The fourth topic in the CRS, Behaviour and Behaviour Management, was taught by Michelle Grimes, who, having worked as a primary school teacher for fourteen years in an urban inner-city setting in the States, had a wealth of experience to share with us on the subject. We started by simply defining the concept of discipline and considering the differences between discipline and punishment. The difference in definition I found most significant was viewing discipline as child-centered, with the focus on the child’s best interest in helping him/her develop, learn and grow, whereas mere punishment would be adult-centered, focused on the adult retaining control regardless of the best interest of the child.
In addition to getting to know Michelle as a teacher, I also got to know her a little outside the classroom setting. One afternoon we started chatting over lunch and continued our discussion well into the afternoon. Michelle shared about her experience in not only working but also living in a community initially not her own, and I was intrigued to hear about her real-life experience in what Colleen had been talking to us about just a week or so earlier, coming into a community from the outside and engaging in it, living your life alongside the people on a day to day basis. I’ve been considering doing the CRS outreach in two different locations, first in Malawi, as I’ve promised, and then the second half in a different location in Africa, but after talking with Michelle, my heart really resonated with committing to do my outreach in one location only, our sweet little preschool in Malawi.
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