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Prevention of Violence through Early Childhood Education
Information contained in this article originally was prepared for Early Childhood Educators.
It can certainly and easily be applied outside a classroom setting or aid a parent in knowing what and how to request assistance from their child's teacher or childcare provider.
We hope it will offer teachers, childcare providers, and parents some new insights.
Conflict between children is a typical event in early childhood classrooms (or childcare settings). Violence is one possible, but undesirable, response to conflict.
Early childhood teachers (or childcare providers) are challenged to find ways to decrease the possibility of violence resulting from conflict over toys, space, or ideas.
When violence is eliminated as a reasonable response, "conflict" can actually lead to positive growth in children. When teachers respond to typical classroom conflict in ways that support the development of peaceful conflict resolution skills, children and early childhood classrooms benefit.
Peaceful conflict resolution in the early childhood classroom is working through a problem or conflict in a way that does not physically, emotionally, or socially hurt anyone involved. (Finch and Wirtanen, 2000)
The following article is an excerpt from the Idaho developed video presentation and teacher education materials, "Children and Conflict: An Opportunity for Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom." It is used here with permission of the authors: Cindy Finch, Project Director, The Children’s School of Boise and Lisa Wirtanen, Project Director, Child Care Connections.
The section offered here is the third of six key points in the written materials. This section asserts that it is through a strong teacher child relationship that children learn peaceful conflict resolution, a positive alternative to a violent response to conflict.
Prepared by Barbara Brooks, Child Care Connections, Boise, Idaho. To find out more about the full set of materials available, call Barbara Brooks at (208/342-4453, Ext. 245) or e-mail cccmsg@mtnstatesgroup.org.
Reading: Knowing Each Child
An excerpt from "Children and Conflict: An Opportunity for Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom." Prepared by Cindy Finch and Lisa Wirtanen, ©The Children’s School, Inc. 2000
While it is important to know about child development, the academic knowledge learned about children from books is not enough. It is important for teachers to spend time and energy building individual relationships with each child. Every child is unique and has a diverse family background. Many conflicts arise due to misinformation or misunderstanding about the other person(s) involved. It is critical that a teacher learn as much as possible about each child, quickly. It is through this knowledge that a teacher:
The early childhood teacher has choices to make about what to attend to while teaching. There are forms to fill out, plans to make, other teachers with whom to speak, and clean-up to complete. In addition, there are young children with whom to interact.
The primary teaching activity that supports young children in peaceful conflict resolution is developing ongoing, individual, meaningful, supportive, and compassionate relationships. In order for teacher-child relationships to grow, it takes a commitment from the teacher to:
Using Resources
Parents* have an insight into their children that should not be dismissed or overlooked by the teacher. The child’s experiences and behaviors with the parents are solid and significant foundations for the teacher-child relationship.
Gathering information from the parent includes, but is not limited to, using registration forms, conversations shared during a home visit, and formal conferencing. These activities should be completed outside of classroom time.
Note: *"Parent(s)" of a child can mean any adult or adults legally responsible for a child’s care and well-being, as well as a partner of the parent or another family member who has been included by the parent or guardian in the raising of the child.
Some children come into early childhood classrooms with extensive records and diagnoses from doctors or developmental specialists, and/or information from past educational settings. Still others come with just a program application.
Each of these, while not determining the quality of relationship with each child, is part of the foundation knowledge that supports an on-going, individual, meaningful, supportive, and compassionate relationship with each child.
Being "Present"
Another important factor in growing the teacher-child relationship is to be present with and for each child daily. What does this mean? Being present means making time during the course of the day to interact with each individual child during and outside of conflict situations. It means being emotionally available to each child.
Making time to interact with each child supports a growing teacher-child relationship. Some messages a child receives from a teacher who makes time to interact consistently are "You are important," "I care about you," "I care about what is important to you," and "You are a worthwhile and relevant person in my life and in our group." The first step in making time for each child is deciding that this is important.
Other ways teachers are present with and for children are by:
These actions by teachers provide opportunities for teacher-child interaction and relationship development.
Classroom Systems
Developing classroom systems can support knowing each child. They institutionalize the importance of the teacher-child relationship within the context of peaceful conflict resolution. Recommended systems that support teachers in effectively teaching individual children are:
Keeping Records
Teachers keep meaningful records when they watch children in spontaneous play situations or in teacher-planned activities and write down what they see. One type of record keeping is a running style of recording observations, where everything the child does and says is written down.
Another type of record keeping is anecdotal writing, where classroom situations are summarized in paragraph form. Still another option for teachers is to use some kind of form that documents, in a tallying format, what children are doing, when they do it, or which children are involved together in classroom activities.
Some of the information teachers can gather about children through record keeping is:
Communicating with Parents Daily
Verbal communication between parents and teachers/childcare providers should occur daily.
Systems of communicating between home and the early childhood program are important in knowing and teaching the individual child. Whenever possible, verbal communication between parents and teachers should occur daily.
It is important not to discuss a child’s behavior and classroom activities when she is present, unless she is included in the conversation. A written communication system supports verbal communication, and it makes communication possible when children are close by or when the child’s primary teacher is not available for verbal communication.
A few examples of written communication systems are:
The most effective systems for building meaningful relationships with parents are specific and nonjudgmental. It is not helpful to teachers or parents to communicate whether a child was good or bad. It is also not helpful when parents feel that the day’s classroom conflicts are being sent home for the parent to handle.
It is helpful for teachers to share the child’s experience in the classroom with parents and:
Each of these situations at home can change a child’s relationship with materials, activities, children, and teachers. Each of these changes in a child’s relationship can result in a change in the amount or type of conflict a child experiences at school.
It takes time for parents to build a relationship of trust with a teacher. Sensitive communication systems support the development of a trusting relationship. Communication with parents helps teachers know children well and provide appropriate levels of support to each individual child in classroom conflict situations.
Applying Knowledge to Provide Differential Support to Children
When teachers provide differential support to children, they are planning their own specific interactions for individual children. Differential support means teaching individual children in individual ways. Why would a teacher go to so much trouble?
Children are reassured that their behaviors are understood by the teacher and that the classroom will remain safe, especially when conflict occurs.
When classroom rules are broad, they can be applied to specific situations. For example, some teachers find that one rule suffices: We are all safe here. Other teachers define classroom expectations as: It’s not okay to hurt yourself, other children, or classroom materials. Broad rules account for children’s development, skill, and individual needs.
Very young children or older, inexperienced children need more direct support from an adult in peaceful conflict resolution. The teacher of a young or inexperienced child may likely need to be more physically protective of children in conflict.
Verbal support can range from speaking for the child, ("Abbey doesn’t want you to take that truck from her"), giving the child words to try ("Keneisha, you can say I don’t like it when you hit me"), or repeating or expanding a child’s attempts to speak up in conflict ("Did you hear Malcolm tell you that it is important to him that you wait until he is done with the saw before you get close at the carpentry table"?).
A teacher’s attention will need to be very high to assure physical safety or to assure that a verbal child does not overwhelm a less verbal child in some conflict situations. Older or more experienced children may need less intervention in their peaceful conflict resolution.
Appropriate levels of teacher support during conflict are dependent on the child’s individual development, skill, and prior experience — not the chronological age of the children involved.
A teacher can and should have the same expectations for all the children in the classroom. If it is not all right for one child to hit, it is not all right for any child to hit — even if, for example, the child hitting is under stress because parents are divorcing.
Teachers can and should have very different responses to individual children. By knowing children well, a teacher knows if a firm response is needed or if a gentle reminder will suffice. Differential support means that the teacher’s response to a child fits for that child; it doesn’t mean that the classroom expectations are negotiable.
Teachers have choices about how to interact. Sensitive interactions are based on what teachers know about children’s needs. The following diagram shows the relationship between verbal and physical strategies and an individual child’s peaceful conflict resolution needs.
The highest level of support a teacher can give is "physical firm, verbal firm." The lowest level of support provided by teachers is "observe." It is crucial that during conflict, teachers at a minimum, observe in order to assure that the situation remains physically and psychologically safe for all children.
Options for interactions range from high need (physically firm, verbally firm) to low need (observe). Physical Firm, Verbal Firm For example: When Spencer pushes Madison down, Sharon says, "That is pushing" and "If you want to play with Madison you need to remember not to push." She firmly keeps him close to her during conflict resolution. Physical Firm, Verbal Gentle For example: When Holly is helping children solve a problem on the tire swing, other children run up and try to engage her in their chase game. She firmly removes them from holding on to her and says, "David, we’re solving a problem right now. I’ll be right with you." Verbal Firm, Physical Gentle For example: When Jackson puts a shovel full of sand on Aaron’s head, Betsy says, "Tell him what you don’t want him to do." She is physically close to both children. Verbal Gentle, Physical Gentle For example: During the primary-age children’s football game, Megan draws Ted into the game by putting her hand on his arm and talking with him, smiling. Observe and Check In (For example: After Allison tells Lindsey that she wants to ride on the tire swing and have Lindsey push, Holly says, "Is that working for all of you? It looks like." Observe For example: When Maya needs a push on the tree swing, Mark watches her and remains removed from her while she calls another child over to give her a push.
Physical Firm, Verbal Firm
For example: When Spencer pushes Madison down, Sharon says, "That is pushing" and "If you want to play with Madison you need to remember not to push." She firmly keeps him close to her during conflict resolution.
Physical Firm, Verbal Gentle
For example: When Holly is helping children solve a problem on the tire swing, other children run up and try to engage her in their chase game. She firmly removes them from holding on to her and says, "David, we’re solving a problem right now. I’ll be right with you."
Verbal Firm, Physical Gentle
For example: When Jackson puts a shovel full of sand on Aaron’s head, Betsy says, "Tell him what you don’t want him to do." She is physically close to both children.
Verbal Gentle, Physical Gentle
For example: During the primary-age children’s football game, Megan draws Ted into the game by putting her hand on his arm and talking with him, smiling.
Observe and Check In
(For example: After Allison tells Lindsey that she wants to ride on the tire swing and have Lindsey push, Holly says, "Is that working for all of you? It looks like."
Observe
For example: When Maya needs a push on the tree swing, Mark watches her and remains removed from her while she calls another child over to give her a push.
When a child’s individuality is honored during the daily classroom experience, each child is connected to the teacher through an ongoing, individual, meaningful, supportive, and compassionate relationship.
When teachers know children well, they can provide the level of support each child needs in order to feel safe and learn during and outside of conflict. Knowing each child, by developing a strong relationship with each child, is, therefore, a key element in supporting children’s development of peaceful conflict resolution skills.