Teaching Disposition: about Imagination, Creativity and Others Dispositions

Teaching Disposition.

Dispositions are important learning outcomes; they need to be encouraged rather than taught. In order to develop learning dispositions, we can encourage children by using play, discovering new things, and learning.

The main dispositions are:

1) Courage and curiosity.

2) Trust and Playfulness.

3) Perseverance.

4) Confidence.

5) Responsibility.

6) Reciprocity.

Creativity.

Imagination.

9) Resilience.

1) Courage and Curiosity – The teacher should help the child build his/her courage. To help a child become more courageous, you can let him see his friends or other classmates doing the same thing.

When a child is afraid of doing something, ask him to observe his friends and see the end result. For example, once Child A was afraid to climb up the slide, so I asked one of the children to climb up the slide and come sliding down. When Child A observed his peers doing that, I said, “Wow, it’s so much fun!” By doing this, Child A was able to put aside his fears and garner the courage to climb up the slide. As a Kaiako, we can increase curiosity by asking open-ended questions, wherein the children have to think. Here, the Kaiako needs to remain silent and give the kids a chance to explore their imagination. For example, once when I was reading a book to the Tamariki about a certain character, I paused in between and asked the Tamariki what will happen next? In doing so, the Tamariki became curious and started thinking. They came up with interesting events which were more fascinating than the book.

2) Trust and playfulness- The relationship between a parent and child is key, but the next crucial relationship is between a teacher and a child. In order to instruct a child, it’s important to build trust with him. One significant example of trust is when a child smiles and waves goodbye to his/her mother when she leaves him/her at the center. For instance, once a child, let’s call him B, was crying on the first day at the center. I carried him, took him out, and played with him. We kicked the ball to each other and played together. I also took him to the sandpit and showed him how to make sand castles. After doing this for a week, he started to trust me. He then understood that the surroundings were safe for him and that he could play with his friends.

There is substantial evidence that children demonstrate improved verbal and social communication, high levels of interaction skills, and creativity through playfulness. It also increases imagination among children. For example, when kids play with kitchen toys, they learn life skills like helping others and playing in a team, setting a table, and serving food to guests. For instance, once I set up a table with a cash register and a few food items, then I stepped aside and observed the children playing together. There was this girl, A, who was imitating a mother going to buy groceries for her family. A boy, B, was playing a shopkeeper who was scanning all the items and setting them aside. He also asked girl A to pay a particular amount for the groceries after calculating on his cash register.

3) Perseverance – In this disposition, a teacher can encourage a child who has managed to complete a difficult task. For example, once a child “A” had taken time and worked hard to complete a puzzle. When I observed him solving the puzzle, I, as a Kaiako, encouraged him to try again by using the words, “Well done, you can do that. You are nearly there, one more step and you will complete the puzzle.” In another instance, a child “B” had placed a wrong piece when he was solving the puzzle. So, I said, “That’s ok, let’s see which other piece will fit in there so that the picture is complete.”

4) Confidence – Developing self-confidence in a child is very important. Many children struggle with low self-confidence; therefore, it becomes the duty of the Kaiako to increase it. This can be accomplished by praising the child whenever he or she does something right, even if it’s a small achievement. For example, once a child ‘A’ was unable to complete a puzzle. I praised him for the part of the puzzle he managed to fix correctly and encouraged him by saying, “You can do it. It’s okay if you’ve made mistakes. Even I make mistakes sometimes. Try fixing the puzzle again.” By doing this, he gains confidence that he will be able to complete the task.

5) Responsibility – Responsibility involves taking care of people and things, and doing what is right and needed. Being truly responsible is about more than just completing a task correctly; it’s about adopting the right attitude when taking action and feeling satisfaction when executing tasks well. When a child fulfills their responsibility, it’s the duty of the Kaiako to praise him or her for the responsibility shown. For example, tamariki should be asked to take care of the toys and the resources given to them in the ECE center. This imparts a sense of responsibility. When a child plays with a toy carefully and handles the toys well, it is the Kaiako’s duty to praise the child. For instance, when child A started tidying up the dress-up corner by hanging all the dresses on the hangers and putting all the footwear in its place, I, as a Kaiako, praised her, saying, “Well done. You will get a sticker for this.” I then called her over during mat time and handed a sticker to her. She was very happy.

6) Reciprocity – Reciprocal and responsive relationships are more related to infants and toddlers. Reciprocal relationships between a teacher and a child can take place by listening and watching attentively, and being alert to communication through facial expressions and actions. The skills involved in social reciprocity in very young children begin with showing interest in interacting with others and exchanging smiles. The term ‘reciprocity’ refers to how the behavior of one person is influenced by the behavior of another person and vice versa.

For example, once when Baby C was under my care, I carried him in my arms and smiled at him. Seeing me smile, he smiled back. I then babbled to him and he reciprocated by babbling back to me.

7) Creativity – Creativity is the freest form of self-expression. The ability to be creative, i.e. to create something new, can reflect and nurture children’s development. The experiences children have during their first years of life can significantly enhance the development of their creativity. Creativity can be encouraged by emphasizing the process rather than the product, providing a classroom environment that allows a child to explore and play, and adapting to children’s ideas rather than trying to structure the children’s ideas to fit the adults. For example, in the dress-up corner, the kids use their creativity by wearing costumes of a doctor and then used the medical kit on dolls and stuffed animals as patients. There was another set of kids who used pillows and blankets to make their own fort in which they placed their dolls and played.

8) Imagination – Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Only if one imagines can action take place and a new product be made. Imagination is important for a child’s development because it helps the child to think outside the box. For example, I gave a group of kids a few toys, such as a basket and a few food items, which they could play with. The kids started acting as though they were going to a store to buy groceries. I joined them; one of them was the cashier, and one child was setting out the food items in the store. I played the customer. I observed them as they ‘scanned’ the items and asked me to ‘swipe’ my play card for the total. It showed their imagination at play.

9) Resilience – Resilience means the ability to recover from stress, adversity, and failure. It is a skill that kids develop as they grow up. For example, once I set a few chairs for the kids to play musical chairs. The kids have to circle the chairs, after which I remove one chair each time the music stops playing. When the second round ended, a child started crying because she had no chair to sit on when the music stopped. I explained to her that it’s okay and she can try playing the game again when we play the same game another day. One week later, when we played the game again, she won.

TEACHING STANDARDS

1) Te Tiriti of Waitangi – This standard helps us as teachers to understand and identify the unique status of the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand. It signifies the importance of understanding and acknowledging the history, heritage, language, and culture of the partners of Te Tiriti of Waitangi. This can be achieved by integrating their language and culture into our practices. For instance, I sing several Maori songs during mat time, such as “I Saw a Taniwha” and “Tena Koe,” which the tamariki enjoy singing along with.

2) Professional Learning – This standard discusses the need for teachers to examine and contemplate the effectiveness of their learning. It helps me to understand how my learning can assist in teaching children from different backgrounds and cultures. As a Kaiako, I need to garner insights from various research studies on teaching diverse learners with disabilities. I should also be aware of my professional development through the feedback provided by my colleagues and other educational professionals. For example, I can learn from other experienced teachers in my center about methods to assist a child with speech difficulties, thereby increasing his vocabulary and boosting his confidence when communicating with his peers in the classroom.

3) Professional relationships – This standard teaches us, as teachers, to develop professional relationships that are focused on the learning and well-being of each learner. This can be accomplished when a Kaiako engages with the tamariki’s family and whanau, individuals in the community, and colleagues and staff of the center. For example, as a Kaiako, I can exhibit my professional relationship by providing proper feedback to the parents of the tamariki regarding their development. I, as a Kaiako, can assess the tamariki and give the whanau proper feedback, also informing them if their child needs extra help in some phases of development.

4) Learning-focused Culture – This standard focuses on developing a culture that emphasizes learning, characterized by inclusion, empathy, collaboration, and safety. It discusses building trust between the Tamariki and the Kaiako, enabling them to take risks in a safe environment. Maintain high expectations for all learners, including those with learning disabilities. The standard also prioritizes creating an environment where learners are confident in their identities, language, culture, and abilities.

5) Design for Learning – This standard discusses learning, which should be based on a curriculum, assessment of learners, and an understanding of learners’ strengths, interests, needs, identity, language, and culture. It includes resources, learning, and assessment activities that should be based on thorough knowledge of the content, progress in learning, and learners. A plan should be developed reflecting the Tiriti O Waitangi. The progress of the learners should be identified and additional support should be provided wherever required. For example, as a Kaiako, I can develop a plan to assist a child, let’s say Child A, who has speech difficulties, enabling him to learn more words through listening. Finger puppets, for instance, could illustrate how they converse. The child will learn to speak through listening to this interaction.

6) Teaching – This standard describes how the Kaiako should teach and respond to the learners in a way that increases their knowledge and progress in each learner. It should be more play-based, where the tamariki will enjoy learning. For example, to teach the topic of water and ice, I, as a Kaiako, took a few plastic glasses and filled each one fourth with water. I put a few drops of paint in each glass with a bug in each of them. I then kept them in the freezer. In the afternoon, I gave one glass to each child and asked them to see which bug they had got. The tamariki squeezed the glasses and, as the ice came out on the tray, I asked them to wait a few minutes for it to melt. As the ice started melting, they could see the bugs each one had. From this experiment, the tamariki learned about ice and water.

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