The thought is still very common that to work with children, it is enough “love” for the little ones, or that, after all, it is a fairly simple profession and just to make them play. But that’s not exactly the case …
“Educating a child is not a pleasant leisure, but a job in which it is necessary to employ the effort of sleepless nights, the capital of hard vicissitudes, and many thoughts”. So he wrote Janusz KorczackPolish pedagogue and pediatrician, victim of the Holocaust, who devoted himself to care and thechildren’s education Orphans between the first and the Second World War.
Of the “fatigue” of education, understood as dedication, study, research, observation, Discovery of the childthe great masters (Montessori, Lodi, Milani just to name a few) have told us about), who made the history of pedagogy in Italy and beyond, giving life to educational experiences who have left their mark, putting the child at the center and rethinking the ways and times of the educational process, tracing paths that, even today, we rediscover to be innovative.
Despite the wealth of our cultural heritage in the context ofinfantile educationtoday the role of those who work with children is not always adequately recognized in their fundamental value for growth of the women and men of tomorrow. To give an example, the thought is still very common that, to work with children, suffice “love” for the little ones, or that, after all, is a fairly simple job: “It is just about making them play”.
Work with children It is actually an extremely delicate and complex profession, which cannot be improvised and that requires that personal qualities be supported by oneadequate professional trainingfrom the constant comparison between operators, from the opening and reflection on one’s educational practice.
Where to start?
Without wanting to be exhaustive, we can imagine that the first step of the educator is … a step back. Instead of thinking about doing, the program, activities, what we would like to convey to the child, in fact it is necessary for the time – all the time it takes – for know the baby, listen to him, meet him. On the other hand, as we know well, it is the very meaning of the word “educating” (from former And duccere: drawing out) who invites the adult to stop his natural tendency to want to “put the child’s child and teachings inside”. For the educator taking a step back then means intentionally create the conditions for listening and observing the child and thus being able to understand his needs.
Observe
Observe the child He gives access to his curiosities, his attitudes and needs, but observing means first of all not to intervene: while a child is looking for “what to do and how to do it”, we should leave him free to act and try, even wrong. Sometimes, however, we are afraid that the child, experimenting independentlywe can hurt, then we intervene by blocking or correcting his actions, for prevent damage. Actually The child almost always moves and acts in the world with self -masterymeasures their actions carefully and knows how to evaluate the risks. Small forgiven this natural competence because they have not been left free to move and practice or because they are disoriented by living in environments full of prohibitions, confusing, organized on the needs of adults. Instead of intervening on the child it is then necessary to intervene on the educational environment.
Organize the environment
Each child builds his beinghis ideas and his intelligence through experiences. Listening to the child also means preparing the environment, “for” and “with” him. The arrangement of the environment in educational structures such as nursery, kindergarten, playrooms, cannot therefore be static, constituted once and for all, but must vary according to the evolution of the needs of the children who attend them. In general an orderly and simple organization of the gamesspaces and furnishings for children and some small functional tricks, will allow the child to run, jump, reach objects on a table suitable for his height, climb and go down the stairs, try to do it alone in the daily chores. By experimenting with his small conquests with the body, the child will feed his mind.
Listen to words
Since the child begins to express himself through the verbal languagewords can become a way through which the educator can “meet him” and “know him”. Also in this case the rule of the step back is worth: the first ingredient to listen to the words of a child is the sincere interest that the educator feels towards him, the value he gives to his thought. This will be visible without filters through the body, and will give the child the feeling of being able to trust. If the educator has a deep attitude of understanding towards the baby, it will be natural to look at him in the eyes, at his height, and call him by name, dedicating attention to him. Then you need time, patience and silence; We must wait for the child to form the ideas in his own way, even in several occasions, without questioning him, interrupt him and without anticipating the end of the phrase, sure to know what he wants to say. A good idea is to try to repeat what has been said by the child, so that he then tells us if we actually understood. In order for a child to talk about himself, we have to give him New words to experience and a good example.
If the educator tells of his days, of his thoughts, the child will be stimulated to do the same. “Thank you, I will think about it,” the educator will be able to answer when the baby will tell him something, because the ideas of children are so great that adults often need time to reflect on us.
