- Overview of teaching appoarch
There are many teaching approaches in the realm of Special Education nowadays, such as ABA, DIR, DIR/Floortime, TEACCH, RDI, CBT, and the Glenn Doman method. At SPEECH, we have invested a lot of time observing, researching, and working with children of different age ranges, genders, personalities, and social backgrounds. From such accumulated experiences, we have come to the consensus that the Floortime (DIR) model developed by the American psychiatrist Dr. Stanley Greenspan (1941-2010) aligns with the direction and approach we are striving for.
Stanley Greenspan was best known as the founder of the Floortime Approach – a therapy that aims to build intimate relationships, foster social and emotional engagement, and develop cognitive functions by getting down on the floor to play and interact with children. This approach is believed to be effective not only in helping children develop comprehensively, but also in creating a supportive and warm learning environment where children can achieve their full potential.
- The appoarch is applied at SPEECH
However, our teaching approach relies on only 70% of the Floortime foundational framework, and the remaining 30% has been combined with other academic materials. Among the most influential sources are the books and research papers authored by the Japanese medical doctor Dr. Nobuyoshi Hirai (1918-2006). Since then, we have further consolidated our methodology, but in a true sense, we prefer to call it an “Approach”, because we adapt our teaching programs to the differences in emotional processing of every child. We place ourselves in their position to understand their deep-down emotions and internal world, in order to identify challenges and thus form relatedness with them. One important thing worth noting is that every time children come to SPEECH, their feelings and emotional states may vary due to many environmental factors and surroundings. Therefore, a FIXATED APPROACH is something that does not exist at SPEECH.
Here is an analogy to illustrate our statement. Instead of using textbook-based or academic techniques to grow a tree, we flex to the plant’s natural development and adapt our tree care methods based on changes in the climate. If it’s dry season, we will water the tree more to ensure it has enough moisture. Similarly, when it comes to education, we decide to tailor our teaching approach while respecting all individual differences in terms of developmental needs and social backgrounds. We always try to deeply understand and support children’s needs in a flexible, proactive manner, as well as strive to create the best learning environment for each child.
- Focus on personal development
Based on the foundation of the DIR/Floortime framework (Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based), which could be understood as “promoting development through relationships and individual differences,” we have refined and incorporated more elements to align the approach with our core philosophy. In this approach, building relationships is still the very first foundation, yet we do not view it as a separate element. Instead, it will continuously be nurtured throughout the support and engagement, regardless of which developmental milestone your child is reaching.
We do realize that both children and mankind deserve to have positive and healthy relationships. Therefore, forming and maintaining relatedness among them plays a crucial part in our approach. This idea would be represented more clearly if we look at the “House of Communication” invented by SPEECH, where the interpersonal relationship serves as a solid foundation for children to reach higher developmental levels comprehensively.
- Respect individual differences
Next, what we would like to mention is the term individual differences. Every human, no matter whether they are male or female, old or young, at any socioeconomic status or belong to any ethics group, they obviously have their own worthiness and uniqueness in this life – none of us are identical, as we proudly embrace various rituals, perspectives and values. Therefore, we totally agree with Greenspan’s idea of respecting the individual differences in providing support and when interacting with children.
Whenever children come to SPEECH’s door, they are welcome to freely explore all kinds of toys they prefer – this concept is what we call “soul freedom”. By doing so, we, in the position of being children’s partners, can better understand their personal preferences and play patterns. From that, we will know how to engage with them and then be able to feel the “flow” when playing together.
Again, we would like to emphasize here that “play” for children is a process of exploration, discovery, and learning that goes beyond the concept of “play for entertainment” held by adults (according to Dr. Nobuyoshi Hirai, 1996). With play-based activities, we, who are children’s partners, will proactively take the role of creating new games and introducing rules. If a child does not show interest and joy in the activities, we are able to adapt to their wishes at the time. Through this process, we want to develop children’s attention, imitation, rule-following, as well as the voluntary and natural improvement of their fine and gross motor skills. This not only helps children learn effectively but also fosters an environment that brings a sense of safety and freedom for them to explore.
- Encourage independence
For us, education is defined as “encouraging and supporting learners to stand on their own feet”. At SPEECH, we highly value “independence” and the “willingness” to support, instruct, and assist children in tidying up toys after finishing, which is a part of forming the “initiative”. Besides, another important aspect is the relationship between “children” and “partners”, which is firmly built and continuously strengthened over time. From that, the “partners” will assess children’s emotions to see if the child is ready to develop independence or not, and never pose pressure to force the child to do so if they do not want to. Once the initiative in children is formed, cognitive functions and purposeful communication will develop accordingly. The purposeful communication does not solely consist of speaking, but also the ability to use gestures in a meaningful way. When a child is in their most comfortable state and ready to join activities, the “partner” takes the first step of teaching them to pronounce and provide words as possible. For us, speaking and vocabulary are only meaningful when being used with full consciousness. Without consciousness, children just speak based on scripted vocabulary and use them out of context. So, we always aim to support children to develop independence naturally, without forcing them, so that they can develop their own consciousness and promote other communication skills effectively and sustainably.
- The role of family environment
The last thing we want to highlight is that the time for children to interact with people mostly occurs at home, which accounts for the majority of the total 24 hours a day. Therefore, the family and caregivers, such as parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, play an extremely important role in supporting and developing children’s language acquisition. As such, we always encourage the primary caregiver to accompany and cooperate with us in their child’s learning journey, because together, we are building the solid foundation for children’s later development.
- Perspectives on discipline
Many parents often wonder about the “discipline” in our approach that we have presented.
First, teaching discipline through harsh punishments, criticism, or judgment on children would build up dishonesty and have resistance to correcting their behaviors. For instance, you might ask your child something like “Have you washed your hands yet? Why don’t you wash your hands?” And then, your child may respond like “Yes, I have washed my hands” in order to just avoid being complained about. Instead of doing so, why don’t we join the activity and say, “I haven’t washed my hands either, let’s do it together.”
On the other hand, giving “rewards” also brings about some consequences. Children are likely to become dependent on receiving compliments, viewing the reward-punishment system and other subjective standards as criteria to reinforce their behaviors and later personalities. Alfred Adler, an Austrian psychologist, argued that this action makes children come to “learning” as a way to just satisfy their striving for recognition, rather than originating from their actual interests. With that said, we can see that both reward and punishment can erode the natural development and internal motivation inside every child. However, we still encourage parents to give praise if their child shows efforts and achievements in some cases, such as saying “I see you spent a lot of time studying, this must be your effort and hard work.” This helps your child to be provided with a new concept and understand what “hard-working” really means.
- Praise effort and set a good example
Moreover, parents should set a good example for children to follow, rather than simply forcing them to greet adults (Especially in Asian Countries), making them involuntarily say “hello” to a teacher, aunt, or uncle in certain situations. Instead, parents should be proactive in greeting each other as well as other people, which will encourage children to see and learn from that. Once parents become a good example, children will bow to adults in a voluntary and confident manner.
We completely agree with Dr. Nobuyoshi Hirai’s (1918-2006) perspective on discipline, saying that discipline needs to be clearly distinguished between two aspects: pampering and indulgence. Accordingly, pampering refers to meeting a child’s emotional and mental needs, such as attention, listening, and affectionate gestures. In contrast, indulgence is the satisfaction of material desires, such as candy and toys. In a child’s world, candy and toys are considered valuable possessions, and as they grow up, these items gradually turn into electronic toys, shoes, or bicycles, and finally money or other valuables when mature. Here, we do not encourage material indulgence and always focus on pampering – fulfilling the mental and emotional needs of children, to help them develop comprehensively.
