Social Responsibility

1. Social Responsibility Full Day Kindergarten May 8, 2010 Wendy Erickson, Early Literacy Liaison Teacher SD 79 Cowichan Valley

2. What is Social Responsibility ? • Turn to the person beside you and take 2 minutes to share what this means to you.

3. What is Social Responsibility ? Aspects of Social Responsibility The child: • contributes to the community exercises, • demonstrates democratic rights and responsibilities, • values diversity and defends human rights, • solves problems in a peaceful way, The Primary Program: A Framework for Teaching, p.106. Retrieved from: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/primary_program/primary_prog.pdf

4. What would it look like? … • If the children in your classroom are acting in socially responsible ways. What would it look like to someone walking in your classroom or watching children play on the playground.… • Take 2 minutes to share this with the person on the other side of you.

5. What would it look like? ….

6. Social Responsibility in Kindergarten… Not new….All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten( 1990, Robert Fulgham )

7. an excerpt from, All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten …Villard Books: New York, 1990, page 6-7. These are the things I learned in kindergarten: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.

8. Why Teach Social Responsibility?Local Reasons…. EDI Results 2009 show that…. • Provincially children are entering school vulnerable in the areas of Social Competence, Emotional Maturity and Communication skills. • On Vancouver Island, District wide, the largest or second largest proportion of children vulnerable in each district was either Social Competence or Emotional Maturity.

12. Why Teach Social Responsibility? Re EDI 2009 District wide, the largest proportion of children vulnerable was on the … Comox Valley: Emotional Maturity scale (18.1%). Campbell River: Emotional Maturity scale (14.1%). Gulf Islands: Emotional Maturity scale (12.8%) Greater Victoria: Social Competence scale (11.3%) Cowichan Valley: Social Competence scale (10.4%). Nanaimo: Social Competence scale (14.3%). Qualicum: Emotional Maturity scale (11.7%). Alberni: Language and Cognitive Development scale (15.4%) Emotional Maturity (12.9)

13. Why Teach Social Responsibility • Philosophy of the Primary Program Goals of the Kindergarten Program • The Kindergarten program nurtures the continuing growth of children’s knowledge and skills. Children further develop their understanding of themselves and their world in a safe, caring and stimulating environment. Through different kinds of play the kindergarten program provides experiences to support the child’s: • Artistic Development • Emotional and Social Development • Intellectual Development • Physical Development and Well-Being • Development of Social Responsibility What we know … About How Children Learn • Children need a positive self-image. • Children have a wide range of developmental levels. • Children need to make connections between what they know and what they need to know. • Children learn through play and active participation. • Children need opportunities for co-operative and individual experiences. • When parents are involved in their children’s education children experience more success in school. • Reading everyday provides a firm foundation for all learning.

14. …… • If we want to nurture students who will grow into lifelong learners, into self-directed seekers, into the kind of adults who are responsible even when someone is not looking, then we need to give them opportunities to practice making choices and reflecting on the outcomes. Responsibility means owning one’s failures and successes — small, medium, and large (Schneider 1996, p. 26). Primary Program p.115

15. Why Teach Social Responsibility • Full Day Kindergarten Program Guide Development of Social Responsibility The Kindergarten year is an important time to develop both independence and the ability to work cooperatively with others. At this age, children enjoy being trusted with responsibility, such as doing errands, bringing things from home, and helping solve practical problems. Although they may still see things from their own perspective, they are learning how to share, take turns, help one another, and show empathy toward others. In other words, they are developing a sense of social responsibility. http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/early_learning/fdk/pdfs/fdk_program_guide.pdf

16. How do we decide what to teachThrough observation - Assessment For Learning * • teach through observation, reflection, inquiry and action; and encourage children to represent their learning in multiple ways, including songs, stories, and drama http://www.2010legaciesnow.com/kindergarten-learning-project/

17. About Kindergarten Learners Young children learn literacy as they play, talk, and think together. A rich, play-based kindergarten environment supports the growth of creativity, problem-solving, and social interaction as well as oral language and literacy development. http://www.readnowbc.ca/klp.php?page=about_the_kindergarten_learning_ projects

18. Considerations for Times and Routines • Kindergarten needs a balance of child initiated play in the presence of engaged teachers and more focused experimental learning guided by teachers. • Edward Miller and Joan Amon, (eds) “Crisis in Kindergarten: Why children need to play in school, 2009

19. Kindergarten Emergent Literacy Continuum: Social Responsibility Developmental aspects Emerging Developing

20. How do we structure the day to allow for Social Responsibility to be fostered in all students • Model • Allow practice • Foster independence • Share it – transformation of what they know And include reading, writing, math, social studies, physical health, art, drama, music and oral language.

21. One Way…… Play Based Learning…. • Problem solving skills are essential for social and academic success, and children develop most of their early problem solving abilities through play.

22. Or Child Centered Classrooms • Child-centered classrooms enhance children’s social responsibility to a greater extent than skills- based classrooms (DeVries et al. 1991). Lasting difficulties related to social responsibility are highly correlated with scripted, direct instruction programs (Schweinhart & Weikart 1998). When genuinely acknowledged for their efforts and achievements, students develop socially responsible behavior. In optimal learning environments, students feel they belong, and that they are valued and respected; they are friendlier to others and become more respectful and caring toward their peers (Kohn 1993; Lumsden 1994).

23. Why PLAY? • Research shows that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic play have… • greater language skills than non players, • better social skills, • more empathy, • more imagination, • more of the subtle capacity to know what others mean, • are less aggressive, • show more self-control, • demonstrate higher levels of thinking. Brown, Stuart (2009) Play, How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. Penguin Books

24. Through Play • the skills of social problem solving— persuading, negotiating, compromising, and cooperating • It requires complex communication skills: children must be able to communicate and understand the message: this is play

25. Block Play … helps children learn social and emotional skills. Add toy people and cars to your block play area to help children move from simple building to creating imaginative miniature worlds. Through this play, children learn about their social worlds by acting out life with little people figures. They make sense of what they see adults do. They explore ideas they learned in books or saw on TV. They also have a safe way to explore emotions like anger and fear by acting them out in pretend worlds. Block play gives children a chance to work together. Often children have problems sharing materials or agreeing on a way to play. Think of these problems as opportunities for children to learn emotional and social skills. • Milnes, Sheila Block Play Builds Learning Skills, • Retrieved from: http://betterkidcare.psu.edu/AngelUnits/OneHour/BlockPlay/BlockPlayLessonA.html

26. Kindergarten Continuum of Play • Laissez-Faire – (Loosely Structured Classroom) Ample play but without active adult support, often resulting in chaos • Classroom Rich in Child - Initiated Play-Exploring the world through play with the active presence of teachers • Playful Classroom with Focused Learning - Teachers guiding learning with rich, experiential activities • Didactic, (Highly Structured Classroom) Teacher-led instruction, including scripted teaching, with little or no play.

27. Assessing Time and Routines • CD –Totally Child Initiated • CT – Child initiated with active presence of the teacher • TI – Teacher initiated, guiding children’s learning with experiential activities • TD- Teacher led instruction, with little of no child initiation • TR- Teacher directed routines and transitions

28. Why Is Unstructured Play Important? • Unstructured play is really where children learn to explore, learn to imagine, and learn to get along with other children. • Let them create their own games. • Let them choose what they would like to play. • Try not to push children into playing with the toys you think are most appropriate. When given options, little ones are surprisingly adept at choosing the right toy for their developmental stage, their temperament, and their interests. • When playing with the children let him take the lead. • Children develop healthy self-esteem when adults respect their imaginary play and allow them to be in charge for a change. • If you ask open-ended questions and refrain from expressing judgment or offering your opinion, you'll likely learn even more than the child. You'll gain valuable insight into how he thinks, how he feels, and what interests him. And by entering his world on his terms, you'll nurture a strong relationship. All in a Day's Play -- The Importance of Play in Early Childhood Education

29. Using the Social Responsibility Continuum…

30. Using Songs and Rhymes to Teach Classroom Routines • Routine Song • Take pictures of children performing the appropriate manners – post with song • Ask children “how it should look” they can help to create the expectations – pictures and songs are reminders

31. Questions and Comments…