Personal Conflict

I recently had a disagreement at work about responsibilities assigned in the classroom. We share a classroom with an AM and PM class. We work in teams. I have an assistant and then the afternoon has an assistant. We share a teacher aide who sets up our meals. This can be very difficult because the children in the two classes have different interests and we are constantly using materials to support their needs. This means constant collaboration between the two teaching teams. We were having issues with the cleaning of the classroom and who was responsible for each duty. We are required to have a meeting with each team every other Wednesday to discuss classroom business. This is nice because we already have a scheduled meeting where we have to sit down for an allotted amount of time. The two strategies which worked in this meeting were first writing everything down. This worked well because you could see who was responsible for what on paper. This was effective because it was very clear how many responsibilities each person had. It also was a written record to follow if the task actually got done. The other strategy on a personal level was compromising and volunteering to do a portion of the tasks which needed to get done. I think it worked well because others also started to compromise and take initiative.

I did use some of the principles of Nonviolent communication because we were all listening to the needs of each other and working toward peace in our workplace and coming to terms with a common goal. Through the practice of NVC, we can learn to clarify what we are observing, what emotions we are feeling, what values we want to live by, and what we want to ask of ourselves and others. We will no longer need to use the language of blame, judgment or domination. We can experience the deep pleasure of contributing to each others' well being.

NVC creates a path for healing and reconciliation in its many applications, ranging from intimate relationships, work settings, health care, social services, police, prison staff and inmates, to governments, schools and social change organizations ("The center for," 2010).

References
The center for nonviolent communication. (2010, 01 25). Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org/learn/nvc-foundations