With this treasure hunt, future educators get a lesson in teaching to their values

The children called them “secret toys” — small items, treasures that they brought to pre-K, kept mostly hidden in backpacks and pockets, and occasionally shared. My son’s treasure-hunting drove me crazy as he took things I didn’t want to lose and grabbed finds from sidewalks: beads, acorns, bottle caps, you name it. They were easily misplaced (tears); shown to others (jealousy), and traded (mixed results).

The appeal of these tiny treasures baffled me, and as a teacher and teacher educator, I try to read a situation that baffles or even irritates me as a call for inquiry. I considered my core values, such as securing a child’s connection between home school, and possible courses of action, such as figuring out how small items could travel without significant disruption or drama.

It led me from a place of irritation to a tried-and-true lesson in the early childhood courses I teach to future educators. I’ve come to start each semester handing out a particular material, such as blocks or Legos, or foraging as a class in a park and having students each select an item that speaks to a core value they bring to class.

In the hands of my students, a tiny gray pebble becomes “noticing what others may not see.” An arch-shaped Lego becomes “creating communities where people feel connected.” There is power in choosing, holding, articulating, temporarily adding what you brought to a group’s collection, and finally retrieving it to hold near again.

Starting a new job this spring at Hunter College, I had to carry everything — from blocks to pencils — in my arms on public transit, and so I began with no Legos handy. And teaching deep in a skyscraper and many blocks from Central Park, we had no woods from which to gather.

Read more here: https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2024/09/14/with-this-treasure-hunt-future-educators-get-a-lesson-in-teaching-to-their-values/