Image of the Child: What We Believe About Children Matters

When I was in high school and had plans to become a high school English teacher (if you know me personally, you’ll realize how laughable the idea of me teaching high school is), I used to lay awake at night and lesson plan, like most eighteen-year-old do. I didn’t know much about education or teaching, but I was convinced that I would make my classes read Jane Austen novels and have them all dress up in period garb and hold a tea. My plans weren’t expanded much further than that, but I was convinced that would material enough to carry us through several months of the school year.

Fast forward a few years when, during senior year of my undergrad, I had the opportunity to intern in a kindergarten classroom (I’d since given up my dreams of high school teaching and decided to go get my master’s in elementary education instead) and teach a lesson. I wouldn’t say my lesson was a failure of epic proportions, but I will note that it included having kindergartners sit on the carpet for forty minutes for a read aloud and a book discussion (even if you don’t teach kindergarten, I think you can perhaps deduce why this wasn’t a good idea).

The lesson plan of disaster...please note that there's not even a CCSS attached to it.

I was fortunate to attend an amazing grad school that helped me learn why the above examples may not have worked, but, as any teacher will tell you, no teaching program can fully prepare you for your first year(s?) of teaching. Reflecting back on my first year, I sometimes wince and think, “why did I think that was a good idea?” I’ve had many opportunities over the past few years to truly look at my practice and think deeply about education. My first year was focused on survival and figuring out how to enter report card comments without accidentally deleting them. I've learned a lot since those early days about lesson planning, management, and teaching.

However, more recently, I’ve had the chance to examine what I believe about education on a philosophical and pedagogical level, figuring out, at my core, what I believe about teaching, learning, and myself as an educator. Much of my philosophy has been shaped by the Reggio-Emilia Approach (if you’re friends with me on Facebook or in real life, you know how often I post about this!), an educational philosophy that is really child-centered and about questioning and exploration. I’ve done a lot of reading around this philosophy as well as attended professional development at the Opal School, a Reggio-Inspired school that is doing amazing work.

One of the “big” ideas that kept resurfacing was the idea of the image of the child, and, I’ve come to believe that the image of the child is one of the most important, influential things about how we teach. The image of the child is what it sounds like: It’s our image of children, our image of them as learners and as human beings. What do we believe about our students?

We all hold beliefs and images about children whether we recognize it or not, and, as educators (or parents!), it’s critical to examine what we believe about children because our image of children directly impacts how we teach them and interact with them. Our image of children can change, shift, and grow over time, but we need to be consciously aware of it.

For example, if I believe that children are capable, I’m going to provide them with opportunities to show their capabilities. If I believe that children can’t handle big questions, I’m not going to give them big questions to wrestle with. If I believe that children can be co-constructers in their learning, I’m going to collaborate and learn alongside them. Loris Malaguzzi, one of the founders of the Reggio-Emilia Approach, talks about seeing children as full of potential. Do we see children as full of potential or full of deficits?

How I view children also directly impacts the materials I select. If I believe that children can’t think critically, I’m going to only give them multiple-choice worksheets and questions. If I believe that children are readers, I’m going to provide them with plentiful opportunities to read and engage with books. If I believe that children are storytellers, I’m going to provide them with materials to story tell with. If I believe that children can think deeply about a variety of topics, I’m going to challenge them to do so with questions, books, and discussions.

Storytelling about compassion through the use of materials.

What we believe on a philosophical level about children translates directly to the teaching and curriculum we use.

As mentioned earlier, our image of the child can change and expand as we find ourselves surprised by what children are capable of. I’ve been consistently amazed at how my students tackle complex ideas in literature and make connections that I never even thought of. During one particular discussion, I was writing down everything they said, and when I looked back on my documentation, I was shocked at how deep the thinking of five and six year olds was. We were talking about compassion, and they were creating metaphors for what it meant to be compassionate without my prompting.

               

                Here’s my image of the child (growing, and not complete):

                I believe that kids are:

•                 Capable
•                 Compassionate
•                 Courageous
•                 Storytellers
•                 Competent
•                 Readers
•                 Questioners 
•                 Co-Constructors

               

Imagine if we constructed schools and educational policies (or public policies) around these beliefs about children. Children in our society are often seen as lesser, as deficit based. Let’s work to change that by examining our beliefs about the students in our classroom. I’ve learned over the past few years that, while I may be the teacher, I’m not the only teacher in the room. The children have taught me so many valuable lessons that continue to shape me. Kids can do big things, but they have to be given big opportunities.

And that just might end up changing the world.