Thoughtful Thursday

This will be the last post for April. I will return after spring break.

Growing Teachers

Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio approach to curriculum, held more faith in in-service training than pre-service training.  Here are some of his views on training teachers on-the-job from The Hundred Languages of Children (Norwood, New Jersey, 1993):

"Teachers — like children and everyone else — feel the need to grow in their competence; they want to transform experiences into thoughts, thoughts into reflections, an d reflections into new thoughts and new actions.  They also feel a need to make predictions, to try things out, and then interpret them.  The act of interpretation is most important.  Teachers must learn to interpret ongoing processes rather than wait to evaluate results.  In the same way, their role as educators must include understanding children as producers, not consumers.  They must learn to teach nothing to children except what they can learn by themselves.  And furthermore, they must be aware of the perceptions the children form of the adults and their actions.  In order to enter into relationships with the children that are at the same time productive, amiable, and exciting, teachers must be aware of the risk in expressing judgments too quickly.  They must enter the time frame of the children, whose interests emerge only in the course of activity or negotiations arising from that activity.  They must realize how listening to children is both necessary and expedient.  They must know that activities should be as numerous as the keys of a piano, and that all call forth infinite acts of intelligence when the children are allowed a wide range of options to choose from.  Furthermore, teachers must be aware that practice cannot be separated from objectives or values and that professional growth comes partly through individual effort, but a much richer way through discussion with colleagues, parents, and experts.  Finally, they need to know that it is possible to engage in the challenge of longitudinal observations and small research projects concerning the development or experiences of children.  Indeed, education without research or innovation is education without interest."

Thoughtful Thursday

Most of us resist making changes, taking risks. However, in Imagineering (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980), Michael LeBoeuf encourages one to "open your mind to new alternatives." He argues...

"New ideas rarely come from thinking and doing the same old things. Make a conscious effort to introduce change into your life. I'm not suggesting radical, wholesale changes, although sometimes that can be very beneficial. Take stock of everything in your life and question its existence. Ask yourself, 'Am I doing this because it's enjoyable and stimulating or because it's safe?' Make an effort to meet people with varying viewpoints and hear them out. Take up a totally new hobby or pastime. Try visiting or living in another city or country. Replacing the familiar with the unfamiliar is a worthwhile investment in your own growth. In addition to becoming more creative, you'll develop the inner security and self-confidence that can only come from successfully meeting new ideas, people, and situations. Don't allow the security blanket of the familiar to smother your success."

Have you taken any risks lately?

Taken from Exchange Everyday

Thoughtful Thursday

Thoughts from Lillian Katz

Lilian Katz is one of the leading changemakers in the field of early childhood education, right up there with Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Erik Erikson, and Maria Montessori. Below is insight on equality taken from her book, Intellectual Emergencies: Some Reflections on Mothering and Teaching.

"I think the great struggle of our time — and no doubt for generations to come — is the struggle for equality.  But we might ask: equality for what?  People are not equally tall or musical or mathematical or athletic or beautiful; but they are equally human!  They are equally human in the sense that they all have hopes and dreams and wishes and fantasies and aspirations and fears and doubts.  They all want to be treated with respect and dignity and want to feel loved by someone.  In these ways it seems to me, all of the world's people have much more in common than they have apart."