If  you would like to begin to use Clean Language in the playground and your classroom, here are the basics:

1. The first step is to trust that the children really can solve the problem themselves given your skilled support. Remember the Pygmalion effect? If you believe they are capable then they will be. (Please don’t gloss over this step – it is important – especially in the early stages when you are first practicing and have no results to look back on.)
2. Listen absolutely exquisitely to the words the children say – and the way in which they say it. Don’t make any judgments; or have opinions or try to think of solutions. Just focus on what they say.
3. Repeat back to them the words they have said (just like they said it) and ask a Clean Language question.

That’s it in a nutshell!

Of course there’s a knack to the listening and it can take a while to get into the swing of it but it will be very well worth the wait. And knowing which questions to ask is a skill that can be picked up quite quickly AND developed into quite an art in time.