Question of the Day: Boss or Bossy

Question:
"I have a lot of rowdy children in my after-school program and I would like my staff to be able to manage them. How can the staff make sure that the children know that they (the staff) are the boss?"

Answer:
There is a difference between being "Bossy" and being "The Boss."
Being bossy is authoritarian-and is counterproductive to having a pleasant, congenial atmosphere that will enhance a child's development.
Being the boss means using authoritative strategies.
Authoritative strategies show a friendly, positive commitment to the children combined with clear, firm rules and explanations. An authoritative staff provides structure and control while taking the children's wishes and point of view into consideration.

(Clarice Feagin, Elements of a Quality After-School Program)

The Chefs say:
The difference between being authoritarian and
using authoritative strategies:
Telling a child not to knock down someone else's blocks "because I said so" is authoritarian.
An authoritative strategy would be to:
-Ask a child
"how would you feel if your blocks were knocked down without your permission?"
-Come up with an action plan to satisfy a child's desire to build and tear down.
"Its fun to tear down stuff, isn't it."
"What if you take turns building and knocking down? "
"Or what if the two of you see how many blocks it will take to knock this structure down?"
-Have a consistent consequence for someone that has not learned to respect others' creations.
"Jill, come sit over here and lets see how many blocks it will take for Jack to knock that down"

To see how using authoritarian strategies is linked to the NAA standards click here.

*Please feel free to post your own questions and/or answers in the comment section.
We welcome all comments or suggestions.