Roderick's remarks made on the occasion of receiving an honorary doctorate from Bank Street College of Education in 1999. He speaks about his steady work in conflict resolution programs, because there is always a need for conflict resolution in a world where conflict is natural but violence is taught.
Author Biography
Tom Roderick has been executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility Metropolitan
Area (ESR Metro) since 1983. Started by educators concerned about the danger
of nuclear war, the organization focused first on issues of war and peace in the nuclear age.
In 1985, Mr. Roderick cofounded the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), a
collaboration of ESR Metro and the New York City Board of Education. Nationally recognized
as one of the most effective and sustained school-based conflict resolution programs
in the country, the RCCP has provided intensive professional development for
thousands of teachers, who have in turn instructed hundreds of thousands of youngsters
(grades preK-12) in New York City and 12 other sites around the country. ESR Metro's
other programs include: The 4Rs (Reading, Writing, Respect, and Resolution), which
integrates conflict resolution into the language arts curriculum, grades K-5; the Nuclear
Education and Action Project; and the Economic Justice Education Project.