We all know it when we see it
For Sophie Brookes what happens at a good school is more than the sum of its educational parts. A kind of magic is involved.
But what does it consist of?
Recently, at Wellington College Hangzhou I attended a student-led TEDx talk organised by our Senior School pupils, which revolved around the ‘redefinition’ of concepts and ideas. It got me thinking about working in a great team and what people mean when they use the word ‘magic’ to describe the experience.
Simply describing who we are and what we do doesn’t get to the heart of things. On the surface our Huili Nursery is ‘a child-centred, bilingual setting for pupils from two to six years old’. But that would not really cover it. It might be further described as a ‘Reggio-influenced, play based, language promoting, inclusive, interest-led provision in China, using an integrated curriculum under pinned by an adapted EYFS document’.
So far so good – but what makes it special? What are the key ingredients that makes what happen ‘magical’? Because that’s what it feels like when I visit.
People, passion and voice
One ingredient is the people. Without the people, you don’t have the passion. This nursery has incredible children, staff and parents. They view everyone as having differing but equally important roles in the community, valuing each other’s passions and having an open and inclusive approach to all. Staff regularly go above and beyond in the pursuit of giving the children meaningful learning opportunities, designed to support and extend their curiosity.
Because the children are the people at the very centre of the team’s work,, they have a voice and they learn to use it courageously and respectfully. As far as possible everything should have an impact on the children’s experience, whether directly or indirectly.
No child is the same, nor has the same experiences. The team want them to be able to explore and celebrate their own cultures and be able to engage in different communities. Language is not just ‘words to be learnt’, but a gateway to gaining insights into people and the world. Children are therefore not seen through the singular lens of where we think they come from or what language they speak, but as individuals with their own personal contexts.
It is through everyone’s lived experiences that we get our passions. It is one of my greatest annoyances that child-led, exploratory learning is so misunderstood and often very badly practiced as a free-for-all with no real intention or direction. This in turn often leads to a reactive and equally damaging move to the other end of the scale where children are treated as vessels to be filled and passion is reserved for extra curricular activities. ‘Teaching children skills’ and ‘having a child-led philosophy’ are not mutually exclusive – nor are ‘high expectations’ and ‘exploratory learning’.
Passion without the ego
Although the team have a common commitment to children as individuals deserving of the best and most appropriate we can offer them, they all have different ‘passions’. There are people with a real passion for provocations, environment, phonics, maths, technology, art, outdoors, art, inclusion, sport, animals, music and well, just about anything and everything really. And that kind of enthusiasm is catching, not only because there is someone around who already knows a lot about a subject but also because it gives a team different perspective about what’s important. Keying into and developing the children’s interests and passions, in order to frame their learning is actually a complex skill which requires adults to put their own egos aside whilst still drawing on their own enthusiasms. That really helps the ingredients mix well.
People who are truly passionate about high quality early years education do not pick and choose between the tasks they need to complete – they go the extra mile not only for the things they enjoy but also for what might be considered mundane, perhaps even tiresome, but which are necessary to the context. They understand that as people they are complex, so too are contexts.
Parents
Then there are the parents, who choose us because they want their children to have an experience which develops their characters and embraces their childhood. They too are key people who bring their passions to us – at Chinese New Year the Parent Rep meeting became so enthusiastic that it was hard to keep up. They wanted the children to engage with it in a way that they had as children and each one brought and led a different idea or tradition which resonated with their own experiences.
Place and context
So how about place? Perhaps context is the better word. We are lucky enough to have a building which lends itself to the needs of young children. Not only is it spacious and practical, it has a huge outdoor area (for China) with indoor/outdoor access from all classrooms. There is an Atelier space and library in the communal areas, which are open and accessible for all. None of this happened overnight, but is continually built upon. The view of the environment as the third teacher is a driving force behind the selection of equipment and resources.
An understanding of the Early Years also runs through the many parts of the larger organization we aqre all a part of, which means that we have a supportive wider context in which to operate. This is really important, but in the end it’s up the Nursery Team. They are never quite satisfied with our provision and always looking to identify where and how to improve.
Magic formula?
So, what about that magic formula that might describe what happens in our Huili Nursery? If there is such a thing as a magic formula, it might be that the team’s brand of restless passion plus a deeply-held educational philosophy plus a commitment to children and adults as individuals equals real learning . . . and, of course, great fun.’
Sophie Brookes is the Head of Early Years and DSL at Hiba Academy, Hangzhou, part of the Wellington College Education Group.