musings about education: May 2012

THE TEACHER AS THE RHYTHM SECTION SUPPORTING THE CHILDREN AS VOCALISTS
Katherine V. Ratliff
Founder of Spring Hollow Community Learning Center

It is the moment that can not be measured in time, the moment wherein two musicians play from each other, it is not the past or the future which dictates this magical moment, it is that one present moment, the beat is intuitively felt between the players The drummer and bass know when they are in this moment because it is felt by each of them within their whole being, the two beings are combined to create this moment of combined sound. This rhythm supports the other band members and vocalists to freely express their music and lyrics. The reciprocity of the band members reverberates through out the audience. The audience responds in this moment with their whole being individually and as a group in dance and rhythm to create this magic of combined unity between the sound of the performers and the audience. Everyone, musicians and audience, breathe a satisfying feeling of joy from the feel of this moment.

It is like any relationship, not looking or putting expectations on what the other is going to do or say. If we go into the relationship analyzing what the other is
going to do or say, we lose this magical moment, this moment that takes us to a place beyond what we could ever imagine with our analytical expectations.

As it is with our relationship with children, teachers are in the moment with the children, if we pre plan a curriculum with only our point of view of the outcome, we lose the process, the moment that is far more magical. The teacher and child relationship can be compared to the relationship between the bassist and the drummer. Their rhythm gives support to the other band members and the vocalists to heartfully and freely express their voices.
We as teachers, give support for this magical moment to happen in the

lives of children and their relationships, child to child, child to environment, child to adult, and adult to adult.

THE THREE TEACHERS
There are three teachers in the child's world. The children are their first teachers. There is the child and there are the child's peers. Next, there is the environment. And following the children and environment as the first teachers, last but not least but of equal importance, there is the adult: the teachers and the parents.

THE CHILDREN
The children are autonomous. Children are intelligent, kind, make choices, discover, explore and invent. When the environment and teachers accept their roles, children's autonomy is fostered. Children are able to exist to their full potential. Children are given the right to freely express symbolic representations to clarify existing theories. With an inviting environment and an environment which depicts the journey of children through displayed symbolic representations, children can connect new knowledge to old knowledge and better extend upon theories. Children obtain ownership of the environment through helping to create the environment and then are able to revisit, study, and expand upon accomplishments. Children and adults collaborate with each other in the role of teaching and learning partners to research theories. Through discussions and revisits to documentations of their journey, children gain a higher understanding of their existence. Children learn best by recreating the world children already know and have experienced.

THE ENVIRONMENT
The environment is beautiful and inviting for the children. The environment contains history, art, mirrors, documents, and photos to enhance the

exploration of the study of self, social interaction, and the understanding of others for the students as well as for the teachers. The environment invites hands-on exploration so that the children's symbolic representations of their theories can be expressed, and valued through drama, drawings, collage, clay creations, story telling, sound effects, and most importantly , an invitation to interact with nature, creek walking and digging in the dirt. No list is exhaustive of materials and their purpose to be used; such as, recycled material, clay, paint, blocks, water, dirt. These are the materials necessary for the children to express theories beyond verbal communication. These are their communication tools. The environment is inviting for all the languages of communication and provides private spaces for privacy and solitude. The environment is easy for a visitor to read. It is a visual representation of what the children experience in the environment with or without the children present.

THE ADULT, THE PARENT AND THE TEACHER
The parents are a vital part of the school. They are the thread that holds it all together. In a curriculum which works toward accepting the whole child, it is necessary that there are strong connections between the home and the school. It is necessary that parents step beyond focusing on their individual children and see their children's connection to others, the school environment, and understand the relationship between home and school. It is important that the parents be involved in some way so that their children feel that school experiences are valued by the parents. Ideally, it is beneficial for parents to spend volunteer time helping within the classroom. If this is not possible, parents can accomplish tasks that benefit the school outside of the classroom; such as, preparing document boards and materials for creations and inventions by the children. The parents' point of view is respected and a valuable addition to the evolution of the school. Once the parents understand and value the goals of the school, their point of view and suggestions are a valuable part of accomplishing these goals. Tools for open communication are available. Such tools as a private website, meetings, and get-togethers are important toward mindfully building a strong community to support our children. Since the parents are invited to spend time in teacher roles inside the classroom, it is important that parents understand the role of a Spring Hollow teacher. This is achieved through study, observation, experience in the classroom, reflection, and role modeling the teachers.

The teachers respect the whole child. Within training to become teachers, they have heard over and over again that they must teach the whole child. In Loris Malaguzzi’s words in his poem “The Hundred Languages”: “They cannot “separate the head from the heart.” Everything is connected in some way although this may not be visible to the adult point of view. Children not only have outlets to express academic theories but outlets to explore emotions. Teachers openly discuss feelings of social inclusion and exclusion with children in order to actively teach social skills and acts of altruism. Teachers create opportunities to celebrate all differences, those which are visible and not so visible. First and foremost, they create an environment so that all points of view are valued. Teachers pay close attention to the child. Teachers use all forms of listening skills: attentive, door openers, reflective, and active listening. Teachers ask questions, clarify, give specific encouragement, and explore children's existing and evolving theories. Teachers pay close attention as like a detective to children's discussions, actions, behaviors, and conversations to uncover all the clues to understand the meanings behind the actions. Teachers intervene only after thoughtful consideration. Teachers document by recording observations of children, theories expressed by children about their creations, personal reflections, and photos.

When entering into the process of learning, teachers enter as an equal partner to the child, helping the child to the next level of thought. Teachers do not disrupt the child's natural evolution of learning. The role of the teacher is that of a facilitator. Teachers trust the children to follow their interests, respect children as equal partners in the learning process, and accept children as teachers as well as learners. They allow children the right to solve problems. Teachers evaluate and reflect upon their own values and prejudices so that these will not non-consciously be imposed onto children. Teachers propose and invite, and do not impose and limit solutions to challenges. Teachers accept negation as well as acceptance to their academic invitations. Teachers think before acting, know when "to hold and when to fold" (words from the Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler), when to intervene to enhance exploration or for a need of discipline and when to let the children proceed with their problem solving with peer collaboration. In this way, "think starters" and not "think stoppers" are created. Teachers separate behavior non-choices from academic and emotional choices. Teachers let the children have continuous input as to how the subject is studied and allow the direction to emerge from their questions and theories, real or imagined. In the words of Carlina Rinaldi’s, Reggio Emilia educator, teachers "project only in the sand, not the stone". Teachers respect where children are, not where they want to take them. Teachers allow the children to be "gatherers" of knowledge.

Teachers help to dissect information along the path of knowledge growth so that children are not overloaded with information. The key to constructivist curriculum is to allow the children to research with teachers as learning partners, most of the time allowing the child to take the lead role. Teachers slow down. Teachers do not teach in segments, nor are regulated by a predetermined time frame. Teachers avoid being on a straight path, but are aware and honor all the different ways to get to the same point which then becomes a beginning to another destination. There is no final destination. Teachers value the process more than the product. Teachers will be confused, ask questions, dig deeper, and make their own symbolic representations of the knowledge they are learning with various materials. Teachers reflect and collaborate with their peers, as like the children do with their peers to gain a deeper and more meaningful understanding of life, the learning process, and our teacher role.

UNRESTRAINED ART
Considering the word "restrained" provides a context to understand an emergent curriculum. Defined as the action of limiting or hampering the activity or growth effect of something, this word aptly describes what adults often do when interacting with children about their creations. We limit children when we impose certain values and expectations upon them.

An example of such a value is the importance we place upon finished products. How often do we find ourselves questioning and acknowledging

the product of creating rather than focusing on the process? For the young child, the exploration of mediums, colors, and shapes in the creative process is of great importance. Of greatest importance is the child's real life and imagined experiences. These experiences are the motivation behind the child's symbolic representations within all the art forms. An example of an expectation that can restrain a child is our fixed point of view as to what we think something should look like. To a two year old, the simplicity of one line may represent a tree. How often do we remind the child of the necessity of adding branches and leaves instead of validating the choice the child has made? Young children are going through the very important process of identifying what they think a tree looks like from their point of view. To encourage their creativity and freedom of expression, it is important that we validate each step of their journey in process. We can extend their work by our acceptance and careful suggestions.

Our goal at Spring Hollow is to give the child unlimited resources to create. In order to accept all the many artistic languages of children, the environment must invite the expressions of all these languages and ways of representing life. Materials that encourage dramatic play for acting out life, blocks for building, and clay for sculpting are always available. A variety of collage material, paper, paints, and drawing utensils are displayed invitingly for children.

At Spring Hollow, a major goal is to encourage collaborative, not individual, work. In a sense, it would not be fair to give full credit to the person holding the paint brush without giving credit to the person sitting close by observing and extending upon the painter's process. “The other” influences who we are. Many children find their medium of creation in outlets which do not produce permanent visual products, such as dramatic play, singing , dancing or digging in the dirt.

Spring Hollow has an “emergent curriculum.” This means that we encourage the children to guide us as adults in their choice of topic for exploration and research. The seed may be planted for these topics by a child or an adult. The topic is encouraged to grow by invitations from children as well as from adults. Seeds may grow or may not. A study evolved to explore crabs and subsequent interests in what one might find on a desert island from a story telling of the movie, Cast Away. But then, one of the new hermit crabs was named Elvis, and a seed was planted and interest from the children was tapped, as to “Who was Elvis?”

We have found that topics may last for years or for a few minutes. Topics may be buried for some time and then resurface. One day, the teacher set out a creation made years ago. This was a child's symbolic representation for the study on burrows. Another child noticed this seed of the clay burrow and began to explore the concept of burrows once again. Interests and creations of bird nests continue to resurface. This study began years ago with the nesting of a robin on our front porch. The study of trains is another example of a topic that keeps resurfacing. Perhaps in some way that may not be visible, all these topics are related to each other in the child's mind.

An important art we encourage is the art of friendship. As we extend upon the child's ability to create naturally, we extend upon their natural ability to be kind to each other. As we model this acceptance of diversity in creative expression, we reach the goal of acceptance, appreciation, respect, and love for each other. At Spring Hollow, our goal is to provide an environment that permits unrestrained expression and creation.

LOVE WATER
Circle Green as you grow
All your love will overflow
Show love for the world to see
That’s the way it ought to be.
Years ago, I sat in a circle of three and four year olds singing this song as I had done with children for over thirty years. But this particular day, the word “overflow” brought to my mind a vision of water overflowing from a glass. Taking advantage of a teaching moment as all of us in the education field have been taught to do, I invited my co teacher to bring to me two clear containers, one filled with water. As I poured water from one container into the other, I asked the children to think of a time they showed someone love or someone had shown love to them. As they named these kind acts, pushing a friend in a swing or giving or getting a hug, I poured a bit of water from one container into the other until the second container overflowed spilling water on to the floor as the children squealed with joy. Ever since that day, we have made this activity a daily part of our curriculum.

My first attraction to the Reggio Emilia Approach was Carlina Rinaldi’s words in a lecture, “It is all about relationships”.

BEING IN THE MOMENT
I am drawn to looking at the faces of children because the concentration of their focus and their hands used for a purpose, a purpose that is far more important to them because they have made the choice of how to spend the moment.
Not believing we can ever be perfect gives us an excuse not to strive for perfection. Perfection is inside of us, most of the time covered by our imperfections, it becomes visible to us through our meditations and creativity. Our perfection comes straight from the heart, when we explore our creativity, we can only be in the moment when we touch this creativity, this heart, this moment.
I remember my mother enjoyed ironing clothes. I asked her one day why and her response was “Because I see a difference”. But did she see a difference in the straighter fabric after the iron pressed it, or was she referring to the feel of being in the moment as her satisfaction, being in the heart, letting go of all worries from past and and fearful predictions for the future?
The value which emerges when we trust the child to know where they want to be in the moment. This is fulfilled by fostering the child's creativity and love for one self and one another. In this way, we find:
Nothing Without Joy!
Niente senza gioia
The core of
who we are
is in this moment
words written

paintings painted
dances danced
music played
take us into the moment
to see our core
our essence for living
our essence of being
the scent of perfume
it is in this moment
of this scent
the essence
of this moment of smell
this moment of touch
this moment of the dance step
this moment of the sound of the music note
this moment of the paint stroke
this moment of reality

as to who we really are.

musings about education

Monday, May 7, 2012

Resume

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