Testimonials Children
Question to participating children: “Have there been other situations where you had to argue and were able to use what you learned?”
“Of course there were situations where I used what I learned. For example, when I had an argument, I was always able to argue well.”
“I had an argument with my brother, and when I discussed it with him, he stopped, which I thought was great.”
“Yes, there have been other situations where I had to argue, for example, my friend only wanted to do something that I didn't want to do. So I argued and expressed my opinion. Then we were able to have fun together.”
“I often needed it when I was playing a game with other children and we couldn't decide.”
“SKiLL has also changed our class meetings. Thanks to the skills we have acquired, we have been able to discuss conflicts objectively, justify our statements, and sometimes even back them up with evidence.”
Ursula Christen, fourth-grade teacher (Horw)
“Teachers have reported on several occasions that the students' argumentation skills have improved significantly and that lively discussions now take place in class across all subjects (e.g., in class meetings or during participatory school trips).”
Denise Krummenacher, special education teacher and coach (Emmen)
“In general, students are beginning to argue in a more reflective manner. This is also evident in subjects such as mathematics and natural sciences. They are increasingly beginning to back up their concerns with strong arguments.”
Hanspeter Inauen, special education teacher and coach (Weesen)
Full testimonials
"SKiLL really appealed to me because both the students and I as a teacher were able to change and improve our communication culture. Quality Talk was new to all of us. The short mini-lessons at the beginning were very well received and the children were very motivated to apply their newly acquired knowledge. Feedback from parents confirmed that their conversation and argumentation behavior at home also changed over the course of the school year. Some parents found it quite exhausting to have to ‘justify’ and ‘substantiate’ their statements. (...) The book by Tommy Mütze was the most popular and impressive. What pleased me most was that the children managed (despite the existing prejudices of one child) to come to school one morning with their hats pulled over their heads. This enabled the class to take a huge step towards cohesion and class spirit. SKiLL has also changed our class council. Thanks to the skills we acquired, we were able to discuss conflicts objectively, justify our statements, and sometimes even prove them. I have seen children who thought they had a good answer realize self-critically that their reasoning was lacking."
Ursula Christen, fourth-grade teacher (Horw)
"Teachers have reported on several occasions that the students' argumentation skills have improved significantly and that lively discussions now take place in class across different subjects (e.g., in class council or during the participatory school trip planning). During the coaching sessions, we also noticed that the newly acquired concepts from the social studies lessons (e.g., group norms, exclusion, prejudices, etc.) were adopted and understood by the students and used in verbal exchanges. During the discussions, the transfer between the content of the social studies lessons and the students' experiences was very pronounced and easy to observe."
Denise Krummenacher, school special education teacher and coach (Emmen)
"In general, students are beginning to argue in a more reflective manner. This is also evident in subjects such as mathematics and natural sciences. They are increasingly beginning to back up their arguments with strong reasoning. In addition, it has been reported on several occasions that students have made references to characters from the books, saying that a situation in class is exactly the same as one in a book. Especially when it came to the social exclusion of individual students, it was also helpful for teachers to be able to refer to characters from the books, discuss the experiences of these characters, and search for solutions together without always focusing directly on the children concerned. Some children also show signs of moving away from black-and-white thinking. The question of who is to blame, who are the perpetrators and who are the victims is perceived in a more nuanced way."
Hanspeter Inauen, special needs teacher and coach (Weesen)