The role of early childhood educator and caregiver is ever widening to include increasing responsibility for social and emotional development. The dramatic rise of violence among school children in recent years underscores the importance of teaching young children how to manage conflicts and resolve interpersonal differences prosocially. This paper draws from current research and grounded theory to build a model for staff development that would begin to address some of these and other complex issues facing the early care and education community as we enter the twenty-first century. Areas identified as professional development needs for early care educators include: (1) knowledge and collaborative networking throughout the childrens cultural and environmental systems; and (2) self awareness of the teachers own social relationships and interpersonal conflict management methods and attitudes. Methods for promoting cultural appreciation and for creating open dialogues with children are illustrated. These methods are internalized more soundly when the teacher has opportunities to reflect and practice in tandem with learning the theory and conceptual framework being presented. The paper concludes by constructing research-based recommendations for Head Start and early care policymakers. The recommendations address transformative staff development models for touching childrens lives using webs of relationships and a systemic peacebuilding model. (Contains 43 references.) (Author/KB)