Respect… just a little bit (please)

I’m going to deviate from my main focus of this blog to write about something that is incredibly important to me as an Early Years educator. It’s been on my mind a lot this week, so I need to get it ‘out there’!

“The best way to teach respect is to show respect. 

When a child experiences respect, they know what it feels like 

and begin to understand how important it is.”

 Steve McChesney 

I work with three to six year olds and if there is one thing that irritates me, ruffles my feathers and drives me up the wall it is this: when seemingly intelligent adults disrespect these really young learners. 

I have heard many an adult, parent, and even some teachers (usually those who teach older kids), say things like:

1. “They are so cute.”

2. “Ha ha ha.” A sniggering laugh when a kindergarten child says the first thing that pops into his/her head.

3. “They cannot do that, they are too young”.

4. “It doesn’t matter, they are only in kindergarten”.

I do not like it. At all. Am I clear? 

It seems that there is an age below which you should not be taken seriously. And guess what? These little guys actually KNOW who respects them and who doesn’t. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. How can teachers possibly expect the students to respect them if they show no respect to the students? Don’t get me started!

OK, so here is what I truly believe:

1. They are not cute. Newborn babies and puppies are cute. Kindergarteners are NOT.

2. These little minds have more creative and intellectual juices flowing than most fully grown adults.

3. Yes, they definitely CAN do it. Set the bar high and they will rise to it (and most probably fly way above it).

4. Yes, it does matter. The experiences a child has in kindergarten have the potential to affect their whole future. Facts for Life is a child protection site that states:

“The first five years of a child’s life are fundamentally important. They are the foundation that shapes children’s future health, happiness, growth, development and learning achievement at school, in the family and community, and in life in general.”

Maybe I take this job too seriously. But I would be doing the students a disservice if I didn’t. I have seen one too many young students crushed and belittled by words of the ‘grown-ups’ in their lives. And that is just not right. All I know is that I believe with a passion that every student, no matter what age they are, should be respected for who they are. Unconditionally.

Today really reinforced this for me. I teach Performing Arts to the Early Years students. Exploring concepts through music, dance and drama with creative, enthusiastic, curious and often confident risk-takers. I see almost three hundred amazing students every week. Does it show that I love my job?

Today was the final dress rehearsal for the Reception class performances. We have sixty students on stage for half an hour, sharing their learning through the four PYP units they have been working on through the year. Sixty four-and-five-year olds in the morning and a different sixty four-and-five-year olds in the afternoon (AM and PM classes). While there has been a fair bit of guidance for these students, they really own the show. 

1. They have all created the lines they are going to say. Their words, not ours (the teachers’). Their truly original thoughts about what they have discovered about recycling, celebrations and our five senses.

2. They have created actions for the songs they will sing.

3. They have created their own special hat or medallion to wear for the performance.

4. They have learnt dance moves (as part of their patterns unit) for the Hand Jive, Y.M.C.A and the Time Warp.

5. They have learnt to play musical instruments (untuned percussion). They follow the conductor (me) and do their best to play in time with the beat. And you know what? Some of them can actually do that.

And yes, they are (only) four or five years old!

Tomorrow the students will perform their lines, songs, dances and music on a very big stage in the very big school theatre that seats over six hundred people. Parents will come laden with cameras, video recorders, iPhones and iPads to get their shot of their child on stage. I seriously hope that there will be some adults in the audience who will actually acknowledge the potential of these incredible learners. 

The PYP includes respect as one of the twelve attitudes to be fostered as an integral part of the programme:

“It is vital that there is also focus on the development of personal attitudes towards people, towards the environment and towards learning, attitudes that contribute to the well-being of the individual and of the group.

It also states that teachers should be modelling these attitudes. Respect the students and they will respect you back. Think back to your favourite teacher in kindergarten or primary school. I am pretty sure it will be one that respected you, listened to you and made you feel like you mattered. Food for thought at least.

I’ll finish by tipping my hat to all those patient and dedicated Early Years educators who KNOW where the magic really happens. 

References

Steve  McChesney. “Respect – How to teach it and how to show it.” Teach-nology.com. Viewed 3 May 2012. http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/respect/

Unknown. “Child Development and Early Learning.” Facts for Life. Viewed 3 May 2012. http://www.factsforlifeglobal.org/03/

Making the PYP Happen. International Baccalaureate Organisation. 2007.

#Attitudes #EarlyYears #PYP