 needs, and that each of our actions is a strategy to meet one or more of these needs. Violence is a tragic expression of unmet needs. NVC believes that each human being has remarkable inner resources that can be used by means of empathy.
By practicing NVC, people can learn and clarify what they are observing, their personal feelings, the values they want to live by, and their expectations, both individual and in relation to others. A language of blame, judgment or domination will no longer be needed. People experience the need to contribute to one another's well-being.
The NVC process is relevant to all stages of conflict. Using NVC techniques in everyday life, thinking and communication can be a preventive measure in itself. Whenever a conflict arises, the NVC process provides the support that is needed to act in accordance with people's individual values. If verbal or physical violence has been reached during the conflict, the process can be used to handle the reactions of the people involved.
In this good practice, the main steps to achieve the expected results and impacts are:
- Meeting with school actors (teachers, leadership teams, parents) who request NVC training, and clarify the goals and conditions for an NVC project.
- An NVC presentation (minimum 2 hours, up to one day) for all those wishing to be included in the project. This is to make sure that everyone has the information needed to motivate active participation, or clarify who will participate in the project. Often all school staff participate in part one, and then part two and three can be a matter of choice. Or the project starts with one committed group (part of the staff) and develops from there.
- Drawing up the project plan: the NVC trainer and the school team/group agree about content, timing, goals, documentation, budget, evaluation, etc.
- Then follows a process that includes NVC training and implementation; repeated meetings are preferable, spread over 1-3 years (sometimes shorter projects are implemented, with the awareness that the implementation might not be as strong and sustainable with a short process).
Part 1 – Content: NVC foundation training, key communication competences and conflict resolution skills. Focus on practical application.
Training varies from 4 to 12 meetings, and 3 hours to full days (depending on the goal, group size and other conditions such as timing, finances, etc).
Part 2 – Content: Deepened NVC training. Adding the schools/groups’ choice of focus. Training highly relevant and adapted to their needs and daily work, with much of the time devoted to communicative practice. Training varies from 4-6 meetings, 3 hours to full days.
Part 3 – Content: Deepened NVC training, including sharing NVC skills with others. Setting-up of a practice/pilot group of motivated key people led by a trainer. 3-5 meetings.
All projects include written and practical material to strengthen understanding and implementation. Sometimes a “documentary” workbook is produced from the work in the project, which can serve for dissemination to other schools or groups.
Challenges and opportunities posed by the context
Some projects have covered entire schools and lasted for a long time, from one year up to 12 years, with regular training courses. These projects have had different approaches and goals; for example, to increase the ability to deal with difficult conversations, to prevent and deal with conflict, to strengthen communicative leadership in the classroom, and to integrate democratic values. Certain conditions have proven to be of advantage when introducing NVC in a school:
- Mutual agreement and firm establishment of the project and its goals with all involved.
- Clear and precise conditions for implementation of the project so that everyone is aware of what is required of them.
- Regular courses with practical and theoretical exercises to be completed between the courses in order to support the process.
- Participation also from leadership teams and administrators.
The challenges are: the generally heavy workload for teachers, and finding th