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Jonathan Silin's avatar

In my experience as a teacher educator new teachers especially feel the press to get it right every time. I am remembering now how often I advised teachers who were taken aback by a child’s question that they could answer tomorrow, or in a week or a month. Children can understand that the time you take to respond is a sign of respect for the significance of their question. Paradoxically, the silence, the time elapse between question and answer, can signal to the child that they have indeed been seen and heard.

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Alicia Stoller's avatar

Yes! This is such a wonderful point. It's so easy to feel the pressure to have all the answers to children's questions. But there is something very powerful about showing them that we take their questions seriously enough to give them real consideration. I think this also gives children permission to be thoughtful and reflective themselves, and to feel comfortable with uncertainty. This is a particularly wonderful gift a teacher can give within the context of school, which so often leads children to feel that they need to have the right answer immediately rather than taking the time to grapple with complexity.

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Jun 29, 2024
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Alicia Stoller's avatar

Thank you so much for your kind words, Ahmet! "Finding beauty in imperfection" is such a perfect way to encapsulate it.

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