DS BEIGAO ES
you would like to eat-within the parameters of course.
I think our students need to be given an opportunity to
make those decisions.
So how many students do you have and how do you
make sure that they feel engaged?
We have 50 students. And we have 6-7 staff members
committed to this committee. We have two issues that
we are addressing currently. One is hallway safety and
the other one is recess safety. We asked the students to
choose which project they would like to work on. Once
they chose the project we divided them into smaller
groups. And one of the staff would listen in. They
would be the recorder, they take the notes about the
different solutions that they would like to try and also
guiding them through this process.
Besides the “Leaders in Training”, can you share
some other ways that our school is encouraging
empowerment?
In a lot of cases students are scared to make mistakes.
They want to be perfect, because that’s what we
require of our students. But in that kind of stressful
environment, you’re not empowering them. They’re
too scared, to try things and to be risk-takers. So that’s
kind of been our focus academically.
And in alignment with that, when there are certain
problems that arise in the school, instead of the adults
sitting in their offices and coming up with a plan, we
want to take that back to the student. So we created a
group called “Leaders in Training”, where it’s voluntary.
We meet every week, on Monday during their snack
time. They come in with their snack, they come ready.
We go over the agreement, the requirements, talk to
them about what it means to be a leader. And they just
roll up their sleeves and tackle all these problems. What
are some of your solutions, what are your thoughts,
what can we do? And we work with them to facilitate
discussions and make sure there’s follow through. So
that’s the plan of the “Leaders in Training” committee.
What are we doing to ensure that it’s really all about
the children?
I think the students and adults also need to know that
their voice matters. And that we are listening to them.
Like in the Leaders in training, we would like for the
students to be involved in a lot of the decision-making
that affects the student body. Like what kind of games
should we buy or what kind of recess equipment should
we purchase. Not just make that decision on our own.
We want the students to tell us what are the things
they like to do. Or even food. What are the foods that
I think our positive discipline is a great tool that
naturally lends itself to empowering students. This is
because the issues, and the different conflicts that we
face on a daily basis, the model of positive discipline is
to focus on the problem, figure out what the problem
is, and then work together to focus on the solution. Not
merely “let’s punish this child or person” because they
made a mistake.
Our students also have class meetings. The first
couple of months was basically how to sit in a circle,
how to listen to one another. One lesson was how to
give compliments and receive compliments. How to
give affirmations to one another to create that safe
environment. That’s why we tell parents don’t be late
to school. Because that 15 mins is really important
because they are establishing classroom culture.
What can parents do at home to foster empowerment?
One simple thing that you can do is asking instead
of telling. We’re always telling students what to do,
we’re always telling our children what to do. But if you
change that a little bit. Instead of “put your jacket on”
it can be like “what’s the temperature outside? What
can you do to be prepared?” Little things like that.
Asking. instead of telling. And encouragement, instead
of praise. Some students they get so use to praise, that
they do things just to receive praise. But encouragement
is very specific. You’re focused more on the process.
You’re focused on their thinking. You’re focused on the
attempts that they are making even if the result is not
what you want. You’re still encouraging them for their
attempt. And that, can also foster empowerment.
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