Babies will be 'tiny teachers' to cut out classroom bullying
Babies will be 'tiny teachers' to cut out classroom bullying
Babies are being brought into classrooms to cut bullying and teach children empathy.
Primary schools in Lewisham and Croydon will be the first in England to use infants to educate children as young as four about emotional literacy.
Babies are being brought into classrooms to cut bullying and teach children empathy.
Primary schools in Lewisham and Croydon will be the first in England to use infants to educate children as young as four about emotional literacy.
Babies have been brought into lessons before to highlight the realities of teenage parenthood, but this is the first time they will have been used as so-called "tiny teachers" for such young children, showing them how to be kind and nurturing.
The Roots of Empathy scheme, aimed primarily at five- to 10-year-olds from problem homes, has reduced rates of bullying in schools in the US, Canada and New Zealand. The Big Lottery today announced two grants of £900,000 to fund the scheme in the south London boroughs.
Organisers are looking for 25 pregnant women to volunteer to take their babies into schools nine times during the school year. Trainers will also visit from Canada to educate local instructors in running the programme.
Children learn by interacting with the babies, observing how they grow and change, and the emotions they display.
An instructor visits the class before and after each baby visit to help the children think about what they have learned about caring, communicating and safety.
Val Pope, executive manager at the Lewisham Pre-School Learning Alliance, said: "Roots has an incredible impact on levels of aggression in children and on issues such as bullying and inclusion.
"It improves children's social and emotional competence - increased sharing, helping, caring and empathy. And research has shown that empathy is an antidote to violence.
"The instructors work alongside the teacher in the classroom to support the children's learning - but the real 'teacher' is the baby, who is placed on a green blanket in the middle of the room. The main aim is to encourage young children to understand what is involved in responsive, responsible and nurturing parenting. For some children, this may be the first time they have had access to such a loving parenting experience."
Experts say babies can "sense" if a child has emotional problems, such as feeling that they are an outsider, and will often crawl towards that child for a cuddle.
In one Canadian school, the tiny teacher chose to crawl towards the only child with hands in his pockets. The boy had been born with an abnormal thumb and was self-conscious about holding the baby.
His classmates all cheered when he eventually picked up the infant.
