YOUNG children just over the age of three years old will soon be entering nursery school to begin a pathway towards formal education in the classroom. Many of them are still babies in a sort of a way – weeping bitterly when they realise that they would be left with a ‘stranger’ (their teacher) and other strange children- some who do not look welcoming since they themselves are not happy.

For the first few weeks, nursery school for some of the children is a place of trepidation and confusion. In a lot of cases, many of them were never orientated to get used to the idea that they were ‘going off to school’; that they were going to be away from their immediate family members for at least a few hours, five days a week; that they would have a ‘new mummy’ for that period of time; and that they were going to have some ‘new’ children around them that they were going to have to make friends with.

SHOWING THEM LOVE
Teacher Danielle Marshall, a young teacher who has been teaching in the nursery school for several years now, told the Pepperpot Magazine that the major reason why she is a nursery school teacher is that she loves and cares for the young children deeply.

“I always feel that I can make a difference in the lives of these young ones. If they don’t get the best treatment at that tender age when they come into the school system, then I do not know what will ever happen to them,” she said. “These children need love and affection – the same way they would get it in the home and sometimes even more than they are able to get it there. As teachers, we are trained to detect problems and other situations that these young children may be faced with because even as young as they are, they sometimes face their own difficulties and so we need to care and show that we care.”

Teacher Danielle went on to talk about the fact that there are times when children enter the classroom with a void, which only the teacher can fill. She said that in the absence of a parent, or in some cases both parents – because of migration, death or for some other reason, some children still reeling as a result of that absence, throw themselves to the ‘mercy’ of the teacher.

“How could we ignore them – how could we not take them into our arms and show them love; show them that we care? While we have to demonstrate strength for the sake of all the other children and even for that child in his or her own ‘pain’, sometimes we have to hide and wipe the tears too. We love them, they are our children too – in a way; so we can’t help but feel for them and care,” Teacher Danielle offered.

THE TEACHERS’ TASK

Studies have shown that in a general way the teacher is expected to enable children in the development of proper daily routines. Yet some parents may have never given thought to the fact that young children beginning to socialise with new friends can be pretty challenging, especially if the children were not very out-going and new to large surroundings and with a lot of strange faces. On top of all this, some of them may still be in that position where they can hardly tell when they want to use the bathroom and so have to be in pampers while in the classroom. This is notwithstanding the fact that they might also still be nursing from the bottle.

None of this is all that bad, Teacher Danielle agreed, if those children can be helped to mingle, thus being able to blend into the new environment such as the school,where numerous diverse cultures meet. Children love to imitate and also to gain attention, she said.

In the nursery school, teachers are not just tasked to design, organise and implement activities based on the curriculum for these children; their role is to draw out the best of the children’s intellectual capacity. And not only that, they are also tasked with engaging the children’s emotional drive, as well as physical fitness in order to be able to bring out the fullest psychosocial substance within the children under their charge.

Teacher Danielle said that it is important for persons to understand that teachers are there to stimulate learning and build self-confidence so that children may learn to speak, read and write well; bring out their creativity and strengthen their social skills. At the same time, she has to make note of and evaluate children’s performance, social development and behaviour, as well as physical health.

In so doing, the teacher is duty-bound to seek dialogue with other members of the education system and also staff on matters relating to the development of children and problems (if detected). Furthermore, in cases of special needs of some children, the teacher is expected to take an even further step by engaging with other professionals (e.g. guidance officers, speech pathologists, psychologists) in an effort to help these children overcome their needs.

“Through my own feeling and also from what I was taught during training, the nursery teacher is that extension of motherhood, where she is expected to comfort children who are physically and or psychologically hurt. She is also trained to give love and care to sick children,” she said.

And the nursery teachers’ duty is not yet done, she said. She has to be the friend of the parents or guardians too – willing to consult with them on the progress and needs of their children and to suggest ways in which they can help to expand on their learning and developmental abilities.

Studies have shown that these are the ‘foundation teachers’, the pre-primary teachers, without whom many children would hardly be able to make it very well as they advance into primary and secondary schools.

BEING THANKFUL
Teachers within nursery schools have been and continue to play a pivotal role within the lives of the little ones in a world that is replete with all sorts of challenges in and outside of the home – Guyana being no exception.

“The teacher sometimes has to fill the emptiness that is left, even from within home- helping to instill good manners, honesty, stability, respect for property, peace and unity and many others,” said Teacher Danielle, adding that in many instances, teachers would discuss that there is no end to what they encounter on a daily basis in the classroom; some of the experiences parents are not always exposed to.

There is obviously no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ about the importance of the job that the nursery teacher is exposed to – not that other teachers are not important too; there must be a continuum. However, building a foundation for any reason is always one of the more significant tasks and can be the deciding factor of how well the product can stand. In the case of the nursery school teacher, there is no doubt that they are helping to relieve society of many of the quandaries that arise where there are unruly, ill-manner and vexed people. (mercilinburke2017@gmail.com)