From Religious Education Curriculum
Don't get your knickers in a knot ....
The above advice, along with “Count to 10” and “Stick it in your pipe and smoke it”, is advice my parents gave me when I was younger and frustrated…usually with my siblings.
Lumen staff were given much better advice on Monday from Graeme George who led our professional learning workshop on Restorative Practices. Restorative Practices are synonymous with Unconditional Love. Our College motto, “Be the Light of Christ”, encourages us to be inspired by Jesus' interactions with outcasts like the ten lepers and Zacchaeus, the tax collector, as well as parables like The Prodigal Son. In these Gospel accounts, the levels of challenge and support provided to those in need are balanced to restore harmony; as opposed to lacking support (punitive), lacking challenge (permissive) or lacking both (neglectful).
Graeme spoke about Aristotles’ philosophy of moral will and moral skill. He explained that the role of adults, particularly parents/carers and those in educational settings is to help students develop their knowledge and skills in self regulation and non-cognitive capacities such as courage and compassion, in the same way that we teach them how to read, budget and drive a car.
Rather than “punish” naughty children, we might consider consequences that “prune” poor choices and use these experiences as opportunities for learning and strengthening our relationships. Children and young people who have few adults who relate to them in this way could be described as living in relational poverty, or as Jesus puts it in the Beatitudes, “poor in spirit”, which has long term impacts on their flourishing.
The onset of puberty, marked by biological maturation, includes development of the Limbic System, focusing on emotions, rewards and relationships. It’s often in late adolescence or one’s twenties that the Cortex, the regulatory system, matures. Graeme refers to these biological developments as the Gas Pedal and Brake and advised that we should be “curious not furious” when faced with undesirable behaviour; we should “explore not explode”; adults should “Be the kids’ prefrontal cortex while theirs develops.”
After the outstanding speeches on Wednesday from all the nominees for College Captain, I spoke with Kinder students about what makes a great leader - eg. someone who listens, as opposed to being bossy; someone who cares for others, rather than just themselves. We then practised Christian meditation for a couple of minutes, which they found “calming”, “relaxing” and “a bit weird”. Christian meditation uses silence, stillness and simplicity to allow students to simply be. The sacred word “Ma-ra-na-tha”, meaning “Come, Lord Jesus” helps to free the mind of invading thoughts and by being still and silent, even for a short time, self-regulation skills develop.
