The heart of the matter- empathic communication in pre-school education

I’m excited to share this article with you. It explains some of the practices of the Ängbybarnen pre-school group in Sweden.

Central to the school’s pedagogy is empathic communication, a needs-based approach, inspired by Nonviolent Communication, created by Dr Marshall Rosenberg.

So, what is empathic communication?

In the school booklet, they share:

We focus on listening to the children’s experiences rather than our own judgments.

They…
● focus on building relationships, assuming that children want to co-operate: when the children are asked to do something, they are always told why so that the request has meaning for them

● practise appreciation, which involves describing what they see children do, how they feel and how this action contributes to their own wellbeing and to others

● practice being fully present: listening and developing their awareness to tune into their own needs and at the same time attuning to the needs of the children

● they set clear boundaries so that children do not harm themselves, others or property. Staff are strong in their leadership, telling children to stop without allocating blame or judging. Rather, they connect empathically, always showing understanding and offering support to find alternative solutions that will meet the children’s needs.