Alejandro Francisco of Stichting EGO with youth leaders of several afterschool programmes on the island.
PHILIPSBURG--The foundation Stichting EGO held a training session for more than forty youth leaders and coordinators of afterschool programmes in St. Maarten on Friday, February 10.
The afterschool programmes that participated in the training were those of Stichting EGO, Sister Marie Laurence Community School, 721 Kids Foundation, No Kidding with Our Kids Foundation, Belvedere Community Center, Alexander’s Afterschool and St. Maarten Early Childhood Development Association (SECDA) programmes such as Discovery Kidz Afterschool.
Occupational therapist D’Antoinette Sorton, facilitating the workshop “Managing classrooms with misunderstood children”.
Stichting EGO youth leaders with presenters.
According to Stichting EGO president Ria Uiterloo, youth leaders on the island are vital to the well-being of young people/children. In conversations with St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) Programme and Development Manager Melanie Choisy she expressed the need to better equip youth leaders and afternoon programmes coordinators with approaches to create a safe and friendly learning and play environment for children.
Choisy agreed and saw the need of involving SECDA and other afterschool programmes as well.
Uiterloo said, “As a foundation we strive to prepare staff and demonstrate the kind of pedagogical skills we would like to see mirrored in our young children on the island. We expect and encourage cheerful, cooperative, willing and positive attitudes in our youth leaders.”
She believes that to continue to reach their goal and provide students with the extra attention and motivation they need to ensure their successful futures and help them to become responsible citizens in our community, they need to improve the staff’s pedagogical quality.
Both youth leaders and students need the space and time to play during the programmes. Both parties need to be involved in play whereby negotiation and renegotiation of roles occur between child and her- or himself, child and youth leader, youth leader and self, and child and other children.
Uiterloo told SMDF that recently she had been experiencing a lot of weaknesses, insecurities and vulnerabilities amongst youth leaders and their approaches when organising play, communicating and negotiating with children, especially children who need specialised care.
Stichting EGO consulted D’Antoinette Sorton of the Enable Holistic Occupational Therapy clinic, who facilitates sessions on child development and behaviour and the necessity of play.
According to Sorton, play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers.
As they master their world, play helps children develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resilience they will need to face future challenges.
She said play is integral to the academic environment. It ensures that the school and afterschool setting attends to the social and emotional development of children as well as their cognitive development. It has been shown to help children adjust to the school setting and even to enhance children’s learning readiness, learning behaviours and problem-solving skills.
Social-emotional learning is best integrated with academic learning; it is concerning if some of the forces that enhance children’s ability to learn are elevated at the expense of others. Play and unscheduled time that allow for peer interactions are important components of social-emotional learning.
Sorton is a skilled lecturer/coach and therapist and gives practical tips on “How to manage groups with misunderstood children”. In her sessions, she enlightens teachers on disorders and difficulties (including neurological) that can affect a child’s development. Knowledge of these difficulties or disorders and the needed approaches, tips and tools strengthen youth leaders and teachers in pedagogical skills and communication with children.
During the training, Sorton presented and discussed the need for inspiring pedagogues (youth leader, child and environment) to be realised for healthy development of children.
Stichting EGO Executive Coordinator Alejandro Francisco, a trained expert in afterschool programmes and youth leadership sessions, facilitated a one-hour session on wellbeing and involvement as key elements in working with children. He also introduced the participants to a process-oriented self-evaluation instrument to measure the wellbeing and involvement of children to improve quality of the afternoon setting.
The observation instrument is designed to help settings to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to creating the best possible conditions for children to develop. Although youth leaders of the settings collect most of the data through observation, every supervisor in the settings is actively involved in the procedure of self-assessment. The process of reflection and action is seen as the whole team’s responsibility.
Both facilitators brought awareness of the conditions most seen in children and settings, including some symptoms, and provided tips to assist the children in afternoon settings.
Certificates were awarded to the enthusiastic participants at the end.
Stichting EGO thanked SMDF for financing the training through a generous donation from Sol Antilles N.V. (SOL). “We also would like to thank Sister Magda School for using their location and classrooms for the training. And the enthusiastic participants of the training.”
