The Changing Role Of Autonomy In The Classroom

The classroom set up and rules made it easy for Miss Shanelle to be supportive. The kids were allowed to explore and do many different things. They got to experience a lot of autonomy. They were told to use “friendly hands” towards each other and to help each other clean up as well. Isaac never was very aggressive without some motivation. The only time he seemed to have problems with other children was when they were trying share a toy. His favorite toy to play with was a children’s vacuum. There were two in the class of 5 kids, but only one made popping noises. He loved that one most. Once, another kid got to it before him. He went up to them and pushed them out of the way in order to get it. Miss Shanelle saw this and immediately told him to give the toy to her. If he was going to act like that, then no one could play with it. She …show more content…
In the classroom, some children had backpacks or coats hung up inside the door. Each time we lined up to leave the classroom, Isaac would say “pack-pack.” He wanted to take his backpack, or pack-pack, with him. He would eagerly reach for it with excitement. Miss Shanelle would tell him he could not take it with him. She explained it was not time for him to go home yet. Isaac immediately jumped to feelings of obvious doubt. He thought he was doing the right thing in that situation by grabbing his backpack to leave. This changed completely when Isaac’s mom would pick him up. He was much more confident in the classroom for the few moments she was present. When she came he would run to her, expressing an obvious love for his mother. She would lead him back into the classroom and he would say “pack-pack” so she would know to grab it. Any shame and doubt he may have felt before had vanished. For the same exact motion, he feels both shame and doubt as well as autonomy. This leads him to be more comfortable with his mom than he already is and less comfortable with Miss