What experiences should our children have much of the time in their early years, and no doubt in their later years as well?"
Each school community is so different and I agree that it is the community of the school that should come together to create a list of experiences, with the children's input! There is not a one size fits all standard and in order for it to meet the needs and desires of the children, they must be a part of the process.
feelings of belonging and feeling welcomed
The social emotional foundation is so essential! If a child does not have a feeling of belonging, how do you move forward in positive experiences from there? I feel that the social emotional foundation is overlooked for the most part once children enter elementary school.
standards of experience should we provide for our young children?
When I am asked to complete "standardized checklists" for my students, so often I find that it does not capture the students experiences! They are experiencing so much throughout the day and that essence is lost when it cannot be captured through "standardized" measures.
damaging effects
These general standards can absolutely be so damaging, not only for the child, but for the families. Environment, culture, family upbringing, etc -- there are so many factors to a child's development so to lump all children together puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the children as well as their families.
[I]t is as if we are starting off together on a voyage. It could be short; it could be long.
I think this is an important thought to keep in the forefront! If not, is the voyage pre-planned by you as the teacher?
Thus, the teacher should not intervene too much and yet does not want to let a valuable teaching moment go by
This balance is sometimes hard to find, but also powerful to reflect on.
There is nothing that is definite or absolute. We try all the time to interpret, through their gestures, words, and actions, how they are living through an experience; and then we go on from there
I think this is important to note. Though the teachers are trying to find those moments of "knots" through observations, the receptiveness of the children may not be what the teacher is hoping to see as a "sticking point".
it is very important for us that the child should feel the teacher to be, not a judge, but a resource to whom he can go when he needs to borrow a gesture, a word
What a key component to building the teacher/child relationship of acceptance, trust and openness.
Thus, any definitions of the teacher’s role can never be accepted once and for all, but instead constantly undergoes revision—as circumstances, parents, and children change;
What an important point to note, that we are all constantly in "revision" and that this is part of the process of learning and growing.
W]e need a teacher who is sometimes the director, sometimes the set designer, sometimes the curtain and the backdrop, and sometimes the prompter. A teacher who is both sweet and stern, who is the electrician, who dispenses the paints, and who is even the audience—the audience who watches, sometimes claps, some-times remains silent, full of emotion, who sometimes judges with skepticism, and at other times applauds with enthusiasm
This is such a wonderful way to describe the image of a teacher and the many roles that they play.
peers at similar levels of development build ideas and enhance one another's understanding of the world around
Working with students with special needs, I find that this is also the case for peers at DIFFERENT developmental levels as well.
tion-the intriguing shapes and splashes of puddles, the intricate
This is so true! Living in the moment is so innate for children. The more we are in tune with this for the children, as well as for ourselves, the better understanding of their needs and desires we will have.
This dialogue illustrates that '"listening' to very young children does not necessarily mean taking all their utterances at face value, but it does mean observing the nuances"
How we interpret what the children are trying to share with us is important to realize the overall context, so that we are not misrepresenting their voices.
filled with adult ideas, including ideas about their rights. The Charter on Chil-dren's Rights makes clear that young children have important insights into the issue of children's rights and how it pertains to their own
How often do we have lessons, ideas and thoughts for the students that are adult driven? Though they may be very young, they are full of ideas, abstract thought and logical thinking that should be the center of all learning.
Those who have the image of the child as fragile,incomplete, weak, made of glass gain something fromthis belief only for themselves. We don’t need that asan image of children
This resonated with me so much! Our image of the child will project through our energy and the children pick up on this!
The teacher has to be the author of a play,someone who thinks ahead of time. Teachers alsoneed to be the main actors in the play, the protago-nists. The teacher must forget all the lines he knewbefore and invent the ones he doesn’t remember.Teachers also have to take the role of the prompter,the one who gives the cues to the actors. Teachersneed to be set designers who create the environmentin which activities take place. At the same time, theteacher needs to be the audience who applauds.
This is a complex role for a teacher, knowing when to be an author, when to applaud, when to be the observer, etc. It is an evolving process to be present and active, be supportive, to ignite thought, and to know when to step back.
The important aspect is not just to promotethe education of the child but the health and happi-ness of the child as well
I feel that these are interwoven, the education of the children and their health and happiness.
Overactivity on the part of the adult is a risk factor.The adult does too much because he cares about thechild; but this creates a passive role for the child inher own learning
I can relate to this! Sometimes we have an idea in our minds of how a lesson should go so we over plan and our vision is much different than the children's. We must keep in mind that the children have their own visions, ideas, individually and as a collective group.
Children are very sensitive and can see andsense very quickly the spirit of what is going onamong the adults in their world.
This is so true! As mentioned in this article, we carry our experiences, moments into the classroom and children are very quick to pick up on this. They are more receptive to our energy than we give them credit for!
learners
Love this! It is in those moments of "teaching" that you realize that we are forever learning, growing and developing :)
co-responsiblepartners.Theirrighttoparticipationisexpectedandsupported;
I find this to be such a key component. Sadly, there are many times that I have seen families put all of the responsibility of a child's learning on the school.
family
I think it's wonderful that the family unit (family members, teacher, school community) all fall within this.