Hi Cally
Just thought I'd finish with another difficulty that I feel may arise quite frequently in school when implementing anti-discriminatory practice. As I have observed during my short time at school, many of the children have significant difficulties with their communication. I began to think about how does this school ensure that their children are really listened to and that their needs and choices are clearly understood by the staff teaching and caring for them.
The staff at school empower the children as everything that needs to be done for their care is explained to them, and they are asked if they understand what they need. This gives children the control to make a choice.
Giving children the opportunity to choose and make decisions in small ways increases their self image and promotes their confidence and independence to make later major decisions affecting all areas of their lives.
The school works to achieve a balance between giving the children a voice and offering them choices and decisions about which they cannot make an appropriate judgement on their own.
Gail
Hi Cally. Just read through this post again and I wrote about how this school empowers it's children to make choices to express their needs, preferences and dislikes. However, I did not explain how this happens in the class that I have observed so far. So, I thought I'd 'fill in' this gap with some information for you.
ReplyDeleteFrom my observations, the staff in this class have built close relationships with the children that they care for. They use skilled 'listening' techniques, together with appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication. They focus on making effective eye-contact, using an appropriate gentle tone of voice, adopt relaxed and calm body posture, smile and use hand movements and gestures to indicate interest and understanding. Most of the children in this class are pre-verbal. However, the children are encouraged and given the time to communicate in their preferred way. For example, at morning registration. Some of children respond to questions/request by a smile, by raising their head or arm for instance. Staff members are very skilled in reading the children's non-verbal communications to interpret their needs and preferences. All members of staff use Makaton - a language that uses speech, signs and symbols to help the children with learning difficulties to communicate and to develop their language skills. The children in this particular class have individual 'communication passports', which tells their 'own story' of their likes, dislikes and preferences, as well as information regarding their medical needs for instance.
Hope this information has helped - Gail