The Teacher-Child Relationship

The way a teacher relates to a child is fundamental to the child's educational experience. A KPM teacher strives to do three things to provide an inspiring, fun and positive educational experience for the child. The teacher:

• Values the child unconditionally
• Gives positive guidance to the child
• Follows and broadens the child's interests

Valuing the Child Unconditionally: Valuing the child unconditionally means responding to a child in such a way that the child believes that you accept the validity of his way of seeing things. Through this, the child develops trust and confidence in the teacher while the teacher understands how the child is prepared to learn. The teacher-child relationship is central to the child's education. The support of the teacher gives young children the opportunity to cast aside feelings of insecurity, prejudice and anger, and grow into integrated adults while following their own, individual way of learning. Giving Positive Guidance: When a young child is confronted with something negative that she is incapable of understanding, she relates it to herself. In other words, she cannot separate from herself the negative feelings that arise in her. This is how she develops a negative self-image, and, if these feelings occur on a regular basis, the negative self-image can become permanent. The same, of course, is also true for positive experiences. When a child is young, positive experiences go deep and make her feel good about herself. The role of the teacher is to guide the child in a positive direction and away from the negative, so that negativity does not become a habit. Following the Child's Interests: Learning is fun and happy when it develops from the child's own interests. When he sees how everything he encounters relates to him and his interests, then any subject is potentially interesting to him. The KPM teacher is trained to enter the child's world, to follow and understand his interests, and to expand those interests while providing unfailing support. It is within the relationship between the teacher and child that learning takes place. The child feels trust and acceptance, and the teacher also shares in the joy of the child's development. Click here for KPM teacher interviews on the teacher-child relationship.