Introduction
Through centuries, adults expressed negative attitude towards children. Some even argued that children have evil impulses which adults should supress through various forms of punishments, and tenderness is not an option (Porter 2016, p.23). However, guidance approach goes against these stereotypical views of children by declaring that children are generally empathetic, rational, capable of cooperating, and growth-oriented (Porter 2016). Empathy refers to children’s ability to understand how others feel and taking actions that minimise distress while rationality bases on the belief that children can be taught less hurtful methods to use in attempt to satisfy their needs. The capacity to cooperate with others is where children understand the ‘we’ concept, and the drive to grow expresses the desire of children to achieve their best versions.
The objectives of guidance approach include to nurture in children the skills for making proper choices, help adults see children’s behaviours as expressions of what they need, enable children to achieve social competence and regulate their emotions, maintain children’s actions within internal casualty locus, and encourage adults to see children for who they are now (Millei 2012, p.89). Guidance approach should result in mutual respect between adults and children, equality in attainment of needs of children and adults, offering of unconditional love to children, children’s freedom to set their expectations, children’s knowledge of when to say ‘NO’ to adults, and compassionate understanding of needs from children’s behaviours and errors.
Case Study: Early Childhood Classroom
Some safety and wellbeing needs are not met in the case study. First, the long day care does not have an effective program for new children. As Porter (2016, p.112) elaborated, infants attending day care for the first time experience surge in cortisol production in the morning hours and it does not decline in the absence of responsive caregiving. In the case study, the two children that joined the long day care had trouble transitioning. One of the children belonged to a family with limited English but both faced transition difficulty. To solve the transition issues for new entrants, the children should be taught adaptive skills. Porter (2016, p. 86) stated that challenging behaviour occurs in the absence of adaptive emotional, social, and behavioural skills. After teachers identify the skills and situations that children find difficult, they should guide the young learners to deal with transitions by making all the necessary adjustments.
Secondly, lack of emotional support is evident in the children’s poor social skills and low emotional wellbeing. Poor social skills are responsible for the increase in parallel play. In other words, the children do not have enough confidence, self-esteem, and motivation to showcase their playing skills and share games with others. Defiance or upset moods observed in children during the morning hours and when transitioning from rest or meals is also an outcome of poor support. Chikwiri and Musiyawa (2017, p. 101) explained that children face may problems in transition period as they face unfamiliar physical environment and need to make new relationships with teachers and peers. Effective support from adults within such environment makes transition easier. Porter (2016, p.90) emphasises responsiveness of the educator in addressing the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural cues illustrated by children. The author further argued that all children benefit from reliable emotional support.
