UNO box Friendly and Fair Teaching
With a UNO Box, you create a source plan. In this plan, you explore and describe your underlying motivations. Over time, these motivations may change. The UNO Box makes it easy to update your source plan. Highly recommended.
During a visit to Het Veerhuis in Varik (Netherlands), Johan ’t Hart met Henry Mentink. Henry spoke about the opportunity to attend a session at Het Veerhuis in which participants create a source plan. While developing the UNO Box, Henry reflected on the fact that people often think in two dimensions: costs and benefits. This approach emphasises duality (you versus us) and competition. Henry’s foundation, however, is based on peace (love), and he translated this principle into the UNO Box.
During that session, three participants from different organisations – including Johan ’t Hart – created their own source plans under the guidance of Henry Mentink. Johan attended this session on behalf of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation (Stichting Vriendelijk Orde Houden). The aim of this foundation is to improve the relationship between teacher and pupil. The target groups FFT focuses on are:
- beginning teachers who could use support with classroom management;
- experienced teachers who are open to a new approach and are willing to invest time in it. Even if they do not experience classroom management problems, it can be refreshing for them to explore the FFT approach, which has been developed by colleagues for colleagues.
This session included a beautifully crafted wooden construction sheet with which a cube can be made (see image). This construction sheet has seven faces: the six faces of a cube plus one additional face to close the cube (seven faces in total). The sheet has a front and a back. On the faces that will eventually form the inside of the cube, you attach terms that represent your inner world. On the outside, you attach terms that show how you connect your inner world with the outside world.
In the meantime, the staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation (FFT) have also been working with the UNO Box. They selected fourteen terms, divided into:
- Inside (of the UNO Box) / internal considerations (inner world) of the staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation
- Outside (of the UNO Box) / what the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation aims to achieve in education
Image: Dutch version of UNO box Friendly and Fair Teaching
| Inside / Inner World | Outside / Outer World |
|---|---|
| 1. Urgency | Network |
| 2. Knowledge | Internet |
| 3. Together | Stichting Vriendelijk Orde Houden (Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation) |
| 4. Inclusive | Stained Glass |
| 5. Empathy | Facilitating Dreams |
| 6. Freedom | Interpreting Friendly and Fair Teaching |
| 7. Guidance | Friendly and Fair Teaching Academy |
Using the terms above, the source plan of the Friendly and Fair Foundation has been created. In the photo above, you can see the front and back of the wooden construction sheet. The photo on the right shows how the cube has been assembled from this sheet.
In the source plan of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation that follows, the terms listed above are shown in bold. With this source plan, the staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation (see section 3.1 below) clarify their motivations and indicate how they wish to reach and support colleagues in education through these motivations.
Source Plan
We feel an urgency to use our network to share knowledge online.
Together, under the banner of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation, we enable an
inclusive approach—guided by the image of stained glass—and, with
empathy, we facilitate one another’s dreams.
In freedom, teachers and educators get to work. They interpret the FFT offer and choose what fits their own classroom practice.
Our plan is to offer guidance in the future through the yet-to-be-established Friendly and Fair Teaching Academy.
Explanation of the Terms in the Source Plan
1.1 Urgency
In this time of increasing tension—this explanation was written in January 2026—the staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation support teachers and educators with their educational expertise, helping them interact with pupils in a friendly and relaxed manner.
1.2 Network
The staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation develop and share their ideas through a network.
2.1 Knowledge
Through their knowledge, the staff of the Foundation strengthen a sense of togetherness in lessons and within schools.
2.2 Internet
The staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation use two websites to share their ideas:
www.friendlyandfairteaching.com
Corresponding pages on both websites are linked. A small flag icon in the top right corner allows users to switch between Dutch and English.
3.1 Together
The aim of the staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation is a society based on love rather than competition (see the explanation of the UNO Box above).
The most up-to-date version of their ideas can be found on:
www.vriendelijkordehouden.nl
Many people have contributed to this website, including:
- Staff listed on the Vriendelijk Orde Houden website (see Over ons)
- Staff listed on the Friendly and Fair Teaching website (see About Us)
- Participants in the Friendly and Fair Teaching course
- Experts (technical and content-related) contributing to FFT
Artificial Intelligence: currently, we are using AI to create an improved Dutch version, which will then be translated into English with the help of AI.
3.2 Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation
In October 2025, the Foundation officially registered its current name with a notary: Stichting Vriendelijk Orde Houden. The name and the Foundation’s mission now align. Previously, the organisation was called Stichting Rapucation. From 2007, this foundation focused on pupils and organised school-based projects. In 2014, it began offering a course for teachers and educators, for which the website vriendelijkordehouden.nl was launched.
Since 2021, a Vriendelijk Orde Houden course book has been published annually (only in the Netherlands). Together, these books show the chronological development of FFT. At the time of publication, the most recent book is already slightly outdated compared to the website.
Since 2024, Vriendelijk Orde Houden has been providing team training for teachers in collaboration with Michel Couzijn at the following schools: Fioretti College Hillegom, Fioretti College Lisse, Fioretti College Duinzigt, and Fioretti College Leeuwenhorst. After a team training, participants who wish to do so can gain practical experience with FFT (see Practice Period).
Image: The Friendly and Fair Classroom Management Process
The Stichting Vriendelijk Orde Houden is a Public Benefit Organisation (in dutch ANBI) committed to education. The foundation is registered with the CRKBO and is therefore exempt from VAT.
4.1 Inclusive
“A class is only happy when everyone is happy.” This is a statement by Kanamori. You work towards this ideal by involving all pupils in the lesson.
4.2 Stained Glass
The image of stained glass is derived from the cover of the book Dionysius the Areopagite. On the cover, sunlight shining through stained-glass windows breaks into different colours and shapes. For us, this image symbolises the rainbow of qualities people possess. All people originate from one source and together form a beautiful whole (see image).
5.1 Empathy
Putting yourself in another’s position and understanding the specific characteristics of pupils requires empathy. Through empathy, we—staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation, course participants, teachers, and educators—enable everyone to flourish.
5.2 Facilitating Dreams
The staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation aim to contribute to improving education. Pupils have their own dreams, and teachers and educators can encourage pupils to dream. Let us make education a place where dreams can be realised.
6.1 Freedom
Every person is capable of making their own decisions. Pupils spend part of their available time—within a clearly defined framework—making decisions independently and developing their own plans. See Student-Centred Education. On its website, Friendly and Fair Teaching advocates a balance between Teacher-Centred Education and Student-Centred Education. More information can be found under the perspective Planning Lessons.
“As soon as a human being appears with enough originality within themselves (so that they do not say, ‘One must accept the world as it is,’ but rather, ‘Whatever the world may be, I remain connected to my own originality, which I do not wish to change at anyone’s command’), at that very moment a metamorphosis of human existence takes place. Angels look on with curiosity, and dark demons stretch their limbs tensely and say: ‘That will be a tough challenge for us.’”
— Kierkegaard (1971), Søren
Link to the full tekst in Dutch: Kierkegaard Weekly by Andries Visser and Lineke Buis.
6.2 Interpreting FFT
Participants in FFT courses look for applications that are useful to them. Their adaptations and improvements can be found on our website. At the bottom of each page, the Credits section lists who contributed a solution or improvement.
7.1 Guidance
Staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation support teachers and educators during and after courses.
7.2 Friendly and Fair Teaching Academy
This academy has not yet been established. Creating the academy is a shared dream of the staff of the Friendly and Fair Teaching Foundation.
