An advertisement for tutoring caught my eye yesterday. I walked past, but the choice of words stoked something in me that made me turn back and take a photo.
I reacted to the way the words could fuel fear in families. The advert fits with the catch-up agenda, but do the anxiety-inducing messages help parents and children?
Has your child fallen behind? They must CATCH UP!
Is your child falling behind? They must KEEP UP!
Earlier this year, I discovered slow pedagogy through Professor Alison Clark’s research with the Froebel Trust. Sylvia Kind contributed to the research and her definition of slow pedagogy as being present in the moment deeply resonates with me:
“…it is this idea of ‘being with’, I think that would be the essence of a slow pedagogy and that ‘being with’ isn’t always slow in terms of time, again, there could be intensities and vibrancies and things erupting.
It’s finding the rhythm of the children you’re working with, the adults you’re working with. [It’s] how do we be with others, be with ideas, not just as if we stand outside of it… it was this idea of ‘being with’.”
Read more about Professor Clark’s research here:
Read with Julia 