Go to your room!
So, a lecturer in early childhood education recently told a conference that techniques popularised in the Supernanny show (such as the naughty step, and time out) were unprofessional for teachers.
She's quoted in our local newspaper as saying: "What you're really doing is you're punishing the child for doing something that is not appropriate, instead of teaching them, which is our mandate".
And furthermore:
"Children are competent and capable, so if we're saying that, then we should give them the opportunity to engage in problem solving instead of putting them under a time-out sort of system".
And such techniques breach Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum, because:
"That talks about respectful, responsive relationships".
And yet she is also quoted as saying that the techniques "were OK in the home but did not belong at early childhood centres".
Huh? So are we saying that punishing, rather than teaching is the mandate of parents? Or that opportunities to problem solve at home are unimportant? Or that respectful, responsive relationships do not exist at home?
Obviously not. I suspect that criticism of popular parenting techniques is a large can of worms that she was not keen to open. And for all I know, the article may have used selective quoting. In fact I would be surprised if it didn't, as the way it was written (under the headline "Nanny's step 'breaches kids' rights' " seems designed to provoke a response rather than educate or inform.
And so of course the article spurred a couple of letters to the editor, predictably blustering about children's apparent love of boundaries and how things were much better back in the day. (How that actually relates to the educator's key points is not immediately obvious).
For interest, it is worth saying that exclusionary time out is prohibited at Playcentre.
Louise Porter (I reviewed a book of hers earlier: http://thefloydfiles.blogspot.com/search?q=louise+porter) is one of the few writers to detail a genuine alternative approach to discipline. I'm reading another of her books at the moment. I don't agree with everything she says - but then again that would be an unrealistic expectation of any author or idea.
Anyway, I would be interested to know exactly what the educator's thoughts were on the role of parents and techniques suitable for use in the home.
She's quoted in our local newspaper as saying: "What you're really doing is you're punishing the child for doing something that is not appropriate, instead of teaching them, which is our mandate".
And furthermore:
"Children are competent and capable, so if we're saying that, then we should give them the opportunity to engage in problem solving instead of putting them under a time-out sort of system".
And such techniques breach Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum, because:
"That talks about respectful, responsive relationships".
And yet she is also quoted as saying that the techniques "were OK in the home but did not belong at early childhood centres".
Huh? So are we saying that punishing, rather than teaching is the mandate of parents? Or that opportunities to problem solve at home are unimportant? Or that respectful, responsive relationships do not exist at home?
Obviously not. I suspect that criticism of popular parenting techniques is a large can of worms that she was not keen to open. And for all I know, the article may have used selective quoting. In fact I would be surprised if it didn't, as the way it was written (under the headline "Nanny's step 'breaches kids' rights' " seems designed to provoke a response rather than educate or inform.
And so of course the article spurred a couple of letters to the editor, predictably blustering about children's apparent love of boundaries and how things were much better back in the day. (How that actually relates to the educator's key points is not immediately obvious).
For interest, it is worth saying that exclusionary time out is prohibited at Playcentre.
Louise Porter (I reviewed a book of hers earlier: http://thefloydfiles.blogspot.com/search?q=louise+porter) is one of the few writers to detail a genuine alternative approach to discipline. I'm reading another of her books at the moment. I don't agree with everything she says - but then again that would be an unrealistic expectation of any author or idea.
Anyway, I would be interested to know exactly what the educator's thoughts were on the role of parents and techniques suitable for use in the home.
Labels: education, Playcentre, Thoughts
posted by Mary at 3:23 pm
5 Comments:
I wondered these things also when I read the newspaper report.
Have you read anything by Deborah Jackson? Three in a Bed and Do Not Disturb have both had a big impact on my parenting choices.
No, I haven't, but I've heard of Three in a Bed. Must look out for something by her at the library.
I like working in ECE centres rather than nannying because I enjoy the chance of achieving some sort of day-to-day excellence that is provided by working as a team in a child-focussed environment. In a centre, if a child were getting my goat, I could take the child to another adult and ask for help.
Research says time out's not very effective in modifying children's behaviour, I don't like it and I don't use it. Except I have used time out in my own home with my own child.
What is okay depends partly on the range of possible alternative actions for the individuals involved. When I have used time out I was alone with my children and angry, I used it to put my child safely out of my way while I took control of myself and the situation again.
I think that time out is more okay than modelling violence (verbal or physical) and one can find oneself in harsher situations at home than in a well set up centre.
Please Don't Sit on the Kids is a great book, if an old one. The Playcentre Association library may have it.
Now why couldn't the newspaper have quoted something, brief, informative and sensible like what you wrote Susan?! Because I suspect that the educator would have similar thoughts (on the time out bit at least).
Thanks for the book recommendations. I am actually getting time to read at the moment (usually in the small hours of the morning...).
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