Neohumanist Teacher Training at Zonnelicht

Holland, February 2024

Transformation through Quiet Time, Storytelling and Drama

By Emma Deckers

February this year Zonnelicht Daycare and Lotus Training Centre joined hands to organize another edition of the annual Teacher Training, aimed at inspiring and supporting the daycare and after school care teachers in their work with the children.

Teachers, trainers and foreign guests gathered together during three days to share their ideas, knowledge and experiences in Neohumanist Education. The theme this year was Transformation through Quiet Time, Storytelling and Drama.

Kick-off

The event was opened by Didi Ananda Devapriya with an inspiring talk about the challenges our world faces, the common purpose in Neohumanist Education and the importance of fostering an atmosphere of inclusive, universal spirituality. Teachers were encouraged to step into their role as changemakers and to be a part of the solution by helping shape a new generation.

Spiritual and communal elements

The workshops and presentations were interspersed with moments of introspection and grounding in the body. Each day started with a yoga session; the lunch break was preceded by a shared meditation and kirtan session. The days ended in song and dance, allowing the teachers and guests to release pent up energy and to feel energized and connected before going home for the day. Musical sessions were led by John Dakpo and Ole Brekke.

Concepts in the classroom

To lay a foundation for the rest of the program, the teachers and guests split up in groups to brainstorm about (Neohumanist) concepts that were important for the age groups they personally work with the most. Why did they choose these specific concepts? What do their students need to learn about those concepts, and what do the teachers need to be able to facilitate this? Teachers and guests worked on concepts such as empathy, self-awareness, curiosity, diversity, creativity and a service mindset.

Storytelling and Drama

Throughout the program, there were several workshops based around the use of storytelling and drama as teaching tools. Some of Zonnelicht’s most experienced teachers, along with foreign trainers Rutger Tamminga, Ole Brekke, John Dakpo and Didi Ananda Devapriya provided the teachers and guests with many examples of stories, songs and ways to incorporate drama and movement to convey a message (for example, telling a story through yoga poses). Participants also worked on creating their own stories and songs to be used in the classroom.

Moral and spiritual development with young children

One of the most important subjects in the workshops on storytelling was the use of storytelling to help children learn about values, to develop their ability to discriminate between right and wrong, and teach them about spiritual concepts such as universal love and inner strength. Teachers, guests and trainers shared examples they’d used with success in the past, and came up with new ideas together. As with many of the other subjects in the three-day program, the approach differs for different ages, based on a child’s development.

Quiet time for different age groups

At Zonnelicht, children of all ages start their day at the daycare or after school care with joint Quiet Time. This is intended to foster self-awareness, inner peace and a sense of interconnectedness within the group. Teachers and guests participated in workshops aimed to give them new inspiration and tools to improve this practice and how to deal with challenges in each age group. Examples are the use of a story or song to introduce the meaning or aim of Quiet Time, the incorporation of movement to help children release uncontrolled energy, and the use of mental imagery to help older children without prior experience connect to their inner wisdom during Quiet Time.

Staying grounded in the classroom

All these concepts, skills and teachings ask more of our teachers than the ‘standard’ daycare or education. This is why there is a continued focus on teachers’ personal development within Zonnelicht. Several workshops were included in this year’s Teacher Training to support teachers in discovering what’s holding them back from staying calm and grounded in challenging situations, and recognizing and employing their personal strengths. These workshops also facilitated the exchange of personal experiences between junior and senior teachers and between teachers of different age groups.

Teacher presentations

On the final day, the teachers brought everything together in a presentation for each age group (babies, toddlers, 4-8 year olds and 8-12 year olds). These presentations included their own stories and songs about important concepts, role plays of challenges in Quiet Time and how to overcome them, and ideas for activities to help the older children develop their moral values.

Feedback and takeaways

Many of the teachers reported feeling incredibly inspired to keep writing their own stories and songs to share with the children, to keep it light and fun yet still teach the children important lessons. They feel better prepared to deal with challenging situations, both because of the workshops in staying grounded and using their own strengths, as well as knowing they can lean on each other and use each other’s creativity to deal with any challenge they face.

Teachers also appreciated the chance to learn from each other and from the foreign guests and their perspectives.