Elementary school kids captivated by ‘tiny teachers’

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This article was published 19/01/2024 (696 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

August Christianson does not hold a professional certificate with Manitoba Education or have any formal credentials to deliver academic lessons — let alone the ability to walk or talk quite yet — but his inexperience is exactly what makes him the ideal “tiny teacher.”

The seven-and-a-half-month-old is one of about 180 newborns whose parents have signed them up to volunteer with Roots of Empathy in 2023-24.

Each baby was paired with an elementary classroom in the fall and will make nine visits over the course of the academic year so students between the ages of five and 13 can observe their emotions and growth as part of the school-based program.

When August, nestled into his father’s arms while sucking on a pacifier, stopped by Lavalee School’s Room 12 for his latest session Thursday, he was greeted with a group sing-along.

Sixth and seventh graders, along with a trained early childhood educator, then gathered around a blanket laid out in the middle of their classroom to ask Brendan Christianson about his son’s recent milestones and watch his infant crawl around and fidget with different toys.

“I’m a bubble-wrap parent,” Christianson says, followed by a chuckle, as he tells the wide-eyed students he and his wife have had to be extra diligent in monitoring their son now that he’s started pulling himself up using different pieces of furniture.

The purpose of these interactions and the program overall, according to its founder, is to “build more caring, peaceful and civil societies by raising levels of empathy in children.”

Mary Gordon, a former teacher who is based in Toronto, developed the now internationally renowned “tiny teacher” model of Roots of Empathy in 1996. Its sister program, Seeds of Empathy, is a more recent addition with the same motive, although it’s targeted at three- to five-year-olds in child-care centres.

This week, Gordon travelled to Manitoba for what she described as a “celebratory visit,” owing to the provincial government’s renewed commitment to the social-emotional extracurricular that studies show is effective in reducing aggression and bullying among children.

Education Minister Nello Altomare has earmarked an additional $99,000 for both of the evidence-based programs, increasing the previous government’s funding allocation of $404,000 to $503,000 in 2023-24.

A Manitoba-based research team conducted a longitudinal study in 2011 that used a cluster, randomized controlled field trial to evaluate its effectiveness. The findings suggested participation in Roots of Empathy immediately reduced elementary students’ physical aggression and increased pro-social behaviour with lasting effects.

“Especially now, coming out of the pandemic, kids really need to build their pro-social skills,” said Altomare, who supported the program during his career as a principal, which is when the NDP MLA said he saw first-hand its ability to foster community by inviting parents and newborn siblings into a building.

Before COVID-19 triggered school shutdowns and public health orders outlawed visitors, 350 classrooms from 32 local divisions were involved in Roots of Empathy. Today, there are 180 participants in 23 districts across Manitoba.

“What we hear around the world is, ‘Please come back; we need you more than ever,’” Gordon said, noting that children’s well-being and overall development suffered as a result of virus-related disruptions.

“The truth is, learning is state dependent.… If you’re super-anxious, if you’re worried about everything, you’re not receptive to learning, so what we do is, in the classes, we help children recognize how they’re feeling — that nervous feeling or that worried feeling — and be able to talk about (it).”

The founder indicated Manitoba has had one of the quickest “comebacks” in Canada.

At the same time, she said many schools are overwhelmed by academic gaps and have reallocated support staff trained in her curricula to undertake remedial lessons, so there’s work to be done to rebuild Roots of Empathy’s reach locally and worldwide.

The Louis Riel School Division is always trying to make the most efficient use of instructional time while integrating lessons related to mental health and truth and reconciliation, said divisional vice-principal Tricia Bailey Sauvé.

Roots of Empathy — which was endorsed by the Assembly of First Nations in 2008 — addresses all of the above and is provided in all LRSD elementary schools, said Bailey Sauvé, a trainer and mentor with the program.

Classroom teacher Tia Van Landeghem said she’s witnessed her Grade 6 and 7 students go from being hesitant around August to being ecstatic about his imminent visits.

One of her favourite things during the 30-minute sessions is watching her students’ observant faces, she said.

“You can see them feeling those emotions for baby August,” Van Landeghem said, adding the program has engaged students with spotty attendance records and given all participants a sense of pride that they’re playing a small role in the newborn’s development.

August’s father does not hesitate while describing the program as “mutually beneficial.”

One of the reasons the Christianson family signed up to volunteer is so that their infant, who spends most of his days solely with his parents and their pets, could socialize with others. “It gets us out of the house and it keeps him stimulated,” the new father said.

Christianson added he plans to keep August’s baby T-shirt, which bears the word “teacher” on its front and back, as a souvenir for when his firstborn is old enough to understand his contribution.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca