Conceptions of Practice: Didactic and Participatory Approaches in Conflict Resolution Training

This research study is a qualitative exploration of both scholarly and practitioner views of elicitive training within the field of conflict resolution. Primary data were gathered through open-ended interviews with elicitive trainers. A grounded theory approach generated a schema of didactic and participatory approaches that accounts for the major variations in how trainers conceptualize their work. This study delineates, based on practitioner experience, why and when didactic and participatory training techniques are used. In this manner, knowledge developed through practice will help to guide, challenge and refocus knowledge developed through academic study and research.