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Visiting School
by David Wetherow |
A parent wrote:
I am now thinking perhaps
the special school is better than no school. I can find a private
teacher but apart from the expense she will not have other children
there.
Any advice will be very
welcome.
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Dear M,
This is a brave question!
Here's my advice.
I would very much encourage you
to spend a full day in the classroom that your daughter would attend.
Make this visit by yourself
(arrange other care for your daughter)
Pre-arrange the visit. You'll
need to talk in person with the principal and the classroom teacher so
that you can:
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come into the
classroom at the same time the children are entering the classroom
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sit comfortably in the
classroom for the full day (half a day at least)
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move with the children
throughout the day (to lunch, snacks, recess, bathroom breaks)
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leave with the
children at the end of the day
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I would encourage you to sit quietly
throughout the day…
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just watch, listen,
pay attention to what you are seeing, hearing, and feeling
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quietly, calmly absorb
the entire scene – the kids, the teachers, the assistants, all the
interactions
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In addition to this...
Pick out one child (possibly a
little girl who reminds you of your daughter) and watch
what she's experiencing...
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see how many times
someone connects directly with her...
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smiles, touches, talks
to her, directly supports her learning
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try to experience the
day the way she experiences it
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watch her expressions
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watch to see how she
is encouraged / supported to interact with others
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think about her
learning day... is it intensive, or does she spend a lot of time
waiting? (the adults will feel that the day is 'intense' - they're
working very hard - but the key is how the children
experience the day)
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Pay particular attention to the
quality of interactions (words, emotional expressions, looks, touch)...
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between the teacher
and other assistants
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between the teacher
(and assistants) and the children
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among the children
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Pay very special
attention to how conflicts are handled, how 'behavior' is handled
Listen carefully to the way the
teachers and assistants interpret:
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the children and their
learning patterns
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the ways in which the
children 'behave'
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their expectations and
predictions for the children's futures
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Remember that a great deal
of early learning occurs through imitation...
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we learn to speak by
listening to the speech that surrounds us
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we learn to interact
by watching the interactions that surround us
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we learn to interpret
ourselves (to decide who we are) by...
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listening to how
people in authority interpret us
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watching
'those-like-us'
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watching how
'those-like-us' are interpreted and treated
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Remember that everything
that the child hears, sees, and feels shapes their learning, their
experience and their concept of self - not just the formal content that
is being 'taught'
From time to time during the
day, imagine that your daughter is there, just out of your line of
vision...
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how would she be
experiencing this moment?
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what would that
experience be teaching her about herself?
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what would she be
learning about the relationship between children and adults?
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Then go home and spend a quiet
evening with your daughter...
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think about sending
her to the school the next day
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pay very close
attention to what happens inside yourself
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quietly watch your
thoughts, your feelings, your imagination
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The key to all of this is
staying quiet. You'll have to resist the inner urges and the outward
invitations to 'interview', to engage in interesting conversations with
the teacher and assistants, etc.
Just let people know that
you're perfectly happy quietly absorbing the children's day. You're
trying to experience the day as your daughter would
experience it, so you need to get below the official rhetoric, the
words, the self-description of the place, and down to the level of
touch, sound, emotion, interaction.
This isn't a trick. I've led
over 100 formal team evaluations of service settings, including
classrooms, schools, residences, work-places, institutions, and
community support services. The evaluation process we used was detailed,
disciplined, complex, and always included a good 'round' of the kind of
observation I've outlined here.
It's certainly worth a day off
work, and certainly worth waiting to enroll her so you can get this
experience.
Cheers,
David
Wetherow
© 2003 David and Faye Wetherow !
CommunityWorks |
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