3 How to use the different tools

3.1 “Needs and Strategies” – Toolkit on basic human needs and strategies to fulfill them

 3.1.4 Practical Tipps from the Pilots

Kolibri Schule Welten AT

In our classes, we started with an exercise that followed two goals:

1. Create a working environment in which everyone feels comfortable and respected.
2. Subliminally introduce the pupils to the concept of the 5 Basic Needs.

We called it: Cooperation-Rules

As a first step, every pupil had to work with a handout individually:

In a second step, the teacher read out each of the statements and asked the pupils who had selected that statement from the list to show. This is how she counted up the votes for the statements. Together with the class, she created a “Top 5 – List” of the statements that received the most votes.

In step 3, the pupils worked in teams of five on what rule they could formulate to ensure that this need is met. For example, for the statement “... that I can discover and try out new things.” They formulated: “it is ok to ask questions and make mistakes to learn from them.”

Then the groups were re-arranged. The pupils formed a separate group for each statement on the top 5 list. In this way, each pupil took the rule that their group had worked out to this new group. The task of the newly formed groups was to work out common rules from the different contributions.

At the end, the class created together a poster with the new cooperation rules and every pupil signed it.

In a next lesson, the teacher referred to the statements and built the connection to the five Basic Needs:

Security & Survival

• It is important to me that I can feel safe.
• It is important to me that my boundaries are respected.

Power

• It is important to me that I can participate and that my opinion is heard.
• It is important to me that I have a say.

Freedom

• It is important to me that I can make decisions.
• It is important to me that I can take on work independently and on my own responsibility.

Fun

• It is important to me that I can discover and try out new things.
• It is important to me that we have fun.

Love & Belonging

• It is important to me that I do not feel excluded.
• It is important to me that we help and support each other.

She raised the question of whether or not all five needs are covered in the Top 5 - List. After a discussion, the pupils brainstormed further statements to each of the needs.

As homework, the pupils were invited to read chapter 1 of Booklet 1 and write an essay on the questions raised in this chapter.

In the next lesson, the class worked on chapter 2 of booklet 1, in which the five basic needs are introduced. Together, they read the texts to the basic needs, discussed them and then they made the exercises, individually or in pairs.

This is just one example of how to start with the concept and use the booklets in the classroom. There are many more ways to use the materials, as the aim of this chapter was only to inspire teachers. As an expert, you can use and adapt the materials according to your pedagogical goals and the individual needs of your classes.

In the next chapter you will find more possibilities and examples of how to use the materials in class.

Practical Secondary School of PH Steiermark AT

At our Training Secondary School, the five Basic Human Needs (Booklet 1) are at the forefront of social interaction. In the subject “Social learning", which is anchored in the timetable as a separate subject, live skills are particularly important. In these lessons the pupils deal with this topic of the Basic Needs. The exercises in the booklet were very helpful for the teachers to support the individual lesson sequences.

In several units of the subjects Religion and Ethics, these ideas on basic needs and strategies were also presented to the 3rd and 4th classes: With the help of the booklets they read, discussed and worked. In these two subjects, the children are used to a lot of talking, discussion and questions about human existence, so the content worked well.

Especially in the subject of "Social Learning", which is an integral part of the joint and creative learning area with the class leaders in our classes, the "Basic Needs" are well applicable. Above all, it is about children who come from the most diverse family backgrounds. The exercises in the booklet are very helpful in the area of mutual interaction and give the pupils a feeling for a better understanding of the other person. As a further exercise, the pupils could be given some situations from the everyday life of the young people to work on in short sentences, whereby each situation is assigned a certain need.

1st High School of Rafina GR

Our school is a school open to society and very active in social actions as well as a school that seeks to use experiential approaches to teaching, followed an interdisciplinary approach in the context of different subjects of the timetable.

For example: the manual Basic Human Needs was discussed in the course of Social and Political Education and emphasis was placed on issues of democracy and of raising responsible citizens who can form responsible attitudes towards serious issues of modern society.

Furthermore, in the course of Home Economics, the part concerning the prioritization of human needs was exploited in order to create a responsible consumer that respects the environment and cares about sustainable management and sustainability development.

In the “Skills workshops”, through ideas for experiential activities given through the project, an effort was made to strengthen empathy through the understanding and respect of the rights of the fellow human being, as well as to choose the means and the methods which are suitable for disseminating the students' work to the local community.