It is important to develop a sense of self in young children because they need to find their niche, their place in the world where they feel significant and valued. With this in mind, we aim to provide children with opportunities to make their own discoveries about their personal identities.
Who am I?
By observing children, and the choices that they make, we build up a picture of individual personalities and preferences. We then extend this through interest-related challenges.
- Children are always addressed by their name. We also name their personal items, mark their pegs with their name and photograph and name and caption all their displays, models and individual work. This attention to detail supports their developing sense of identity and makes them feel that their presence and work are important to us.
- Children love to explore the many photographs of themselves in albums and on displays. Individuals and groups of friends can often be seen in deep discussion as they recall their activities. This helps the children to identify themselves as valued individuals within the group and among their special friends.
- To discover more about personal preferences, we encourage the children to make choices. They are free to move indoors and out, to access equipment and to ask staff if they need something that is not readily available.
- Children are invited to approach activities in their own way. Recent silk paintings of Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' reflected a wide range of styles and ideas.
- Staff work closely with families to discover more about individual children. Family Albums contain children's comments and illustrations of their family members, and their Learning Journals record their development. We promote the belief that 'children learn most effectively when they are interested and motivated by the activities they are engaged in'.
Parents follow our suggestions and become involved in their own learning journeys with their children. The result is a series of journals, filled in by children with the help of parents and staff, and bursting with artefacts as reminders of outings and activities. These range from pieces of grass to travel tickets.
- Children demonstrate their individuality by making marks and signs. For example, our role-play castle has signs outside 'no drgns ald' (no dragons allowed) and the dragon's cave has 'the drgns cv b wer!' (The dragon's cave - beware!)
PERSONAL PROPERTY
By valuing children's property and encouraging them to treat other people's belongings with respect, we develop self-confidence and a sense of trust. Children know that they are valued members of our nursery community.
Children's work is displayed around the walls and on tables, and we allocate space to store work in progress. Many children return to their work, secure in the knowledge that it is safe.
We also have sets of small drawers, each one identified by a child's photograph and name for the children to use as they wish. Sometimes they hide secrets in their drawers (knowing that no-one will remove them), or post personal messages inside the drawer of a friend, and sometimes special treasures to take home, such as a stick or leaf, found outdoors will be carefully placed in the drawer for safe-keeping.
GROUP MEMBERS
Children learn quickly what it means to be an important member of a closely-knit group. We make everyone feel that they make a significant contribution, whether small or large:
Self-portraits - On entering nursery each day, children pass a 'Welcome' display of self-portraits. By drawing and painting pictures of themselves, they are reflecting their thoughts about who they are, and seeing them grouped together helps them to recognise their place in the group.
Self-registration - Every day, children self-register by moving a named photograph from one side of a display to the other, so indicating at a glance who is present. They discuss with staff who is part of the group that day and who is at home.
Tasks - Individual group members are allocated tasks to develop self-esteem. Every day a 'tidy-up star' is chosen and the child's photograph put on a special display board. The nursery teacher chooses the 'star' wearing outsize star-shaped sunglasses.
Code of conduct - A nursery Code of Conduct establishes expectations for group behaviour and identifies boundaries - for example, 'We look after each other' and 'We always share. Children contribute to this and feel a sense of ownership.
Friendship groups - As children develop a sense of identity, they begin to form their own friendship groups. We observe dynamics within the groups and emerging personalities. Staff encourage more reluctant participants to discover the joys of group membership through games and activities.
WORKING WITH ADULTS
We feel that close relationships with significant adults help children to develop trust and self-confidence.
Although children make their own choices, we involve ourselves in their activities so that they develop close relationships with both adults and their peers. Staff make eye contact and always have time for one-to-one conversations. My office door is always open, and children pop in and out with confidence to talk to me about their achievements or to show me a creation.
We hand-write positive comments and captions on the children's work while they observe us so that we can discuss their achievements and model handwriting.
DIFFERENT ROLES
We believe that when children are free to dress up and change their identity, they can become somebody new, somebody powerful or frightening, within a safe environment and among friends, before turning back into themselves again.
Our role-play area is equipped with large and small mirrors and a range of dressing-up clothes. These include traditional clothes from various cultures, uniforms, outfits for storybook characters, scarves, lengths of fabric, hats and small props.
Children often stand in front of the mirrors reflecting on their own appearances and those of the characters they have become. They examine their facial features and mood changes with hand mirrors, and are encouraged to create self-portraits.
Children also discover what they can do with their whole bodies and different body parts through shadow play. They are fascinated by the body shapes they create and the shadows of fingers and hands waving to and fro. They can become a wicked witch, a bat or a wispy fairy, simply by the way that they hold their bodies or wave a length of fabric.
SENSE OF ACHIEVEMENT
We see the sense of achievement on the faces of the children every day. This feeling of pride in themselves supports their awareness of their place in the world.
Photographs are taken when children express satisfaction on the completion of a self-imposed task, and form part of our records of their achievement.
TIME TO RELAX
Children need to relax and reflect on their actions, and we ensure that there are quiet places for this to happen. We have a quiet room where children can look at books or simply lie and gaze at the ceiling. Children know where to find indoor cosy corners and outdoor private places, away from the hustle and bustle of the nursery day.
- Mrs Plum Harrison is nursery teacher at Yarm School Nursery, adjacent to Yarm Preparatory School, Stockton on Tees. She spoke to Jean Evans.
CASE STUDY
Developing Ashleigh's sense of self
Ashleigh is a confident, outgoing little girl who is working her way through a series of schemas. She loves involving her friends in the challenges she sets herself, and they are willing participants because of Ashleigh's engaging personality. At present she is working on an 'enclosure' theme involving building dens with large blocks.
Ashleigh began with a simple bridge shape constructed from two tiers of blocks with planks between them. A length of fabric was draped over the top. Over time, she added more to the structure until it became a complex house with rooms. She is now moving on to themed play, by introducing a camping scenario complete with campfire.
Adults all became involved in Ashleigh's building work, providing resources requested and suggesting different fastening techniques. Someone suggested the introduction of a Health and Safety check, explaining that this should be done with every building before children played in it. Ashleigh now conducts her own checks. Everyone has helped to extend her vocabulary - for example, she now uses the word 'symmetrical' accurately to describe parts of her structures.
Ashleigh enjoys organising her peers and allocating roles, such as holding a plank still while someone puts a blanket over it. After initial disagreements she has learned to listen to peer suggestions and now holds meetings to discuss construction problems. She is beginning to recognise the skills of others - for example, choosing those with strength to hold planks.
ADULT ROLE
When fostering a sense of self in individual children, staff are involved in the following ways.
Facilitating
- Looking at children's interests to determine the next steps in their learning
- Providing appropriate resources and experiences
Modelling
- Modelling appropriate behaviour - for example, calling individuals by name and listening to their comments
- Taking part in group play to increase self-confidence in reluctant children and encourage consideration in more domineering children
- Presenting challenging ways of developing an interest
Commenting
- Providing ongoing encouragement with lots of positive praise and comments
Observing
- Observing individuals and noting interests, choices and peer interactions in order to record their learning
- Taking photographs and displaying them with appropriate explanations so that parents can make links between their child's interests and the learning taking place
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Forming good relationships with adults and peers
- Interacting with others, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation
- Using developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems
- Building and constructing with a wide range of objects, selecting appropriate resources and adapting her work where necessary
- Using a range of small and large equipment
- Using her imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role-play and stories.
