子どもの成長を見守ること
2025.02.04
Watching children grow up
I participated in a camp for children as a volunteer during my summer vacation in 2024. This was because I agreed with this camp’s educational policy, which emphasized the importance of children acting independently in their daily lives. I had learned about the value of fostering children’s independence in my children’s studies classes at JWU, so I was confident I could make a strong contribution to this effort. However, I fully felt the difficulty of achieving this goal of helping children develop a more independent mindset.
Fostering children's independence involves observing their growth and supporting their education. Similarly, children need to be brought up learning manners. Why should we focus on observing children’s growth? Why is it important to teach manners? This is because there is a limited amount of time to develop this independence, we have to consider what is beneficial and safe for children, and there are educational policies which we are obligated to follow. However, it appeared that the children I was trying to help lost interest after I tried to have them do some activities during the camp.
For example, I encouraged children to work and play independently, in line with the camp’s educational policy. So, I told children who were only playing what they should work on. I wanted them to experience doing tasks and feeling satisfied. However, according to a survey that they answered on the last day, there were negative opinions such as “I don’t want to come again,” and “it is difficult for me.” When I read these responses, I felt that perhaps my activities were not as helpful as I hoped.
Throughout this camp, I realized that it is difficult to support children’s growth while also teaching them manners. I will start studying more theory and practice on children’s education. Additionally, I want to study through hands-on experiences, rather than only from books.
子どもの成長を見守ること
私は去年の夏休みに子ども向けキャンプにボランティアとして参加した。なぜなら、子どもが主体性をもって生活し遊ぶことを重視したキャンプの教育方針に賛同したからだ。私は日ごろの授業から子どもの主体性を尊重することの大切さを学んでいて、ボランティアとして上手くできると意気込んでいた。しかし、このキャンプで子どもの主体性を尊重することの難しさを痛感した。
子どもの主体性を尊重することを見守ると表現するが、教育活動においては見守ることと同様に、しつけが必要となる。子どもの主体性を重視できず、しつけを要する条件として時間、安全性の確保、教育方針があげられる。これらに影響を受けて、しつけを行った結果、子どもの主体性を尊重できず、子どものやる気が失せる原因になることもある。
たとえば、私はこのキャンプの「生活のために働いて遊ぼう」という教育方針に則って子どもたちに声掛けをしていた。そのため遊んでいて働いていない子には働くよう促した。ただ遊ぶことの楽しさだけではなく、働いた後の充実感、達成感ゆえの気持ちよさも経験してほしかった。しかし、私が関わった子どもたちのアンケート結果を見ると、次は来たくないとか難しかったという消極的な感想が多かった。これを見て、もっと融通の利いたふるまいが必要だったかもしれないと自分を責めた。
大学で学ぶ理論や自分の理想は子どもの主体性の尊重であり、あくまで保育者は見守るだけの教育であるが、実際に保育を実践してみるとしつけの多い教育に陥ってしまうことを実感した。今後も机上の勉強のみならず、現場での勉強を大切にして、理想の教育を実現できるように努めたい。