The Compassionate Classroom: Relationship Based Teaching and Learning

This is such an important topic! The schools need to teach the whole child - NOT to the test. NCLB act is leaving many children behind by not building relationship intelligence. This book is fabulous! We MUST create this sort of learning environment if we truly want to be a part of the change. As Gandhi said, "to teach real peace, we must begin with the children." I also highly recommend the companion book "the No - Fault Classroom" as well as Marshall Rosenberg's "Nonviolent Communication - A Language of Life". We can all be the change we wish to see!

This book provides practical tools for implementing a truly peaceful classroom. More importantly, the tools taught in this book stay with the child for the rest of his/her life. In our world of seemingly ever-increasing conflict, both in the home and abroad, this book should be a vital part of every classroom.

This book is written for teachers. The first part of the book focuses on research and background for using positive, non-violent language with children and teaching them how to use it. The authors talk about the difference between what they call naming/blaming language and non-violent, positive language. The last part of the book gives many useful ideas to emplement in a classroom. With bullying coming - finally - to the forefront in schools, this book is a wonderful, pro-active way to get started.

This is a landmark book that all educators of young and elementary aged children deserve to become familiar with. "The Compassionate Classroom" has the power to transform and improve the classroom social scene and learning experiences of children and teachers alike. Supported by the research and experience of psychologists and educators like Daniel Goleman and William Glasser, the authors' main idea is that education depends on positive relationships and that children and adults need to learn to communicate in a mutually supportive way to achieve this. They draw directly on the seminal work of conflict resolution mediator and trainer Marshall Rosenberg who says, "The objective of Nonviolent Communication is not to change people and their behavior in order to get our way; it is to establish relationships based on honesty and empathy which will eventually fulfill everyone's needs." Sura Hart and Victoria Kindle Hodson masterfully translate the principles of "nonviolent communication" so that children can understand and apply them. Some of the highlights of this book are the numerous practical activities and lessons that teachers can use with their students to improve their ability to listen with empathy to others and make requests that will be sympathetically heard. Children learn better in a supportive environment where they feel emotionally safe. They need the tools to communicate "from the heart" in order to achieve this. On the contrary, in today's hurried world our students are often exposed to impersonal pressures and models of social interaction that promote indifference, competition, hostility and violent "solutions'' to personal or social problems. "The Compassionate Classroom" provides an antidote to all this and sets a different standard for our children, one that is humane and "life-fulfilling." Along with many fellow teachers I say a heartfelt "Thank you and congratulations!" to Sura and Victoria for this wonderful contribution to our practice.