Gentle Teaching - The Principles
What is Gentle Teaching?
Creating a Culture of Gentleness requires everyone at Bradstow to be a learner. We must be willing to change ourselves in order that others can grow and change. Our role as caregivers at Bradstow is to listen deeply and provide the "just right" support to assist the development of caring relationships and meaningful lives. Learning to plan, prepare and prevent so that we become deep listeners.
Gentle Teaching is a unique relational approach centered on building safe, loving and engaged relationships.
Gentle Teaching creates pathways to develop these safe and caring relationships through providing leadership, invitation and example rather than trying to impose control. Shared activities and moments are used to teach and build relationships of reciprocity and fairness. Developing the capacity to offer warmth and understanding in challenging moments is foundational for establishing an authentic relationship of trust. Video review and reflective practice helps us identify the places we need to change and be transformed.
Gentle Teaching uses the relationship between the young person and the caregiver as the foundation for teaching. This relationship requires a feeling of companionship. But some individuals with cognitive impairments or challenging behaviours do not develop effective strategies to experience a feeling of companionship. As a result, they may not feel safe. By trying to teach and provide a feeling of safety, we improve their quality of life.
Pillars of Gentle Teaching:
- Create moments to feel safe
- Create moments to feel loved
- Create moments to feel loving
- Create moments to feel engaged
These four goals contribute to building a sense of companionship and community for the person.
For futher info on Gentle Teaching click here: Gentle Teaching UK Website.
