation process. Whether you're a novice or a master you can always learn new listening skills and hone your listening strengths to better manage special education conflict. Join us to learn, practice and share these skills and take your listening to the next level. 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.
