Back to Basics: Don't forget to be human.

Great advice for teachers and parents...and non-parents!

"To be a caring person, though, an educator must first be a person. Many of us are inclined instead to hide behind the mannerisms of a constantly competent, smoothly controlling, crisply authoritative Teacher… To do so is to play a role, and even if the script calls for nurturance, this is not the same as being fully human with children. A real person sometimes gets flustered or distracted or tired, says things without thinking and later regrets them, maintains interests outside of teaching and doesn't mind discussing them. Also, a real person avoids distancing maneuvers such as referring to him or herself in the third person (as in: “Mr. Kohn has a special surprise for you today, boys and girls”).

Here, again, what initially looks like a common sense prescription reveals itself as challenging and even controversial. To be a person in front of kids is to be vulnerable, and vulnerability is not an easy posture for adults who themselves had to strike a self-protective pose when they were growing up. Moreover, to reach out to children and develop genuine, warm relationships with them may compromise one's ability to control them. Much of what is wrong with our schools can be traced back to the fact that when these two objectives clash, connection frequently gives way to control."

Alfie Kohn

Starting points when interacting with children: Challenging but rewarding work

"....What I’ve come to understand is that the most important work I do to see a child in positive ways is within me. I must continually work to transform my own view of children’s behaviors, see their points of view, and strive to uncover how what I am seeing reveal s the children’s deep desire, eagerness, and capacity for relationships. There is no more important or rewarding work than this."

Deb Courtis
"Seeing Children’s Eagerness for Relationships
Exchange Essential: Observing Children - Part II."

Social Constructivism vs. Personal Constructivism

"Some see social constructivist perspectives as putting the teacher back in the picture, in contrast to the personal constructivist position, which many felt was writing the teacher out of the learning process. A social constructivist view focuses on the teacher interacting with their class, whereas a purely personal constructivist view focuses on what is happening in individual students' minds. A personal constructivist view suggested personalised learning programs based on probing students' prior conceptions—a very difficult project for a teacher."


The Art of Teaching Primary Science
By: Vaille Dawson; Grady Venville

More on the topic of respect

"Love without respect is dangerous; it can crush the other person, sometimes literally. To respect is to understand that the other person is not you, not an extension of you, not a reflection of you, not your toy, not your pet, not your product. In a relationship of respect, your task is to understand the other person as a unique individual and learn how to mesh your needs with his or hers and help that person achieve what he or she wants to achieve.  Your task is not to control the other person or try to change him or her in a direction that you desire but he or she does not.  I think this applies as much to parent-child relationships as to husband-wife relationships." Peter Gray

From the article:
In Relationships, Respect May Be Even More Crucial than Love
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201208/in-relationships-respect-may-be-even-more-crucial-love

Respect

Inner voice

Enough said!

How do we regulate our emotions?

I recently finished the book "How we decide" by Jonah Lehrer. I highly recommend it. He talks about the importance to use the different parts of the brain for different types of decisions, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think. Here is an interesting quote, an interesting strategy for developing emotional intelligence both in children and adults.

"How do we regulate our emotions? The answer is surprisingly simple: by thinking about them. The prefrontal cortex allows each of us to contemplate his or her own mind, a talent psychologists call metacognition. We know when we are angry; every emotional state comes with self awareness attached, so that an individual can try to figure out why he is feeling what he is feeling. "

Jonah Lehrer, How We Decide
http://www.jonahlehrer.com/books/how-we-decide/

True/Unconditional Self-esteem

"If we are interested in someones mental health, the relevant question may not be how much self-esteem [someone] has. Rather, it's how much [his/her] self-steem varies depending on what's going on in [his/her] life- for example, how successful she/he is or what other people think of him/her...People with 'true/uncondtional' self-steem would probaly feel pleased or excited when they succed and dissapointed when they fail. But their feelings of worth as people would not fluctuate as a function of those accomplishments, so they would not feel aggrandized and superior when they succed or depressed and worthless when they fail."

Alfie Kohn
Unconditional Parenting Page 44.

Quote of the day

“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn” Anonymous

Our highest endevor...

‎"Our highest endeavour must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves, to impart purpose and direction to their lives.”

Rudolf Steiner

Education as an active/living process

"Each one of us who works in education has learned in the field that many things can be gathered from the cultural patrimony, many from theories and experiences, many from literature, the arts, economics, and science and technology. But many things are also born intuition, taste, ethics and value choices, of reason and opportunities that in part we control and in part are suggested by our own craft in living.

Nevertheless within this constellation of things, balancing between stable and unstable theories and practices, necessary, possible and even accidental; and between oscillations, disequilibria and even adversities of social policies, there remains a space and freedom to use our own intelligence, passion and creativity. "

Loris Malaguzzi, 1995

Internal vs. External Motivations

"There's a common misconception that a person's skill is their talent. Skills, however, are not talents. Talents, on the other hand, require skills. People can have skills and knowledge in areas where their talents do not lie. If they have a job that requires their skills but not their talents, organizations will never tap into their passion or voice. They'll go through the motions, but this will only make them appear to need external supervision and motivation.


If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won't require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external."

Stephen Covey (1932 - )

The forces of Education by Rudolf Steiner

"The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility. These are the three forces which are the very nerve of education."

A thought from Chilean Poet Gabriela Mistral

"Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow. His name is today."


Provided by: Robin Mcconnell

Accepting failures and new challenges

“Children deserve teachers who understand their nature and respect the limits of behavior. The best teachers are the ones who are struggling to become more than they are, on any given day, and who demonstrate to their students that this quest to learn and to grow, to accept failure and go on to new challenges, is what life is all about.”

When children see that grown-ups, teachers, parents, or friends, make mistakes and grow from their experiences, it gives them the ability to feel empowered. They know that they can be safe in their risks and try new things. This is what growing is about. Having safe, rich environments for learning is what will help growth to flourish.

By: Dianna Dammir

Teachers as connectors with the outside world

“The well-rounded teacher, while maintaining a professional commitment, has other interests as well. Good teachers have an involvement with the world outside the walls of the early childhood setting. They want to help children understand some of the real-life issues and concerns. They know that their interest in the world at large transmits itself to children.”

Quote

“To be the best teacher possible, understanding and accepting oneself is vital.”

Old vs. Young

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. -Henry Ford

Just Playing

"When I’m building in the block room, please don’t say I’m “Just Playing”. For, you see, I’m learning as I play; about balance and shapes.Who knows, I may be an architect someday.

When I’m getting all dressed up, setting the table, caring for the babies, Don’t get the idea I’m “Just Playing”. For you see, I’m learning as I play; I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbow in paint, or standing at an easel, or molding and shaping clay, Please don’t let me hear you say, “He is just Playing”. For, you see, I’m learning as I play. I’m expressing myself and being creative. I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair “reading” to an imaginary audience, Please don’t laugh and think I’m “Just Playing”. For, you see, I’m learning as I play. I may be a teacher someday.

When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, or packing my pockets with choice things I find, Don’t pass it off as “Just Play”. For, you see, I’m learning as I play. I may be a scientist someday.

When you see me cooking or tasting foods, Please don’t think that because I enjoy it is “Just Play”. I’m learning to follow directions and see differences. I may be a cook someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body. Please don’t say I’m “Just Playing”. For you see, I’m learning as I play. I’m learning how my body works. I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday.

When you ask me what I’ve done at school today, and I say, “I Just Played”, Please don’t misunderstand me. For, you see, I’m learning as I play.I’m learning to enjoy and be successful in my work. I’m preparing for tomorrow.

Today, I am a child and my work is play.

Source: N/A Provided by Elizabeth Riesner

The Little Boy by Helen Buckley

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin.

"The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the little boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it,"
said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make pink and orange and blue flowers.

He liked his new school,
Even if it didn't have a door
Right in from the outside!