Holiday Ideas to Stimulate Children, Reduce Screen Time & Keep Parents or Carers Sane!

My apologies if you follow my Literacy blog as well as this Pedagogy blog (& thanks too!), but I thought readers of this blog might find these ideas from my Literacy blog of help in holiday periods when school is out.

In Australia, our schools will close in the third week of December for the Summer holidays which last about 6 weeks. After over two years of COVID isolation, lock downs and disrupted schooling, life is just starting to return to normal. As we enter holiday periods with our children and grandchildren, it's helpful to plan a little. While some children might go to summer camps, or holidays with families, there will be plenty of time either at home or away for children to become bored. Hopefully, the solution is NOT just to simply increase their screen time.

 

If Christmas falls in winter as it does in the US and other northern hemisphere nations, then outdoor activities will be hard. But there are plenty of things to be done inside that are stimulating and fun. In Australia, traveling to catch up with family and friends, the beach, hiking, boating, fishing and more take up lots of time. But there is still time to fill at home because some children end up home while parents go to work for at least part of the holidays.

At Christmas, many families have ongoing traditions that you continue in families or schools. One special tradition in our family is to make the traditional English Plum Pudding using a recipe passed down on my mother’s side first used by her English and Scottish ancestors in the 1800s. Family legend is that one of our relatives worked as a cook in Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh and that the recipe was passed down to family members generation by generation. I used to make the pudding as a child with my grandfather and I’ve carried that tradition on first with one of my daughters, and these days also a second pudding with one of my granddaughters. Perhaps you have your own traditions?

I've written a number of posts in the past about things to do in the holidays with kids (here), as well as simple travel games to fill the time on trips with your children (here). There is also an earlier post on ‘Planning With Kids’ that offers '20 Great Holiday or Travel Activities for Kids (5-15)'. To maintain some balance, you might also read my post on why 'Boredom is still good for children!'.

In this post, I thought I'd revisit some of the ideas and add a few new ones. Holidays offer an opportunity to stimulate your children's minds, and help prepare them for another year of school in 2023.

My criteria for choosing holiday activities are that they should:

• Stimulate creativity
• Encourage exploration and discovery
• Involve using hands as well as their minds
• Encourage interaction between you and your children
• Foster language and literacy development 
• Increase their knowledge
• Keep them interested

1.      An Excursion

 

The untold great places for an excursion wherever you live. Are you near or in Sydney? Why not enjoy one of the wonderful walking tours of the historic rocks? We took 4 of our grandchildren on a self guided tour of the Rocks during school holidays a few years and had so much fun. The tour we used was free. We were provided with a map and commentary that allowed us to have an adventure together as we explored the historic area. We acted out varied scenarios along the way and took photos to share with other friends & family.

2.      Why not get your children to create an animation, with one of many apps. 

This sounds a big deal but it's not with the right app. I wrote a post about some wonderful apps for digital story telling a few years ago (HERE). One of my favourites is 'Puppet Pals. For one thing, it's VERY easy to use. Your children will work it out in minutes. Puppet Pals is available as a free app for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Most apps are available for other devices as well. It's essentially a simple way to create an animated movie using 'cut-out' themed characters and a variety of backdrops and scenes to create an animated 'puppet' play.

There is a free version that comes with Wild West backgrounds and actors.  However, you can also purchase different themes for as little as $US0.99 or the 'Director's Cut' in which you can access all the themes for $US2.99. These allow you to obtain a range of additional scenarios and characters based on themes such as monsters, space, pirates, arthropod armada, Christmas and so on. You can even make your backdrops and characters.

It's a very simple app to use that provides very easy story boarding. You can record dialogue, move characters around, create some simple effects, change backdrops and settings and characters. While ideally, before creating the animation, the writer/producer prepares plot summaries and story ideas, but I've seen my grandchildren make excellent animations on their first take. One they used is the 'Arthropod Armada' theme from 'Director's Cut'. 

As a teacher, I also could see myself using a smart board to collaboratively develop a story with my class before introducing individuals and groups to this smart little app.

 
3. Books with a difference

a)  Pick some special books they haven't seen - 

Try to borrow or buy at least 2 books for each child. Based on their interests try to choose books they'll enjoy, not simply books you'd like them to read. Opportunity shops, book exchanges and libraries are also a great place to start looking for some cheap second hand books. I have another post on book exchanges, op shops and web exchange sites here. Alternatively, take them to your local library to choose some.

b)  Use Books as a creative stimulus - While the sheer joy of the book is usually enough, sometimes books can stimulate many wonderful creative activities. For example:

After reading Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things are" go outside and dramatise it. Let one child be Max and let others take turns at being the wild things. Make a boat out of bits of wood, or even have a go at making one out of a large cardboard box (or several).

After reading Jeannie Baker's book "Where the Forest Meets the Sea" (a book about the Daintree Rainforest in which all the pictures are collage), encourage them to make a collage out of natural materials (and maybe some wool, straws etc to supplement) in response to Baker's pictures. Or read a second book and have them use collage in response.

 

Or after reading Graeme Base's "The Waterhole" get them to paint the waterhole (they can draw the animals, cut them out and paste them around the waterhole).

4. Dramatisation

Dramatisation is an excellent way to respond to a book. If you have a dress-up box all the better. Let your children either re-tell the story through dramatisation or improvise. Get involved to help set the pattern for turn taking etc. I play a mean wolf, and an even better Grandma!

 

5.   Writing with a difference

Introduce children aged from 5 to diaries or holiday journals.

a) Scrapbooks & journals - Make this fun, not a school activity. Some might prefer to just make a holiday scrapbook by pasting in tickets, leaves they collect, food wrappers etc. But you can also show them how to create a travel diary.

b) A holiday blog - Tech savvy mums and dads might encourage their children to write online. Why not set up a family blog that can be read by friends and relatives (even if only for two weeks). You could use this as part of a trip away, or just use it at home. Older children could set up the blog themselves and all family members could contribute. Let them have access to a digital camera and a scanner and the sky is the limit. See my post on 'Children as bloggers' (here).

c) Start a family joke or riddle book - Maybe offer them some jokes as models ("Knock, knock", "Why did the centipede cross the road"....) etc.

6. Craft

a) Structured Craft ideas - simple beadwork, noodle craft, mask making, making plaster moulds (and painting them), anything for young children that requires paper tearing, gluing, glitter, stickers, works well.

b) Unstructured creative craft - Stock up when you go to the supermarket with simple materials like paper plates (good for masks), brown paper bags, sticky tape, glue, cotton balls, tooth picks, paper cupcake holders, straws (cutting up and threading), noodles (for threading).

c) Play dough - You can buy cheap coloured modelling clay but home-made playdough works well. My wife 'Carmen's can't fail' recipe is 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 cup of plain flour, 0.5 cup of cooking salt, 2 tablespoons Cream of Tartar, 1 cup of water, colouring. Mix together and put in a saucepan on medium heat until it binds together, stirring all the time. Fold together by hand. If you keep it in a sealed plastic bag it will last for ages in or  outside the fridge.

There are endless things to do with play dough. Try to move beyond just cutting out shapes (which kids still love). Encourage them to make a house, a farmyard, a bed, and an aquarium. Use some plastic animals with the play dough or small plastic people. If you don't mind tossing the play dough out you can let them use sticks, plants etc to make simple dioramas. Kids will create complex stories as they manipulate the play dough.

7. Creative Play

I've written a number of previous posts on play (here) but planning for play is important. While you can say to your children go outside and 'play', doing some simple planning at times will lead to more stimulating play times.

a) Dress-up box - If you don't have one take the kids to an Op shop to start one. You might even pick up some gems like old helmets, hats, belts (you can cut them down), handbags etc.

b) Water play - This is hard in cold weather, but maybe you could make bath-time special for young children with extra bubbles, different stuff to take into it. In warmer weather give them a bucket of water and some things to scoop, sieve etc - obviously only UNDER SUPERVISION. Above, it's pick on Grandad day!

c) Build a cubby house - No not with wood, just use a table, some chairs, wardrobes (hitch the blankets into the top of the doors, some pegs and sheets and blankets. By draping them over other objects you should be able to create a special space (about 2x2 metres is enough for three small kids). Or you could try your hand at making one from large cardboard boxes. I've done both types and the fun was the same on both occasions.

Try to get at least 1.5 metres of height. Have the kids 'help' and then get them to collect some special things to have in the cubby.

I used to let my grandchildren have my cheap transistor radio from my shed (lots of fun). We also had a tea set. Sometime they had toys with them and games. If you're up to it, climb in as well and read some stories. I've seen a cubby of this kind amuse kids for half a day. Then of course for the adventurous you can share some snack food as well. You can even build a cubby inside! See my post on cubbies (here).

d) Indoor and back yard fun

Treasure hunts - Write the clues on paper using words and pictures depending on ages and make the treasure worthwhile (chocolate, a coupon for an ice cream in the kitchen etc). For something a little more challenging why not try a map with grid references (see picture opposite).

e) Cooking

Kids love cooking with their mothers or fathers. Do simple stuff. Nicole (Planning With Kids) has lots of great ideas for cooking with kids on her site. Don't forget to make it a language activity as well by getting them to follow the recipes.

Wrapping up - A few basics hints

• Have a strategy for the holidays - map out a timetable (post it on the wall) and try to plan a few significant events and think through the general structure of each day.
• If you have younger children still at home, being joined by school kids on holidays, try to think about how you will cope with all their interests and think about varying daily routines a little.
• Pace yourself - don't use all your best ideas in the first few days (you'll wear them and yourself out and you'll struggle to keep up the variation later).
• Expect bad weather - think about some ideas that will work in rainy weather as well. It's called the "Law of Holidays" - expect lots of wet weather and a day or two of sick kids.

HAVE FUN!

The Importance of ‘Double Listening’ in Faith-based Schools

While writing an article for a journal recently, I was reminded of John Stott’s concept of ‘Double Listening’. I believe it needs to be shared with faith-based teachers and schools.

John Robert Walmsley Stott was an English Anglican priest and theologian, who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was the founder, director, and honorary president of the London Institute for Contemporary Studies. He wrote 40 books! His work was always filled with great wisdom.

 

In one of his many publications, ‘The Contemporary Christian: Applying God’s Word to Today’s World’ (1992: IVP), Stott introduced the concept of ‘Double Listening’. He shared, “we are called to the difficult and even painful task of ‘double listening’. That is, we need to listen carefully… both to the ancient Word and to the modern world, in order to relate the one to the other with a combination of fidelity and sensitivity.”

 

This concept resonates so clearly with my own work. Those who have read ‘Pedagogy and Education for Life’, will see immediately why I find his concept of ‘Double Listening’ so helpful. It sits comfortably with my call for faith-based teachers to think deeply and critically about how “…we shape the whole life of a community viewed from the standpoint of the kingdom of God?” (Cairney, 2018, p.30).

 

1.    What is ‘Double Listening’?

 

I’ve written many times about the tricky tight rope walk faith-based schools tread, while seeking to teach and shape their students in a world with many competing voices and challenges. In the setting of a Christian school, there is constant tension between preparing our students for the world, while also seeking to grow them as people. In my work, I give special emphasis to encouraging teachers, parents and students to see their faith as central to all of life, and not to be distracted simply by success in the world. In any faith-based school, we need to encourage everyone to listen first to the Word of God, while also preparing students for life in the world. In other words, we seek to bring the Word to bear on the world, not the other way around. 

  

In an interview in 1997 with Professor Derek Morris (Southern Adventist University, Tennessee), Dr Stott was asked to explain what he meant by ‘Double Listening’. He responded:

 

“By double listening, I mean listening, of course, to God and to the Word of God, but listening to the voices of the modern world as well. Now, I make it clear that in listening to the modern world, we are not listening with the same degree of respect as that with which we listen to the voice of God. We listen to Him in order to believe and obey what He says. We listen to the modern world, not in order to believe and obey what it says, but in order to understand its cries of pain, the sighs of the oppressed. And it seems to me that relevant communication grows out of this process of double listening.”

 

2.  How should faith-based schools respond to and learn from this challenge?

 

In ‘Pedagogy and Education for Life’ I argue that education in faith-based schools should always be situated in the “whole of life of the school”. This in turn is situated within our students’ complete lives that simultaneously transcend varied and multiple communities of practice. As teachers, we need to keep reminding ourselves that our students’ learning does not occur simply in our classrooms Things taught in the school are integrated and interpreted as part of daily life. Collectively, this perspective seeks to create “…classroom life with the potential to ‘speak’ to our students about what is important in the world of the classroom and school, and consequently, what matters in the world” (Cairney, 2018, p.31).

 

John Stott’s words might seem ‘quaint’ to some, but we must be careful not quickly dismiss his bold claim. For any Christian, navigating a world that is increasingly hostile to varied faiths, his words are very helpful. What I like about Stott’s comment is that it directly links to the key challenge all Christian schools must address. That is, the need to balance the obvious desire of parents, students and teachers seeking success in life, with a desire for them to seek faith and eternal hope in Christ. 

 

An important complement to ‘Double Listening’ is the development of “standpoint” or point of view (Cairney, 2018, pp 27-29). This is essentially the shared understandings of students, that a teacher seeks to shape within community life. The hope is students can be encouraged to orient their life to the Kingdom of God, not the ways of the world. This requires an all of school approach and the creation of community life that places faith and our hope in Christ at the centre.

3.  How does this concept relate to my work on “formation”?

 

First, we need to understand and embrace the concept of ‘Double Listening’ in our lives as Christians and teachers. We also need to observe and understand the world in which our students live, and the many ideologies that are spoken of, promoted and ‘wash over’ them each day. As teachers, we need to be alert to the signs of varied ideologies shaping our students’ priorities and practices. But as well, we need to have the courage to push back on some of the ideas they embrace, and explain what the Bible teaches us about life’s priorities.

 

Second, we must not forget that a key part of our roles as teachers is to “orchestrate the meaning, language, and life of the classroom” (Cairney, 2018, p. 67). To observe the lives of our students is a key priority, but we also need to be active in attempting to shape our students to consider all of life in the context of God’s word to us.

 

 

Above: The danger of raising 'bubble' kids

But, one more comment is necessary. Schools must be careful not to create places so insulated from the world, that they become escapist ‘bubbles’ protecting them from the world. Schools can in a sense, become such separate worlds, that students aren’t really prepared for the wider world, where the cultures and priorities are so different, and where they now have new autonomy.

 

    

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'Building Schools Where Everyone Understands that Each Member is a Gift'

Anyone who has been a teacher will testify that at times there have been children who were hard to like. I was one of those children for a number of my teachers. What about you? Can you recall students who were challenging and difficult to like? Perhaps ask yourself why they were hard to like?

 

Towards the end of my book 'Education and Pedagogy for Life', I suggest that one of the key marks of the good teacher is they are attentive to all their students. Note 'ALL'! What's more, they encourage students to tolerate one another, not simply those in their friendship groups. Community building in school is very important, and the best teachers will shape class and group communities to help students understand in some way, that every other student is a gift to all of us in a classroom.

 

Life is filled with many relationships, and each contributes to us in some way. We learn and grow in and out of school as we experience life together in varied communities of practice. School should not be seen as a place to which we simply send our children in order to have their heads filled with knowledge, and discipline instilled. Hopefully, we want them to grow in understanding and character. This requires "immersion in a life that is only partly lived at school... our students have complex lives in which they dwell in numerous communities of practice."  (Cairney, 2018, p.164).

 

The Christian school is to be a place where our students' presuppositions are challenged constantly, as they try to grapple with the experiences of life. Ricoeur ('Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative and Imagination', 1995) reminds us that all of life impacts us, and our presuppositions are challenged daily. This includes the things taught in classes or the school Chapel, as well as ideas expressed by students in community life, playground conversations etc. 

Ricoeur suggests that as faith emerges, it will be challenged as we try to make sense of changed priorities and lives. How do we do this? He argues that "metaphorical imagination" is strongly implicated in such efforts to make sense of varied realities. My take on this is that as we encounter conflicts between the things we believe and value, we will need to reconcile such clashes by creating inner 'metaphors' to hold them in balance, rather than in tension. 

 

As a student comes to faith in our schools or begins to reflect more critically on the faith of other students, and also their own, they have the need to reconcile inner conflicts. They observe and listen to others and ask questions of them. But they also ask questions of themselves as they carry many inner conflicts alone.

Ricoeur's take on this is that for such inner conflicts, we can experience redemption by imagining the possibilities if we were to move in new directions in life. He suggests that by "imagining his possibilities, man (sic) can act as a prophet of his own experience." While I agree that at the point of key decisions about our faith and where we stand in a community like a Christian school, I also see the growth or loss of faith in our students as much more deeply interwoven with all of life. Bad life examples and good ones, all play their part.

God reveals himself in many ways within school communities. For the teacher, I suggest "the things we teach, the priorities we set, the activities we plan, the experiences that are structured, the books we share; indeed all of life in and outside the school acts upon us and shapes us" (Cairney, p.166).

For the student, this will often be the examples of teachers and students. This is demonstrated in their lives; the priorities they hold, the things they believe and so on. 

Christian schools exist to reveal God in every aspect of life. We are seeking to shape young lives for the good. Buber reminds us that teachers present a "selection of the world" to our students with formation of character as the key purpose. But every member of our school communities is used by God and plays their part.

As I say many times in my writings, the calling to be a teacher is an honorable one. We have the opportunity to help shape hearts and minds; we are vehicles for learning about God and revealing God through his word and our witness. We must continue to meditate on this truth. What a responsibility! But in his strength and power all things are possible.

Other Worlds: Literature and Stories as Gateways

While the blog focus of this blog is pedagogy, and has been unpacking the arguments contained in “Pedagogy and Education for Life”, you might not be aware that I’ve written a number of other books. These include some on literacy and literature. One of my early books was ‘Other Worlds: The Endless Possibilities of Literature’ (T.H. Cairney, Heinemann: Portsmouth New Hampshire, 1990). I’ve been revisiting my literature book recently, as I grapple with an interesting new book about Critical Theory, (C. Watkin, ‘Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture’, Zondervan Academic: 2022). Don’t stop reading just yet! I’m writing about this book somewhere else.

In this post, I want to try to explain the connection ‘Biblical Critical Theory’ and my thoughts on pedagogy and education. While Watkins book was the catalyst for me focussing again on ‘Story’, I want to look closely at the power of literature to challenge, influence and even transform us. This of course has connections to Chapter 7 in ‘Pedagogy and Education for Life’ in a chapter titled ‘Storytelling and Life’.

 

Watkins book has also made me revisit the work of Stanley Hauerwas, Oliver O’Donovan, and Charles Taylor who all get mentions in my pedagogy book. So, what are the connections between the more practical book I wrote about literature almost 30 years before my pedagogy book.

 

Flooding the classroom with books

 

Let’s skip back to the 1980s and 90s! At this time, I was fascinated with literature as a young teacher, even though I was not from a family where the value and joy of literature was modelled for me. But early in my teaching career (in the 1970s) at a difficult school in Western Sydney, I discovered how important literature could be for my students. I set about making reading and story-making central to my teaching program. These early classes in the 1970s had many students (35-40) who struggled to read, and who had little interest in literature. My solution was to flood my classroom with books. As I did this, I sought ways to encourage my students not only to read, but to gain a love of reading. 

While doing a Masters degree part-time (in my ‘spare time’) and later my PhD in the 1980s, I came upon the work of Charles Taylor who understood the power of story to change lives. I had learnt very early in my teaching career, that even difficult and disinterested children could be ‘captured’ by the power of story. Watkins work has pushed me to reflect even more on why this is so.

 

Going on Journeys

 As I taught my children in those early classes, I began to see stories had the ability to ‘take’ readers on journeys to places, times and experiences, and that these had the power to touch their hearts and minds. Charles Taylor was one of the writers who helped move me towards a deeper understanding of how we are affected by literature. His work on what he called “social imaginaries” was influential. These he argued lead us to imagine and reflect on our lived experiences as we read, and can even legitimise or explain much about ourselves and help shape hopes and desires.

I began to observe as a teacher for the first time, how the imagination of my students was creating frameworks that helped them to engage, understand and imagine their world through the stories, myths, dreams, and hopes they encountered through the characters in literature. For these children in quite difficult communities and families, literature was helping them to encounter ‘other worlds’ as I flooded the classroom with books. Their reading began to create rich contexts which had the potential to change and shape their lives. This of course, included what they believed, as well as their hopes, dreams and fears in life.

 

So, what did I learn from these experiences?

Another writer helped me on my way to a deeper understanding of what was going on. Why was my approach having such a profound impact on their lives? Anthony Esolen (‘Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child’), put his finger on one of the most fundamental insights. That is, “… imagination, memory and knowledge are not incompatible but related”. This might seem obvious, but as I read Esolen’s work along with others, I began to see connections with what I had observed in my classrooms in Western Sydney over 30 years ago. As I flooded my classroom with books, read to them regularly to enthuse them about story, and gave them access in the classroom to an ever-changing library of books that had appeal to them, I saw amazing changes as students were given access to ‘Other Worlds’ for the first time. This post has been a taster, I will return to the topic in future posts as I broaden my discussion on the things I learnt with my students.

 

Key References

 

1. Trevor Cairney, ‘Pedagogy and Education for Life: A Christian Reframing of Teaching, Learning and Formation’, Cascade, 2017, p. 122.

2. Trevor Cairney, 'Other Worlds: The Endless Possibilities of Literature', Heinemann, 1990.

3. Anthony Esolen, ‘Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child’. Wilmington, DE: 2010.

4. Chris Watkin, ‘Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture’, Zondervan Academic: 2022.

 

Mindfulness: Avoiding The Temptation to Over Think and Overreach as Teachers

What is Mindfulness? 

Unpacking what 'Mindfulness' is can be mixed and confusing. It seems while many teachers talk about mindfulness, each does it for different reasons, and with different understandings of what it is. At times, the concept of mindfulness, can become lost in the challenges teachers have at times, handling and teaching diverse students.

Ask three teachers what mindfulness is and I suspect you will be given three different answers. Ask the same people why they believe in it, and again you will have different responses.

So, what can we agree on? Dr Stephen McKenzie and Angela North have written an interesting book titled 'Mindfulness at Play' (Exisle Publishing, 2023). Their definition of Mindfulness is, "a state of simply being fully focussed on whatever we are doing". In other words, screening out distractions and "paying attention". But something which in essence is very simple, can become somewhat messier when people try to overlay different philosophies on it. Some advocates even try to align it with religious practices like Buddhism and Hinduism. We need to avoid this.

Not Overthinking Mindfulness

One of the mistakes I see being made with talk of mindfulness in schools, is for some teachers to apply specific world views or religious philosophies and beliefs over what are simply practical and helpful life practices.

I think we would be wise to stick to simple definitions like Stephen McKenzie's "Mindfulness is a state of being focussed on whatever we are doing" ('Mindfulness at Play' Exisle Publishing). As McKenzie explains, it is essentially:

 "...the practices of paying attention, being able to direct our attention, and accepting what we pay attention to."

Removing distractions in life will always help people to focus, concentrate on tasks at hand and pay attention. The great challenge we have as teachers and parents, is that the world is filled with constant distractions, by which we allow ourselves to be distracted. For example, how many of us can allow texts as they ping on our phones, to lay untouched? And for how long?

How often can we sit still in contemplation and notice the world around us? I walk everyday along a beautiful river near my home, usually with my wife, but sometimes alone, or on my bike instead. You'd be amazed how often I see people walking through the beauty of the world in conversation on their phones. I see one young man every day, his head is pointed at the ground, and his eyes never leave the phone screen. I have never seen him look up to see the sky, nor the many birds of the water and sky. It amazes me that he hasn't run into something.

What can we do as parents and teachers?

There is much good advice in McKenzie and North's book, but I'd urge you NOT to over complicate the concept. Avoid linking it to philosophies and faiths that prescribe what it is, and how such things increase mindfulness. 

As teachers, avoid weaving aspects of such faiths into your desire to increase mindfulness. If you are a teacher in a faith-based school, then of course this will influence how you and your students integrate faith with life. However, mindfulness has great relevance for all, and need not be connected to religious worldviews to help our students. All teachers need to cultivate the ability to get to know our students. This requires us to give them our attention by observing and listening to them.  

Parents demonstrate to your children what it means to shut out distractions and 'noise' in their world. Perhaps be examples of how we manage distractions ourselves. Also help our children to manage time. And listen more carefully. I'd also encourage all families to share meals together without devices or the television in the background.

Becoming Better Listeners

Angela North makes a great comment in her contributions to the book:

"We all need just one person in our childhood who truly sees us - so that we feel deeply heard, understood and loved".

As a child in primary school I was from a trouble family with two alcoholic parents. Not surprisingly, I was in trouble a LOT at school. But in 4th grade I was fortunate to have a teacher who saw beyond the grubby neglected kid, and instead set out to teach me, care for me, and seek things for me to do that challenged and inspired me. This was to turn my life around.

As teachers, how well do we know the children we teach? As parents, how well do we know our teenage children? Do we try to spend time with them? This is a practice we need to work on throughout their early life. If we wait till they're 15, I'm afraid it is often too late.

A Final Comment

I like many of the ideas in 'Mindfulness at Play', but please don't read it simply looking for new strategies to enable you to make teaching easier. Nor skim read it looking for six new ideas to help difficult children be more attentive and better behaved. Sure, there are some games that calm children down that help, and activities might enhance focus. But nothing will help teachers more than simply knowing every one of their students better. What makes them tick, what do they like or not like? Are there things that excite them, what are their lives like outside school...? There are many great ideas in the resources section of the book for teachers. By all means use some of them, but don't do it to keep them busy, or make your life easier. Rather, use the ideas and help your students to:

• Pay attention
• Increase connection to their world
  
• Enjoy time with one another
• And, most of all, get to know your students better

How our Students are Apprenticed into School Communities

1. Apprenticeship in the Classroom

Students can be brutal to one another in school and also outside school. James Gee talks about this as "...being apprenticed to a social group" which in effect is the shaping of what we believe, accept and reject. I talk about this in "Pedagogy and Education for Life" and and offer some examples of how this occurs in everyday school life. Barbara Rogoff takes the apprenticeship metaphor further by arguing that students are effectively apprenticed into thinking in quite specific ways.

Of course, while students have an impact on one another, the teacher also has an important role in leading these young apprentices into life too. The words and actions of teachers matter! If we teach, we inevitably signal to our students what we see as appropriate, the roles in life that are possible, important and valuable.

The things teachers sanction in classroom discourse as appropriate and valuable, are important. The teacher's role is not to try to be liked by reflecting the values, habits and hopes of the students. Rather we need to shape attitudes by creating frameworks for classroom life, that encourage and create predictable behaviour and outcomes [see Chapter 5 of 'Pedagogy and Education for Life' for more details].

2. The Role of Guided Participation

 

If a teacher hopes to have a positive influence on their students they must understand the perspectives of the students, and in turn, students need to understand those of their teacher. Bruner saw this as a type of 'exchange' taking place, helping both to understand one another. As we observe our students holding unhelpful views of the world, or engaging in practices that are problematic, we need to guide them into new ways of seeing and acting on the world. Vygotsky, Bruner, Rogoff and others all suggest that as we create positive communities in classrooms, it is possible to exchange meanings and help students to grow. This in turn, will lead to common goals and pursuits.

3. Orchestrating Community Life

Bourdieu's work has been particularly helpful in enabling teachers to grasp how teachers and schools can influence students positively for "the Good". He used the concept of "Habitus" to explain how in our world we relate to one another in a collective way, with accepted practices, perceptions, action and so on. These practices in turn shape our view of the world, leading to the valuing of specific things, desires, clothing and habits over others. Families and institutions also do this, but friendship groups are powerful. But classroom communities also matter and should have an impact on school life.

Teachers have a critical role to monitor and intervene if necessary if we observe practices that are not helpful to student well being, as well as classroom and community life. I offer a number of vignettes in my book to illustrate how practices inside and outside school classrooms can at times be problematic and in need of intervention. Let me share a few of these.

4. Influencing and Negotiating Changes in Community Life

Within any school or educational institution you will be able to identify practices within the school community that are unhelpful. The first step is to know your students well enough to identify them. For example, in my book I describe a practice within a College where I was Master, and how tricky it was to change. It involved a form of ritualistic behaviour known as 'Basining'. It was seen as funny by many young males to drag someone into the male bathroom on their birthday, when they'd been seen as doing something 'dumb', or simply for fun. They would hold them down and splash water all over them, in spite of any protestations. Men and women! This had to stop!

Changing such 'secular liturgies' (as James Smith calls them), can shape how students see community life, and what is required to be accepted by others. In our schools we will observe many examples. Some are as trivial as the clothes or shoes students wear, or perhaps the things they value most, music, personal interests and so on. Others include rejecting someone who doesn't 'fit in' (code for who 'likes the things we do', or 'dresses like us' etc), or in some cases, removing threats to the person who seems to 'rule' the group.

5. Is Influencing Community life Possible and Feasible?

Some teachers will respond to my comments by saying, "this isn't possible", "I have enough to do just teaching", "that's the parents' job not mine". I can understand these responses, but in reality to be a teacher is more than just presenting knowledge and teaching subject skills and content. Such responses ignore the imperative of any faith-based school to "nurture, inspire, form and influence for the good, the children God gives us" ('Pedagogy and Education life', Cairney, p.13). 

Bryan Cowling points to worrying inconsistencies in how schools articulate key goals. He concluded that the "weight" of language and emphasis of many Christian schools is "lifelong learning, citizenship, tradition, academic performance, community, curriculum, standards, quality, self esteem, heritage, culture, sport, well-being, justice and innovation" (Cowling, "The Context of Anglican Education", pp 25-40; Cairney et al., 'New Perspectives in Anglican Education', pp 77-88). 

These might sound good, but notice what is missing in relation to faith and spiritual maturity.

6. Summing Up

The task of religious schools is difficult. Of course, if the primary aim is to keep students and their parents happy by 'guaranteeing' greater success in life, then the task is easier. But if the faith-based school sees worldly success as important but not the key driver, the task is harder. In short, we must not allow ambitious parents - who place more value on worldly success than deep faith in our God and eternal life - to shape our school life, we have failed. Apprenticing our students into Christian School communities requires much more. 

 

God Made us as Creatures Who Learn

In my last post, I indicated that I would write three posts that address the overriding key purposes that give shape to the pedagogical framework I have outlined in my book 'Pedagogy and Education for Life'. 

 

I suggested that as teachers and school leaders, who are people of God, there are some key principles that should give shape to all we do in our schools and classrooms. For we must do more than just teach and fill heads with knowledge to do well on tests that open up opportunities to gain careers leading to worldly success. Yes, we do seek to nurture our students to do well academically, but we also seek to help them grow spiritually into Godly men and women, who bring honour to their God.

 

The principles that should shape our pedagogy are not to be based simply on the latest educational trends, great curriculum ideas, and new methods. Ultimately, Christian education must be shaped by end goals. I write in Chapter 1 of my book, that schools and their teachers require a telos (i.e. “the good” or aimed-for goal of schooling) reflecting the faith foundations of the school. If the goals that we trumpet in school documents and on websites, only stress success in life, citizenship, traditions, academic achievements, culture and sport, then we are just mimicking secular schools and worldly goals, and losing sight of our primary reason for existing as faith-based schools. Education is always to aim at much more than simply worldly. I quote Douglas Barnes in the opening of Chapter 2 “Education as Formation in Communities”:

 

Education is “embodied in the communicative life of an institution, the talk and gestures by which pupils and teachers exchange meanings even when they quarrel”.

 

My last post looked at the overarching principle ‘God made as unique creatures’. If you missed it, you can find it HERE.

 

In this post, I look at the second major purpose of education in faith-based schools.

 

God made us to be Learners

 

This second major pedagogical principle has nine sub-elements or practices to support this major principle. The pedagogical actions serving the principle are demonstrated as we encourage our students to be learners who bring honour to God in all aspects of their lives.

 

 

This overarching principle should lead us to create classrooms where students acquire much more than simply knowledge and success on assignments and exams. We want them to humbly understand who they are, what is the purpose of their learning, as well their gifts, all of which come from God. Our primary purpose of course, is to live in ways that honour God. As teachers, to maintain this focus, we need to adopt pedagogical practices that encourage our students as learners to:

 

·    Gain more than just content, knowledge and skills to achieve success in exams and life.

We also hope they will gain knowledge which helps them to seek meaning and truth transcending this life (see Principle 5).

 

·    Grapple with bigger questions. Who is God? What is our true purpose in life? How can my learning be used for ‘good’ and bring honour to God, not simply self, family and School (see Principle 6)?

 

 

 

·    Use God given imagination and creativity. These are gifts to help us learn, explore the world and honour God in diverse ways (see Principle 9).

 

What is our task as their teachers?

 

As teachers, we are to:

 

·        Foster learning communities in our classes – Such communities allow students space to question and challenge one another. In doing this we help our students demonstrate humility when confronted by the alternative ideas and views of the world. Ultimately, as teachers we are to demonstrate and model humility as we encourage and develop the same qualities in them. This begins by encouraging them students to tussle with BIG ideas.

 

·        Create open and ‘questioning’ communities – Communities like this not only allow space for creativity, risk-taking and problem solving, they encourage them (see Principle 11). This requires us to explore and use different approaches to teaching and learning to ‘grow’ students who bring unique abilities, learning styles and worldviews that might well be different from your our own as their teacher (see Principle 7).

 

·        Become “Kidwatchers”, constantly observing and monitoring our student’ – Through close attention to our students, we observe and support their learning, well-being, and journey toward faith (see Principle 11). We also strive to understand them as people as we observe the things that challenge and encourage them in their faith; and also see the things that distract them from leading a faith-centred life. As well, we need to observe our students not just in formal classes, but as they take part in the full range of school activities.

 

I would encourage all of us as teachers to regularly assess how well we are tracking as Christian teachers who seek more than simply worldly success for our students and our school.

 

In my next post, which be the third and final post in this short series, I will look at the final major purpose that shapes my pedagogy, 'God Made us for Communion’.