Welcome to the Centre for Conflict Resolution Studies at UPEI. My colleagues and I hope you will join over 4,000 registrants who have benefitted from our high-quality, interactive courses. With 40 courses and growing, ours is one of the most comprehensive professional development programs in conflict studies in Canada. Since 2005, our courses have been in both PEI and Moncton, New Brunswick.
—Gilbert Ladéroute, Manager
Centre for Conflict Resoluton Studies
Our program envisions a community based on respect, equality, and justice. We believe that conflict can be dealt with in safe, mutually acceptable, and healthy ways. We know the skills to manage and resolve conflict can be learned, and we aspire to contribute to healthier and safer communities by encouraging co-operation and by valuing spiritual as well as mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
The specific goals of the Certificate Program in Conflict Resolution Studies are to provide:
User-friendly
Take the Introduction to Interest-Based Conflict Resolution and proceed from there as your needs dictate. You can take courses on an individual basis or sign up for the entire program. With each unit, your work is confirmed by a Course Certificate showing credits accumulated (7 credits per day). If you need advice at any step along the way, call the Manager.
Accessible
Open admission—degrees are not a requirement. If you are working it is easy to study at the Centre. Our courses are taught in a one-, two-, or three-day workshop format spread over the period September to June. There is no time limit for completion of the program and there is no rigid sequence of requirements. See our Regulations.
Flexible financially
Pay as you go on a per course basis.
Comprehensive
Our Certificate Program offers a full slate of courses distributed among Conflict Resolution Foundations and concentrations in Mediation, Negotiation, and Facilitation. Each concentration is designed to provide a graduated sequence of studies and applications to a variety of situations, including the community, the workplace, and the home. To guarantee skill development before exiting the program, all Certificate graduates are required to complete a Final Assessment. Read the section on Regulations to gain a better understanding of our program, which is one of the most comprehensive of its kind in Canada. We also offer customized courses to a wide range of groups and organizations.
Unified by the interest-based model, all our courses are grounded on the interest-based model of conflict resolution. This gives us a consistent philosophy which is inherently respectful of all parties, conforms to high ethical standards of fairness and equality, and is aimed at two specific outcomes: mutually beneficial solutions and positive interpersonal relations.
Learner-centred
We use adult education, active-learning methods which start with your experience. Our one- to three-day workshops are highly interactive because we want our participants to emerge not only with information and concepts but with the skills and values needed to become effective, practising conflict resolvers. Discussions, cases, simulations, and exercises make for lively, fun-filled learning situations.
Taught by highly qualified instructors
Faculty at the Centre are required to meet three demands: they must demonstrate knowledge of subject matter, a record of competence in adult teaching methods, and success as active practitioners in the field. Furthermore, all our instructors are committed to the view that sound conflict resolution goes beyond processes and techniques by being grounded in psychological and social sensitivity, ethical values, and deep respect of persons as individuals. Every course is evaluated. Ratings reflect very high degrees of participant satisfaction with both course content and teaching methods.
Quality-conscious
Because the field of conflict resolution is so varied, it remains largely unregulated. Thus the indicators of quality are of crucial concern to graduates who want to be assured that their studies will be recognized professionally.
1) The design of the program is based on educational values. Our perspectives are grounded in the interest-based problem-solving model. Though our program aims to produce conflict-resolving skills, we recognize as sound educators that these skills must be based on understanding of theory, process, and values. Thus our materials are drawn from many fields including philosophy, psychology, organizational sociology, ethics, communications, and conflict studies.
2) High standards of instruction validated by rigorous evaluations.
3) The experience, training, and reputations of the faculty.
4) The institutional support of the University of Prince Edward Island.
Innovative
As new needs are identified and new research published, the Centre constantly revises the content of its courses.
Successful
Since its inception in 1998, our program has offered courses in more than 40 topic areas to over 4,000 registrants from all walks of life, and our faculty includes 20 plus contracted instructors from across Canada.
Service oriented
As an innovative professional development organization, the Centre's instructors and staff are vitally interested in responding to your changing needs with personalized service. We have offered customized courses and customized complete certificate programs to a variety of organizations in both English and French. We will also provide personnel to meet specific instruction needs. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have.
New developments and announcements of courses will be advertised in the media and available on this website.
To register for specific courses, please register online. For registration inquiries, call our office at (902) 566-0336; E-mail us; or fax us at (902) 566-0451.
To inquire about program regulations, contact Gilbert Ladéroute at (902) 566-0707 or by e-mail.
Centre for Life-Long Learning
