Last week I listened to a very real and practical interview with a teacher. The interview was a personal sharing about connecting with kids that relates to what many teachers and kids are feeling in classrooms and homes today, and the behaviours that result from that.
Listening to the interview I had many ‘ah-ha’ moments about kids’ behaviour and what is going on in society today with children and the way we (as adults) are being with them. Well worth a listen…
The one aspect from the interview that I would like to focus on and share involves a very simple technique that has a quite powerful purpose and outcome. The teacher spoke about the importance of connecting with kids today and how very little children actually feel met and connected to. She shared that she started the class with a circle where each person was able to share.
I teach a class of children full-time and making it about the kids first has been a real priority for me for many years. Each day I pay attention to the way I prepare the classroom to support the children, how I speak with them and how I move my body. I make sure that each child knows that they are seen and listened to by the way I choose to engage with them from the moment they enter the room to when we say goodbye at the end of the day. I can vouch that connecting with kids first and making the day about how we are in the class leaves very little room for behaviour issues to be an ongoing problem.
So on one level I was already doing what this teacher was suggesting – a community circle was already part of our daily classroom rhythm. However, when I listened to the interview I felt there was more for me to explore. I know that when children (and all people) feel connected to, the environment feels more harmonious. We can always learn and even deepen in the way we connect and relate to others.
When we used to have community circle I always gave the children a mini-topic to relate their sharing to and I limited this to a sentence or two. I have now realised that even though this was still about them, there were rules about what I was asking them to express, i.e.,
- the topic at hand, and
- the ‘one or two sentences’.
What I was doing wasn’t bad and it was about taking a moment to be able to let each child feel heard by all first thing in the morning, to make sure I had looked into the eyes of each child. Naturally this little technique built their confidence to speak in a group and allowed them to be more supportive of each other in their relations during the day.
But there was more for me to look at… the teacher’s words in the interview offered me a potential to deepen this connection. I had never thought to say “Just share one thing.”
Also, during this circle time I now sit on the floor with the children, in the circle, as compared to sitting in the circle on a little chair. Both of these little changes have made a HUGE difference in our day. These small changes, which have been done in connection with the kids, are actually making a difference in these children’s lives. They are feeling heard and completely met. This has all come from my willingness to deepen the connection with children in the classroom.
Our class now feels like it is just filled with a group of people who connect, then get on with their different roles… A room full of people of different ages who support each other and who are making an effort with the way they are choosing to be in the room and with each other.
By Johanna Fredericks, Bachelor of Education, Perth
Inspired by the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
This is a world wide disease, not being heard or met. If we only spent a moment to actually meet one another, we realise that we are from the same source.
I appreciated this statement, ’this has all come from my willingness to deepen the connection with children in the classroom’. It made me realise how important it is to connect with everyone, irrespective of them being small or big people. And, this connection is important in every aspect of our lives too.
Work plays an important role in our lives, we spend more time there than we actually do at home. So that connection is essential in our everyday life.
As a child, but also as an adult too, all we want is to be seen for who we are. It is not about what we do, nor how much we can do, but about who we are that really matters. When another does not see you for who you are, and if you do not appreciate this deep part of yourself enough, then you can end up doing all kinds of things to try to get noticed and at least receive some form of recognition for what you have done which will always only ever be a far cry from being seen for who you really are, but at that stage that recognition of what you have done is at least something that you have craved for, and though it never comes close to filling the hole, it is all one has from the other. And of note, the hole mentioned is not one that another is responsible for filling, as it is each our own responsibility to simply go deep within and know who we are and allow that to fill us up to live from.
Henrietta, you can see that many are walking wanting to be met constantly. Otherwise we wouldn’t have so many hurt zombies walking around on this planet, behaving the way they behave.
It only requires one to be the beacon that we can live from connection and offers that opportunity, ultimately then the responsibility is yours as to what you do with that reflection.
Connection with people is key. When we stay stuck in function, life loses its meaning and everything becomes a tick box exercise. But when we stay in the connection, the moment becomes so much more.
“Just share one thing” – such simple words and yet powerful as they offer so much to a person in terms of an opportunity to express and be heard.
This makes me ponder on how we communicate with each other in general. As an adult, most people would have already manufactured out a managing strategy to be in the world, but being truly met in full for who we are is a rare thing. And your sharing reveals how one person’s willingness to deepen connection can bring small changes that can make big difference in a community. And I like that.
Reading about this approach to teaching that focuses on really connecting with each student and honoring them with equality at its core really inspired me to adopt the same principles with my work relationships and everywhere, really. I can feel how even just taking a minute to look into someone’s eyes and drop any competition or need to be accepted from others would go a long way to building a more harmonious relationship that could deepen more readily.
Connecting with students is essential, and lovely to read you are bringing this into your work place, ‘ I can vouch that connecting with kids first and making the day about how we are in the class leaves very little room for behaviour issues to be an ongoing problem.’
Such simple changes but with a profound effect. Having just returned from Asia this week, I am more aware of the perceived ranking of people’s worth based on their seated height (eg monks need to sit higher than others) or the position of your hands in respect of another person (for monks and older people, the hands are held higher in front of the face not the heart). To come down to the kids level silently says equality and respect for them, something that kids often don’t receive from adults.
It is a sad reality that kids don’t often receive respect from adults, but it is also a sad reality that respect in a general sense has seemingly disappeared in so many areas of life and with so many age groups. How important is it then to be the one that lives this respect as a reflection to others?
Yes just expressing and letting children just express and engage them in who they are and letting it out and support it to come out more and more..
Seeing a good teacher at work or experiencing such a good teacher is an amazing and inspiring experience.
It is amazing and inspiring to see a true teacher at work and how they connect with the children. And I recall my own school years and know that those teachers that reached out to us for connection were the ones that I enjoyed time with the most.
It’s those seemingly little changes that have the greatest impact.
How we connect to each other is key and deeply supportive of how we are together, be it adults or children – there is no way or picture, it’s just about feeling and living from the body, and moving in a way that honours that.
It is not about teaching children how to survive in the world, it is about honoring them that they are amazing just the way they are. With that foundation their natural desire to live and experience the world will just happen.
Helping a child to feel heard and completely met is no small thing. Its everything, and quite apart from all the learning about Maths, Science, English etc, this is the golden opportunity that is there at home, at school or at work. To introduce a way of living to them, that they can then take with them into their lives…. so so simple.
You remember those teachers/people that met you for your whole life. That connection with another is a powerful thing. It stays with you longer than any skills learnt.
We set up a movement via movement. Therefore, we set up an imprint of connection by connecting.
Although what you teach the children on a practical level might be very similar, the quality of education is vastly different. There is a value to this education that the children carry more than what they know or learn practically. You are teaching them about life and about themselves in life and this is real education.
Giving children the space and the freedom to truly express thremselves and what and how they feel is a huge gift that would build their trust in what they can feel so trust in themselves, without needing external validation. When we stop trusting what we feel and look to the outside, we erode our own foundations. Expressing the truth of what we feel is our way back to ourselves and true relationships with one another.
Yes, I missed them during my time at school.
Johanna, you can do what many teachers would dream of doing. Would it be possible to teach what you are doing?
It can be the little changes that make the biggest changes.
Oh how gorgeous to feel, every child being met for who they are no matter what they share in the group. I can see how important this is also when it comes to dinner time with my family… I often start on a topic with my teenage sons, instead of leaving them to share what they feel.
Or asking them what they experience, sharing more than what may feel would be safe to say.
How amazing is this way of starting your day. A foundation that can be built on for the rest of their lives and maybe start their workday or project together from connecting and expressing first.
People everywhere, especially children are craving connection and to be met for who they truly are, what a blessing it is for children when they feel this as it supports them to engage with life and others more.
The world would be a completely different place if there are more people who know who they are and can live life from that place. It is a huge responsibility bringing up and educating children – we are basically defining our future, and that responsibility is not limited to the teachers and parents.
Exactly Amina for us to develop that quality of connection and make it the norm when we are young, it allows us to know how to bring that connection and quality of relationship alive when we are adults.
When we make our quality of connection the foundation for our learning what grows and blooms from that relationship is both rich and vital.
In a classroom connection holds the key to learn. When the kids grow up and become teenagers, it tends to be more about re-connecting to themselves though.
With teachers like Johanna, it speaks volumes of the potential that is there, that can be brought to our education system, if we just lift our game enormously, and move out of the vortex of achievement at all costs that drives everything now.
I agree with you Chris, it makes such a difference to a child’s world if they feel they have been heard and understood. Could it be that a lot of the health issues that we experience when we are older are rooted in the hurts we take on from not being heard or understood as children? As adults we have a huge responsibility to respect, listen and care for our children as they will be the next generation.
This is a very beautiful teaching experience you are describing, Johanna!
A beautiful example of true education for children to sit gently, listen to each sharing and taking their turn in expressing to the group and feeling the equality of each other including the teacher.
We all have our unique expression on earth even though we are all equal and so allowing the space for a child to grow with that appreciation of themselves is a great gift.
Yes so true – connection is everything and it is so crazy that we live in a world where this is not number one principle lived (if lived at all).. So what we teach our young – we will see in the future.. And so, our education system must be based on connection first – before the practicals of studying etc. comes. As we can see, we need a different outcome for our future (new generation) , so we might wanna try connection out as first.. We can now, so why would we not give it a go?
All children have their own individual personalities and no two children are the same, the deeper we connect with them the more they express as themselves and the more we learn from them and about them too.
And each expression is unique and has a slightly different angle to bring to the world. We need all those angles, their creativity, their lived way and not millions of people doing the same thing (which quite plainly does not work given the current state of our health and wellbeing).
When children feel heard and simply met for who they are, there is often less disruption because they know they don’t need to compete for any attention because it has already been given and that connection is still there regardless of what tasks they go on to do during the day, because the foundation has already been laid.
I love what you bring to everyone Johanna, both in the classroom and through these blogs, teachers like yourself are so important for all of humanity.
What a difference it makes from the willingness to connect.
Johanna I loved this part, ‘Also, during this circle time I now sit on the floor with the children, in the circle, as compared to sitting in the circle on a little chair.’ I have always found that when we bring ourselves down to the same eye level or as close as we can, doing the same as children are, there is an equality between everyone which lays a great foundation to work from.
Yes, listening to the children makes a big difference, especially if it is genuine.
What you are bringing to the children in your classroom is priceless Johanna, ‘I can vouch that connecting with kids first and making the day about how we are in the class leaves very little room for behaviour issues to be an ongoing problem.’ To feel heard and completely met is what we all truly desire.
This is very inspiring as I am currently teaching a group of students and I do notice how disconnected they are from themselves and do not seem much interested in connecting with others either. It is tragic when education is made to be all about getting a good mark and children grow up missing out on being met. I knew there had to be another way, and was wondering what I can do, but your sharing made me stop and question – and I can feel I was actually in reaction, rather than being connected with myself, therefore connecting with them, offering a reflection of another way of being as their equal.
True connection and intimacy is the foundation of harmonious group work – love how you are supporting and connecting with the kids in your class Johanna, and I’m sure this is helping them in every aspect of their lives, not just when they are at school.
The beauty of holding all in equalness – regardless of age or ‘position’. Johanna, you have spoken of the fundamentals of being a true teacher – who holds her ‘charges’ in the equalness of love, and is ever-willing to explore and go deeper in the relationships she has with her students.
After all, who is really ‘teaching’ who?
Love your question ‘who is really ‘teaching’ who?’ It brings back in how we learn from each other in every relationship/constellation and that age, role, education or background, don’t have anything to do with this.
Teachers such as you Johanna are gold and very needed in the schooling system that has forgotten the importance of connecting to the children and allowing them to be who they truly are – the more we do this children can feel valued and accepted to be at school without feeling the pressure to perform or compete against others.
This is like many others a very important topic, connecting with kids or connecting with people. It’s great to see the message I take from this article, always be flexible to see the next part no matter who is talking to you or when and where it comes from. So often we can close off in the ‘I’m already doing that’ or ‘yeh I know’ way that limits how we can expand or grow into the next moment. There is forever something for us to learn from every interaction with a person or really every interaction with everything. There is always a deeper point to see and that maybe just the true appreciation of everything we are already doing. The true connection to someone in any moment is always the key, no matter what is being said or what you are already doing, it’s the quality of the presence and not the doing or done that holds true.
Wow. How would this generation of adults be different if we had experienced this kind of connection and honouring of us as children in the school system. So many can relate a deeply scarring experience at the hands of a teacher or school mates and so many have had the experience of one teacher who has held them in equalness and allowed inspiration to ignite in them, such that they have transformed their lives. School is a critical phase and we owe it to ourselves to bring this level of connection and support to everyone teachers and students alike.
Well, I have to say it’s heart meltingly gorgeous to read of any human being so devoted to truly supporting children. Everything you have shared is so relatable to adults and workplaces also, and this line really highlighted something important to me “I know that when children (and all people) feel connected to, the environment feels more harmonious.” We have in some ways lost what’s truly important in the world, which is relationships based on simply being together and connecting to who we each are, not through roles or what we do or achieve. Beauty in life always seems to come from keeping it simple.
So gorgeous Johanna to feel the quality of connection that you offer to the children in your classroom. I can remember as a child in school how seldom we had to opportunity to truly and simply express what we felt. The only opportunity we had was when we were asked a question about the subject at hand, of if we had a question, or when we were told to give a presentation to the class. None of which truly supports our confidence to naturally express. Yet what you offer, through connection and being met from who they are within, is a way children can express what they feel, without the pressure of needing to get anything right, and feel supported not only by you but also by their classmates and friends, so they can feel the power and confidence that they naturally hold within.
A gorgeous article of the power in truly meeting children for who they are. It makes so much sense that when you connect to kids it leaves little room for behavioural issues… this should be common knowledge in the education system and the foundation of all classrooms.
one of the keywords or phrases here is to actually meet the children… There is a lot within this… It means connecting with, and allowing oneself to be seen as well… This is always the foundation of the bridge of trust which must be built for any true learning to take place
In a world where everything is energy every little detail counts and makes a difference, such as looking someone in the eye, changing your posture, the words you choose. We discount these things far too much and make it about getting things done, achieving certain goals, fulfilling a picture, etc. Doing this we loose out and are then faced with a lot of problems later on.
Johanna I wished you would have been my teacher and I love what you have shared. Now I am wondering why this way of being with kids in school is not a normal way to be?
The first time I felt met – By Simone Benhayon – CHANGED MY WORLD! I felt like a born again boy, So expansive and so receptive. By far the most influential single thing someone else has done for me
We all want to be met, to feel that connection with others. Its amazing, yet so obvious that doing something as simple as truly connecting with students can bring so much harmony to a classroom.
“Just share one thing”. I love this. I volunteer in a primary school and listen to children reading, individually. As they get to know me, at the beginning of a new term, they open up and each week we talk more. I see my role as meeting and connecting with each child, not just about focussing on their reading ability – that is the tool I use to support, encourage and appreciate them. I have the luxury of time and also so appreciate classroom teachers.
I love this. It really highlights how powerful willingness to evolve is when actioned.
What a beautiful way for children to start their day, by being met and knowing that they have been heard, a great foundation to lay at the start of each day.
Beautiful Johanna. This is true education in connecting, in sharing and listening to each other as equals that is a lesson in life that will be felt long after the children have left school.
What children crave is a true connection and to be meet to start the day in this way is a beautiful support for both the children and the teacher.
It is quite shocking to experience how education is about a lot of aspects that don’t have anything to do with connection and that kids are basically raised to be this individually focused skilled vehicles that perform (or rebel) in a world that has totally lost connection. Life is about connection, why should education be about something else?
This is great experience you share Johanna. It is often very subtle how we still condition others in their expression and how much more we can expand when we are allowed to simply be.
The thing that I love most about what you are sharing Johanna is that these regular start of the school day connections is how really important they are for the children (and most definitely any teachers or others in the room too). Not only are they feeling heard, but they are also learning to truly listen and understand others. A great foundation for life.
A positive example you have set Johanna, connection must be the basis of The Education system
What a beautiful environment for everyone, both children and teacher, to learn from! For many children this may well be the first time in their lives that they have felt heard, understood and appreciated. I am just imagining how powerfully inspiring that would be for them. I’m grateful that there are teachers such as yourself Johanna, who are working with children in this way because there is no doubt in my mind that the impact is huge.
Truly wise and inspiring words, Johanna, with application beyond the classroom into all walks of life. ‘We can always learn and even deepen in the way we connect and relate’. It just comes from a willingness to recognise our equalness with another, meet them, hear them, acknowledge them and honour them. Simple really and really simple – yet we often override this simplicity in favour of time, expediency and effort. Your example shows how even through the smallest of changes great things can occur. An exquisite lesson for us all.
When children feel ‘met’ it is a game changer , the child’s life can literally change direction from that simple interaction… and if an educator embodies this then many children will be blessed by that person.
That’s fabulous. Enjoy it fully as I am sure they will enjoy you!
Connection first followed by academia, thanks Johanna
Thank you Johanna for sharing your willingness to go deeper and be inspired to introduce changes that have increased the sense of connection for everyone. This is so crucial and will give the children you teach a solid foundation to build on as they move through their lives. Priceless and so needed as we get more ways of communicating but many feel increasingly disconnected from the rest of humanity.
Absolutely Helen. It is a solid foundation for them to build on and even remember and choose at anytime in their lives. I know many of us remember our great teachers so I know the lasting imprint we can all have on others. Especially children when we choose to put the space, effort and time into meeting them in full. It’s a fabulous marker for them and a confirmation of what they deserve.
The world needs teachers who support and connect with the children in this way. This is essential as the foundations we raise our children up with is the world that will be in the future.
Thank you Johanna for a beautiful blog, for these young children in your care, to be met with such simple love is empowering for them.
I can’t help but see the potential for a parallel approach in business. Bosses connecting with their immediate teams in a way that’s authentic, that meets each person, every day. Sitting in amongst them rather than hierarchically elevated in an office. It’s happening in those organisations where people really do matter to the bottom line, but in others the lack of real connection between people leaves many institutions soul-less places where people only allow their real selves to manifest once they’ve left the building. Not a great way to spend the day.
I love the feeling of equality you brought to the classroom Johanna by choosing to sit on the floor with the students.
Yes and it’s fun to remember what it was like as a kid to sit on the floor with a group of children. It is a beautiful holding space when everyone brings a level of care and respect.
And the children naturally have a deeper respect for any adult who is prepared to meet them at their level. It’s wise to remember that we can learn much from children and that it’s not always the other way around.
Absolutely Elizabeth as they’re not seen, felt fully and valued for the bright sparks that they truly are.
I love how the little changes you have made make a huge difference. It reminds me to deeply pay attention to the details of how I am with others in every sphere of life.
The principal of connection not only applies to the classroom but every aspect of life. If we sit down and truly listen to how connection can be enhanced between human beings miracles can be made. Just don’t hold back when the opportunity for connecting arises, even if it seems abnormal.
I like how you made it about connection first, letting a child know they are truly seen and valued, that what they have to say is important.
Johanna, it is great to be reminded about the value of connecting with each other including children. They have little bodies but their expression is equally valuable as an adult’s.
I trust that one day Johanna will end up running the education department at least in her state… How extraordinary that would be to have someone running this enormous juggernaut who truly truly cared about children, and not just caring, because many do, but with such a wealth of practical experience about how to bring out the best in our children
I absolutely agree..”I can vouch that connecting with kids first and making the day about how we are in the class leaves very little room for behaviour issues to be an ongoing problem.” I find when I am out, they feel out and when I am connected to me, it makes way for opportunities for the kids to connect with themselves with ease. Time and time again this has been proven to me.
Beautiful and inspiring Johanna. ‘We can always learn and even deepen in the way we connect and relate to others.’ Thank you.
This is lovely Johanna. To understand and bring focus and awareness to the power of truly connecting to someone can never be underestimated. To bring that to each child in a class of over 25 is glorious – just a glimpse, a brief connection – is life changing to children. We are after all, all human beings who crave love and connection; could the lack of love and connection in education be behind student disengagement? We all know what we are talking about here because we have all felt the lovelessness at one time in our own education. It hurts and feels lonely. How amazing Johanna you are leading the way in presenting what true education is – connecting to children to provide the opportunity for them to connect and discover themselves.
I love the way your own awareness developed through this process, particularly ditching the small chair and becoming ‘one of them’. True equality, true meeting on the same level. Lovely.
I have noticed what a difference it makes when we connect to people at work rather than just focusing on the task at hand. If we make ourselves at least as important as the task at hand it shifts the energy and amount of care we extend to each other.
Good one elainearthey. ‘If we make ourselves at least as important as the task at hand it shifts the energy and amount of care we extend to each other.’
As I read this wonderful blog I was contemplating on how these same principles can be applied to other places, such as at work with colleagues. Perhaps not all sat on the floor, but there are definite times when it is worth taking the time to listen to and connect with each other each day.
This is the microcosmic picture to what happens in our world at large, for the world is forever our classroom and we are each the teachers, peers and students of each other. When we make it about connection first, everything thereafter will be imbued with this quality and expressed forth out to the world. And what we express out, naturally, is reflected back. If we start with connection, we build harmony and it is this harmony that will then permeate every facet of our society, particularly if it is fostered from when we are young. Thankyou Johanna, for sharing something so simple and so true.
The way you are treating the children in your class is how all children should be treated, more focus on connection and less on competition
I agree Joe. Competition breeds separation and segregation, the death of harmony and connection. When we are seen for who we truly are, we are not left having to prove ourselves to be ‘more’ than the everything we already are.
A very inspirational sharing Johanna – I feel not only do children benefit so much from connecting in this way with each other but us adults we can also learn a thing or two about how communicating in this way is so beneficial. When reading “just share one thing” I was smiling could adults share just one thing early in the morning without going into lots of detail?
Developing a true connection to ourselves and others so we all can express with confidence lays the foundation for a healthy classroom, a healthy home, a healthy workplace… a healthy world. Great blog Johanna.
Thank you Johanna, working with young children I find these practical shadings inspirational.
Wow. There so many problem behaviours and bullying at school these days – what a difference it would make if it was first and foremost about connection in the classroom.
“Our class now feels like it is just filled with a group of people who connect, then get on with their different roles… “ – Wow, this is amazing and so inspiring. School would have been a very different place for me if it had been like this!
Johanna your love for, and dedication to, the children you teach is deeply inspiring. Like you Elodie, I could feel the increased equality and intimacy sitting on the floor created and, by allowing the children to share something of their own choosing, an opening for a deeper, truer expression. This is a far cry from the ‘children should be seen and not heard’ attitude that was around when I was growing up. We are all teachers, we all have much to offer each other by way of love and lived experience. Through true unguarded expression we understand ourselves and others and connect more deeply to who we innately are. Thank you Johanna and Christy for this ‘lesson’ in love, equality and truly meeting others.
Awesome Johanna. I really felt the difference it made when you sat with the children on the floor as opposed to sitting on a chair, which would have separated you as an adult from them as kids. This one little move, I can imagine, instantly makes the children feel an equalness between all which allows that connection to be deeper and more joyful. So great!
Little things do make a huge difference Johanna. The simplicity of a conversation has the power to change everything.
Absolutely children are missing the connection with people and the results are all around us. Kids are not lighthearted any more, and are caught in the world of social media and the likes, trying their to be met and considered for who they are. I see kids in pain and really with no where to turn for true support anymore. The adults are just as caught in their busy lives and many do not have the time to spend even for a short period without distraction with their children.
I know with my kids that they could tell the difference between when we actually met them, and when we were ‘trying’ or just plain ignoring them. The difference in how they responded was extraordinary, and I am sure that would be massive when applied across a whole class room as well.
I have been reflecting on my relationships at work and how to bring more of ‘me’ to each of those relationships, to bring what I have learnt about connecting to me first and the difference that has made in my life. Reading your blog Johanna, I realise that there is nothing more I need to bring, but simply be present with all of me. It will be in that presence, and the absolute appreciation of those I am with, absolute acceptance of what unfolds and absolute love in meeting them, that is the ‘Way’. Thank you for being the messenger of what I needed confirmed.
This is a whole new way of teaching our kids, from connection first.
As Serge has said before, what we remember from school are the teachers well before the lesson itself. That is so true for me, and the stronger my connection was with the teacher, the more I remember from those classes, because I felt I was part of the lesson and not someone just listening in.
Connecting with children and making them feel truly met is so vital for their well being as it is for everyone. If they are met and cared for this way, this is the measure of how we should be in the world, and children brought up this way have the ability to change the world simply by truly ‘meeting’ the next generation.
Allowing the children to be able to express themselves without any reservations or fear of being judged, is a wonderful foundation for the kids to have through their schooling and that they will benefit from long after their school years are over. Connecting with kids in the classroom is a truly inspiring way of teaching that brings fun back into learning. This is great, Johanna your demonstrating a way of teaching, that other teachers may choose as their way also.
A beautiful sharing Johanna. ‘A room full of people of different ages who support each other and who are making an effort with the way they are choosing to be in the room and with each other.’ – amazing and a beautiful reflection of how this harmony can be lived in the world when we all choose to connect deeper with ourselves and each other. Truly inspiring.
This feels gorgeous, letting every child share what they want to share, not confined to a topic. Which as I feel does make it often more difficult to express, because there is something imposed from outside of me what sometimes just doesn’t suit what I want to express.
This is awesome..”We can always learn and even deepen in the way we connect and relate to others.” I will make this my choice within my own classes and indeed my own life from now on…Starting with ME!
I loved reading your blog Johanna. From doing these simple things each morning, you have created a wonderful environment for the children, and one in which they feel your connection and support.
Thank you Johanna for sharing, it was so beautiful the connection you were able to make with these children, isn’t this what we long for, to be truly seen and met.
I know that it’s not the same as a teacher who has to be present every day, communicating and meeting the children, and to whom I continually feel a great sense of appreciation, but I do teach children sometimes in primary schools mainly, and quite often 400 or so at one time. As you say Johanna, the essence of what I do is to make sure I ‘connect with” or ‘ meet” as many children as possible as they come in the door… That’s when the magic happens, and when this happens, we can just spend the rest of the time having as much fun as possible singing and expressing.
I agree Linda, if this way of connecting to children in the classroom was implemented in every school imagine the amazing changes. If this was also applied in every home with how parents connect to their children it would be profound. What Johanna is doing is incredible and this will impact so many children’s lives in such a supportive and loving way. This is such a joy to read and to feel the amazing changes we can all bring to society when we choose to connect with ourselves and with others.
This is an amazing blog Johanna. I feel I will definitely apply this incredible way of connecting with my own children. From reading your blog, it highlights how little time I actually spend during the day to truly connect with my children. I get frustrated when they misbehave but there is a reason for that. Wow! I am totally inspired to start my day with my children in a different way. It is so beautiful to read how you are with the children in your classroom. This is so supportive for everyone to read, not only do we lack true connection to children but to ourselves, adults and people in general. I am extremely inspired, thank you!
Johanna I love what you have shared here. It shows us all that the simplest things make all the difference.
A lovely sharing Johanna and one that I can relate too (as I’m sure many of us can) Having grandchildren of differing age groups I still like to get down to their eye level and engage with them that feeling of being heard and completely met just opens up a whole new level of communication.
So beautiful Marion, it must be awesome to be with your grandchildren in this way. I have a niece and so love the connection we have, even though physically we may only come together once a month.
I agree Marion when children are met they open up to a whole new level of communication, the key thing is they have to feel met that is so important.
Reading this beautiful blog makes so much sense to me… ”connecting with kids first and making the day about how we are in the class” is desperately needed in our schools. I know I would have certainly found school to be a much more enjoyable place to be in if I’d had this connection.
The love and connection Johanna is bringing into her classroom is a blessing. When I was around 10 or 11 years old, my teacher was amazing. I could feel how much she loved every single one of us in the class, we all felt the love and support. We all felt a deep connection with her. There are amazing teachers out there that truly cares and love what they do. When a child gets to experience being heard, being loved and supported from their teacher they really cherish that and remember the experience.
Thank you chanly88. This is a great sharing as, though you experienced this as a child, it shows how the teacher then had an impact on you as you remember the love and support you felt. It is inspiring to read how there have always been teachers like this around.
It feels so important to connect with them, how we are with kids today is how they will be in life tomorrow. I agree Caroline, the school would have been much more enjoyable place to be for me as well!
I know what I really missed at boarding school was that feeling of being met.. of knowing there was someone who I could open up to without fear. What a blessing for these kids.
Thank you Johanna, they are such simple things to consider but I could feel through your blog the impact they had had on the children in your classroom. It is strange to be able to feel through your words that they are so clearly NOT just words. You are sharing from your lived experience and I can now feel that this is something to feel in other words of advice about how to teach and be with children… in fact in all areas. I am not sure it is what was intended with this blog but it is profound for me so much appreciation!
I agree whole heart-edly Lucy, Johanna’s sharing is showing us all that simply meeting people, young or old, or in between, is what is so very needed in the way we communicate and connect.
It’s the quality in the simpleness that rings true to how you have been connecting to the children you teach. This is the part that needs to be appreciated again and again.
This is a beautiful thing, in education there is often so little room to really connect and share what you care about. So its amazing that you give those kids the opportunity to feel met and connect.
Absolutely agree Benkt, education is full of concepts, methodologies and ideas how to better teach and get the kids to store the learned material, but nobody ever really connects with them making it about them, the kids, the people and not the system of education. What is missing in education is the connection and love that is our foundation for everything.
This sounds amazing Johanna. Can you imagine if all children where schooled this way? It would drastically change the amount of people who find it hard speaking in groups or doing presentations. It would help them to feel so much more at ease in expressing in their own body. What an awesome gift !
I love your description of the classroom as ‘A room full of people of different ages who support each other and who are making an effort with the way they are choosing to be in the room and with each other.’ How beautiful is that! It equally applies to our workplaces and homes. Thank you for this inspirational blog Johanna.
It would be great to do this in every work setting as adults before we start our working day.
What this shows is that connection brings true equality. Thank you Johanna.
Connection first (1)! Allowing children to express without constriction is a very special thing as the education system rarely allows this and is always under a topic or theme.
This develops a level of confidence that says ‘what you have to share means something no matter if it is related to the class topic’.
Very beautiful sharing Johanna. Connection is everything and school is generally a place where they disconnect from themselves and their bodies as they are asked to go into their mind. So what you share is GOLD and should be read by every teacher and educational expert or policy makers to really get to the root about what education truly is.
Johanna, the importance of meeting children at their own level, gives them so much more confidence and permission to be themselves. All too often parents are too busy, and don’t have time to sit and have a conversation with their child, and it’s become easier just to put the television on for them.
If we honor the fact that kids are no less than smaller sized grown ups we do have the key. Respect and love to the fact that they have from their point of view on life – just as we do – problems, worries and hurts. To meet them eye to eye is true equal.
I can truly feel you and your impact in your blog- the kids who get taking care of you are very lucky 🙂
Thank you Johanna Fredericks for this blog that is written with so much love to the children you have in your class. There is so much more to teaching than I have been aware of. Being at school in a class has an impact on the rest of our lives in how we are with people in the same room and, what you do Johanna, must be such a blessing for the children you work with. They are blessed by being introduced to a true way of living and being together that will be with them for the rest of there life and, everybody they will meet later on, will be affected by that spark of light and so this will be spread into the world.
The way you teach is inspirational and deeply touching especially knowing how true connection is rarely encouraged or deepened anywhere, let alone in school. This was truly beautiful to read and I can only imagine, gorgeous and enormously supportive for the kids to experience.
Is there any room in your classroom for me a big kid , Johanna?
Sounds like a beautiful way to meet the children and allow them to learn to express themselves with truth and love .
This is awesome Johanna. Life is about building loving connections and the commitment and love you share with your students will impact them for life. Fantastic.
I agree Kelly – the value of our connection with others will become foundational and what these kids consider normal – and in our society that is increasingly anonymous and segregated – this is a true blessing.
An awesome blog Johanna. It sounds like you have a wonderful connection with all the children and your willingness to take it to a deeper level is inspiring.
For the most part life as children see it is very simple so for us to complicate or take away from this glorious simplicity is a huge disservice. Thank you for mentioning the interview, I am going to it now.
That sounds like a lovely class to be a part of. That’s pretty amazing that in a class like that where you meet all of the children so they know they are seen and heard as equals, that you don’t have on-going behaviour problems… that’s something well worth sharing.
Johanna I could really feel your love and commitment, not only with the connection and beauty of your classroom…. but with the world.
You are very inspiring and this is much needed. THANK YOU. 🙂
Very inspiring Johanna! Such a lovely way to start a day at school! I am currently dealing with High School kids most of whom come every day tired, grumpy, checked out, etc. They are the end result of not being met. Your stiudents get a real blessing. They will never forget you because you taught them not to forget themselves.
‘They will never forget you because you taught them not to forget themselves.’ And from there they can explore any aspect of the education of life in the solidity of knowing who they are. The best gift any teacher can share.
Little things like sitting on the floor in an equal position to everyone else and allowing each child to share something and maybe yourself too brings a potential to go deeper. This supports our connections with each other and also support for one another to blossom. It feels like your classroom is evolving and a really lovely place to be.
Johanna I got a real sense of you ‘going deeper in towards the heart’ of the child in allowing them to express whatever they like. It really feels like a flow both ways, you going in to meet their innermost and their innermost coming out to meet you. Glorious x
Awesome to read of you putting yourself on the floor with the children in circle time, I have also found children are more responsive when I don’t put myself above them or talk down to them. The more they feel valued the better the outcome for the children. It feels like you are creating a classroom of responsible citizens Johanna, great to read your sharing.
Yes! I have always found children more responsive when you come down to their level. It’s interesting because you are literally coming down to their level but also there is often a inequality of power among teachers and children where the teacher holds themselves above them, and just as when you literally come down to their level, when you see yourself as not above the child it is deeply felt
I especially loved this part Johanna.. “Also, during this circle time I now sit on the floor with the children, in the circle, as compared to sitting in the circle on a little chair” as it feels completely equalising sitting on the floor with the kids and not seated in any other hierarchy. This ‘sitting’ can be applied symbolically to every relationship we have professionally as well as personally.
Yes Zofia whenever someone approaches an interaction in humility and equality it is deeply felt and allows for the possibility of true connection.
Thank you Johanna for this inspirational blog. It is so important to meet everyone on a level of equality, regardless of role, position or age.
Stopping each day and looking into someone’s eyes to connect is such a great feeling. Thanks for sharing this experience in your classroom and how this can lend itself to any workplace or home.
Looking someone in the eyes is such a beautiful way of connecting and being with the person, especially when you really allow yourself to hold them with your eyes – something that we don’t do enough of with children, but also with adults, friends, family and our own partners too – I can certainly say that though I make a focus of connecting with my eyes and how I am with the people I encounter at work, I do tend to slack off and forget to give this same to my family at home, often under the guise of being tired, or having too much on etc. This is not something that is particularly pleasant to realise, but now I know I have something to work on: so…dear family, hold onto your hats now, I will certainly ‘see’ what wonders I can work at home with you all…
As others have commented the small changes may seem small but every detail counts and affects the whole. Thank you Johanna for some practical tips for being with children, something I will take into my volunteering job and thank you for the link to Kids in Connection.
Thank you Johanna, your classroom feels fun and harmonious. I also work with children and there are some inspiring tips shared here to help deepen this connection :).
Very inspiring Johanna. What a difference simple changes can make, establishing a deeper connection with children.
Gorgeous Johanna … I’d love to be in your classroom … People in connection feeling how and where they are in the day .. Yum!
Lovely blog Johanna, these are simple practical ideas that you share and it’s amazing how they can make such a huge difference in deepening the connection with children. Well done.
Lovely blog Johanna, something we can take to all our relationships in life not just children.
Gorgeous and inspiring sharing, so beautiful, I can just see you sitting in a circle on the floor with all those kids. Looking them into the eyes and truly connecting I will take this into my day, thank you.
Very touching, Johanna, great share. I take it with me for my work with…grown up kids, people like you and me.
Yes Caroline this is a great share. Feeling met and being able to connect with others so you can express with confidence is as equally important for both the little people and big people of the world – and yes I agree we can easily take this to our own workplaces and own homes.
It is the small changes, however small that can make a huge difference in the classroom and which really support the children and they in turn will feel this too. It is heart warming as Doug mentioned that you are making it all about connection with the children first, and is very inspiring.
Thank you, Johanna for sharing these simple suggestions for a deeper connection with children. We have recently had our very young grandson staying with us for a few days and I could feel the difference when I sat on the floor and played with him rather than sitting in a chair. When I was also sitting on the floor, we were playing together.
I love your blog Johanna. It’s so beautiful to read how you are with these children. From my experience of education i’ve often read how teachers are to have ‘high expectations’ of the children they teach. And yet there is a degree of controlling the children that is introduced to prevent and or deal with behaviour issues. I suspect many in education wouldn’t believe that a class could be so harmonious as the class I feel you describe. Simply gorgeous.
It is lovely to re-connect with this beautiful blog and be reminded that ‘We can always learn and even deepen in the way we connect and relate to others’. I know when I first began to look at the way that I expressed I was only looking at the words – and as your blog says it is so much more than this. It is the way that I hold my body, my facial expressions, my tone of voice and my hand gestures – and whether I am truly connected to me – or whether I am always anticipating the next move.
I love that you put it this way Doug ‘ … at the expense of the children the system is there to serve …’ It’s because we haven’t set up the system to serve the children that it is the way it is today. Thankfully we have Johanna and others who go to school to meet the children so they have a chance of growing up confident in who they are.
How lovely Johanna. I tell you the children you work with are so blessed to have you as their teacher, but I bet you feel the same about them. Reading your blogs on teaching inspires us to bring these qualities into any profession we work in. Thank you Johanna.
I love the last line, how it feels like a room full of people just getting on and supporting each other. I really get the importance of talking to children on the same level, not talking down or at children but as the equals that they are. A super important topic.
Johanna your blog was very interesting to read. It’s great that you are open and willing to keep making adjustments to how you do things so that you can deepen the connection you share in your classroom.
This is awesome Johanna. Whatever age a person is they deserve to be met. You are offering these children an opportunity to develop an awareness to know and feel what it is to truly meet another. Very inspirational.
Well said Tim, I fully agree with you, what Johanna is offering is priceless and as you say, people of all ages deserve to be truly met for who they are.
Well said Tim. what I feel is also so inspirational in this article is your willingness, Johanna, not to just accept what is working but to keep looking to go deeper – and how by making the two little changes, that happened. I am sure you have not stopped there but have deepened further since writing this. This going deeper is something we can all take into our everyday living. When I do that I find it so enhancing.
So beautiful, simple and practical. Allowing them to share just one thing and meeting them in the eye, awesome. I can feel how powerful this would be for each and every child and how well it would prepare these kids with confidence for the rest of their lives. It is something that can be used with every parent asking the one simple question, “Share just one thing” meet the child in the eye in that moment, together in a little circle. How powerful this would be as a family. I am really inspired and we will be taking this on when we have children. I can see this as being really powerful technique for adopters too, to help them build an connection with their child.
Hi Johanna I love how you have made the commitment to the children to connect with them and your willingness to look at how to take it deeper. I love how you now sit of the floor with them, it must be a joy for the kids to be in your class. I will now go and listen to the interview too. I am sure I could learn from this, it is often the simplest things that can make the biggest difference, a truly inspirational blog, thank you Johanna.
This is great Johanna. Thank you for sharing this blog as I have now listened to the interview you speak of and found it a huge inspiration. Simple and effective techniques that make a huge difference to children. I love how the interview covers how we can fall in to not fully connecting with children (and adults too) as we find ourselves busy trying to reach a goal and it seems like we have blinkers on as we see only the goal and not who is around us as we proceed at speed through the day.
Again thank you, a hugely inspirational blog and one to share.
I love how two simple changes made a difference in the classroom and also even though there was already a connection established with the children that you were willing to accept there could be more and deeply so. Beautiful and an inspiration – Thank you, Johanna.
Thank you Johanna and Julie, I agree, there can always be more and when we open up and allow children to express, then who knows what may happen? Maybe they will run the class and the teacher just supervise.
It’s beautiful to read Johanna, the concept of sitting in the circle and meeting each child as they “share just one thing” and the flow on effect that has on the daily functioning of the class. Supporting each other and how they choose to be in the class, and with each other. Feels like an amazing classroom to be in connection with!
I agree Paul and Mary. Children sharing in this way is so beautiful even if they feel there is nothing to say that day; it simply allows them to be who they are. Expressing and communicating I found very difficult from a young age so to simply “just share one thing” in a loving and supportive environment with no pressure to share or not would have been such a profound foundation to build on.
I love this. I’ve been going into my local primary school in the UK for a few years now, to listen to the children read one to one, or do whatever is needed in the classroom and just love to connect with the children. I also asked to be called by my first name, unlike the others who are Mrs or Miss so and so. It feels much more equal that way. I feel inspired by your post and intend to connect deeper when I move to a new area soon and find a new school to volunteer in.
Thank you Johanna for this beautiful and inspiring blog. I can really feel the ‘wholeness’ coming in when you say you now sit down on the floor with the children and ask them to share one thing – this lets them know to select something and yet doesn’t limit them.
I have recently encountered (when doing some tutoring for HSC students) that some students have trouble putting a couple of sentences together when they are wanting to express. It would be so great to have teachers lovingly allowing them to express at an early age so that their confidence is not lost.
Do any of the children ever say that they haven’t anything to share that day?
So simple and yet so beautiful.
I agree, I love reading about simple, practical little changes people make – and hearing about the amazing differences it makes to their lives and the lives of the people around them. Thank you for sharing, Johanna
Me too Cheryl, It is extremely inspiring to read how people are making simple, practical yet extremely profound changes in their lives and the knock-on effects that is having.