In order to help our children as they return to school, we need to help our teachers understand their behaviour as communication about emotional need.
I used to be a primary school teacher in London. There were a handful of children who were pivotal in my decision to train as a child and adolescent psychotherapist. One of these children was an asylum seeker who arrived in my reception class midterm, disoriented and unable to speak a word of English.
It is difficult to start to imagine, let alone understand, what his experience might have been. Initially, he was disruptive in class. Instinctively I realised his behaviour was communication about his experience, but I didn’t know how to communicate with him. I do remember that the first significant moment of engagement between us was in the playground when he was dangling by his knee’s upside down. I remember repeating the words upside down to him and trying to turn myself upside down. Later, in the classroom, showing him a picture of a child upside down. For a few minutes, we played a peekaboo game right way up and upside down.
They must have been significant words to him, perhaps, conveying to him that I understood a little about his experience and perception of the world. This small connection between us seemed to kindle his curiosity and within a very brief time, he started to pick up the English language and communicate. By the end of the school year, he was able to hold a conversation and read at the level expected for his age.
Turn to March 2021, as we anticipate the return of our children to school, I am thinking in particular of reception class children. Starting school is difficult at the best of times. But, in the year of lockdowns and school closures, these children have not had time to establish friendships with new peer groups.
For many children, the lockdown has turned their world upside down. Some children may have had their first experience of grief, or have experienced frayed tempers from anxious and overstretched parents. Many more will have experienced significant abuse.
All these factors will influence each child's capacity to engage with learning both cognitively and socially. Social engagement is as important as academic learning and involves being part of society and communicating with your companions. To achieve this, many children will require a calm structured space in which they can feel safe. They will also need their teachers to reach out and engage with them individually. Everyone wants to feel ‘seen’, understood and respected.
We need to be supporting and training our teachers to better understand behaviour as communication about emotional needs that require a response. Only then, will their pupils be ready to learn both academically and socially. So I give my full-hearted support to training such as the ‘Educational Mental Health Practitioner Post-graduate Diploma’ (courses available nationwide) which are jointly funded by the Department of Education and the Department of Health.