Every child is unique. They arrive in our classrooms and homes with their own strengths, their own way of seeing the world, their special talents waiting to be discovered. And it is essential for educators and parents to honour and hone that individuality. When we recognise and nurture each child’s strength, we bring out their best potential and ease the pressure of comparison and competition in learning and growing connections.
The challenge for educators and parents is in harmonising the contradictions. The question is how we can create classrooms and families where children feel seen and embraced as individuals, at the same time, deeply connected and be humble to learn from the people around them.
Teamwork is dreamwork
Exceptional work requires a team of amazing talents. The greatest discoveries, creations, and breakthroughs in human history have come from teams of remarkable people working together.
Encouraging kids to join team sports, singing and dancing as a group, playing instruments in an orchestra, working on a science project as a team, doing household chores side by side, baking together are some of the great ways to help them learn teamwork skills. Excursions, group discussions, solving the same maths problem together, working through a puzzle where every child has an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than themselves. These activities and experiences, I believe, teach our children togetherness and interconnectedness.
What changes when children work together in peace and harmony
When we give our children more of these experiences, the fun and joy of being together both at school and at home, the pressure of competitiveness and comparison will ease. What we’d like to see is our children find the goodness in being together, having the collective effort and energy, which can result in less fighting, bullying, bickering and jealousy. We all have more time and space for our curiosity, creativity, ideas and joy.
We don’t have to choose between nurturing the individual and building the collective. We can do both, so let’s do it together!