The Benevolent Society runs a program called Partnerships in Early Childhood (PIEC) with preschool and child care organisations in New South Wales and Queensland.Central to the program is the Circle of Security map, which helps parents and other carers to follow children’s relationship needs and so know how to become more emotionally available to them. Parents choosing a childcare centre or caregiver should think carefully about the quality of relationships available to their child. Read full article
Professor Jonathan Cohen is an adjunct professor in psychology and education at the Teachers’ College at Columbia University, and an adjunct professor in education at the School of Professional studies at the City University of New York. Yvette Vignando spoke to Professor Cohen about a subject that she is passionate about: the connection between children's social and emotional skills, sometimes called their emotional intelligence, and their success at school. Read full article
Several years ago I taught an inner city school in the UK. The sports teachers refused to allow the children to play on the field at recess or lunchtime in case they messed up the field. Instead, several hundred teenagers were crowded onto 4 tennis courts and one small concreted area about the size of two basketball courts. It was like a regulated version of Lord of the Flies Read full article
In the New South Wales public school system, parents are asked to select an SRE (Special Religious Education) class for their child to attend for up to one hour each week. Each class focuses on one religion. Parents and children who are not religious or whose faith is not represented by the classes offered at their school can opt out of the classes. My view is that this presents a problem ... Read full article
My last visit to a school in India was to Yadavindra Public School. It was with some surprise that when researching for this post, I realised that the impressively-sized stadium that is part of the school, was built for the proposed 1938 Commonwealth Games - which ultimately, were held in my home town - Sydney. I'm glad I didn't know that at the time; I might have felt the need to apologise! Read full article
Can’t spare much time to write today. I have four assignments due: a chapter of maths to complete, an essay on why skateboarding is not a waste of time and a novel to finish reading before Monday. Did I say I? I meant we (and not the royal one either). Read full article
Calling Delhi's road transportation 'traffic' is somewhat of a misnomer - it's more like a vehicle scramble for any available tarmac. Like everywhere else in India, drivers of taxis, cars, rickshaws and bikes are blind to the existence of lane markings and mostly, to the existence of pedestrians. An Indian friend described it to me like this "In your country you drive on the left, in India we drive on what is left!" Read full article
I've visited three schools run by the JGI Group in India this week; the founder of these schools is Dr R. Chenraj Jain. An integral part of the Jain schools' philosophy is the development of the whole person and an intention to nurture in every student a love for learning, a strong sense of self esteem, personal integrity and a respectful, caring attitude towards others. Read full article
After three days of workshops at Kodaikanal International School, I received an unexpected invitation for a courtesy visit to Sholai School, located in a valley area 1000m below the Kodai hill station. My western-nurtured eyes saw a combination of paradise and hardship around me. Running the school looks like very hard work. All electricity comes from solar energy or micro hydro-energy; the school is also experimenting with the use of bio-fuel. Sholai School engages in organic farming and also runs its own dairy producing organic milk and cheese. Read full article