Looking for the Pippi in every child
Learning is best done through play, through trial and error. With this message, Marcel van Herpen opens the annual nursery conference Game Connects on Wednesday 3 April.
Image: Rob Niemantsverdriet
Who is Marcel van Herpen?
“In 1990 I was one of the founders of the first school for experiential education in the Netherlands. The Ulenspiegel in Boekel. A school where the well-being and involvement of and with the child are central. These principles ensure that children enjoy going to school and can therefore develop optimally. I am also the author of a series of books, including I the teacher. These are all books with which I want to give teachers insights and tools, so that they can let the children do what they can themselves. ”
But teachers have it so hard every day?
“That is sometimes the case, but it is sometimes also because they do more than necessary. Preparing lessons and activities, planning, dividing tasks, organizing, tidying up, checking. For the most part these are tasks that you can easily let the children do. If you give children responsibility from an early age, they gradually learn to deal with it very well. The teacher can then spend more time on investing in the relationship with the children. Only then will you see what every child really needs. As a result, children feel 'seen' and are less likely to be left out. ”
Is that right?
"Sure. The current education system does not allow teachers to always be busy with the most important things. As a result, teachers are sometimes insufficiently aware of what every child really needs. And children who are not seen exhibit behavior that can be labeled as undesirable and troublesome. Or they are dismissed as 'not smart enough'. As a result, children are too often excluded. ”
Give an example.
“There are still nursery classes that have a pee chain. Such a chain guarantees problems. Because there is always a child who does not necessarily want to put on that dirty thing that other children also take to the toilet. The child who does not want to put on the necklace is seen as difficult, but has a point. Such a chain is actually a 'pedagogical formal error'. With the best of intentions, every child is shaved the same way. That is neither necessary nor good. ”
Pippi Longstocking is your hero?
"Yes! Imagine a dyslexic ADD child coming into your class. With a deceased mother and a father who cannot take care of her. Every teacher almost immediately enters the care position. Until they hear that the child's name is Pippi Longstocking. Pippi is not at all waiting for overprotective types around her. She especially wants to have the space, because she has something to discover. Teachers should not start from the limitations, but above all look for the Pippi in every child. ”
Another advice for the education world?
“It is an impoverishment for the pre-schoolers that the insights and methods of the kindergarten school have been lost in all educational changes. To be able to work well with pre-school children, a teacher needs specific skills and knowledge. These have partly been lost in the generalization of the training. "
The young child congress Game Connects will take place on Wednesday 3 April in 't Spant in Bussum. Start at 09.00 a.m., closing drinks at 16.00 p.m. Costs € 195 for AObmembers and subscribers of HJK; other visitors pay € 225. After Marcel van Herpen's introduction, there is a choice of no fewer than thirty workshops in three rounds. Go to this link to get your to sign up.
