Reaching Our Learning Potential

At our second lecture series of the year Kristel Solomon unpacked some key elements of how we might support our children in learning at school.

She began by referencing the importance of creating educational environments where children belong.  Kristel explored a definition posed by Ochan Kusuma-Powell and Kendall Zoller where they define belonging as a place where learners feel safe, known, loved and successful.  Kristel unpacked how our own experiences of education may not have included those elements and that it’s a focus for all schools to journey towards this definition of belonging.

Being Known, Loved, Safe and Successful Collaboration For Inclusion

Kristel went on to unpack the idea of being successful through the lens of executive functioning as an area of development for all of us and in particular for our children as they continue to grow and develop.  Kristel explored the importance of building empathy and supporting our children in areas of growth.  So rather than offering children four or five to do items at the end of the day, we might want to support that by offering less steps, a checklist or some visual prompts.  Appreciating that children’s brains are continually developing and that maturation continues through to our early twenties, we need to continue to build support and scaffolding that help our children be successful.  For more information about executive functioning please see blog post on Always Kind.

Kristel went on to discuss the concept of self-advocacy and how schools and families partner together to support children in building a strong concept of themselves as learners and opportunities for them to advocate for their needs.  She emphasized the importance of working in partnership to build a holistic understanding of our children, knowing that our children may act and respond differently in between home and school.  Sharing those experiences and perceptions can help build a strong understanding of the children and what support might be needed.  Kristel ended by offering some questions that can help support this dialogue.

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