Circle time for classroom practitioners

On May 24, about 70 educators from various colleges, schools and educational support services attended a one-day seminar on Quality Circle Time by Jenny Mosley (UK) organised by the Faculty of Education and the Education Directorates.

The seminar focused on how Quality Circle Time can be used to support teachers and other professionals in managing a range of issues that affect the whole learning community. It consisted of three sections, namely understanding one's own behaviour as a practitioner as a prerequisite to managing children's behaviour; creating the right conditions in the classroom so that relationships can flourish; and making use of Quality Circle Time to help children develop an inner locus of control.

The seminar provided participants the opportunity to explore in more depth this approach as a tool to develop the social and emotional competencies in children and young persons, namely raising self-esteem, promoting positive behaviour, building caring relationships, enhancing motivation and creating cooperative learning environments. It was a practical, hands-on workshop on how to organise and facilitate a Quality Circle Time in the classroom, including a role demonstration with a group of children from San Andrea Junior School and Zabbar Primary School B.

The participants could observe the skills of listening, speaking, looking, thinking and concentrating being put into practice through a five stage process, namely meeting up (ice breaker), warming up to break the silence, opening up to explore the issue, cheering up by celebrating the positive, and finally calming down as a closure of the session.

Circle Time is an approach for the promotion of social and emotional learning in school, providing a forum for the teacher and the students to discuss issues concerning the whole classroom community. It is an easy to use, teacher- and child-friendly medium for group and individual development. Any teacher can make use of this approach in his or her classroom.

The sessions usually consist of weekly meetings lasting half an hour and involve carrying out activities, games and the practice of speaking and listening skills The teacher and the students sit in a round circle and together they discuss issues and concerns related to the group or to individual students, such as bullying, friendships, collaboration, conflict management, celebrating diversity, sharing strengths or improving classroom behaviour.

The discussion of the issue is then followed by an exploration of possible solutions, with the students suggesting the solutions themselves. Some of the key skills practiced during Circle Time include active listening, empathy, problem solving, regulation of emotions, conflict management, and collaborative learning.

Circle Time has proved successful in enhancing self esteem, building better relationships and promoting positive behaviour in school. It uses the classroom group as a vehicle for individual and collective emotional, social and cognitive development. It also helps the teacher to have a better understanding of the way children and young people see and make sense of the world around them, to become more in tune with the way children think and feel about their learning experiences. It is also linked to positive behaviour management, assisting the teacher in promoting prosocial and collaborative behaviour in the classroom.

Circle Time for Classroom Practitioners (CTCP) is a local network that is being set up to provide the necessary support for classrooms practitioner who would like to integrate this model within the classroom situation. CTCP will provide information, share good practice and organise training courses for practitioners on issues related to behaviour and emotional literacy in schools. It is envisaged to be a human and physical resource for school practitioners in their efforts to support the learning and behaviour of the students.

The network will be coordinated by a circle of classroom practitioners with the support of the Faculty of Education and Education Directorates.