International school in Nairobi Kenya shares Connections over Compliance

An email shared this morning from Kenya!

“Dear Dr. Desautels,

I stumbled upon your book Connections over Compliance and your work while preparing for a full day In-Service Training session that I was asked to deliver to my colleagues at the beginning of this academic year.

I work at an international school in Nairobi Kenya. We serve a large international community and deliver the National Curriculum of England and Wales. I teach in the Early Years section of the school and recently our curriculum changed. One of the changes in the curriculum is to include self-regulation as an early learning goal for 5 year olds. The wording of self-regulation as an early learning goal as defined by the Department for Education in England, unfortunately, seems to take the angle of self-regulation to mean compliance. It was for this reason that I was so eager to lead training on what regulation actually means and to shift the focus from self-regulation to co-regulation as well as the necessity for the adults to recognise that their own state of regulation has an impact on the children that they are working with.

I just wanted to share with you that the other day I got to the section of your book where you suggest using correct brain terminology with children and having an ‘Amygdala re-set area’. I pitched the idea to my team and the following morning I came into this (see attached picture). We have a range of things that the teachers and children can use, according to their sensory preferences, to re-set. I’ve been promised a stationary bike by one of my colleagues! (side note .. it’s the most darling thing hearing a 5 year old say ‘amygdala re-set’).

I feel so lucky to have found your book – thank you, thank you, thank you!”