Overturning the Rules and Creating Amiable Classrooms - Essay Example

Four childhood educators and two professors took part in the dissertation that became the basis of the article, namely: K. Callaghan, B.J. Gramigna, B. Gardiner, L. Gendron, and M. Veinotte. It was published in January 2004 by Young Children, the journal of the National Association for the Education of the Young Children (Vol. 59, No. 1 pp 34-40).

All are in inclusive settings with resource teacher consultants for children with special needs. There was a lot of diversity in the three centers including speakers of English as a second language, newly arrived immigrants, children from a single-parent family, etc. All centers were practicing the conventional way, which was rule-based. There was an abundance of Do’s and Don’ts, in other words, over-regulation, which was suffocating the children. They also found out that it was draining the teachers just policing and redirecting the children.

Finally, they found out that there was a better way of doing these things. With the influence of the Reggio Emilia Approach in their series of workshops, they were able to question old concepts and approaches. They initiated new and innovative ways to make learning more meaningful and stress-free. The operative word was “collaboration”. With brilliant results emanating from the reduction of rules in a setting, it also led to explorations with the physical environment, such as redesigning the layout of the cots at naptime, enlarging the block area from 4 ft by 6 ft to 10 ft by 20 ft, thereby giving ample space to children with better results. They also started redecorating their environs with Monet prints, flowers, and even the bathrooms to make for a calmer effect on the children.

As a result, the rule-driven, clock-driven practice was changed into values-based, responsive pedagogy. Of course, there were some who were resistant to change. Eventually, they had to embrace the new innovation because it lessened stress. The emotional tone of the three centers has drastically changed from surveillance to joyful participation. A new, positive energy has emerged from the classrooms. According to the teachers, it was almost palpable, “you can feel it when you walk into each center” (Vecchi, 56).

Callaghan describes the changes as “coming together ad sharing stories, bringing in documentation, bringing lists of rules and sharing it in the community.” There are now three more centers that have adopted this new pedagogical technique and most teachers have applauded it, saying that “working like this feels like being on vacation”.