Who are the teaching organisations?
There are at least five categories of teaching organizations in North America, and footprint jurisdictions, for the many conflict management courses described in Part 1.
Competition –Alleging “uniqueness”.
It is important to note that these five categories of teaching organizations are always in soft or direct competition with one another and within their own ranks, locally, nationally and internationally. They compete constantly, entering each others’ turf, and by searching out uncolonised parts of the globe—especially China, Indonesia, Russia, France, the horn of Africa and certain US states. They recycle old and new products like wandering minstrels around global coffee shops. They advertise by alleging “uniqueness”—of teachers from practice or theory backgrounds or both; of teaching and learning methods; curriculum ( “Mediation and ——“; “advanced—“; “Ensuring practical success by—“), networking and mature students; online access and backup; scintillating venues (Marriott, Italy, Greece, Vancouver or Malibu in the summer,), summer sunshine, great food, add-on holidays ( eg Pepperdine, SMU, Bond), brand name ( eg Harvard); wisdom of foreigners with quaint accents ( “men and women from Mars”); high employment rates of graduates; elation and satisfaction testimonials; national client “rankings”; longevity of existence; international “recognition” of training, status with some professional group etc.
Moreover, some organizations, such as Law Societies, can arrange key price advantage over the competing educational providers. This is because partners in law firms, mediators and other dispute resolution workers will readily lead excellent workshops for zero pay, ( or even make payments to law societies or conference organizations) in order to obtain valuable marketing exposure for themselves to an eager and select audience of potential hirers.
Public universities sometimes have a price advantage in these competitions as they are substantially subsidized by taxpayers when offering occasional or systematic DR programs.
Of course, these worldwide competitive patterns, rarely lead to an organized and incremental learning curriculum in conflict management. Some universities offer programs of incremental learning in conflict management to tiny audiences—eg Royal Roads, SMU.
Questions to Consider before the Next Article
One example of Career and Educational Pathway Advice
Here is a version of the advice given by the writer to many enquirers into DR education and career over the years—
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