I have recently spent some time reading and researching T. Berry Brazelton. I adore his perspective and have found his assertion that the uniqueness of a child must always be considered and valued very much in line with my own philosophies as a mother, educator, and general supporter of parents, babies, and kiddos! Here are some quotes that I find intriguing...
In speaking of important assumptions that must always be made in early childhood work...
"[There is...] No room for failure. When a child cannot master certain skills, educating that child has to be altered until a road is found that enables her to have some relative degree of mastery in that particular area. Children are not allowed to escape into passivity, helplessness, or maladaptive behaviors. Their individual responsibility is challenged through extra help and strcuture." -Brazelton and Greenspan
On recognizing individuality in school-age children...
"The current vogue of back-to-basics adn extended school days is unfortunatley moving education away from the recognition of individual differences and towad a one-size-fits-all approach. Simply doing more of what has not been working will not prove helpful, nor can you teach a child simply by testing him." -Brazelton and Greenspan
On recognizing indiviuality in infants...
"Prior to that [the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale"], people assumed babies were all the same and that it was parenting and the environment that made the difference. What I saw was that babies were born with differences.... We were blaming parents for everything that went wrong with babies. I thought if I could assess these babies early and identify the ones who were significantly different, we could use this in understanding the child more and give the parents a better change of understanding the child, too." -T. Berry Brazelton
Lauren, I really like quote on the one that recognizes individuality in infants. His quote makes us reflect on the nature v. nurture or biology v. environment. Sometimes it goes beyond parenting and what happens in a child's environment such as; parenting, early care, socio-economic or cultural background. This quote makes us think about biology such as; genetics, a child's temperament, heredity or gender that goes beyond parenting skills. A family could have 4 children who have the same environment with the same parenting skills and each child is different. I like how this quote helps us to recognize the individuality of each child and takes blame away from the parent let's say if there was a challenge.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing all of your quotes that really get us thinking!
Take care,
Stephanie