Initiating Earthquake Talk with Young Children: Children’s Social Competence and the Use of Resources

Abstract

Children’s perspectives in research are increasingly being sought on matters that are of relevance to them. Child-led accounts of their everyday lives often involve a researcher and children participating in conversations. Sometimes, however, when sensitive issues are raised, these conversations can take unexpected turns, even with researchers experienced in working with children as researchers or teachers. This chapter investigates what happens when video-stimulated accounts lead to an unintended dispute. A small group of girls (four to six years old) in an inner-city playground in Queensland, Australia, watch a video recording of themselves playing a pretend game of school. When the researcher asks about the girls to tell her what was going on, some members of the group use this opportunity to make complaints about others in the group regarding how the game was played, resulting in a dispute. Fine-grained analyses using the approaches of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis reveal children’s competence in managing this unfolding ‘crisis’ of sorts and the dilemma faced by the researcher, who moved between membership categories of being a researcher with ethical processes to follow, and her previous work as a teacher, with pedagogical interest to promote positive relationships. Analyses reveal children’s competence in managing this crisis which causes a breakdown of their relationship. Their competence included resisting answering the researcher’s questions and using the forum to raise issues that mattered to their own social agendas. As well, findings highlight the delicate positions researchers may experience when investigating sensitive issues, namely finding a balance between respecting children’s competence as research participants by continuing their line of questioning or restoring the social order and well-being.

Professional Reflection by Paula Robinson and Claire Lethaby

Professional Reflection

By Paula Robinson and Claire Lethaby

New Brighton Preschool, Christchurch, NZ

Our Story

We want to share with you our story, that is, the story of New Brighton Community Preschool and Nursery, an early childhood centre situated in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. To share our story we need to set the scene, to tell you a little about who we are and what we experienced but then focus on what we are fairly proud of, that being some of the positive new learning and learning pathways.

The Impact of the Earthquake on the Teachers, Whānau and Children

New Brighton Community Preschool and Nursery was established in 1979 in our eastern, seaside community. We are a not for profit early childhood centre which has always worked proactively for both our children and whānau with whom we proudly work alongside. We experienced four significant earthquakes which also caused closure for varying time periods, added to this were two potential tsunami warnings, a three week period of our road being closed due to potential flooding (luckily for us that stopped two houses away) and the final closure time resulting after two heavy snowfalls! Over this period, our families have had to contend with 41 days of emergency closures, none of which we ever envisaged. At this time, we had 68 families that attended our centre, with children aged from five months through to five years old. Each individual child has undertaken this journey in their own unique style; however, our intention is to portray the main practices which have emerged over this time.

The September 2010 earthquake occurred while we were all home in our beds. While it was a huge experience, it really did not impact on us as directly as subsequent earthquakes. The centre was closed for a couple of days while it was structurally checked, all that occurred was a broom fell over. It did bring a huge awareness to our team and we ensured that practices and procedures in relation to earthquakes were robust. We also ensured that we had appropriate survival kits, even though many of us believed at the time this was a once in a lifetime experience. The children appeared to view the centre as a ‘safe place’ and maybe this was due to the earthquake occurring outside centre hours. Conversations and practices around the earthquake emerged during children’s play, particularly around the shaking feeling, the noise and how it made their bodies feel.

At our teachers’ only day at the beginning of 2011, our team went through our environment looking at the safest places for protection in an ‘event’ and also looking to eliminate any potential hazards. We felt it worthwhile to undertake this exercise together as we had two new teachers and wanted the whole team to hold the same knowledge and information.

It was only two weeks later that the February earthquake occurred. This one was serious, and we evacuated the building to our safest place, which was a lawn area in the back of the preschool playground. Our designated ‘assembly point’ which we used when practising drills had a power line dangling across it, so immediately we had to alter our plans. Initially there were a lot of children who needed cuddles, but in a short period of time a sing-a-long had begun which gave it a picnic type atmosphere. This went on for over an hour while parents were arriving to collect their treasures. Throughout this time, the ground kept rumbling and shaking and our biggest focus was that the children were ok and that the parents, as they arrived, got the support they needed. Many parents had to abandon their cars on roads that were not driveable and make their way on foot, waddling through liquefaction and flooding, sometimes up to their waist. The one thing we will never forget was the look of relief when they saw their child sitting safely in a teacher’s arms. To this day, it still it brings a lump to the throat whenever we think back to it. We stayed on our little grass patch for just over three hours until the last parent arrived.

Initiating Talk About the Earthquakes with the Children

The immediate effects of this quake were the loss of essential services, namely water, power, sewerage and phone. The roads within our community were barely driveable and all shops were closed. This was a change that was forced upon everyone, you had no choice. While some left the area (permanently, or just to escape for a bit), many stayed and tried to get on with adjusting to the new ‘normal’. The word which became part of every child’s vocabulary was liquefaction. Everyone was in survival mode and really went back to the basics. Children learnt that through crazy hard times, they could continue to live and play, just in a less expectant way. This is something that is a valuable attribute, one which many people in life never learn, but these children have, and they will carry with them this knowledge and know-how for life.

Following the February quake, the Centre Manager attended a Ministry of Education workshop focused on Traumatic Events . A key insight from this workshop was to acknowledge what children were sharing from their perspectives and how it felt, but when ending the conversation trying to incorporate what were the good things that happened at and after this time? (‘I was feeling really scared but I got to have a snuggle in bed with mummy’.) This concept guided our belief about acknowledging the difficulty/hardship/challenge/uncertainty/fear, but in our environment, we could also acknowledge the positives, which were and are unique to this situation. We were very aware to hold these conversations with children, this situation was real and affecting their lives, if we talked about with them, maybe it could support them to make sense, meaning or understanding and alleviate some fears.

From this belief, we built a philosophy which was to ‘keep it positive’ for children. Subsequently, before we came back in March 2011 after the five-week February closure, we had already reflected and discussed at length the ways in which teachers could support our children. Having this foundation knowledge and shared understanding set the scene for making the most of those teachable moments and supporting children in making sense of what was happening in our community.

Importance of Going Out into the Environment

We came back to a new ‘normal’. Instead of toilets, we had port-a-loos outside in the entrance foyer, all taps had the heads removed and we used no running water (due to the water still being unsafe to drink). Children had to come with drink bottles of boiled water and hand washing consisted of sanitizer, wipes and more sanitizer. This all seemed like a big ask, but every child and family turned up on our re-opening day. Everyone was desperate to get back to their normal routines and the children appeared keen to get back to their friends and play. Immediately we noticed a change in children’s play. We now had experts in road works, drain layers, GNS scientists, builders and port-a-loo cleaners, just to name a few. The immediate environment was offering a rich curriculum of experiences and knowledge. There was a new-found respect and awareness for people in ‘day-glow’ jackets, particularly the men and women who worked tirelessly outside our houses and always made time to explain what they were doing.

A new learning pathway had emerged over this time and this was an awareness of our ever-changing environment. Around us were continuous roadworks and work on water and sewerage pipes. This was such a rich experience right at our doorsteps and was far too valuable an opportunity to pass up. We made a conscious decision to take the children out to see what was happening in our neighbourhood. Nearly daily we would set off down the road to see the latest happening. We walked with the children and made the effort to point out specific parts of the environment that were damaged and talked to the children about it, asking questions that we hoped would prompt their thinking and understanding. The children were soon creating their own working theories on why something needed replacing or how. The physical environment also created new challenges and that was the flooding that occurred at the end of our street. Our street backs onto the river and with high tides and high water levels, flooding would regularly occur. This again became a site of investigation and the children would note where the flooding was, by taking photos of the mailbox where it was up to, and then come back to the centre to document it all.

Documenting the Earthquake in Learning Stories

These observations and photos were documented in wall displays, which were in the children’s play space at their level. Each day the new photo was added to the display as well as children’s voices about what they had just observed. This became a great site for children revisiting what they had previously noticed and whether it was similar or different to what they had observed that day. It became a record of what was changing around us and we felt empowered; we weren’t sitting back waiting for things to happen to us we were actively noticing what was happening and creating new working theories. Teachers were also busy documenting individual children’s ideas and perspectives in their learning stories. At the time, learning stories were either group stories, which shared these experiences and events, or individual stories, which were focused on individual children’s perspectives . These stories within their learning journey books were a valuable tool for children to revisit with their peers, teachers and whānau both in the centre and at home.

The main focus within these learning stories was acknowledging and celebrating the competence that the children demonstrated at this challenging time. Having photo displays throughout our learning environment of our community and its ever-changing appearance, as well as many learning stories based on key topics around these experiences, meant the conversations were very rich within the environment and often child initiated. Most children were coming in daily, ready to share their own home experiences with their friends and teachers, bringing new knowledge, comparing stories and experiences, then practising and trialling these in their play. We intentionally provided resources, such as florescent vests, hard hats, road cones and clipboards, to support the theme of their play. Teachers were very mindful to follow children’s leads in these conversations. At times conversations served to consolidate learning and ideas. However, teachers were also very mindful to be respectful and sensitive as children had their own experiences of these events.

The June earthquake again occurred while we were at the centre. The first was strong enough to make us evacuate outside and parents again started to come and collect their children. When the second occurred, which was a lot stronger, we only had three children left and a few teachers. The children were soon gone and it was saddening to drive home seeing the broken roads and the liquefaction again. The centre re-opened a week later and we once again welcomed back the children and families. Much of the initial conversations and play was about the earthquakes and the effects these had on each individual’s situation. The children talked like experts about their houses and land, what worked and what didn’t work and the appearance of any new cracks in buildings. They also began to identify the symbols that had now become part of their community. Examples of these include the Red/Yellow/Green stickers and the many different roadwork signs within the area. The children really identified with these signs knowing what each meant and the actions required; again valuable learning sites within our local environment.

In Conclusion

The word resilience is synonymous with Christchurch and one that we like to try to find other words for. This is our unique story, why use such a common word? However, resilience must be acknowledged. You cannot go through so much repetition of challenge and remain unaffected. We don’t believe in the theory that children will just bounce back on their own. We believe that if a child has experienced repeated challenges, yet throughout these challenges their voices are heard, acknowledged and supported, resilience can develop. To gain this disposition, children also need supportive learning partners: peers, parents, neighbours, significant adults and whānau members, not to mention teachers.

We are not wearing ‘rose-tinted’ glasses when writing this. We acknowledge that this story comes from an early childhood ‘centre’ perspective. We also recognize that, as teachers, we were not and are not there at all critical times, such as when a child may not want to go to bed at night or may not want to use the toilet because they are scared. This is our ‘centre’ story and focuses on the positive learning, which we as a teaching team have recognized, acknowledged and focused upon.