What is autonomy?
Autonomy is the condition of being independent. Well that is what the dictionary says! In education and parenting it means consistently giving children opportunities to self determine and develop age appropriate confidence so that they can express themselves and develop a huge range of skills.
To get there is a team effort between a child's home/s and the classroom. In Montessori we often talk about the child's classroom and home working together.
Recently our children worked with a kaiako to create a compost. So what does autonomy look like in this setting?
-We listen to students’ perspectives and skills and integrate these into instruction. Our children are keen on being outside and in the living things around them.
-This child broke sticks in half for making the compost. No they weren't perfectly symmetrical but he was confident to do this independently and no comment was made about the different sizes of the sticks.
-We (home/s and school) ask for the input of student into their learning and home and support their initiatives.
- We recognise that students’ feelings and ways of thinking and behaving have the ability to inspire them to engage in learning. We know that generally speaking children in the 6-12 year old range are moral explorers and keen to contribute to the environment around them. Before making the compost a deep conversation was had about why we should have certain rules for the compost so as not to encourage pests such as rats.
- We take time to listen, provide encouragement and give helpful hints and try to understand the student’s goals and perspective - this is especially important for our neurodivergent tamariki (children)
Suggested reading and bibliography - education hub nz