Hello @all,
We teach children how to read, how to count, how to write.
But who teaches them how to name what they feel?
In my work at Purpose Rwanda, I meet young people who never learned to say "I am angry" or "I am scared" or "I am sad." So they shout. They shut down. They run away. Or later, they numb the feeling with alcohol or drugs. Not because they are bad children, but because no one ever taught them emotional competence.
Emotional competence is not soft. It is survival. It is a child learning:
1. To name the emotion — "I am frustrated, not just bad"
2. To understand where it comes from
3. To express it safely, without hurting self or others
4. To calm the body when the emotion is intense
My questions to this Hub:
1. What pedagogies actually work? Do we teach emotions through stories, role-play, drawing, circle time, or through how we respond in the moment when a child cries or explodes?
2. When a child experiences intense emotions — rage, panic, deep sadness, shame — what should a teacher do in that moment? Do we punish, ignore, or co-regulate? And what does co-regulation look like in a class of 40 or 60 children?
3. How do we teach emotional competence without shaming culture? In many of our contexts, a child is told "stop crying, be strong." How do we respect culture while still giving children permission to feel?
I believe a classroom that cannot hold emotions cannot hold learning. A hungry child cannot learn, as we discussed before. And a child drowning in unnamed emotion cannot learn either.
I want to hear from teachers, trainers, and facilitators — what has worked for you?
Charles Anyama
Purpose Rwanda
