The talk given by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk was extremely interesting – to learn that thanks to evolution, babies are being born much earlier than they used to be and that it is one of the reasons why our brain is so flexible and we can learn new skills such as a new language. This flexibility also helps us to cope with a variety of situations and survive in different environments.
As primary practitioners, we might be teaching children who come from wealthy as well as poor families and as such, we should also be aware of how children, who have been brought up in an environment, where there is for example domestic violence, might react to various situations in the classroom and why. As Dr Zeedyk says, in this case the child´s brain always monitors for threat and as such, they cannot concentrate on something else. That is the reason why these children cannot sit quietly. Such children, who were raised in this kind of environment, will always think that a world is a threating place. And as such, it is very important for us, teachers, to build positive relationships with these children and provide them with a safe place outside their home, where they can experience world in a different way. It is also harder for these children to connect with other people. Therefore, teachers should create a balance between individual, group and whole-class work when planning lessons. When children are working in groups, we make sure they stay on task while building relationships via various activities and discussions.
