We started at our pre school in pune with a pedagogical line based on Stephen Covey; the seven habits of effective leadership. This is about self-management and insight into yourself and your relationship with others, but also about gaining insight into your own responsibility in all kinds of situations. The tree of the seven habits is used throughout the school. All learning processes start at the roots of the tree, the first three habits. These habits are actually about yourself. You become stronger and you get a better grip on social situations. The tribe symbolises you and your relationships with others. Children learn to think win-win, listen to each other and seek cooperation. The top of the tree is in bloom, but that is only possible if you 'keep the saw sharp'.
Many questions
After the introduction of 'The leader in me' at our school, there were mixed feelings. Of course it sounded very nice, but as kindergarten teachers we found it very difficult and exciting to implement this with the toddlers. How do you make preschoolers think about themselves and their own contribution in certain situations? And how do you get two toddlers to really listen to each other and come up with a solution together? Many questions that played with us, but certainly did not stop us.
Think smaller
Because we were very enthusiastic about Stephen Covey's ideas, we dived into it together. We have gained inspiration from other schools, but also abroad. How do others do this with the pre-school groups and what should we think about? After we had gathered a lot of ideas and had also come up with the biggest and most beautiful ideas ourselves, we came to the conclusion that we might have to start thinking much smaller with the toddlers. In the end we decided to start with habits 1, 2, 3 and 4.
"I haven't played with that, so I don't have to clean that up either."
Habit 1, be proactive, we made it much smaller and stripped it down until there were a few points left for us to work on. These points actually came together beautifully in our idea of 'leadership roles'. Together with all the children, we devised which actions the teacher actually does every day, but which can also be done by children. Then came a lot of ideas. For example, they came up with the following actions: watering plants, cleaning tables, washing dishes from the fruit, checking toilets, checking whether everyone has hung their coat under the lice cape and on the hook and so on! It was fantastic to see how enthusiastic the children became about the idea that they themselves would be responsible for one of these actions. In addition, that in this way they also learned to address others about something. Many children came to life because they had a small form of responsibility in the classroom. They pointed out to each other when a certain action had not yet been taken and helped each other when they saw that others needed extra help. Esther Voorburg wrote in her blog 'A task for every child 'how she approaches this in her class.
"You can't come to my party anymore!"
Habit 1 also includes the 'pause button'. A button that causes you to take a short break to think about how you're going to react. This way you can avoid doing something you will regret. In my kindergarten class, we try to use the pause button regularly. I introduced the pause button through role play. During the role play, my toys were accidentally broken. Before responding, I pressed the pause button. I asked the children how they thought I would react. A number of children immediately shouted: “You are getting angry, teacher!” and “Are you going to break something from him now too?” and yet another child said: “You can also see if you can make it together”. A wonderful answer that we could continue with! That day I instructed the children to try the pause button on themselves. With some children this has worked very well and with a number of them some help was needed. The pause button is now used daily and this has created a nice atmosphere in the classroom! Children take the time to think before reacting and this prevents some arguments in the class.
"Why do I have to do two more things now and she's nothing more?"
Habit 2 and 3, starting with the end goal in mind and important things first, were easier for us to accomplish in class, but no less exciting. At the same time, we started with the digital choice board and education of our pre-primary schools in pune has completely changed. In the digi-choice board there is an option to schedule the week. With the thought of habit 2 and 3, we also carefully started planning the week for toddlers. It was exciting though, because how far can a toddler see into the future; it lives mainly in the now. And how does a toddler know what is important? That tension was soon gone, because the children also picked up on this fantastic!
Planning the week
We have started planning the week with the oldest toddlers. We talked to them about the tasks and games that had to be done in a week. They themselves came to the conclusion that a number of tasks were important and therefore had to be done first. The days were planned and the children got a better understanding of what to do first. These were often the tasks of the week (games, corners), but they also started to see more and more that on some days they could also play a game themselves. Every day I get the question: “Teacher, how many days do we have left?”. After my answer you see them thinking about what it would be useful to do first and then often say “Oh, but then I'm going to play first, miss!”. I always laugh so hard at this
Step by step
We are now five years further and we are also much further in the process surrounding The leader in me. In kindergarten we still keep it small. Also because throughout the year many children are added who, in addition to their start at school, will also have to appropriate the routines in the classroom around The leader in me. For every habit we go one step further and we ourselves are also learning better not to offer the habits in separate parts, as before. The habits are increasingly becoming a part of the day and are woven into all kinds of actions throughout the day. The start showed us that we should not be too afraid and not fill in too much for the toddlers. They can do a lot by themselves, as long as you take them with you and go step by step!