Being able to accurately and comprehensively understand the development status of each child is an important task for kindergarten educators. Childcare workers play an indispensable role in this process, and they need to do a good job in the life services, management and evaluation of young children under the guidance of teachers.
Educational stories are the description and analysis of phenomena carried out by educators on the premise of observing children, discovering and respecting individual differences in children's development, and excavating and revealing the meanings, thoughts or concepts behind them, so as to express their understanding of education. At the same time, educational stories are a way to evaluate the process of children's development. To be a qualified educational storyteller, childcare workers need to improve their professionalism. When guiding childcare workers to tell educational stories, we follow the principle of gradual progress, focusing on human development and paying more attention to humanistic care.
"Three Ones" to improve the ability of nursery staff to tell stories.
"Three ones" refers to "one word a day", "one sign a week" and "one talk a month".
"One Word a Day" is to let the nursery staff start from the most basic and simple words. In order to avoid daunting the beginning, we present it in the form of **, with a page of 5 days a week and a section for story writing, which can be a successful experience in the work of a childcare worker, an interesting performance of observing children, or a puzzle in the work. We want the nursery staff to tell the truth and tell the truth.
"Weekly Visa" is to include classroom teachers, not only to encourage childcare workers to actively consult with teachers, but also to encourage teachers to take the initiative to use their professional knowledge to give theoretical support to childcare workers. In the group discussion activity every Friday, the three nursery staff in the class thought and analyzed together, and the nursery staff was the writer to complete the weekly perception writing and sign their names.
"Monthly Talk" means that each person has an educational storytelling opportunity once a month under the organization and coordination of the Childcare Team Leader, Safeguarding Director or Deputy Head of Logistics. Speaking boldly in front of the group not only exercises the courage and oral expression skills of the nursery staff, but also is the best time for everyone to learn from each other and empower themselves.
Because the topics covered by the nursery staff are not fixed, the content is rich and varied, and sometimes it is refreshing. For example, Ms. Yang, a nursery teacher in Primary (1), said as follows: "I was on duty at the staircase, and I heard the middle and kindergarten children discussing when they could basically play with ginkgo biloba, and one of the boys in the kindergarten class asked me: 'Teacher, do you know what ginkgo rain is?' I said, 'I don't know.' He said, "I don't even know this, but let me tell you, the ginkgo rain, in fact, a lot of ginkgo biloba leaves are put together and falling down." Oh, forgot, you're the new teacher. This kid is so observant that he can see that I'm new. ”
Over time, we have seen more and more caregivers focus on the day-to-day performance of young children. In addition to the content of children's life, which is closely related to the main responsibilities of childcare workers, there are also some learning developments, such as verbs and adjectives to describe the phenomena they observe and the children's expressions, and sometimes a few simple words of educational philosophy.
Peer storytelling sessions to strengthen the exchange of ideas.
The purpose of the Peer Storytelling Club is to promote a peaceful and honest exchange of ideas among the childcare staff, regardless of location or number of people, and is natural and casual. The first is to highlight comfort in the environmental layout. We break through the indoor row sitting mode and carry out sharing activities in multiple scenes and forms. For example, in a trade union-organized dim sum making event, people tell educational stories while waiting for dim sum to bake. For example, in the spring garden, we sit on the ground, sip tea and smell the fragrance, and tell our own educational stories.
Second, the time is random and flexible. Without affecting the organization of normal activities, we pay more attention to the use of fragmented time, and each educational story is told flexibly according to the length of time. For example, on Wednesday afternoon, after the training on "Sanitation and Disinfection Operation Procedures", we used the form of "drumming and passing flowers" to conduct random educational storytelling; In the 20 minutes after school, everyone communicated in groups.
Third, there is no limit to the number of people, and we pay attention to effectiveness. The number of people involved in educational storytelling is determined on a case-by-case basis, and can be done in a single year group, because the same year group has a uniform schedule, a similar level of development, and a common discourse. It can also be an invitation from the kindergarten to inform everyone that at a certain point in time, everyone can sign up independently according to their work situation, so as to better balance the class childcare work and self-growth of the nursery staff.
Grassroots forums to stimulate the sense of accomplishment of childcare workers.
If peer storytelling is a casual form of educational storytelling, then the grassroots forum is a formal and ceremonial form, which provides a platform for nursery workers to exchange ideas, an opportunity to integrate feelings, and a stage to realize self-worth. When a childcare worker stands on the stage, he or she becomes the protagonist of the story. They face the audience and show themselves, which can not only overcome their inner fears, exercise their courage, but also inspire their own sense of professional fulfillment.
The grassroots pulpit is a three-step process. First of all, the administration leads and updates the concept. Ideas determine actions, and for childcare workers who are older, have different educational backgrounds, and have complex work experiences, the renewal of ideas cannot be achieved overnight. Therefore, we train kindergarten administrators through "grassroots experts" to establish the concept of childcare that keeps pace with the times, so that childcare workers can change from only focusing on "things" to "people + things" in their work, and strengthen the idea that "childcare workers are also educators". At the same time, it is clear that the purpose of telling educational stories is not to complete the task, but to improve one's ability to observe and understand children. It is necessary to pay attention to the physical and mental development and needs of young children, give full play to the wisdom of education, truly achieve the combination of protection and education, and assume the responsibility of life service, management and evaluation, and improvement.
Second, teachers join forces and follow up in action. Teachers are the main force of classroom management, and they have been professionally trained and have been practicing educational storytelling for a long time, so that they can participate in the educational storytelling session, which not only allows the nursery staff to feel the charm of educational stories from different perspectives, but also broadens their horizons and understands the different forms of educational stories. For example, it can be reflected while remembering, or it can be divided into three levels: observation and recording, analysis and contemplation, and support strategies; In terms of expression, it is necessary not only to restore the story itself, but also to combine the senses to describe the specific emotional experience and infiltrate the ...... of the story
Finally, tripartite discussions, progress in reflection. The third part of the grassroots forum is a tripartite exchange between administration + teachers + childcare workers, reflecting on the progress and needs of optimization in this educational storytelling. For example, in response to the matter of "taking snacks", a nursery worker said: "Today I ate small biscuits, and Bei Bei would count one by one, and counted a total of 10 pieces. As a Kindergarten child, she is really amazing, and she has mastered the ability to count to 10 with her hands and mouth. During the discussion, the teacher questioned: "Although counting cookies penetrates the practice of children's finger dexterity and the learning of number concepts, because there are only two snack clips, let children count 10 small cookies one by one, and there will be negative waiting." "Obviously, the childcare workers and teachers do not think from the same perspective, and there are contradictions. As a result, the three parties had an in-depth discussion on this issue, and later the nursery staff continued to observe and record the suggestions of everyone, forming a follow-up education story.
In the course of a year of trying, we are pleased to see the efforts and changes of the nursery staff. At the grassroots forum at the end of the semester, the nursery teacher Sheng blurted out as soon as he got off the podium: "My legs don't shake anymore!" In her joyful tone, I felt her full of accomplishment. Teacher Zhou, a nursery teacher, said: "Listening to everyone's stories, I feel that I have gained a lot, and I will have a solution to these problems next time." "Educational storytelling has not only contributed to a change in the educational philosophy of childcare workers, but also made their educational methods more flexible and diverse.
Author: Leng Fei Unit is an experimental kindergarten in Danyang City, Jiangsu Province).