Nursery World - Set positive boundaries

By Maggie Tait, a Montessori teacher trainer for Montessori Centre International, London I feel very strongly that we should be looking at smacking for discipline as just one aspect of the behaviour management of young children. One might ask whether any form of 'punishment' at all is valid when dealing with children of nursery age.

I feel very strongly that we should be looking at smacking for discipline as just one aspect of the behaviour management of young children. One might ask whether any form of 'punishment' at all is valid when dealing with children of nursery age.

For a young child learning about the rules of socially-acceptable behaviour, who is striving to balance these external demands with inner urges towards independence, boundary-testing and experimentation, it is the adult's responses to these challenges that are important in determining the final outcome.

Adults are role models and must model positive ways of dealing with negative behaviour. But it is also a question of adults showing greater trust in, and respect for, the child's inner motivation towards purposeful activity, which arises from their natural drive to become independent, socially-integrated beings. It would be heartening to see more emphasis placed on the promotion of positive behaviour than on ways of dealing with negative behaviour.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included