Step away from the template!

More than two decades ago I was in the beginning of my career. I was lucky enough to have found a great job in an inner city reception class. I absolutely loved every minute of it and it is where my journey began of truly understanding what quality early childhood practice looked like.

One of my most influential journeys began when exploring children's creativity. I had an early years consultant visiting the classroom to see what we were doing and to chat with the team about a project that explored supporting children's creativity.

I knew the consultant well, someone who had a deep understanding about early childhood development and was extremely passionate about it. I had (and still have) the utmost respect for her and valued her support and guidance. As she walked around the classroom she came to the area where the children ‘made art’. She was faced with a wall of beautifully displayed stars that had been cut out perfectly by the teacher and painted by the children. The consultant proceeded to tear them down from the wall and place them in a pile. In that moment I was quite shocked but it is a moment that taught me so much.

Why were they taken down?

This is something I have grown to understand and whole heartedly agree with. What was being displayed was in fact the adults work. This was not the children’s art and the level of creativity was minimal. Not only did this approach squash any creativity that the children may have had it also sent a very clear message to the children that their own work was ‘not good enough’ and that they did not have the capability of being creative without an adult helping them. It also heavily focused on the outcome or how something looked rather than the importance of the process.

Unknowingly I was sending a clear message to the children that would inevitably impact their self-esteem in some way and would lead to a culture within the classroom where children were afraid to have a go at things independently. It was not uncommon to hear children say ‘I can’t do it, you do it for me’. This is the same outcome when children are given letters written in yellow pen by teachers for them to trace over or dots that make a letter for children to trace over. They all give the same message.

What preceded really opened my eyes to allowing children real freedom to express themselves. I began by placing all printouts and templates where they belong - in the bin! I then developed a creative space where the children had access to all sorts of creative materials and they were free to create as they wanted. Art that was unique, messy and did not all look the same. True art!

The art was displayed and the pride that was seen within the children was really lifting but what truly shocked me was the growth in confidence to have a go at things. I had not realised that these very subtle messages that were being given to the children could have such an impact on them. This is something I carry with me everyday not only within creative aspects of child development but all areas. Our focus needs to shift back to the importance of allowing children the freedom to express themselves in a way that is unique to them, allowing them to lead their learning and for us as practitioners to see the huge benefit in the process rather than the end product and what it looks like. When we truly do this we really gain an insight in to the child's world.