EXPERTS

I lived a difficult situation at work last year because the colleague whom I worked with had a way to treat children which was totally different from mine.

There are two important events of my career.
The first event goes back to when I had around 22 years, during the beginning of the 70ies. I have been named for one year as a support teacher in a pre-primary school of Bologna, it was my first professional experience and I was lucky to enter a school where there were carried out didactic experimentations based on the teaching of Bruno Ciari, still today an important pedagogist.

I like to remind the afternoons spent to play with my sister and our common friend. Our favourite game was the “Rubber band” play. It was a simple game because it foresaw only the use of an elastic ribbon tied at the ends.

A boy about to be picked up by his mother refused to get dressed. While he was crying and struggling his mother remained calm and let him cry. That alone took about 15 minutes. I entered the cloak room and said something trivial to the boy sitting there completely drenched in tears.
Because of my action the strain suddenly resolved and the boy calmed down entirely within a second.
This kind of situation occurs time and again, and it is as surprising every time how a swift remark or a joke can distract children so that they are able to get out of a certain situation.
Kindergarten teacher, 37 years