Reflecting upon class discussions about empowerment, I believe it is a vital component to be brought into the classroom, however, I feel that it is not the teachers direct role to provide such a role. I believe that the role of empowerment should not be posed on one individual, rather a tool to give children choice, freedom and open-ended responsibilities that each child can be apart of, which will build children’s ability to think critically. I strongly believe that children should all be apart of a classroom environment which firmly supports equality but most of all children are working together as a learning community who can provide experiences for other children that can help to improve the learning of others around each other.
Having empowerment embedded into the classroom allows for children to endeavour responsibility as well as independence. During class today, it was noted of high importance to allow children to be apart of class rules, for example allowing children to discuss what classroom rules can be displayed as a way of respecting everyone around them. I believe giving children the opportunity to be apart of this form of empowerment is a great tool for children feeling wanted, supported and welcomed. Empowerment should be equal to each individual child in the classroom in order to role model the importance of equality and acceptance, each child should experience an equal view and opinion on any situation in the classroom because I feel that each child’s opinions are all equally valued in the same regard as each others. According to MacNaughton & Williams (2009, p. 311) ‘In this usage, empowerment is the process of giving great cultural, economic, social and political power to those who have little access to such opportunities because of injustices and inequalities in a particular society’.
MacNaughton, G & Williams, G 2009, Techniques for Teaching Young Children; Choices for Theory and Practice, 3rd edn, Pearson Education Australia, NSW.
Great read and I also agree that empowerment facilitates responsibility among children. It is, as you said, vital for the educator to model positive behaviors as children mimic the actions of those around them and allows them to be more accepting of others.
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