Gender-Responsive Pedagogy and Early Childhood Education Teachers
at a later age. Researchers have found that, even more than intelligence, your emotional awareness and ability to handle feelings will determine your success and happiness in all walks of life.46 All learners should know that it is fine to feel a range of emotions and to cry at times. They should be encouraged to express themselves freely and to talk about how they feel. To achieve this, it is helpful to create a safe environment.
Hints and tips YY Put a stop to any negative comments from other learners when a child shows emotions or vulnerability. YY Encourage learners to comfort each other by telling them ‘this is what good friends do’. YY Use the pictures above to make an ‘emotions chart’ to help your learners become conscious of the four basic emotions (happy, scared, angry, sad) and to learn which behaviour is acceptable and which is not. YY To help a learner cope with the emotion
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and to control themselves: yy Suggest that the learner spends some time alone in a quiet corner of the classroom. yy Give the learner a task to distract them. yy Ask the learner to draw a picture of what they are feeling. YY Once a learner has managed to work through their feelings, it is important to talk to the child about what happened, especially if the related behaviour was disruptive.47