Child training should not be left to educators — Mosadioluwa Adegoriite

Mosadioluwa Adegoriite, an early childhood development expert and an educator whose passion lies in holistic educational practices she believes that being an educator is a calling and not just a source of livelihood. In this interview with ADEOLA OJO, she speaks on the role of parenting in child development, the need for collaboration among parents and educators and giving the right value set among other issues, excerpts:

Should the training of children be left to educators alone?

Educators have a huge role to play in the nurture of the cognitive, emotional as well as the social development of children; educators are important in child development but it is impossible to leave the entire assignment to them because they can’t do it alone. That’s not possible. And I don’t think it will be a wise for the parent to think that educators would be the one to take over from them or be the one in complete charge of their child; you are only preparing to have a child that won’t have holistic training because some foundation has to be put in place in the home.  It has to be a kind of collaboration and I think the parent has to know that they have to lay a foundation for educators to build on; that is what I believe is the right thing. Parents need to do their part because child development goes beyond just education and curriculum, there is a need to nurture a child in all aspects for such child to develop and be a complete child. Parents and educators are partners doing the same business for a common purpose and should not forget they are role models, each party is important and must play his part. A major question is, that educator you are leaving your child with, do you know his values or set of beliefs? What if he doesn’t have the right value? This is why a parent has to play his part.

I love to tell people that teaching is more of a ministry than business or a money making venture but excuse me, the teacher has family, the teacher you are leaving with a child, who is he under the facade of respectability? It is not just about paying for a good school but also about doing your part.

Some think educators are limited because they do operate in a structured environment and children can’t be too structured at particular ages. What can you say about this?

 Well, I will say chat training is a process of guiding and shaping the child’s development and this is not just about the classroom structure, some lessons are taught in the open like gardens, play ground, dining room and others like that this is why children have play time and are taken outside and even on excursions to give them a complete socialisation process. Educators can work within and outside a structure, so they are not limited. So if I get that question right, I will say it is a wrong perception because educators nurture every area of a child’s life, especially during the formative years. That is why they move out of classes for some lessons because in education, we have different types of lessons. Even with college education; there are field trips, we try to monitor how they are relating to people, elders and those in authority, even their classmates, it is part of education and that isn’t structured. For example, somebody steps on you mistakenly, how do you react?  So I think education is all the way. It’s not just in the structured environment. The ones we do in the structured environment are not everything. It’s just that the one in the structured environment is planned. So basically, what we’re saying now is that education goes beyond the classroom experience. These are holistic experience.

So, what is the role of the home in education?

The role of the home is so important, because like I said earlier, the home lays the foundation. I always love to tell parents that think once they pay high fees, all the work should be done in school that they need to lay a foundation for their children; the kind of experience and belief set you want your child to have. A teacher has like 14 to 20 children to nurture and if the person isn’t very careful, you can’t touch them all the same way, though there is the curriculum to prepare the child for each step in life and the next level, this is academic foundation but what about other aspects that should be done at home? So there is a kind of foundation that must be well-linked, because everything that we educators are doing is according to the curriculum, generally we have all syllables, we have all the scheme of work, we work within a particular time. So when the child is not prepared to come into class, there can’t be an effective learning process and we stress this, parents need to prepare their children. So, parents must have prepared their child to know that they have a kind of team spirit and be considerate of others as well.

Some parents believe they know their child more than the educators and tend to disagree with their assessments on their child, what is responsible for this?

I know many people have that belief that nobody knows a child like the parents. That is why in today’s society, you see some parents that really don’t know what their child is capable of doing. And that’s why you see that some parents act in the wrong way when their children have issues in school. They beat up teachers; create scenarios just because of the belief ‘my child cannot do that.’ It is not strange for a child that has the right training and attitude to get into unusual acts due to peer pressure when they are in the midst of their friends because they want to belong, they don’t want to be left out. So, anything can happen. You know, in education, there is what we call nature factor. Nature has to do with the gender, your genes, and the environment. So, for a parent to be saying my child cannot do this is wrong. Investigate, check out what the educator is saying, work with educators and your child will have the right training and development.

Is there a specific role for mothers?

Thank you so much. There is a great role and it is God that made it to be so. Each parents have roles even in the extended family, it actually takes a village to raise a child in reality. That is why you see some children that have their grandparents around more mature; forgetting the home to educators isn’t right. While our work is a calling, we need the parents, especially mothers, to do their part because God gave the assignment of nurturing to women.

Many of us grew up in the system where you don’t ask questions but now if you are not friends with your children, you will fail as a parent. Is this right?

Thank you so much. I love that. Parents must be trained to know that to a certain extent; you want to be friends with your children. I always love to ask people, what do you want to gain? What type of child are you trying to give to this society? Is it for you to show that they are disciplined or they are productive and can stand anywhere and make you proud in every area? Do you want a child that is a solution provider? And how can that be possible? You need to demonstrate that you need love everywhere you go in everything you do. And it is by being their friend; we have our individual love languages. You must be the one to show them how to be friendly. You must let them know, I am here for you. You can tell me things. But if you’re saying you want to flex as an authoritarian because you are a parent, they will talk to another person. And I pray that they won’t talk to wrong person. So we need to be their friend. Why is God giving us each other? The Bible says that God said I know Abraham, who raised his own children after God. But that is what God has asked us to come and do as Christians, even as parents, even in other religions, even in Islam.

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