[Xmca-l] Re: culture change in a preschool using positive language

[Greg Thompson]

Derek,
It seems like there is a very interesting Vygotskian connection in this
talk - in the notion of fleshing out the meaning of a concept like
"helpful". As parents we often present concepts like these in the negative
"... you're not being very helpful..." and less often do we give children a
sense for what these good concepts really mean. Instead we often pick out
"bad" concepts. And compare the common refrain in poor inner-city
communities in the U.S. "Stop the violence" - an important message, but I
think it is the wrong one. Much better would be the more positive message:
"Start something".

I wonder what others make of the process of teaching/learning everyday
concepts like "kindness" (but these are perhaps as complex as any
scientific concepts - and multiply so since they carry a moral weight that
scientific concepts seem to lack).

Any thoughts?
-greg



On Sat, Dec 7, 2013 at 6:39 PM, Derek Patton <derekpatton19@gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear folks,
> This talk is really about changing children's concepts of themselves and
> others by changing the culture of the preschool, in the Zone of proximal
> development and the teachers' loan of consciousness to them at those
> teachable moments. I was told NOT to be an academic and make it simple and
> exciting to get the general public interested. I would be interested in any
> input for the next time, in the sense that I am trying to get these ideas
> across in the viewers' Zone, so they actually go away with at least one
> thing they might do to change the world, their world, a child's world.
>
> If the link doesn't come through, just google Derek patton TEDx on YouTube.
>
> Published on 5 Dec 2013
> Derek Patton explores the role of positive language - specifically, the
> language of virtues - in engaging with young people with conduct disorders.
>
> Derek is a child and family psychologist finishing his PhD on the topic of
> teacher dialogue that develops children's thinking abilities at the
> University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education. He is also a casual
> lecturer and academic mentor in the Master of School Leadership degree
> training school principals in whole school positive culture change. He
> currently works in Victoria schools as a psychologist and previously worked
> in youth justice, specialist residential schools and with traumatised
> immigrant children.
>
> The common thread in his research and practice has been the use of a
> positive language of change optimizing capacities and hope.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uptMwDiJn-I
>
>
>


-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
883 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson