Assertiveness Practice

Purpose

I use this exercise after the anger response style exercise which introduces assertiveness. This gives students a chance to practice generating assertive statements.

Materials

assertiveness handout

Procedure

I usually start by reviewing the "Basic Human Rights" and "Basic Human Responsibilities" with the class.
Then I read through the 5 types of assertive statements and discuss them briefly.

I make a list of several situations where assertive statements could be used. There are a few examples at the bottom of the handout, plus often we can draw some examples from the weather reports that the men wrote. I then present the situations, and using the handout, I ask students to think of assertive statements for each situation, making sure I include some of each of the following:

  • A simple assertion
  • A considerate assertion
  • A Response-invited assertion
  • An "I" message
  • An inconsistancy assertion.

I summarize that assertiveness is a choice that often leads to better resolutions than our automatic responses.

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