Exploring Processes of Changing a School Community
Research group: Metka Kuhar, Mitja Černko, Tadeja Kodele, Nina Mešl
One approach in developing self-awareness, empathy, and social skills is nonviolent communication (NVC), which focuses on a) becoming aware of the perspectives, experiences, needs and requests in ourselves and others, and b) strengthening a kind of relationship quality, which enables everyone in a certain situation to find a way to meet the needs of all those involved (Rosenberg, 2005, in Fullerton, 2007). While some research exists to support the efficacy of this approach on different levels of education (summarised in Hooper, 2015), there is still a lack of longitudinally, psychometrically and sociometrically based studies.
Between 2015 and 2018, a training program based on the NVC approach took place at the primary school of Franja Goloba Prevalje, guided by a Swedish-certified NVC trainer. In the 2018/2019 school year, a multi-layered support program based on the principles of this approach was conducted by teachers trained in the approach for the pupils of two sixth-grade classes.
The present study is focused on the following research questions: 1) What are the effects of the multi-layered support program on relevant psychological, social and behavioural indicators of participating pupils? 2) How do the teachers and other staff working in this primary school understand the purpose of their role (at the levels of learning goals, relationships with students, and educational action)? 3) To perform their role, what supportive factors would they appreciate most? and 4) How would they summarise their experiences and the outcomes of the three-year training program?
We first designed and conducted a quasi-experimental study about the influence of a year-long, multi-layered support program on relevant psychological, social and behavioural indicators (a psychometrically and sociometrically grounded study exploring the effects of NVC in education). We hypothesised that pupils participating in the multi-layered support program based on NVC principles will demonstrate a larger increase in the chosen measures compared with pupils in the control group.
In the second part of the study, we conducted an exploratory, semi-structured interview with every interested member of the school collective, addressing the topics mentioned above, and we hypothesised that the school collective as a whole has a rather heterogeneous understanding of the above-mentioned topics.
Scientific publication
Metka Kuhar, Mitja Černko
Evaluation of the Nonviolent Communication program for the primary school – article in preparation