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Early learning and care providers from around the world have turned their attention to fostering peaceful conflict resolution skills in young children. There is a growing body of literature on ways that child care providers can support these efforts, much of which has been brought to our awareness by our friends at the World Forum Foundation.

Much of our thinking to date has focused on preschool and school-age children, yet we know that development is a truly fascinating process where everything begins earlier than any of us would have expected. Recently, Mothercraft has undertaken a project to understand more about the precursors of peaceful resolution skills in young children. Our research began with insights from Early Childhood Educators who care for infants in our centres. This panel of experts is comprised of graduates of diploma programs in Early Childhood Education at the college level. I have studied the development of young children for a long time, but the things I am learning about infants in this project are truly remarkable.

Here are but a few of the highlights:

The Early Childhood Educators emphasized the importance of modeling the peaceful resolution of conflict with infants. When two infants are interested in the same toy, the teacher may provide a similar toy to one infant stake-holder which then resolves the disagreement peacefully without either child experiencing the sudden removal of the toy.

We know this modeling has been an important investment when we observe a 14 month-old baby engaging in a sharing exchange with another infant by approaching them with a similar toy, in hopes of making an exchange.

For infants, saying good-bye to their parents can produce an internal conflict that may be resolved by making a treasured toy available. It’s a pleasure to see infants bringing a child’s favourite toy to them as they experience sadness in their parents’ departure from the centre.

These observations come from teachers of babies. In educating future early learning and care providers on peace education in young children, we need to remember that infants are not just babies. They are the skilled negotiators and peacekeepers of the future.

Contributed by Laurie McNellis

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