Looking for a switch

If we haven't personally experienced it, we've probably all seen it: a mom with a shopping cart filled with groceries and screaming child (I want Cocoa Puffs!), an exasperated look on her face as the screams of her child can be heard echoing down most of the isles. If only there was a switch we could flip to turn the tantrum off!

If there was such a switch, we educators would love to find it.... Flip the switch and Johnny stops pulling Mary's hair. Flip the switch and Sue settles down and reads quietly to herself. Flip the switch and Bob says "sorry" to Mike.

Although we may not necessarily go as far at Carl Jung when it comes to our students, ("If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him as a fool.") there can be little doubt that as we better understand our students we better meet their needs and they, in turn, help improve the classroom environment by cooperating with teacher and peers alike.

If we understood them better perhaps we could find that elusive "switch."

Dave Riley, Mary Carns et. al. have recently published the second in their "Development" series (Social & Emotional Development, 2007, Intellectual Development, 2009) and in so doing they provide us with a large, and wonderfully lucid, step toward that "better understanding."

Although their target audience is ostensibly those involved with early childhood education, anyone who endeavors to better understand students will gain much from these thoroughly researched and yet quite accessible books. And while they title their chapters in such a way as to indicate they are explaining why we adults act the way we do ("Why We Chant Nursery Rhymes," "Why We Count While Jumping," etc.) they go on to give us fascinating insight as to how and why children respond to us. The end result helps shed light on relationships between rhymes, music, numbers and words. And provides clues for teachers at all levels: As the authors point out, "... any inborn potential requires the right kinds of experiences to be realized."

There are gems in the books that make it well worth the read by even "veteran" educators. In one section on Singing as "Preverbal Communication" the authors point out the "emotional contagion" work of Hatfield, Cacioppo, and Rapson and in so doing, suggest the powerful role of the teacher as an influence (either conscious or unconscious) on the emotions and behavior of the class as a group. In other words, an idea for "the switch."

Speaking of music, as we read Riley and Carns speaking about the positive correlation between music and math and music and language, we were reminded of the relationship between music and behavior ("Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast" - William Congreve, 1697 - no, that's not a typo, that's the correct version of the original quote) and wondered why it has all but disappeared from the classroom by the time students reach the twelfth grade. Would music help the secondary math class? Reading class? Language class? How about the detention room? Perhaps music might help us find "the switch."

"Music appears to have special promise in helping children who are diagnosed with intellectual or social-emotional disabilities. Soothing background music in a classroom has been found to reduce the activity level of children who are hyperactive and improve the concentration of children who have several kinds of special needs." (Riley, Carns, et. al., 2009, p.100)

One final note about "Intellectual Development."

The authors remind us that good teachers are good provocateurs who "support and stimulate learning, which includes challenging children to think. They seek to understand what the children value in their work and then find ways to emphasize that value..." (Riley, Carns, et. al., 2009, p.142) Yes, another idea for "the switch."