Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/all-the-teachers-are-friends-here/5020342/
Walking into the early childhood program I’ve been associated with for over 30 years, I overheard the following conversation between three-year-old Abby and her mother, Susan.Abby: “Look, there’s Mrs. Miller.”
Susan: “How do you know her?”
Abby: “She’s a friend of my teacher. Mom, don’t you know that all the teachers are friends here?”
What a profound statement! It stopped me in my tracks. I thought about the kinds of things we adults unwittingly convey to children every day. If Abby, at age 3, can sense the strong and (mostly) positive relationships among staff members on our team, then it’s just as likely she can sense when there’s tension and unease. And, when human beings work together, there will inevitably be times when relationships feel challenging. In staff’s efforts to make positive connections among coworkers a valued goal, children learn how to form positive
relationships by example. That’s why continuity of staff is so important, and something that lately I fear may be disregarded. Consider the following recent experiences:
• Maria is the principal of an early childhood program in a large public school system. For the past year she and her staff worked tirelessly to transform a hardscape playground into a natural outdoor ...