Leadership
The teachers often offer the invitation to be a leader as we travel across the land at the Farm. We remind children that leading can happen from the front and the back, sometimes the leader shows us the way and sometimes the leader makes sure no one falls behind. Leadership opportunities are also present in the elevated expectation of older friends in the group to help guide the younger ones. This process of peer to peer leadership can show children their capacity to teach others with the way they show up in the world. We’re all leaders on this Earth.
Empathy
Caring for each other and making people, and other living beings, feel safe has been a consistent theme in the education space. We are watching a deep understanding form in each of the students that caring for the community takes everyone in the community caring. We inspire empathy in the way we hold conflict between each other. Whenever harm is caused, usually accidentally, the students ask each other “are you ok?” If the answer is ‘no’ then we offer, “what can I do to help?” This interaction is scaffolded by the teachers based on the support each individual student requires, and sometimes we see our senior students scaffold the interaction for their peers. They remind each other, "you can give them an apology, space, or a hug!"
Sense of Belonging
In the thread of community, each student is developing a deep sense of belonging here, a trust that they are cared for. The children notice who is here and who is absent. They speak about those who come on different days of the week and it’s been the most effective method to learning the days of the week, knowing the title of the days they will look forward to seeing individual friends. They feel each other and the importance of their individual selves. It is so special to see them already looking out for each other in our first month of school.
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