Being Real for Children

Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/being-real-for-children/5010668/

"All teachers might ask, 'What do most of my pupils really believe I take seriously and care deeply about?'" - Lilian Katz, The Hundred Languages of Children

This is rarely a question posed by teacher educators and child care directors. Instead, the emphasis is on learning child guidance techniques, planning curriculum projects, health and safety, and the like. These things are, of course, important, but where is the teacher as a person in all of our regulations and standards? Remember as a child when you first encountered a teacher outside the context of school - say in the grocery store, at a restaurant or movie? Weren't you amazed that they actually walked and talked in other settings?

To me, the definition of "best practices" has to include the teacher being real for children. Children desperately need meaningful, not perfunctory, relationships. Their world is full of stress, danger, and commercialism. They have little time to cultivate friendships or to engage in imaginative work at their own pace. Instead of real role models, children have media created super-heroes and celebrities.

This is a stark contrast with our Italian counterparts who are receiving so much interest from early ...