Teachers and youth workers get rock and water training

Saba teachers and representatives of other organisations that cater to children and young people recently participated in a behaviour modification workshop called “Rock and Water.”, writes The Daily Herald.

The training is said to be an innovative approach to teaching young people to deal with the challenges in society as they move from adolescence into adulthood. Youth workers and teachers will meet monthly to keep up their personal skills and share best practices, starting Saturday, May 9. Director of Expertise Centre Education Care Saba, Jet van Heijnsbergen said the programme was chosen after numerous requests from schools for training to assist students in developing positive ways to deal with challenges. After some research, the “Rock and Water” programme was chosen, because of its unique psychomotor approach to build on social skills.

The programme explains how children and adults alike each have options to act in a hard (rock) and soft (water) manner. Van Heijnsbergen said teachers were very positive about the programme and look forward to implementing this approach in their classrooms.

The programme, developed in the Netherlands by Freerk Ykema, is geared to teaching young people how to live, work and play together. It has been used in 15 countries and has received recognition in the Netherlands for its proven successes. The programme works by using a physical approach to problem solving. The focus of the programme is teaching self-awareness, self-control and self-confidence, which are important skills young people should develop in order to prepare themselves to assume their roles in society.

According to the programme’s results, when young people learn to solve problems in a better way they develop positive social skills, which reduce the incidence of violence and bullying, and they also acquire respect for the personal space of others. Principles of grounding and focusing are taken from old techniques such as martial arts.

For information about the programme, call 416 3809.