“They saw what happened, but judged the child instead of seeking his intention and creative idea.”
People are so quick to judge, and it's sad to say that often times I fall into that trap.
-I'm quick to judge a child according to their appearance
-I'm quick to judge a child according to their parents
-I'm quick to judge a child according to their abilities
-I'm quick to judge a child by the way they draw
-I'm quick to judge a child by what they say or perhaps what they cannot say
-I'm quick to judge a child by what toy they choose
-I'm quick to judge a child according to the friends they play with
I'm quick to judge, but when I remember to just sit back, erase these judgments, and look through a new slate -- observe the child and his abilities, I am almost always baffled at how surprisingly wrong I am of the judgments I have preluded.
REMINDERS needed for us teachers
--“We teachers need to remind ourselves daily to remember that there is meaning in a child’s behavior. Discovering that meaning helps us support children.”
Our duty is to the children. We are the children's advocate. It's not our job to fill these empty minds. Instead it's our job to break their ideas, creativity, strengths, and all tat good stuff out of their minds.
--“Teacher and child stand shoulder to shoulder with much of the same, uniquely human, perspective — wanting to know, to accomplish, to grow, to follow their imaginations and curiosities. The teacher, caring, adds her own desire to help the child achieve his own intention.”
When I look at children through a new lens, I get a sense that CHILDREN are just the same as I am. In fact I feel that the roles have reversed, instead of children doing the learning, in actuality I am. I have to research the child. I need to do the write ups and observations. I need to see whether or not children are interested in bugs or not. Looking at children through a new lens reverses the role and I now take the role of the learner, learning each child, and adding what I feel is appropriate for the child to grow.
--“Nel Noddings[95] writes that caring is not something you are, but is something you engage in, something possible in every interaction.”
“While I saw their kindness to the children, I didn’t see respect for them. Love was present, but love alone wasn’t enough!”
I just read Nel Noddings book "Caring," and attended a seminar by a Woman who spoke of Nel Noddings "Caring." When I first thought of caring, I thought that its just a phrase that I say to display my affection, for example, "I care about you." But caring is more then just a phrase or an adjective. It's a verb, it's an action. It takes actually having to care for someone. So with this said, to care for our children within the classroom takes more then just passing handouts to them. I actually need to take the step to know them, to know who they are, to know what they want. I actually have to do for them, I have to provide for them, see them as an individual, help them, accompany them, walk at the same level as them, and so on.
--“As we try to change our Image of the Child from one who is weak and needs us to protect him to one who is strong, competent, and has his own ideas, needing us to find the materials and times for him to explore and create, we are called on to make changes in our own teaching dispositions.”
This is a phrase I find myself struggling, especially when I go through a situation with a child who "cries." Children who cries are my triggers, and I often fall into the trap of seeing the child as weak and who need me to come to their rescue. At times I need to step back, not jump into the situation. I need to remember that in actuality this child is strong, so what do I do to bring out his words instead of a cry. What can I help this child with? How can I bring out his strengths?
--“We have an obligation to encourage the terrific thirst to make sense of the world little children experience from the day they are born.”
If there is something i'd like everyone to remember, is to remember this. Children love to learn. As teachers we need to bring this love out. We need to help these children, not stuff them with rules and paperwork. We need to remember that they are still children, as much as we learn of them, they are trying to make sense of the entire world around them.
So what would you remember? How do you remember these things? How do you go day by day with these new lens? At times do you take it off? Do you fall back to your old ways? What do you do to keep these new lens on?
If there is something i'd like everyone to remember, is to remember this. Children love to learn. As teachers we need to bring this love out. We need to help these children, not stuff them with rules and paperwork. We need to remember that they are still children, as much as we learn of them, they are trying to make sense of the entire world around them.
So what would you remember? How do you remember these things? How do you go day by day with these new lens? At times do you take it off? Do you fall back to your old ways? What do you do to keep these new lens on?
By: Jadelynn Davis
Excerpt From: Sydney Gurewitz Clemens & Leslie Gleim. “Seeing Young Children With New Eyes.” Leslie Gleim, 2014-01-28. iBooks.
Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itun.es/us/6f7k2.l
The saddest part about the judgments that we make, is often times it effects how we treat a child which in turn effects the way the child acts. We have a way of shaping a child (negatively) by the negative judgements that we pass on a child because of their clothes, family, speaking abilities, etc!! Like you pointed out, our judgments are often wrong but if we consiously or subconsioulsy treat a child a certain way because of these false judgements we are still going effect they way they act whether those judgements were even accurate to begin with. Children are children, innocent and eager to learn....they don't deserve our judgment. As a child we can't choose how much money our family makes, where we live, what we wear, how our family acts, or how smart we are, if no one will spend time nurturing our interests! SO much stuff is out of our control at this point in our lives and yet people choose to make judgements about these things they have been apart of shaping us. I would hate to be judged by the negative choices my family members have made. As an older person, aware of my family and the horrible decisions some of them have made, its hard to not find our identity in these things and be embarrassed by them. I would feel so bad if people only saw me as related to someone who made some really dumb choices. Their life is separate from mine...their choices are not my own!! The same thing goes for the children that enter our classrooms each year!! They are not their parents...their choices are their own!! I think it's important to keep this in mind and to never pass judgement. No one of us is better than someone else....it is not our job to judge!
ReplyDeleteHi Jadelynn,
ReplyDeleteI think you make an interesting connection here - the notion of care as it relates to listening (and not judging) to children. How might you use the work of Nodding's to help you define a classroom community? And what role would documentation play in creating a care-based environment? Does it relate directly to how teacher's understand a child's intention? Or the teacher's own intentions? Can the recognition and understanding of intention inspire the presence and enactment of care? How might this look in a classroom? How would the teacher be constructed? the child? the environment?
How do the documentation panels in Making Learning Visible illustrate the power of intention? caring? listening? responding?
Cheers,
Jeanne
From what I’ve read in your post, I kept thinking over and over that what we need to do is revert back to our image of the child. And to go back to looking through a lens that respects, cares for, and loves children. A lens that sees children as capable human beings, even if they need a little assistance along the way.
ReplyDeleteWhat you listed are good reminders for us as teachers, especially when things seem to pile up or get chaotic. It is important to bring ourselves back down to a calm and sane state. How do you remind yourself to do or to rethink about the items you listed? How can we help colleagues remember to do that as well?