Schemas the Geometry of the Mind

Earlier this week I worked with a group of professionals who train our early year’s workforce, they support settings and individual practitioners and parents in a region of the UK.  They were interested to learn more about Schema’s and how the work developed by Chris Athey, Tina Bruce, the Penn Green Centre and many others, might help them to raise outcomes for children.

This work always inspires me. I enjoyed leading the workshop and would like to continue this work by sharing my own reflections and resources too around this subject. If this is a subject that interests you and you would like to contribute please add your comments on this blog entry, via the facebook page or twitter account listed below.

http://www.facebook.com/LeadinginEducationandFamilies

http://twitter.com/tracyseed

Questions being discussed now are:

How can we explain the term Schema in a way that can be understood simply?

How might this work help us in our work with children and families and with each other: what are the benefits of embracing this work?

Can this work help us to make sense of the EYFS: the unique child, the nourishing environment, positive interactions and learning experiences…observations, planning etc?

If you have more questions please do add them.

Here are some articles and publications on the subject that may interest you.

http://thanetearlyyearsproject.blogspot.com/2011/10/smarties-parent-schema-board.html

http://juliangrenier.blogspot.com/2009/11/schema-theory-in-early-years-education.html

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/gated/1057621/EYFS-Best-Practice-supporting-schemas/

http://tracyseed.blogspot.com/search?q=trillions+of+connections

Publications which can be purchased through Amazon
(for some reason I have lost my links!!)
Again and Again Understanding Schemas in Young Children Stella Louis, Clare Beswick, Liz Magraw, Lisa Hayes

Threads of Thinking,  Cathy Nutbrown

Understanding Schemas and Emotion  -Cath Arnold

It's just not good enough

“It’s just  not good enough” this recent article in Nursery World caught my eye and held my interest,  it was written by Julian Grenier, Early Years Advisor to Tower Hamlets Council, London. 

I appreciate the eloquent and skillful way he presents this key message about the importance of:  What we say and how we say it and caution over  institutionalisation relating versus genuine human relating.

It’s short, concise and in my opinion, he describes without judgement, the current trend of a language being used in nurseries that is based on evaluative statements such as “good sitting, good listening” and he uses humour to illustrate how the term “good looking” would be understood outside the school gates!

He offers practical examples of the descriptions for behaviours that might relate to what is meant by “good sitting” and he expands this too by describing other behaviours concerning sitting i.e  fidgeting, and generally moving about.  He suggests how it might be much nicer  if practitioners considered using clear and genuine descriptions, ordinary language instead of a language that is distinct from the way that other people speak.

I so enjoyed reading this article…thanks Julian…..hopefully, I may one day hear less of this  language spoken, when my grandchildren are playing schools together…….

I am reminded of another article written by Rachel Underwood many years ago…here is a little extract…about considering what praise teaches…

This is what she shared

“Once as a twenty eight year old teacher, I remember spending my time after school putting up a wall display of the nursery children’s work in the school hall.  Each piece of work had been carefully mounted and labelled and there were explanations for parents to read about the significance of the work.  After I had finished the display, I found myself loitering in the hall - I was hoping the head teacher would come by and make some positive remark about my efforts.  I caught myself doing this and smiled.  Here I was, a grown woman, lead teacher in a nursery unit waiting for my wall display to be acknowledged by someone I perceived to be significant so I could go home feeling content with my day’s work.  I didn’t have the know how at that point to acknowledge myself for my efforts.”

In Rachel's article, she talks about how closed comments like “lovely picture” do not enable Julie (child in the article) to develop her own views and enjoyment about her work, instead she explains how this can lead to the child’s need for adult approval.   She describes how Sasha, Julie’s key worker is well intentioned in her acknowledgement of Julies work, but the message Julie creates for herself from the comments Sasha makes are very different from Sasha’s purpose. Julie ends up looking to the adults to let her know if she is doing well, maybe she plays it safe too instead of trying new things.

I have many conversations with friends and colleagues about the approaches we use when we want others to do what we want them to do…..and about the way we communicate and relate with others so that they feel emotionally safe to be themselves.  Most of  my work  now days  relates to this area…working with practitioners, parents, leaders and managers and the general public wanting to find ways to communicate and relate authentically with care respect and equality..  

If our goal is to provide a world where people flourish and are able to express themselves, where we care about each other as well as ourselves , then I guess it would be great for us to be able to express ourselves honestly, openly and in a true way.

This applies to us at work, in our teams, families and communities.

How do we do this…

It seems to me that our own emotional awareness and being able to empathise, alongside clear and careful communication,  plays a key role in adopting such an approach.

What do you think about this?

Leadership, Education, Community

For contemplation…..

Leadership is supposed to be for everyone,

So every child or every person is supposed to act like a leader;

So you should lead your own family, you should lead your own life.

As a child grows, he’s given responsibility of taking care of the lambs, the goats, the sheep, she’s shown he’s responsible. When he grows up more he becomes a warrior.

We are initiated to become warriors and we then go to the bush for training;training to be leaders, training how to take cour community forward, how to protect our community and all that wisdom.

 To become a respected leader in the Massai community, you have to first of all to show a good example.

When you are a leader you should respect everybody, you should respect children, the whole community. You don’t bullying people, you don’t tell people “do this”, commanding people no.

Instead you have respect

Emmanuel Manjura, Massai Leader published recently in Resurgence Magazine No 264

 
The four pillars of Education (UNESCO Learning – The Treasure within)

Learning to know: “concerned less with the acquisition of structure knowledge that with the mastery of learning tools. It may be regarded as both a means and an end of human existence.”

Learning to do..”how do we adapt education so that it can equip people to do the types of work needed in the future?”

Learning to live together “…education should adopt two complementary approaches. From early childhood, it should focus on the discovery of other people in the first stage of education. In the second stage of education and in lifelong education, it should encourage involvement in common projects.”

Learning to be:”..All people should receive in their childhood and youth an education that can make up their own minds on the best courses of action in the different circumstances in their lives”

Jean Piaget said " The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done;men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered." 

Cathy Nutbrown, Respectful Educators, Capable Learners (1996) "If children find learning difficult, it could well be that there I something wrong with the way in which we are asking the to learn."

If you would like to explore your own leadership and or the way you perceive and approach education and curriculum implementation contact me mail@tracyseedassociates.co.uk view my website www.tracyseedassociates.co,uk and if any of the work that we are doing inspires you we would love to connect with you..

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Another contribution from Ellen Duthie,guest contributor, a philosophy graduate who works as a translator in Spain, where she lives with a Spanish music journalist and their two-year old boy. One of the many things she enjoys doing in her free time is sharing children's book reviews and thoughts in her blogs We Read it Like This (wereaditilikethis.blogspot.com) and Lo Leemos Así (loleemosasi.blogspot.com). I am very happy that she shares with us too, I do hope you enjoy listening and reflecting on the variety of ways that you might use this wonderful story to stimulate your work with children.


We're Going on a Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen (writer)
& Helen Oxenbury (illustrator), Walker Books, 1989.
Our edition: Walker Books, 1997.

Click on the cover to listen to the way we read We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a family adventure of playful bravery, evocative noises and giggly fear.
The Story
Based on an old campfire song, We're Going on a Bear Hunt tells the story of a family (refreshingly, a father with four kids and a dog) that sets out one morning on an adventure to catch a bear. They are determined ("We're going on a bear hunt"), confident (We're going to catch a big one), optimistic ("What a beautiful day!") and fearless ("We're not scared").


On the way, they encounter all sorts of obstacles they "can't go over and can't go under" but just have to "go through", and, luckily, they all make interesting noises. These obstacles include a field of long wavy grass (swishy swashy), a deel cold river (splash splosh), a field of thick oozy mud (squelch squerch), a big dark forest (stumble trip!), a swirling whirling snowstorm (Hoooo woooo!) and finally a narrow gloomy cave (tiptoe! tiptoe!).


Waiting for them in the cave is the last thing they expect to find. An actual bear! They all turn around and run out, having to make their way back through all the obstacles in reverse order, making all those funny noises again, but far more quickly and with the bear running after them, back to their front door and eventually into bed and under the covers with the determination never to go on a bear hunt again.


The Illustrations
Helen Oxenbury's pencil and watercolour illustrations, alternating colour and black and white double page spreads, bring to life this family's day out, with a perfect rendering of that combination of excitement and contented exhaustion children tend to display on a day out.


We're Going on a Bear Hunt has wonderful movement scenes:

Splash splosh

Oh no! We forgot to close the door!

And just as great scenes of the family at rest in between obstacles:

We like the faces of them all when they enter into the cave:

Tiptoe! Tiptoe!

And when they get to the bedroom. Aaaah!



Our son loves the scene where they are under the blanket, particuarly the head poking out in the bottom left hand corner and the safe teddy-bear the baby is playing with:

And we all like the last scene, of course, with the bear walking back alone, looking more like he's in need of a friend than a bite to eat:

Reading it Aloud
We're Going on a Bear Hunt is written to be recited or sung out loud.

We did not know the song it is based on and I confess we found it hard to find a comfortable rhythm to it at the very start. It somehow seemed to fall flat. However after a few readings, we made it our own and our son has loved it ever since (we bought it when he was around 15 months).

It has all the perfect elements to be read aloud to young kids: repetition (both words and rhythm), plenty of interesting sounds, and a sudden change in tempo which breaks the tension and brings on a wonderful comic effect that gets children giggling every time, before it all calms down again right at the end. And on top of all that, the chance -almost the compulsion- for the child to join in, with voice or body or both.

We sometimes read it "quietly" and concentrate on the sounds (like in the recording), or read it more actively, acting it out, moving our hands through the grass while we say swishy swashy, pretending to swim through the splash splosh, getting up and walking in the squelch squerchy mud and pretending to stumble and trip through the forest, before shivering through the snowstorm and tiptoeing into the cave and then doing it all in reverse order on the way back!

Whether we are reading it quietly or actively, we always move our arms to:

We can't go over it.
We can't go under it. 
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

A couple of interesting We're Going on a Bear Hunt videos:
Check out this lightly animated version of the story:

And Michael Rosen himself telling it: 
(c) of all the illustrations in this post: Helen Oxenbury, 1989.

Connecting with the Elements

Not bringing the inside out - celebrating the very special nature of all that the outside has to offer - Last Saturday, over 50 Swedish early year’s professionals arrived in London for an event with us. They are the staff of Angbybarnens Forskolo, a group of five pre-schools in different locations in Norra Angby, Stockholm. These pre-schools are led by my colleagues and NVC companions Annika Sparrdal Mantilla and Ninni Jarnehall, they are pre-schools which are even more progressive and forward thinking than any average setting in Sweden

How could they afford to do this?

For the second time they have won Stockholm's Quality Award prize. They first won this during 2010 which is when they took the whole team to Italy, this time their visit is with us here in the UK and I am so grateful to have have he privilege to work with them on both of these occasions.

Here is a short video showing photographs of the event in Italy and in the UK and some of their own outdoor environment and of Chelsea Open Air nursery's very unique city garden. 



A Further description of the event in the UK
We met in Norway, during May, to discuss their needs and settled on working with a theme and intention to advance their experience and thinking around learning outside -not an easy challenge, considering that, unlike UK pre-schools they already offer children all day access during rain, snow, frost, wind and sunshine. They are very comfortable with children exploring freely, climbing, digging, hiding, running, resting etc.

I wondered what we could offer?
We agreed on an innovative plan to commence on the first day, with a three hour session of music, movement and dance: a session based on biocentric principles.

What was our intention?
It was to bring them into connection with the elements, through their bodies and their emotions, to experience outdoors in a fresh way; to embody this learning. Our music (except for the opening and warm up) was the sounds of nature combined with some urban sounds too of course! Day two would be a more traditional training session. 

We commenced in an indoor training room meeting and offering some outline of the session that would follow. We walked in silence to a beautiful private garden, 5 minutes away, close to regents park, walking barefoot on the grass, running, jumping, making cartwheels and handstands, smelling the earth and lying on the ground; feeling the warm rays of the sunshine on our faces, dancing to the breeze of the wind..and allowing our lungs to fill with air and to move our bodies subtly opening up to in a fluid way, slow and graceful dance  and then dissolving into a deep state of relaxation and accessing a blissful sense of being with nature and ourselves. 
Smelling the flowers and examining bugs with a gentleness and softness that returned us to our early memories of multi-sensorial experience. We awakened the old and anchored the new, our senses heightened and the body’s neurology embedding these experiences along with the emotional states of relaxation, awe and wonder. 

The experience was very challenging for some of them and yet, they engaged themselves either fully through the exercises or as observers, whilst
sitting under a tree.
On day two or our event we were joined by Jan White, early
year’s consultant, author of playing and learning outdoors: making provision for high quality experiences in the outdoor environment’ is published by Routledge (2008). Jan is an international advocate and supports high quality outdoor provision for services from birth to five. During her time earlier in her career, as a Senior Development Officer, she played a key role nationally in developing Learning through Landscapes’  When I met Jan a few years ago, my impression  was that she possessed a depth and breadth of experience that continued to evolve, I like this and her openness, flexibility and humour too. I sensed her potential to work with and to connect with a group of people in an authentic way and I was right, within a very short time and in spite of some hiccups with our equipment, she captured the group with her warmth and enthusiasm and began her session by introducing them to her thinking about the very special nature of outdoors and the distinct difference between what this environment has to offer compared with being inside - its highly multi sensory nature and vegetation. 

Jan's work and my own input helped them to be conscious of the embodied experience of the previous day. She facilitated a dialogue around characteristics including;the experience of different surfaces, open spaces, opportunities for refuge and reverie, the softness of being cushioned in the grass, kissed by the rain and caresses by the leaves;exploring schemas of trajectory, enclosure, boundaries, envelopment, rotation and much much more;the right kind of materials - affordance (meaning those that meet the needs of the individual children, those that are inviting, stretching, accessed, used and shaped). Flexibility and responsiveness of the environment to the needs of the children and the importance of transition areas and the comfort of the adults to really engage with the children.

She completed the day by asking them to think about the messages they want children to believe about themselves and she shared some of hers with us:

They are good to be with
They can feel good in their body
They are capable and competent
They are trusted and responsible
They can be curious and adventurous
They are creative and inventive

My conversations with participants during our time together and at the close of he event seem to indicate that they felt stretch and challenged to think more deeply about their experiences of being outdoors and this they say, has moved them forward. We will follow up with them in a few weeks too, to see what impact the event has actually had on their practice.

I'm thinking that if all of our early years setting developed their practice in this way, surely this would go someway towards growing the kind of citizens in the UK that we would like to be with, with a love of ecology and the the likelihood of less violence and destruction.

I am so grateful for the work with Sue James who led the nature session with me and to Jan White who was a very flexible, thoughtful and creative partner and I am thankful to Ninni and Annika for continuing to work collaboratively and enthusiastically together and to Nisimo, Vigdess and Beverly for assisting in many ways to make this a memorable event - what a great team!

If you are interested to learn more about this group of nurseries see www.angybarnensforskolor.se/

If you would like to visit them in Stockholm sometime do let me know as we will be organising a study trip in the near future. Funding may also be available through various European funds.  Also, do remember too that if you would like an event that is something more extraordinary to meet the needs of your group, or if you would like to attend one of the programmes specified on our website please do contact us see www.tracyseedassociates.co.uk. 
Click here for a link to an older blog entry that also contains information about outside play.

Riots at Home

As I return to the UK from my time in Greece I wonder what I will face in London. The violent scenes I saw on the front pages of the newspapers seemed a million miles away when I was sitting in a quite Taverna in a small village in the mountains of Pelion; the suns rays beamed through the trees and gently warmed me as I listened to the soft rippling sounds of the stream in in the background. Old men chatting, children playing and then a text...from my daughter telling me that events had occurred in Bromley and Shortlands and how scared she was feeling and another text from my friend in Lewisham and I realised that some of the riots had been right outside another friends front door http://dorothynesbit.blogspot.com/2011/08/there-were-riots-outside-my-front-door.html
I text her to see if she was ok.

As my plane lands and the doors open and the air hits my face, I notice a cold feeling, not only from the wind, but from my feeling of sorrow that our young people in the UK became so very angry and overwhelmed;causing damage and harm to people, families and communities. I wait in the cue to show my passport and the lady standing next to me expresses her anxiety about what has happened while we have been away and she tells me that her daughter was so distressed when she watched the scenes on the TV that she asked her mum to turn it off.

It is a very important time to think about how we talk with and listen to our own family members.I'm wondering what my grandchildren are feeling and thinking as they witness this.

I ask myself how did crowds come together for such destruction ?

I reflect on the amazing potential we have for such immediate communication, collaboration and organisation: the Internet and its social networking sites and also the power of such a system to work for destruction too

I wonder about the issues underlying this outbreak and guess some of the needs being expressed might include: ...a need to belong, to be part of a group, to be accepted feel significant, a need for justice, fairness, to be noticed and listened too, a need for power, for freedom and for revolution

"Punish them"  and ..."zero tolerance"..are the main messages that I hear and I feel this too as I hear the pain and see the damage that has been caused and at the same time, I want much more than this. I want to see restorative justice to help them to recognise what pain and damage they have caused and to support them to express themselves and to hear their plight.  If we simply punish and continue to repress this violence through control, fear and punishment I really don't think it will disappear, instead it will fester and boil until another opportunity arises and it will erupt again and we will be engulfed in its lava.

Here are a few of the comments that caught my attention on face book

"More than 90,000 people have signed an online petition calling for anyone convicted of taking part in the riots to lose any benefits they receive. Yeah that's going to really help isn't it. Not"

"I think it starts with education. Pay good teachers more money and show the kids that they can educate themselves out of the poverty trap.

"Oh for goodness sake. How does evicting people from their homes help make anything better?"

"If the youth are not welcome into the tribe, they will burn down the village to feel its warmth!

What are your thoughts on this?

Mine are that as a nation and in our own communities we need to do so much more to address these issues, they are varied and have depth and have not arisen overnight.

It would help if we had more investment in:

• Intervention for families living in poverty and those who need support to transform the emotional impact of the experiences they offer their children ... early years intervention is key for young people to develop empathy and to prevent violence.....
• Services for children and families that listen, hear and understand and work in trans formative ways to connect with heart, not with judgement and to empower parents.
• Children's centres, early years settings and schools that work as small communities and are inclusive and have the resources to support the social, emotional and behavioural issues that arise within groups and between individuals in the settings as an everyday part of life. We need to be confident in our management of conflict in a way that develops our capacity to live in peace with each other not in war.
• Family support attached to these settings.
• Systems of restorative justice.

Just some thinking out loud!

Dancing with Life

Coaches Liz Foster and Tracy Seed

Our intention was to lead a transformational personal development week through a blend of mind, heart and body processes and this is exactly what we did last week at Kalikalos, a holistic centre situated in the Pelion mountains, with 14 participants from UK, Greece, Spain, Italy and Denmark.

Kalikalos is within walking distance of the stunningly, beautiful traditional Greek village of Kissos and 20 mins drive or a somewhat longer walk to the most idyllic beaches featured in the film Mama ~Mia.  It really is the most wonderful environment to “Dance with Life” together, to contemplate, reflect, explore, discover and create.

We danced and laughed, communicated honestly with respect and trust, debated, negotiated and shared our hearts and through our shadows and with NVC (the work of Dr Marshall Rosenburg) we explored and transformed the patterns that prevent us from fully meeting our needs in love and life. We embraced our uniqueness and stepped into the fullness of our personal power during the sessions of Biodanza. 
Leading this programme was a joy and an honour always dynamic and developing ourselves too through the process and through our own working relationship together.

We met the needs of the group in an organic way through inclusion, trust, connection, absolute authenticity and understanding of our own truth.

 At the end of the week...the participants had enjoyed rest, relaxation, wonderful food, sea sunshine and mountain air and learning that came from within themselves and will be taken back to their lives at home.

This is how some of the participants answered these two questions:.

What has been the main learning for you ?
“The realisation that I rejected love because it felt too painful”
 “Presence keeping in a loving and happy state”
“Letting go moving into a new life and things that were /are already in place but that I now have fresh confidence and self possessed energy to stride forward with. I feel healthily detached from negative influences at home”

How has this programme benefitted your overall sense of wellbeing?
“It opened my heart”
“The importance of focussing on the present and being truly present with other people. Feeling alive and connected”
“Spiritually my body and mind worked together. My mind learnt how to let go I was more patient with myself throughout the process”.
“Feeling confident with people more willing to open and identify connections with others. I feel more socially and emotionally intelligent”.
“Improved wellbeing in all areas – socially emotionally physically intellectually, mentally...”

There were many more comments and video interviews too, which we will post when we return to UK. If this is a programme that you think you might like to attend sometime, do please contact us directly mail@tracyseedassociates.co.uk or info@lizfostercoaching.com. It is a great opportunity to meet and connect with like-minded people here in Greece or at another location:combining a holiday with personal development in a stunning setting.

It's one week now since the event ended and as I sit here typing, with a view of the sea and the sound of the grasshoppers,I am appreciating how wonderful it is to be working in this way,  Families have now arrives at the Centre for the "family fortnight" ...children are playing and chatting. Life can be truly wonderful when we simply connect to the wonder and awe of every moment.  Pelion is region in Ancient Greece where they the Centaurs roamed and miraculous events occurred...it seems that this is still the case !!