In addition, different student populations should probably receive varying
exposure to different components of the learning module. University students are more
comfortable with theory and abstraction, and more able to work with conceptual models
that may not have ready application. In contrast, executives and practitioners are
generally immersed in the behavioral dynamics of the process, but are less facile with
the complex theoretical abstractions. Instructors working with these latter groups will
find it more useful to limit conceptual input to “friendly theories”: those that are less
abstract, or immediately tied to in-class simulations, case analyses, or elaborate,
relevant examples.
Unique Problems In Teaching Negotiation
I believe that teaching negotiation and conflict management creates several
unique challenges and problems that instructors do not typically encounter in other
courses. I will now describe some of these challenges.
1. The Volatility and Unpredictability of Classroom Dynamics. Most negotiation
instructors are intellectually aware of the dynamics of conflict. Competitiveness and
conflict lead to heightened emotions, distortion of perception and judgment,
misattribution of the causes of behavior, heightened cohesiveness in one’s own group,
and the enhanced likelihood of behaving unproductively and unethically. However, it is
one thing to understand these dynamics intellectually and recognize them in others, and
another to experience and manage them.
Because of these dynamics, courses in conflict, power, and negotiation often
energize and motivate students, making classes exciting. Events occur that students
remember long after the course is over and the intellectual content is forgotten. There
is, however, a negative side to these dynamics: students will often be angry at one
another and sometimes at the instructor. They will say things they don’t mean, and do
things for which they do not understand the consequences. They will get carried away
by the moment yet be surprised or even remorseful later.
The instructor, who cannot run away from such situations, must be comfortable
around others who are in conflict. Sometimes an instructor is unwittingly entrapped in
these dynamics, becoming “part of the problem” rather than an uninvolved observer.
Because classroom events are not always predictable and plan-able, an instructor of a
course dealing with negotiation and conflict management should be prepared to
address, manage, and integrate spontaneous classroom events with the learning
objectives of the course.
2. Multiple Instructor Roles. In a traditional academic course, the instructor has
clear-cut role responsibilities: to structure a coherent course outline, lecture, facilitate
discussion, and evaluate student performance. However, by virtue of the variety of
educational experiences described earlier, as well as the unpredictability of conflict
dynamics, instructors in negotiation courses are placed in multiple (and often conflicting)
roles. Instructors must continue to act as formal educators, but also have enhanced
responsibilities as classroom managers, referees, mediators and counselors. While
these roles and accompanying responsibilities may appear to be distinct and explicit, in
practice they are frequently vague or in direct conflict. Following are some guidelines for
each role: