Archive for the ‘Clean Communication’ Category

If you would like to start using Clean Language in the playground or your classroom now, 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.

Have you ever finished dealing with a conflict in the playground feeling that you haven’t really got to the heart of it and settled it for the children? You listen to them both and try to get them to appreciate each other’s perspective and (twenty minutes later) after grudging apologies are made, you have a strong sense that some of their thoughts and feelings remain unresolved -but the lesson needs to begin and so you move on.

We don’t have the time in a busy school day to play out the role of councilor or policeman to get to the bottom of things and resolve them for children, but we can make use of an innovative technique, used in both professions now, to help the children resolve their own problems.

First things first – Clean Language has nothing to do with swearing! It is a technique based on a collection of questions that are as free from assumptions as possible. They help us to get a clear idea of another’s thoughts and feelings without ‘muddying the waters’ with our own assumptions or presuppositions.

The great thing about Clean Language is that it’s based on listening skills and a particular kind of questioning that is reasonably easy to get the hang of with a little practice. And as teachers we have ample opportunity to practice it throughout the day!

Julie McCracken is a practicing Class Teacher, Clean Language Facilitator, NLP Master Practitioner, Senior Life Coach, Coach Mentor and Assessor.