Educational plan

by Drs. Fariba Motamedi, directorate House by the park

The family used to be the “primary parenting environment. Now, many parents share responsibility for their children with educational professionals. It is therefore important to establish the foundations of pedagogical action in the non-family situation. As an educator, I am inspired by the founder of pedagogy J.F.W. Kok. He talks about the term “specific” parenting. That is parenting with overemphasis. Those accents can be worked out by the educator in:

• The relationship the educator has with the child;
• the pedagogical climate;
• handling situations.

I am going to describe below his theories on the parenting process. According to Kok, child and educator are in a process together.

On the child’s side, there is the personality development that is nurtured by the opportunities provided, but the child is not a “blank sheet of paper. In the first place, there is the stage of life; as a baby you have different needs and learn different things than as a toddler and, of course, there are the opportunities and limitations. There is also the influence of the times we live in, with all kinds of aspects: small families, material conditions, visual stimuli, and so on. Then there is further a certain temperament, which we feel, is innate. And there is also a personal life path, which is hidden in the future.

With this totality of factors, the child faces ever different developmental tasks. The educator has the responsibility to provide the best possible opportunities.

Also on the educator’s side, there are the aspects as above. This one also faces personal development tasks, but as an adult. Life experience is the major difference from the child. In that life experience, in addition to knowledge, norms and values have developed, as well as skills, habits, not to mention “feelings. How does the adult support the child to take up developmental tasks in the best possible way? First of all: the educator must be available; the child’s own developmental tasks must not be so overpowering that insufficient energy is available. You can expect this from an adult educator, insofar as they are not hindered by force majeure. You may ask the adult educator to take measures for this, when it comes, for example, to one’s own studies, work, relationships, leisure time and hobbies.

So what do you pay attention to next?

• the relationship with the child
• the pedagogical climate, the atmosphere
• the situations to provide opportunities.

Points 1 and 2 together form the basis for emotional security; an amalgamation of affection and connection, of affection and relationship. In short: affective-relational support. Point 2 and 3 provide the opportunity to adjust behavior with the child: behavior regulation or behavior control. And through all three points, there is informational support: in it, the educator clarifies the nature of the task and how it can be solved.

Many developmental tasks a child can handle more or less by itself, although we should not be wrong about this. But it can also be, that the gap is too big to handle the task alone. Then it is necessary to analyze what needs to be supported in the child. The limitation may stem from one or more of the following obstacles:

• thinking (cognitions): the child is unable to cognitively analyze a problem and then come up with solutions to the problem;
• implementation (skills): the child is unable to achieve a self-desired solution, even though it seems feasible; he cannot shape the behavior accordingly;
• the feelings: the feelings determine the behavior so much that imagining a desired solution, implementation or motivation does not take place;
• wanting: sustained motivation is lacking,while the child is able to think of solutions to the problem, can in principle carry them out and could regulate feelings in the process.

To implement the above theory, I have introduced the principles of Polish pediatrician, writer and pedagogue Korczak (1870-1942) into my pedagogy. Because working according to his vision is above all: taking the children seriously and respecting them, which means that you trust that they themselves indicate what is good for them and that they themselves know what they can do and at what pace. So showing respect has mainly to do with your attitude as leader, and being open to what children indicate. Watch and listen carefully and take them as they are. So never talk to a child from above, but go through the knees and thus bridge the physical distance. A start of participation and participation of children is informing them what is going to happen. For example with babies tell them what you are going to do; “what are you yawning, shall I put you to bed, I am going to lift you up now…”