I have only had one recent disagreement/conflict, which was resolved peacefully. During a recent Debrief of a classroom, I questioned the use of center signs indicating the number of children allowed in a any give interest center. The caregiver, kept returning to the reasoning of controlling the children, and I kept returning to the skills children learn when they decide how many children work best in an interest area to sustain play. Having recently completed a communication class provided by Air Force, I used several of the strategies for conflict resolution, which mirrored those from NVC for compassionate communication as we exchanged observations, feelings, and needs. Additionally, we looked at the situation from a 3rd side, as I encouraged the caregiver to look at the use of center signs from the eyes of a child and to take the signs down for one month, a compromise to both our positions. Once she removed the signs for a week, she could see her children learning to negotiate and problem solve to sustain play in her interest areas and she could how a child might feel in a classroom where play was controlled by the teachers rather than self initiated, she immediately understood why I questioned her signs.
Sondi,
ReplyDeleteI also have this problem in my room as well. I have asked about removing the signs but the requests have gone unheard for a while. I find myself trying to keep a record of the children and the time spent in each area to make sure that all children have the chance to visit a "popular" interest area at least twice a week. I plan to suggest the sign removal for at least a month to my executive director and pray that the results will have the same effect as mentioned in your blog. Thanks for sharing this story and strategy it is greatly appreciated, I will keep you posted on the progress of everything.
Sondi,
ReplyDeleteWow!!! That was a great way to handle the situation. That way the caregiver could see on her own how she was doing things was not beneficial for the children in the class. You helped her in a way were no one's feelings were hurt.