The story of communication... part two

In the last few days since writing the first part exploring our adult role in communication I have seen an increasing number of posts about setting up the environment ready for the new academic year to begin (in the northern hemisphere that is... of course in the Southern hemisphere the school year is different, and it is winter right now!)

So I decided that this next post in the series should take a look at the classroom... the learning environment ... the third teacher..

as  Reggio Emilia inspired educator I reflect a great deal about my colleague, the third teacher, and over the years I have written quite a lot of blogposts on the topic, as well as sharing images from settings I have visited...

What I have always struggled with is that many educators focus on how the third teacher looks a little more than how it functions... imagine if that is how we educators were treated too. That how we looked, fixed our hair, the clothes we wear whether we work out over not... all of this had more importance than how we teach, communicate and interact with the children... it was more important than the knowledge and experience we have gained over the years... or more important than the relationships we create with the children, parents and colleagues...

I think we would consider people that looked at us in that way as superficial and missing the point of us as educators... not seeing or valuing what we really do.

Of course the early years does not get the value it should, but not to be valued by our own ECE peers would not be healthy for our teaching self-esteem.

So in this post I want to look at how the room communicates... with you as a teacher, with the children as learners, with the humans that spend time there...

Start with the question...
what is the intention of the room?
The intention of the room at the start of the year might be about making the children feel welcome, feel settled and feel comfortable to interact with others...

How do you with the resources that you have meet these needs?
How are you going to arrange the furniture to create space for the children to meet and talk with each other? Do you want them in just big groups or smaller groups? or able to change the size of their group throughout the day (which would mean a selection of space sizes from large to the small).

Do you want the children to feel independent and competent? How do you set up a room to do that?
If you have EVERYTHING out and visible at the beginning and the children do not like to tidy up or are not ready to cope with the amount of resources then you are setting the children up for failure and yourself for frustration and hard work picking up after them... Why not limit the resources in the beginning to see how the children manage those, allowing them to feel in control of the space by being able to play and tidy up after themselves without feeling overwhelmed? New things can be introduced bit by bit... and these introductions can allow you as an educator to enhance the play and learning you see the children engaged in and allow the classroom to meet those needs. It also allows you the time to explain some tools and how they can be safely used... rather than having everything out at the same time and a feeling of risk in the everyday is higher than what it maybe should be.

For instance I have worked in groups where scissors are a great creative tool and all the children knew how to hold, transport and use them... while in other groups the scissors have posed a problem, carried in a dangerous way, not being held properly and accidents happen (too frequently) or children use them inappropriately which switches the scissors from risk to dangerous...
Access to scissors is based on the children's ability to use them and their relationship with them... the room needs to communicate I trust you... and if you are placing materials in the room that require you to police the children then the room and you are saying you do not trust.
When I have had groups with children unable to happily and safely interact with scissors (regardless of age) then I put the scissors out of reach and in a space where they need to ask me to use them, I will bring them down and we can work together, communicating with the children how to hold them, how to carry them and how to use them so that they can get creative... with the intention that as soon as they are ready the scissors can be placed in a place where they can reach themselves.
Just as we do not let people drive cars without lessons and learning first and proving that they can drive safely, I think we need to use the same approach with tools in preschools... so they do have that competence and I avoid coming in saying no.

I want to create a room that says yes.

And more importantly that allows me to say yes rather than no.

Look around the room. Do you see anything that might make you say no to the children? Why does it have this no potential? Can you make changes so that the room clearly allows the children - permits their play - rather than requiring you to police and possibly restrict their play and learning?

Take the time to look from the child's height. It does look very different from their height. Does it look inviting or intimidating? If the latter what changes can be made?

Children have a very different sense of beauty than what adults have. Attempting to clone what others do is not always the best option. Find out what your  children need and like.  Will baskets, neutral colours and the like calm them or send them to sleep? Is that their sense of a learning environment? I am personally not an educator that likes a lot of visual clutter and lots of colours brightly challenging my eyes... but equally I don not like the opposite where there is no colour and devoid of all clutter. I like a learning space that says welcome - come play, come learn, come share your ideas with others... and also a space that celebrates this process, the children can see their value, the value of their ideas etc as this is communicated in the space too. We do not need fancy furniture and expensive materials to be able to do this. We get creative with what we have.
Not all learning spaces have the financial means to get exactly what they want from the catalogues - it is about recycling and upcycling... which is a very sustainable approach to education and also has its own beauty/aesthetic

When we look at images from other people's settings we need to always take this into consideration... we do not know what kind of budget they have, we seldom know how the space is used and what kind of children's needs and abilities they are meeting, we seldom take the time to ask about how the space communicates with the children... it is so often judged on how it looks.

This is part of the reason why Malaguzzi did not want people to take photos of the settings in Reggio Emilia... he did not want others to simply come and take photos to then replicate the space elsewhere... he wanted the educators to start a journey together with their third teacher... where they get to know each other and learn how to communicate with the children... to communicate a joy for learning. The downside is that there are many educators out there in the world saying you need to have this or that, or get rid of this or that for it to be truly "Reggio Emilia" inspired... and yet there are no images to say this is right or wrong, just word of mouth that seems to have been distorted over time - where no plastic, or natural baskets or loose parts or nature are the must do or the must have in order to be Reggio...
Start with the children.
Your relationship with the children.
How do you view childhood and what they can do, should do? How is this reflected in your learning space (indoors and outdoors). How do you communicate with children? How is this reflected in the space? What is the intention of your learning space? How does this impact the room?

What about sound, light, smell, touch - and why not taste... how do these all fit into your room? Do these elements hinder or enhance learning... what can be done to ensure that the room enhances learning rather than hinders, considering all the senses.

we also need to think about how the room communicates inclusion.
Does every child feel welcome?
Can every child feel they can identify with the room or elements of the room? ie does a child with a foreign language have access to her own language through books for example... even if you as an educator cannot read them, their very presence in the space says that her language is valued.
Does the learning space require that some children need extra help? Why do they need this support? Can the room be designed so that all children feel competent.

I have been seeing this image going round facebook the last few weeks, and it made me think of education... (in fact there are several versions that can be found if you google equality, equity and justice meme - so I included a few here)

What I feel we should be aiming for in our classrooms is the justice or liberation - the sad fact is the education is mostly set up for equality which means those that can thrive, those that struggle struggle more... there are schools and educators that strive to ensure that there is equity, that the children get what they need to be able to achieve... but really what we should be doing is designing our learning spaces so that all can be who they are and thrive and achieve and not have to conform to a school norm with standardised learning and tests that is so exclusive.
The really sad part is that reality seems to be going to some kind of extreme that there are those who have that keep getting more boosts and opportunities to achieve and thrive, while others get more taken away - not everyone is getting the chance to rise to the height of their own potential.

So designing your classroom and what it communicates is an incredible complex task. It is so much more than beauty.

How do you include the neurodiverse? Children of different colour, culture, language, religion etc? How do you include families that are not the norm... where the norm is seen as a mother father and children... not all families look like this... does your learning space make all children feel welcome, that all children can find their personal identity reflected?

is the room designed so that the children follow orders, learn obediently, or is there space for joy, laughter, care? What feeling/emotion does the room communicate... does it communicate an openness to learn and explore?

Then there is language?
Language to communicate?
Is your space set up to create a space that encourages children to communicate with each other, verbally and non-verbally?
Do you have words hanging over the room on shelves, walls and the floor, down from the ceilings? Why? Who are they for, especially for pre-readers? Does it overwhelm or enhance the children's desire to read? Or do they become invisible to the children... which in a way is devaluing the written word in the eyes of the child?
Are there other ways you can support language and communication? For instance Soledad at her preschool in Norsborg (see link below) has lists of words for the educators, they are tucked away, but visible enough to remind the educators to diversify their language - to not just rely on the same stock phrases. I like to hang question samples in the documentation room/office to remind educators that there are many many questions that can be asked... to the children, and ourselves as we make changes in the classroom and write up our observations...
Get the children involved in the documentation process so that they see that their words can be written down... this has far more power than vocabulary hanging from the ceiling or on shelves. The children's own words.
Are you communicating your expectations of the children by hanging these words... or the ideas and potential of the children by sharing their words? And this is not just an either or thing... both can work together... it is about mixing things up to create a space that works for you in your context.

Below are some links to posts that might be useful...

The story of communication part one
Open ended materials vi closed ended materials - this posts looks on the materials used and offered to children... do you avoid plastic, why? What is an open ended material? Are closed ended materials bad - always? Why?
The Political Nature of Reggio Emilia - this post is here to remind you that this is NOT a pedagogy about beautiful materials... it is a pedagogy of communication of rights, values, and respect.
The benefits of BIG play - a post to remind you that BIG play is important... how are you designing your learning space so that children can learn with their entire bodies?
Visit to Anden preschool in Haninge
The story of eating together - a post to reflect on WHY to you serve the food the way you do? Is there a more correct way? How does culture and context play a part in all of this?
Story of a word - looking at language
A visit to Aspen preschool in Norsborg - this is Soledad's preschool, as I mentioned above
Inspiration not cloning - please always be inspired by the posts that I share, the images I share... but always always always reflect and think why is this meaningful and relevant for you and your children?

Some images

The Story of communication

This post has been brewing for a while... and my reflections have deepened due to chats with Kierna Corr who has stayed with me over the last few days and we have visited a preschool director (Soledad from Aspen preschool - link at the end to read a post about a previous visit to her preschool) in Botkyrka (Sweden's most immigrant rich commune) and also Annika who is responsible for the preschools in the Rinkeby/Kista area (another immigrant rich area).
The purpose of our visits have been to learn more about how can we better support the children of immigrant families - especially with language... with communication.

But before we can start with the children there is a need to start with ourselves... as educators. So this post will focus on that before moving onto the children and learning...

How do we communicate?
To create a safe space...
Knowledge...
to explore ideas...
learning...
etc

Do we speak in different ways depending on who we are talking to... and why do we do this? Is it appropriate?
When we communicate are we leaving enough space for others to communicate their ideas? Are we actually, truly, open to these ideas, or are they just words?
Why do we listen to some ideas and not others? Whose ideas do we give the most value to? and why?
What part of communication do we prioritise? Listening? Speaking? Reading? Writing? Why?
What are our expectations of others when it comes to these four areas of communication? Do we hold ourselves to the same standard of expectation as we do our peers, or the children...

Sometimes I think as adults we can struggle to create democratic classrooms, or listening classrooms, or even respectful classrooms because we did not experience this ourselves - we do not truly know what it looks like or feels like. So we have to be creative.

I also think that schools tend to focus on teaching children how to debate... and so teachers are debaters rather than skilled in dialogue, which is very different.
Debate is about getting your point across (whether you believe in it or not in school as a practice in the art of debating) - therefore debate is not so much about finding the truth, or the strength of the facts, but about the ability of the person talking - their passion, their ability to communicate, their ability to out-voice other ideas and opinions.
While dialogue is exploring ideas and opinions together, being open to learning from them, being willing to change your mind if the facts, the research point in a different direction from what you thought you might take at first... or it might just lead to understanding others better and a deepening of your understanding of your own opinion. Not just repeating your own opinion over and over without it ever evolving or without ever benefiting from a greater understanding of others. 
I feel that teaching children to debate is a great skill, but it is just one form of communication, and is not a great one for creating a great classroom atmosphere, of allowing children to learn from each other, for allowing children who are weaker in communicating but have amazing ideas and opinions that can benefit from others to shine.
I also think that debating means educators might be less open to try new things, because they excel in proving that what they know is the right way.
I also think that a school system that tests and has right and wrong answers is also going to produce teachers/educators that are going to need a whole load more bravery to try new ideas... as getting it wrong meant failure in school... that is a hard feeling to shake.

Are we, as educators, really comfortable with unpacking our own prejudices so that we can face them, learn from them and evolve? I think there are many things that we do without reflecting on, small, everyday things, that are steeped in stereotyped behaviour and tradition. These actions can accidentally exclude, even if that is far from our intention. This is why we need to be open with ourselves and how we communicate with others. What is a our view of the child? How does that impact the way we talk with them... do we see them as competent, do we worry about risk, do we stress about physical contact (you don't hug in school)... how does this impact the words and intonation and your body language?

What about the classroom? Does the layout/design of your classroom encourage communication? What kind of communication? Between the children or only from teacher to children - where they listen passively? How do you design a classroom to support active listeners? What is your knowledge about how the children listen? What does real listening look like?

I received a letter from my son's school in preparation for the new term starting in the latter half of August... there it stated (yet again) the need for "studierro" STUDY PEACE - what does this mean? Sometimes it feels that the teachers are expecting silence and to sit still so that the children can learn... but really there is only a small minority of children who need silence in order to be able to learn.. and even fewer that appreciate sitting still as an effective way to learn.
If children are spending their energy on trying to be quiet and trying to be still, then there is less energy being spend on listening, language acquisition, learning and participating in lessons... and also less time for the educator to be facilitating the learning as time is being spend on micro-managing children to sit still and be quiet. So how do teachers create learning environments? That allows all the children to learn... including those that need to move and need to make noise in order to access knowledge?

This might mean the traditional classroom will not work... and there is a need for flexible seating... but equally it might mean a traditional classroom does work with a particular class and a particular teacher (as long as the teacher is open to seeing the needs of all the children and is not just trying to convert all the children into sit still and be quiet learners... as no matter how good you are at making that happen it does not guarantee you that all the children are learning effectively. Silence and compliance does not equal learning.

The norm is an important part of what makes up our society... our expectations of others, what we accept and what we do not... that hitting, violence, being rude, murdering etc are not part of the norm... what we wear is also part of the norm, how we speak, the words we choose, swearing, what foods etc... there is a need for them to create community and also to create a kind of ethical code. The problem is that these norms can be too small and too restrictive and they have a nasty habit of excluding... this is why, we as educators, need to look at the norm we participate in, our own context, and how that impacts our communication.
In the below images if have drawn the norm as a rectangle... the small circles are groups, for a variety of reason that get excluded from the norm, and very often educators strive to include them. The problem is that these children, these groups have to learn how to become a part of the norm, and their differentness is highlighted as a problem... my son with autism/ADHD refuses to adapt, while my daughters have been able to (but at a great personal expense... complete exhaustion and sometimes depression - in fact when I was with my 17 year old as she got her ASD diagnosis the doctor complimented her on her self awareness and the fact that if she continued to work on that her autism would go away... I pointed out, as a mother with ASD that the autism does not go away, what happens is that we get better at hiding it so that neurotypicals feel more comfortable - we learn how to step into that box)

Educators learn various strategies etc to help children enter that box, become a part of the norm... and in this very process alienate even more the identity and the differentness of the child. Whether it be autism, or being an immigrant, a different home language, a different culture or religion, or skin colour, or family or. or , or ... there is no real inclusion.

What we need is to expand the norm... this idea of what is acceptable... to learn that neurodiversity, languages, cultures, religions, ethnicity etc etc enrich our communities. We need to communicate, to listen and to understand... to allow not just the educator but the whole classroom and the whole of society to understand and include and to accept.
To ensure that the rectangle that represents the norm includes all the children and all the groups and that there is a mutual respect and adaptation so that all can stay true to their identities.

I sometimes hear that this cannot be done in a classroom that we need change in the whole of society... but I argue that it is in the classroom that we need to start making the change... so that bit by bit the future looks more accepting, more understanding more respectful, and more peaceful.

If we are learning to dialogue instead of debate
If we are learning to listen to understand rather than listening to answer
if we give children the time to learn rather than instructing at a hurried schedule
If we are open to evolve as educators rather than just do what we have always done
If we are brave - to face our mistakes, to stand up for what is right.

Communication is essential for change. And language is a part of that. so the up and coming posts will be about communication and language... and since I believe in the 100 languages I will attempt to reflect from many perspectives and also on the many ways we communicate and can support language acquisition.

In the meanwhile... here are a few posts to read...

The story of a word - one of my posts exploring the importance of discussing what words mean between colleagues... are we communicating on the same page, or are we interpreting words differently and creating mixed messages?

Oral Language - the verbal child - another of my posts reflecting on language development

The importance of the spoken language - another of my posts... this one reflects on why there is so little focus on non-verbal communication.

Teacher Child Conversations - Dickinson
quality dialogue, open ended questions, also about non-contextural, not just context based vocabulary (ie past and future)...

Why the babies brain can learn two languages

Body Language - how we read body language for deeper understanding of what others mean... that women are better than this than men on the whole, that women with young children are even better... and men with nurturing jobs like nursing arts etc are good too... dues to being in tune with non-verbal. Films without sound had actors gifted in body language to communicate the story... with words/sound, this is not needed, it needs to be verbally good as well as body language skills
negotiating over the phone it is about the words and the stronger argument... face to face it is about the performance

Aspen Preschool in Botkyrka

Reggio and the power of words - a blogpost from Without Windows.

Learning for Life - here you can follow Kierna's 4 week adventure with the Churchill Fellowship - learning about migrant children and the early years in Berlin, Norrköping and Stockholm.

The story of a hug...

I recently read a short article about the benefits of hugs (touch) and babies... and just how it impacts the brain and development of the child.
The post was shared in a group about early childhood education as a reaction to the fact that some settings are writing no-hug policies.
And while I think physical contact is incredibly important to the well-being and development of each child, I also think we cannot just go round hugging every child as a pedagogical plan to develop their brains... we need to think about consent.
As a person who does not like hugging all that much, and also the mother of children where hugging/touch is not something they are keen on outside of the family I think we have to be aware of how we reach out to others.

As an early years educator I have learned to hug and touch to me the needs of the children... it has come out of empathy and an intellectual place. I have a huge respect for children who do not want to be touched and will wait for a signal, or will gently test to see if a hand on an arm, or holding a hand is what they need... sometimes it is just about sitting next to them... that is contact enough.

A hug or touch is a sensory experience. And if you are a person that is easily sensory overloaded then it can be difficult to appreciate the intentions of the hugger as all you focus on is the overload sensory experience and how to deal with that.

I have worked with children that have needed a firm hand rather than a light touch - the firmness was a better feel than the light touch which triggered a kind of discomfort - some children love to be tickled... others experience it as pain. I worked with one child that would stim a lot when very excited... hands waving so much she was unable to eat her apple, but if I applied pressure to her back in an up and down movement she was able to release the joy through me and focus on her apple. The moment I stopped was the instance the stimming started. I have no problem with stimming, but it was getting in the way of her eating her apple with the other children, and this small gesture enable her to be included in the group activity.

I think what it boils down to is love.
Jools Page has researched and written about Professional Love which I have written about on numerous occasions on my blog over the years. This is such an essential part of working with people.
Not just young children... but all people.
I think if we are coming from a place of professional love then we are going to be incorporating consent too, it is about showing care for the whole child/person and being aware of their emotional needs... understanding when a hug and when touch are essential to enabling the child to develop and reach their own potential, and also understand what form of touch is the most supportive and caring and respectful in the situation.

Today I read about children (albeit older ones) receiving electric shocks in a school in Massachusetts as part of their education... to condition them... and from what I can gather it is clear that the shocks are not being used in a therapeutic way but more as a way of control and punishment.  Professional love should be something that is used throughout the education system.
We see the lengths teachers go to protect their children in USA and the awful mass-shootings in schools... it is clear that professional love happens... but maybe it should become more official.

If you explore what the word love means you will see there is great diversity in its definitions... but essentially it involves caring for, or identifying with another. Also as I explored love I cam across the chinese word REN... Confucius never apparently completely defined it, because of its diversity... but it kind of comes back to love, humanity and interactions with others. Which is what we want for our children in schools... and this can mean touch and hugs.

There is the science (neuroscience) to back up the effects of touch - there is research about the catastrophic effects of when children do not get the physical contact that they need... (see links below)...

we need to ensure we are meeting the needs of the WHOLE child.

other links for further reading
Tracey Seed - Cuddling
Not touching - likened to child abuse
På svenska - in Swedish... research projects about touch in preschools - necessary or bad?
No touching kids policies is good for teachers - not quite the text I was expecting to read... as it seems to be written by a person who does not like being touched, but still important to read.
Losing Touch - how teachers are afraid to have physical contact with children in their care.
What the lack of affection can do to you
The Influence of touch on child development
The human touch: a neglected feeling - the importance of touch throughout life
Touching Empathy - that lack of physical touch can actually kill babies...

The story of trends

This is a post where I explore the idea of trending in education...
this is something that I have looked at before, but feel the urge to explore it again...
especially after reading this post -
Why Low-tech is trending in education - when here in Sweden it is all about digital learning that is trending, and that is so apparent in the proposal for the new preschool curriculum. This made me think... should a curriculum be specifying trends in this way? Or should it be phrased in a more open way? So that ALL media are seen with equal value and not some (that are trending at the moment) are seen with more value... because we do not know what the future holds...
I am not saying that the digital world should be ignored, what I am saying is that it is one of many learning languages to express thoughts, ideas and explore.

A few days ago I posted about The Political Nature of the Reggio Emilia Approach and part of that post was a TEDtalk about the dangers of a single story... and I think trends are a part of this... we get fixated on an idea and follow that trend, and quite often trends are not being questioned, or pulled apart or fully understood as they should be... they are simply followed... and it becomes a single story.

Sometimes a "trend" is not fully understood which means that only a part of it is being spread... for instance within The Reggio Emilia Approach is is often the aesthetics rather than the the full complexity of the approach where our view of the child is explored - and the child is seen as competent and capable and a co-learner, where democratic learning and listening is integral to the approach, where it is about the whole community, etc etc and not just what the classroom looks like.

At the same time trends are almost a necessity... they are spoon fed alternatives to the status quo... which sadly is the only option in a profession that is  valued so little, that not enough time or resources are available... to be truly reflective there needs to be more time for teachers to explore pedagogy and ideas individually and, more importantly, together as a team without it impacting he children.
There needs to be enough time for educators to meet and discuss the children, discuss their teaching methods, explore research and pedagogical approaches etc so that they can evolve and also properly understand... that theory supports their practice, and that their practice is based on their understanding of the theory - so if they do not understand the theory it is going to impact the quality of their practice. If they are only given access to certain elements of pedagogical approaches, then they are not getting the whole story.

Also I think when it is trends, what happens is that you are just window dressing your status quo... the core of your practice is not being addressed it tends to be a change that barely scratches the surface. This, I feel, impacts diversity.
Diversity of ideas, of gender, of religion, race, politics etc etc...
Its kind of like changing the colour of your computer without changing the programming... we need to update the whole system, not just make it look prettier, or more expensive or more modern... The change has to happen within.

A relationship with the third teacher - this post looks at the need to go beyond the look and to meet the needs of the children and the context you find yourself... and to resist the trends, but to create equality.
What is equality? What do we mean by this in the classroom? How do we achieve that? How can we help children become aware of a cultural equality in their greater community if they are in a setting that tells a single story? What does the classroom say? Who does it validate? Who is not seen? And how does that impact us?

Process not product - this post explores how we create learning spaces that are about the process of learning rather than the product of attained goals/grades. About the need of diverse materials and diverse approaches to learning and play... there is not one way to learn, there are many diverse ways to explore the same topic.

Hygge in Preschool - actually this is a bit of an eye-roll at the use of Scandinavian words in the English language and that they are trendy. I mean I am very much in favour of preschools and schools being caring environments, that feel safe and comfortable for the children and staff to develop meaningful relationships that allow genuine learning. But to say we need to create hygge... set the room up in specific ways or do certain activities is lending itself to trend... of stopping listening to the children and doing the whole copy and paste... even if it is with well-meaning intentions...
What do the children YOU work with need to feel safe and secure? How can you develop meaningful relationships with them? How can you design the room so that it is meeting cozy needs of comfort but as well as waking curiosity and stimulating learning?

The story of a dining table - this post was written in response to someone writing that if you were "true Reggio inspired" you had tablecloths on the meal tables... tablecloths do not make you Reggio inspired... but if it is right for your setting... the culture and the context... then of course be my guest, put a table cloth on the meal table and enjoy the experience. What is Reggio is reflecting on how you honour the child... is a tablecloth necessary for that... sometimes maybe, other times not... The important thing is to reflect on how do we create respectful environments for and with the children.

The Early Years has more to do to Embrace Diversity - this is a post written by Laura Henry and explores the need to be more diverse in how we view diversity. We cannot simply think of diversity on one way... most often race and religion... it is so much more complicated than that... and includes the children, the setting, the staff and the families...

outdoor v indoor, learning v play - this post reflects on how we as a profession look at learning and play as well as the indoors and the outdoors... seldom do we talk about all of these things with equal value. Too often outdoor play is promoted as a trend, rather than as a place of natural learning and play... and while I think there is a real need to encourage more outdoor learning and play it is interesting to see how to is being done... "outdoor classrooms" "Forest school" is like shifting one thing to another place rather than evolving, expanding and embracing it all.

Sometimes I think even "risky play" is becoming a trend, rather than there being a full understanding of what risky play is, how it impacts the children now and in the future, and also how it impacts us as educators... how do we develop the skills needed to be a guide of risky play... do we "teach" it, or do we create the space for it... I find many articles about the need for it, but seldom about how to support the educators on how to embrace it in their daily practice. And i think this is the danger of trend... we do not go deep enough, partly because not enough time is given to educators to explore ideas, and partly because critical and creative thinking is still not valued as much as academic thinking. Also the fact that we are raised in a standardised school system with grades and right and wrong answers, we are not used to learning by failing... making mistakes and learning from them is a part of risk taking, it is also a part of process learning... and yet there is seldom room for this kind of practice - it has to be "correct" all the time. Teachers are afraid of reprimand, of getting it wrong - and so would rather hide their mistakes than learn from them... there are of course some brave teachers that defy the system and do what is right, boldly go where no teacher has gone before - and suddenly the universe and its great diversity is available for the children to explore...

The Benefits of BIG play

I have regular contact with the educators from Jenin, Palestine - sometimes to ask about things, sometimes to share what they have been doing, and sometimes just to say hello, how are you doing?

Yesterday I received a series of photos of children playing on old tires and the comment that she (the educator) had been preparing the setting as the children arrived, but the children came and took over... and the surprise to see them playing, learning and enjoying themselves despite her concern.
We have talked a lot about risky play and the benefits this has for children's ability to do their own risk assessments, rather than being dependant on an adult to judge what is safe - of course we do not want to expose them to danger, only to situations that allow them to learn - a small scratch or bruise will not hurt much or for long but can provide an enormous lesson for the child about what is safe and what is not... and how much their own body is capable of.

I also got to watch some films of the play sessions.. which I will not show here, and although I am not particularly good at Arabic (its words rather than full sentences) I was able to pick out the "careful" was being said many times.

BIG play like this is a test for the adults just as much as the children. What are WE capable of allowing the children to experiment with themselves before we come and wrap them in cotton wool. I think it is a human instinct to want to protect our children... but sometimes too much protection can mean we send them out into the world unprepared. We have to learn balance.

In the photos below we can see some of the learning that is going on (I am of course privvy to more photos and films, the teachers there were able to see even more of the action, play and learning)

The learning that I can see is that the children are learning how to interact together... the films in particular showed how stacking the tires was hard for one person to do, they needed to collaborate, together they are stronger. They learned about physics - how the wheels moved, which directions and movements made it easier to move them around, which directions were harder, they learned about gravity and stability. Maths comes into it... how many tires can they manage to stack, how many is possible before it becomes unstable, if they are making stacks of three then they can start thinking about their three times table... multiplication - three towers of three are nine tires... all of this is happening naturally in their play. Since the tires are painted they can think of patterns and design.

Then there is the physical learning - the children strengthen their hands and arms... to be able to hold a pen to write children need to to have the muscle strength... BIG play allows the WHOLE body to be strengthened - because reading and writing (what many traditionally see as "learning" ) requires a child to be able to sit at a desk and hold their pen and concentrate... this big play is giving them the training they need to be able to do that... and even when in school this kind of BIG play is still needed to maintain muscle and concentration - we all know that if we stop training or stop speaking a language that we become less good at it, or weaker... it is the same with learning... too much focus on academic learning means that the whole child's needs are not being met... PLAY is essential for all ages to ensure there is the physical and mental well-being to learn - and also as you have just read above, learning is also happening in play.
Far too often there is an intense focus on forcing the child to sit, be quiet, and learn certain things in a certain way - learning is much more complex than that.
There is a phrase/word in Swedish called "studiero" which translates to study peace... ie there is peace in the classroom to be able to learn.
The thing is that this is being interpreted as being quiet... that children need to sit in silence or use hushed voices to be able to learn. And I seriously question this... is learning always quiet?
my experience is that it can be all sort of things... sometimes it is total silence as the children are fully engaged/mesmerised - other times it is extremely noisy as the children explore, discover and are excited about the learning. Sometimes learning happens individually and requires a muted space while other times it is in groups and is a lively dialogue, or even at times a heated one... As teachers/educators we need to be aware that we are creating learning spaces - this is not the same as "learning peace". We need to be aware that children not only learn in different ways from each other... they also need, on an individual basis, a varied learning diet. Sitting at a desk learning by listening only to the teacher and repeating what the teacher says is like eating only boiled rice and beans every day... yes, you can survive on it, it gives you energy and nutrients - but after a while you become disinterested in it, especially when you can see all around you other options. We need to give children a varied learning diet... and this means generous servings of play... the WHOLE child. My posts on Original Learning will describe in more detail how learning and play are woven together and should not be separated.

What do we want for our children?
What IS it we want them to learn... to achieve? What does the future hold for them? And how is school actually preparing them for that? By giving them the same skills we got last century? or by giving them the skills they need to look forward, imagine and solve the potential problems of tomorrow?
As Einstein said -

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." Schools trades in knowledge... what is already known... and yes this is useful, but it is only part of the story. Children need imagination... and that is best supported by play...

I have been reading Alison Gopnik over the last few days about how the very youngest children learn - the importance of play, the importance of interaction and the importance of the adult actually understanding how children learn rather than just filling them with information and sticking to what has always been done.

BIG play allows the whole child to learn... their entire body becomes involved. Mixed ages in this big lay allows the children to learn about taking care of each other, it also allows the youngest children who maybe do not have the muscle strength yet to participate in all of the play, the chance to observe and develop strategies - by watching they can see the interactions of others, they access social learning, they also get to observe the materials - science, technology, maths all of these can be observed. By interacting with each other the children are developing the language skills, by constructing together they are learning how to communicate spatial awareness, make predictions with each other and test them out... these are science experiments - what works what does not work.

BIG play also lets the child to enjoy themselves... and in this joy it is easier to feel safer, to connect with others and also to learn. As Malaguzzi said "Nothing without joy". We do not have to make learning fun... what we need to do is awaken the joy within each child to learn. Play is a fabulous way to awaken that joy... play is exploring, experimenting, testing, discovering, repeating, developing etc etc...

The adult needs to take a step back and allow uninterrupted play. Observe. Is there anything the children need to develop their play further... can this be provided in a story read later, or by offering small blacks to build with, or by asking some questions, or maybe showing  a small film to stimulate their construction.
The teacher invites the child to try something new, or provokes the group into thinking deeper... and then gives the children the space to test out the new and the deeper thoughts.

My time working with 8-13 year olds allowed my to understand that children appreciate learning from each other... they appreciate being trusted as competent... they appreciate being supported by educators who provide them with information, ways to find information and activities that allow them to discover learning so much more than sitting in a room having to just accept what a teacher says.
They want to learn with, talk with the teacher... not be talked at.

useful links
Peter Gray - Risky Play... Freedom to learn
The importance of outdoor play
Original Learning - my blog
Play spaces and play - giving children the freedom to play (my blog)
redefining play and education - we need to look at what the words mean
Malaguzzis three children - what kind of teacher are YOU... how do YOU view the child?
Together play - learning together by playing together
Purposeful play
Climbing Trees- to do not not to do - risky play

This is not an exhaustive list of links... there is much to read about the benefits of play, or risky play and outdoor play.
Also the above does not list everything that can be learned through play...

 with thanks to Suzan for the permission to use the photographs
you can find out more about her preschool "Best Of" early years center, Jenin, Palestine  by checking out their facebook page (click the link, which is the name above) - they are a setting that is striving to create  a place for children to learn through play, which is not a common feature of the local area where learning is very much seen as academic and rote.
So a huge applause I sen to them for their efforts to create the best learning environment for children, so that the children are ready with mind and body to face whatever the future holds for them. They do this despite not all understand the importance of play and put pressure on them to teach the way it has always been done.
Its not easy to do what is right... we have to be BRAVE.

The future of preschools (1)... förskolans framtid (del 1)

In the last few weeks I have had the pleasure to visit and meet a variety of educators and talk about early childhood education - from a Slovenian perspective, a preschool inspired by Reggio Emilia in Haninge and a holistic preschool near Karlstad... each with a foot in the now, the past and looking to the future...

My time in Värmland included long talks about child empowerment and democratic learning together with Emma and her partner Torbjörn... this has really made me think more deeply about the future of education, and especially preschool.

During the evening we listened to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" - it seemed appropriate for what we were talking about... and I remember it vividly from my own childhood as the music video scared the socks of me...

But this wall... this brick wall ... it seems to be saying stop to change because it has been built so high... and there are those who fear what might be on the other side, and those that don't have the strength or energy to climb over.

Schools and preschools are institutions. We need to be jumping and seeing what is on the other side of that wall - we need to be thinking about tearing it down. Maybe the boundaries of education should not be so fixed?

This coming week I will be exploring how holistic education, philosophy with children, democratic classrooms, and Original Learning should be essential components of preschool... and that preschool should be influencing school.

I still have my apprehensions about bringing in "school" terminology into the preschool when everyone seems to be wanting to define it in a different way from how it is used in schools... shouldn't the Swedish early years sector decided to use their own words, define the process rather than schoolifying it?
As a person who thinks that the school system needs reforming to meet then needs of the digital age students where knowledge and media is easily accessed... I feel that using words from this out-dated system is not the way forward, but a feeble attempt to try and raise the status of preschool through using words that society is familiar with in a school context...
but I will talk about this more during the week...

(på svenska efter bilderna)

Under dom senaste veckorna har jag haft nöjet att besöka och träffa en mängd olika lärare och prata om förskolan - från ett slovenska perspektiv, en förskola inspirerad av Reggio Emilia i Haninge och en holistisk förskola/skola nära Karlstad ... var och en med ena foten i nuet, den andra i det förflutna samt blicka på framtiden.
Min tid i Värmland omfattade långa samtal om barn "makt" (empowerment) och demokratisk inlärning tillsammans med Emma och hennes partner Torbjörn ... det här har verkligen gjort mig att tänka djupare på framtidens utbildning, och särskilt förskolan. Under kvällen lyssnade vi på Pink Floyds "Another Brick in the Wall" - det verkade lämpligt för vad vi pratade om ... och jag minns det från min egen barndom när musikvideon skrämde ihjäl mig ... Men den här väggen/mur ... tegelstenen ... det verkar säga att sluta förändras eftersom den har byggts så högt ... och det finns dom som fruktar vad som kan vara på andra sidan, och de som inte ha varken styrkan eller energin att klättra över.
Skolor och förskolor är institutioner. Vi måste hoppa och se vad som finns på den andra sidan av den där väggen/mur - vi måste tänka på att riva ner den. Kanske bör gränserna för utbildningen inte vara så stadig? Under kommande veckan kommer jag att undersöka hur holistisk utbildning, filosofi med barn, demokratiska klassrum och "Original Learning" borde vara viktiga komponenter i förskolan ... och att förskolan ska påverka skolan. Jag är fortfarande lite orolig om att använda "skol" terminologi till förskolan när alla tycks vilja definiera det på ett annat sätt än hur det används i skolan ... borde inte den svenska förskolan bestämma sig för att använda deras egna ord, definiera processen istället för att skolifiera det? dvs ordet "undervisning"
Som en person som tycker att skolsystemet behöver reformera för att möta behov av dom digitala-ålders elever - där kunskap och media är lättillgängliga ... Jag anser att det är inte vägen framåt med att använda ord från det här föråldrade systemet utan ett svagt försök att öka förskolans status genom att använda ord som samhället är bekant med i ett skolförhållande ...
Jag tror på förskolan. Jag tycker att förskolan ska ha drivkrafter att ändra skolan - och på det viset skapa bättre lärande förutsättningar för alla barn.
men jag kommer att dela mera av mina funderingar i framtida inlägg...

för att läsa om mitt besök på den holistiska förskolan (Backa Friskola) - följa denna länk
för att läsa om Andens förskolan i Haninge - läsa här

The Story of Community.

(på Svenska efter bilderna)

People who have been following my blog for a few years will have picked up on the fact that I believe strongly in a sense of community... philosophy with children is about creating a community of learners... creating a democratic classroom/learning environment entails the children and adults create a respect community where there is participation and responsibility and empathy.
You will probably have read about my posts that focus on the we rather than just the me... it is all very well valuing the unique child, but not if they are seen as small islands not connected to each other.
I like the word "MWE" it is about the individual and the community... it is about valuing each individual person and the group.
What I found working philosophically with children is that every individual could shine when we focussed on the group... as it was not just me the educator that saw each individual and valued them, but every member learned to value our individuality and what it brought to the group. The children were empowered, because they were no longer dependant on me to see and meet their individuals needs... everyone could validate each other.

So I was really pleased to read about Frome in Somerset, UK, that has made special efforts to create community and combat loneliness - and that they have seen the enormous health benefits from that.
you can read about it - here

This is one of the main reasons why I want to talk about working philosophically with children, about creating community of learners... about focussing on well-being, so that energy is not being wasted on trying to manage the social environment of the classroom.
This is not just about NOW... it is a life-long skill we need.
It is about humanity... and I think we would all agree that there needs to be more humanity - and that it needs to reach out into all corners of our shared planet.

Loneliness is something we can avoid if educators were allowed to spend more time on the social and emotional learning and development of children rather than just the "academics" which tends to be seen as the "learning" part.

The health benefits of a more holistic approach to learning... where social and emotional is of equal value to school subjects... are on their own worth it... but the fact that creating community of learners where the children/students are more at ease with each other, trust and value each other means that there will be more focus on learning subjects, that there will be more opportunity for the children to work and think together creatively... and that trust means they can think critically and fully explore ideas without the fear of others ridiculing..

Original Learning is the best way to describe this... a more holistic approach to learning.
You can read more... here - there are 17 posts in total that reflect on Original Learning in various ways... if you are interested please take the time to read more...

Personer som har följt min blogg i några år kommer att ha fattat att jag tror starkt i en lärande gemenskap ... filosofi med barn handlar om att skapa en gemenskap av barn/elever ... skapa ett demokratiskt klassrum/läromiljö innebär att barnen och vuxna skapar ett respektfullt gemenskap där det finns deltagande och ansvar och empati. Ni har säkert läst mina inlägg som fokuserar på "vi" snarare än bara "jag" ... det är bra att värdera det unika barnet, men inte om de ses som små öar som inte är kopplade till varandra. Jag gillar ordet "MWE" (me och we ihopsatt) - det handlar om att värdera varje enskild person och gruppen. Genom filosofiska samtal med barn har jag upptäckt att varje individ kunde lysa när vi fokuserade på gruppen ... eftersom det inte bara var jag, som lärare, som såg varje enskild person och värderade dom, men varje medlem lärde sig att värdera vår individualitet och vad det medförde till gruppen. Barnen fick befogenhet, eftersom dom inte längre var beroende av mig att se och möta deras individuella behov ... alla kunde bekräfta varandra. Så jag var väldigt glad att läsa om Frome i Somerset, Storbritannien, som har gjort särskilda ansträngningar för att skapa gemenskap och bekämpa ensamhet - och att de har sett de enorma hälsofördelarna med det. du kan läsa om det - här Detta är en av huvudorsakerna till att jag vill prata om att jobba filosofiskt med barn, om att skapa en gemenskap med barn/elever ... om att fokusera på välbefinnande, så att energi inte slösas bort när man försöker hantera klassrummets sociala miljön

Det handlar inte bara om NUET ... det är en livslångt färdighet vi behöver. Det handlar om mänskligheten ... och jag tror att vi alla skulle vara överens om att det måste finnas mer mänsklighet - och att det måste nå ut i alla hörn av vår gemensamma planet. Ensamhet är något vi kan undvika om lärare/pedagoger fick mer tid att fokusera på barnens sociala och emotionella lärande och utveckling snarare än bara "akademiska lärande" som tenderar att ses som den "lärande" delen. Hälsofördelarna med ett mer holistiskt tillvägagångssätt för lärande ... där social och emotionell lärande är lika värde för skolämnen ... är på egen hand värt det ... men det faktum att vi kan skapa en grupp där barnen/eleverna är mer tillfreds med varandra, lita på och värdera varandra betyder att det kommer att bli mer fokus på "skol"-ämnen, att det blir en större möjlighet för barnen att arbeta och tänka tillsammans på ett kreativt sätt ... och att förtroende mellan barnen betyder att de kan tänka kritiskt och utforska fullt ut idéer utan rädsla för andra som förlöjliga dom.

Original Learning är ett sätt som tillåta man undervisa på ett holistiskt sätt... ni kan läsa mer om det - här - det finns totalt 17 inlägg om ämnet, om ni har tid och lust.

NPF-barnen

Jag har precis kommit tillbaka från en introduktionsmöte för föräldrar med ASD barn (igen) och jag blir både glad och upprörd.
Glad att det finns stöd tillgänglig...
Upprörd för att det ta alldeles för lång tid för att få den hjälp och stöd som barnet, familjen och förskolan/skolan behöver för att kunna bemöta barnet på ett bra sätt.

Det tar tid innan man ens kan få en diagnos... först måste man bevisa and förskolan/skolan har gjort anpassningar och det är inte bara något tillfälligt... sedan väntetid för att träffa BUP för att träffas fler gånger för att bestämma om man ska göra en utredning... sedan blir det väntetid för att börja utredningen - sedan ta utredningen fler månader...

För BÅDE mina barn som har fått diagnos - det har tagit minst 18 månader från första samtalet till diagnosen.

Sedan får man remissen till habilitering... först en introduktionskurs - för att blir informerad att man måste göra föräldrar-grundkursen  för att kunna ta del av habilitering... det är maj nu... det finns INGA kurstillfälle med plats till hösten... och det är först till kvarn.

Det betyder att det är över 2 år från att man har sökt hjälp - för att det inte funka - till att man kan börja få den hjälp och stöd man är i desperat behov av.

Det är för länge. Under den tiden kan så mycket skada ske - det kräver tid att fixa skadan utöver den stöd som barnet redan är i behov av.

Helt enkelt vad vi behöver är förskolor och skolor som är npf-säkrad - att barnen få den bemötande dom behöver. Skapar man en miljö anpassad för npf barn är det något som gynnar alla barn. Att inte överstimulera, att det finns tid för avkoppling, det finns pedagoger som förstå hur deras egen beteende påverka barnen, att det finns rutiner med utrymme att utmana flexibilitet.. det är meningsfullt för barnen osv osv osv

Alldeles för många pedagoger fatta kunskap om npf barn (alla verka har lite, och sedan tror att dom ha kunskap... men VAD är detta kunskap, och vet dom hur man ska applicera den till praktiken... eller om det är ens lämplig för den situation och barnen man möter?)
Det var tydligt i rummet, med cirka 100 föräldrar att alla upplevde denna frustration att det var brist på förståelse - riktig förståelse. Samt brist på tid för att göra något åt detta.

Grejen är - om man inte satsa en massa tid att utbilda ALLA pedagoger i hela skolan/förskolan - att man diskutera hur man ska bemöta npf barn, hur man ska ta hand om sina egna känslor, hur man kan anpassa miljön, hur man kan anpassa undervisningen osv...

jag fundera på hur Starbucks i USA ska stänga 8,000 butiker för att kunna utbilda personalen i anti-bias bemötande. Jag tycker att något liknande måste ske i Sverige... att stänga alla förskolor och skolor så att ALLA personal ska få rätt utbildning för att kunna bemöta npf-barn - inte bara lärare, men alla som jobba i köket, städ, kontor osv i skolan. Alla ska veta hur man ska bemöta barn för att undvika onödig stress (visst är stress an naturlig del av livet, och lite stress är inte skadlig, men dom flesta npf-barn leva i en konstant ström av stress, saker som inte stressa dom flesta kan orsaka en meltdown för ett npf-barn).

Här finns en länk till Källbrinkskolan i Huddinge - som är en kommunal skola som har npf-säkrad sin skola. Det finns länkar till filmer och andra information som kan hjälpa er komma igång.

vill ni har någon annan att bolla med... så kontakta mig...

På mötet idag berättade han om en unik person som är ASD själv, som har ASD barn och har jobbat med npf barn... den person kunde ge tydligen bra insikt som en del av grundkursen...
Jag vill påpeka att jag är också en sådan unik person... Jag har ASD, har npf barn och har arbetat men npf-barn på både förskolan och skolan.
Jag vill bidra att hjälpa andra att förändra skolsystemet så att den kan VERKLIGEN uppnår alla mål och skollag - att alla barn har rätt till si utbildning... och att man måst börja tänka om för att skapa en förskola/skola som kan bemöta npf-barn på lika villkor som nt-barn

alldeles för ofta får npf-barnen inte den kärlek, den värde som dom behöver, ingen lyssna på deras sätt att kommunicera och tolka världen - därför får dom inte samma plats för lek och utforskande - och inte samma möjlighet för att lära 

npf - neuro-psykiatriska funktionsnedsättning  - ASD, ADHD, tourettes , OCD, dyspraxia, dyslexia osv
nt - neuro-typiska (dvs barn utan npf).

jag kommer i framtiden delar mer information kring detta...

People in Childcare

Last week I presented at FSO-Dagen in Gothenburg, sharing wisdoms learned over the years doing philosophy with children. I also took the time to listen to Mats Olsson talk about Men in Childcare...

It was not one of those sessions listening about WHY there should be more men in childcare - as he said why talk about that, how often do we talk about why should there be women in childcare? Which is true... why do we need women in childcare.. what do they offer that is so important?
He also talked about his days working in preschools and the feeling of being the male representative - and also aiming to be a certain kind of masculinity.
Masculinity was not something that he wanted to define - I mean why should he, it is as broad and diverse as is femininity.. the problem is that often we get locked by the stereotypes of those roles rather than being free to experience the reality.

Mats is concerned about the dwindling numbers of men in early childhood settings... the number of men applying to teacher training for preschool has dropped, a larger percentage of the men drop out before completion... I think there needs to be more research into why this is the case.

In Sweden at the moment about 4% working in preschools are males... what I found interesting is that 10% of directors/headteachers are male...
If we look at male dominated professions we can find that there are often more women working in the branch, but less than that are represented in leader roles...
for example women make up 10% of the work force in the building industry and there is 10% females in leadership roles.
The reason why I point this out is that despite there being more women by pro cent in the building industry than there are men in preschools, men have a much better chance at getting leadership roles. Is this because the women do not want leading roles, or because they are not proactive in getting these roles or that this is one of the ways to keep men in preschool...

In the UK 2% of those working in the early years are males... I was unable to find the percentage of men running nursery and early years settings.. but statistics show that in primary schools (4-11 years) 14% of the workforce is male and 38% percent of headteachers are males. And in the UK as in Sweden males tend to get paid more than their female counterparts.
In my own career I have worked with men that have been given a larger wage just because they were men... they did not bring anything more to the work with children than did their equally qualified and equally experienced female counterparts... and in some instances I have worked with men with less experience and qualifications that were paid more than trained teachers with half a life time of experience... that particular person was not worth the money, his lack of experience and education was a hinder for him.
I have also worked with some talented males some without any education that I pushed to get qualified - others qualified and passionate.
The diversity amongst the male workers has been pretty much the same as the diversity amongst the females... from amazing educators to why the hell are you working here?

Mats brought up the problems some men face working in preschools and with young children... this irrational fear that they are going to do something inappropriate. in 2016 a preschool director had her life threatened because she refused to meet the demand of a parent that the male teacher at the setting should not come in contact with their daughter.  This sort of behaviour is not conducive to men feeling self confident to have a natural relationship with young children, where comforting, holding etc are an essential part of building relationships and children's self-esteem. If men are continuously stressing over "how will others perceive this" then it si not going to be natural and children will miss out on the fact that men, like women are filled with empathy, love, comfort and that these are not female traits but human traits.

Mats mentioned something about men being bossed around by the women... this is something that I have only ever really experienced once (but being female I might have missed it too) but at that particular setting I was the only staff member of 10 that had any training within early childhood education or teaching - could it be that the women, without training felt threatened that the men would take over (3 males)? I remember sitting down with two of the males and them telling me (after working there for 4 months) that they felt I was the first person that actually listened to their ideas and helped them implement them - ie we developed the ideas together into a more pedagogical form, that they would have been able to do themselves with more education and experience.

Is there a hidden need amongst (some) women to protect this female dominated arena from men... especially when they can see that men soon ascend the ranks and get paid more.
My own children went to a parent co-operative and my husband and I were the parents responsible for the staff... the hiring etc... it meant I knew what everyone earned and also meant that when my husband suggested that a new male pedagogue be given a certain wage I reacted that it was unfair to those that had worked there longer and had more education and training. My husband responded, but this is a good way to get everyone's wages up...
But really should we be relying on men to increase the wage? Shouldn't the work be worth more in itself? Why are female dominated professions paid less than male dominated... I looked into some of the wages In all these areas... and noticed that there is a difference across professions and even within professions... the biggest differences are women earning a lot less than their male counterparts in male dominated professions.
But does all of this matter, is it part of a dialogue even when we are thinking about getting more men into early years settings...

well I think it is. If women are always deemed as less worthy, are men going to be encouraged to engage in a profession that is female dominated by the rest of society? If there always going to be that sense of why are you working there, that sense of suspicion because it is seldom a profession that is held in high esteem or rewarded financially as are other professions... this is something that needs to be addressed.

We can make change in society by more males working with young children from preschool and up... not just because we need male role-models... as I am totally with Mats on this - we are not female or male role-models... we are humans first, and we should be role-models of good behaviour that improves our social chances at interacting with others, learning with and from others etc... men are needed in preschools to show that it is allowed. That we are human, we are people in preschool just as we are people in society. That there is just as much diversity within men, and within women as there is between them... and there are those that choose not define themselves by this binary system.

Both males and females in early years settings need to challenge the ideas of what is male and what is female - so that the children understand that do not have to do or wear or say certain things to be in tune with their gender.
A five year old once told me that I was a boy because I was wearing a spiderman t-shirt. I told her I was most definitely a girl. She changed her argument... only boys can wear spiderman. I pointed out that this was obviously not the case, that I had put on the t-shirt as a girl, and that I was still a girl and that I simply really liked super heroes... the following week several of the girls started sporting spiderman caps and other superhero clothes...

Interestingly I did a Mona Lisa art project with my group of 5 year olds, at their request, where I put their faces in the place of Mona Lisa's and they then painted using colours connected to the original artwork - one of the children asked one of the boys if he had now become a girl (since he was painting himself as a girl) The boy paused  - looked at his painting, then looked down at himself and then answered - still a boy. I also remember my son, at the same age, asking me that if he put on the Robin Hood dress-up clothes if he would still be Michael... (this totally explained why he did not like dressing up - this fear of becoming someone else)..

so maybe for preschoolers we need to think so much more about how we dress, how we communicate how we are dressing and that we can still be ourselves. Is there a genuine fear of changing into something else, or the opposite gender if putting on a garment.?

At this point I think of a male colleague who I had the honour of watching his own realisation of his power as a male educator in a preschool... I have been planning to interview him for some time... it feels like that time is close...

Have I answered any questions? No, it just feels like I have more.
What we need is acceptance that all are welcome in preschool.. that it needs to be a safe, stimulating place for all genders and all ages... adults and children alike. Society really needs to catch up...

fairies are for boys too, all emotions and empathy belong to all genders, and yes my family created quite a stir in a small French village when I allowed my son to wear a pink skirt to dance in...

I am by no means an expert in this area... just a person who wants equality.

Fler kvinnor i byggbranschen
Förskolan - sällsynt med män
Constructing identities: perceptions and experiences of male primary headteachers
dödshot
should men work in early years