A new sense of self in our community

Leona has been an Early Years Practitioner and Manager and is now a Quality Improvement Officer for East Dunbartonshire Council in Scotland.

She completed the Froebel in Childhood Practice course at University of Edinburgh in 2018 and created this short article - about how spending time in and with nature has supported her work with families and communities - during the Froebel Trust's Writing Workshop held in Summer 2022.

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Many of us may have seen, felt and experienced some terrible things in recent times, facing the unknown of a pandemic and all that has evoked. Feeling despondent; a dark cloud hanging over us, a change in how we need to behave, affecting our relationships and our experiences.  We may have morphed into a person we no longer recognise.  

This is also true in our early childhood practice.  Having to follow strict guidelines imposed on us that do not allow for autonomy, that force us to be something different.  Fewer opportunities have arisen to connect to our communities, restrictions on who we play with and how we can play. We have been separated to live and work in bubbles, missing wonderful opportunities to connect with new places, people and experiences.  We may never have had the chance to be the person we imagined or have been forced to grow up, learn or train in a strange and uncomfortable world.

It is time to go back to normal and what does that mean?

Finding Froebel

When you have a strong identity and sense of who you are, with an active and engaged life, then you can be a successful part of the team and form key relationships. 

In our early childhood settings, educators should bring their own uniqueness through their interests and life skills, creating a setting that respects this of the children. Each of us is interdependent in this, being where we are in our lives and learning, coming together in unity and connectedness to create a community where children are free to learn. 

‘...the community is enriched by the diversity and uniqueness of individuals. So in turn individuals gain a sense of belonging and connection from the community.’ (Tovey, 2020, p.6). 

Educators need to find a way of becoming enriched by life outside of work to enable them to share opportunities and experiences with the children in their settings.

Finding Nature 

Each of us needs to find our own way to relate to nature and community and when you think of a child learning from their own life experiences, making new connections to learn, you should also appreciate your own relationship with nature and learn through self-activity to see it in the children you encounter.

Froebel believed that an understanding and experience of nature was key to finding the interconnectedness of his ideas about life unity.

For me, feeling nature, surrounded by the sounds, sights and smells, is what makes me happy. It sparks a light in me and helps me achieve a sense of self, provoking confidence in becoming an active participant in all aspects of my life.

Through becoming part of a Hutting Community in Scotland I have found my way to interact and engage, having a holistic view of myself, of self-care and nurture, connected to nature and environment in a low impact way, finding a simple life; what Froebel referred to as everyday domestic tasks, knowledge of the form of life.

I have become involved in gardening, fetching water for my hut that has no plumbing, capturing the sun in solar panels for off grid living. I chop wood for the fire to keep me warm and make repairs to my simple abode. I indulge in creativity in a way I have been unable to do elsewhere, and I find freedom from the everyday.

In doing so I have become a richer, stronger, resilient, happier and more knowledgeable person who is happy to share my experiences with children when I return to work after my weekend of ‘hutting’.  To be open to look, listen, feel and see what makes them unique and attune to them. To ensure that I am a knowledgeable and nurturing educator:

"Early childhood educators who engage in their own learning and believe in principled and reflective practice are a key aspect of a Froebelian approach." (Froebel Trust, 2022).