For Early Childhood Educators, addressing children’s challenging behaviours can be an overwhelming part of our job, and sometimes we feel like we are not equipped to handle them. This is particularly the case when there are children who display aggressive behaviours or those who cannot be assertive and stand up for themselves. We tend to label these two groups of children as ‘bullies’ or ‘victims;’ however, this only adds to the problem of addressing challenging behaviours. How do we eliminate these labels and instead talk about how to foster healthy relationships among children?
In this workshop, we will explore:
• What is a ‘healthy’ relationship?
• What is bullying?
• What are some suggestions for dealing with aggressive behaviour in children?
• What we can do to help children gain the social skills needed to be in a healthy relationship?
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to recognize if our society has a bullying problem or we need to work on fostering healthy relationships.
Melinda Walden has been in the Early Childhood Education field for 20 years. She has been a front line ECE in a variety of child care settings, including preschool, school age, and nursery centres, with experience in infant and family child care as well. Currently, Melinda is an ECE Instructor in the Workplace Program at Red River College in Winnipeg. Every chance she gets, she shares her passion about the kinds of play that are usually restricted by adults and proudly applies her knowledge with her two young sons. As a mother she sees the value that comes with entrusting her sons to take risks and gain knowledge about the things they are interested in: “Without risk there is no learning.” (Carl Rodgers)