Freedom and Responsibilty

Freedom is essential to stimulate the exploratory drive and the urge to experiment, to activate the inner 'compass' which orientates most children towards their interests.

Professor F. Laevers

Freedom

Once they feel secure, children become most deeply engaged when they have autonomy. Supporting children's social, emotional and cognitive development requires that we involve them in it, and allow them to imagine and lay out their own paths.

We want to allow children to make use of their intrinsic motivation and their initiative as much as possible, as this will enable them to preserve their curiosity and become lifelong learners. Self-determined motivation (driven by children's curiosity and desire to explore the world) has also been associated with better long-term outcomes than extrinsic or controlled motivation (which is a consequence of rewards and punishment, or competition). At Kaleide, children can enjoy freedom in two distinct but interrelated ways:

• freedom from time constraints, from judgement and punishment, from pressure to achieve goals which are not their own, from restrictions to movement and expression... (negative freedom);

• freedom to follow their own learning paths; to establish genuine and meaningful relationships with adults and other children; to imagine, invent, and create (positive freedom).

The degree to which this freedom can effectively promote meaningful learning at Kaleide International School is partly dependent on offering children a multiplicity of learning contexts, materials, and interactions to choose from. But we believe that merely giving children opportunities for choice is a narrow view of freedom if we do not, simultaneously, foster an environment in which children feel impelled to create and where they know that their contributions are relevant, valued, and serve to effect constructive changes for the whole community. This is in direct relationship to our capacity as educators to nourish in children a deep sense of belonging and responsibility.

To create consists precisely in not making useless combinations and in making those which are useful and which are only a small minority. Invention is discernment, choice.

Henri Poincaré

Self-direction is best promoted by an open structure in which the child can be a responsible, active participant in her own learning. But bringing about an “open” form of organisation is something completely different from “letting things run”: it requires an organised, planned environment, clear and consistent expectations, a carefully constructed system of mutually agreed restrictions, relationships based on trust, the presence of role-models, a class arrangement which caters for a wide range of developmental needs, an enticing plan for the day with “fixed” times...

Children's actions always follow an intention –whether they are conscious of it or not. This happens especially in free play, when a child chooses and sets the goals herself. The challenge for you as facilitator is to create learning situations in which children are able to connect with their own intentions and motivations, for otherwise they risk becoming overly dependent on adults and on ready-made knowledge.

Self-determination and autonomy are essential to our approach, and branch into other foundations of learning such as free play, free movement, and risk-taking. The skills and attitudes acquired through self-determination –such as connection to our true interests, increased sense of control and agency, self-organisation, resilience and independent thinking– are also directly related to one of our main “learning contexts”, project-based learning, which relies on children's capacity to set themselves challenges, take an active role in decision-making and view mistakes as opportunities for learning.

Responsibility

Freedom and responsibility are two indivisible components of life at Kaleide International School. Children cannot be expected to take responsibility for decisions or actions which they have not freely chosen, for that would simply entail obedience; learning to be responsible requires being allowed the freedom to make mistakes and learn from your own experience. Research has shown that choice and agency (having responsibility) raises students' interest and sense of accomplishment.

Individual freedom at our school is always contained within an overarching collective view of freedom where a child's choices and actions must support the well-being of everyone. Our aim is to help children to realise not just their deep connection to and responsibility for their own individual experience, but also for the well-being of other human beings, our communities, and the natural environment.

Providing children with the opportunity to express their needs and preferences, and to make decisions on equal terms as other members of the school, irrespective of their age, gives them back a sense of control over their lives. This is turn increases the chances that they will want to take responsibility for their own futures and their communities.

At Kaleide, responsibility and empathy are encouraged by:

• age-mixed groups, in which older children learn to nurture and lead the smaller ones, and teach them by sharing their own expertise and knowledge;

• supporting children's own goals and helping them reflect on their actions;

• viewing mistakes as an intrinsic component of learning and avoiding judgements which damage a child's sense of self-worth;

• resolving conflicts through dialogue, emotional awareness and self-reflection;

• trusting children's competence and capacity to make appropriate decisions for themselves;

• giving children growing responsibility for their own actions and for the environment;

• involving children in decision-making;

• engaging children in some of the chores involved in group life, for example, setting the tables for meals, tidying up afterwards, or sharing responsibility for keeping materials in good order.