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.