Kids
I've worked as a tourguide for nearly a year, now .. it's a strange job ... it can be wonderfully enjoyable, or excruciatingly tedious .. it can be enthralling or stultifying. I've had tour members from six-month-old babies, to a 94-year-old gentleman from Estonia, still more spry and energetic than some people half his age.
But, what I find is that I've come to enjoy the kids' groups perhaps more than any other.
I should qualify that. Kids' groups are typically one extreme or the other. They are either the most enjoyable, amusing and curious people to have on a tour .. or, they're a walking advertisement for Ritalin and solitary confinement.
Recently, I've experienced both extremes. At the Diefenbunker, we've recently had a number of school groups come through the museum. Given that all of the kids aren't old enough to even remember that Germany was once two countries, and the the USSR was, for decades the scariest presence on the planet, it's sometimes a challenge to find ways to relate their experiences to the Cold War. From one school, came a group of kids who had obviously studied the Cold War, and Canadian politics, and asked remarkably mature, intelligent questions, and were fascinated by the experience of walking through the largest nuclear bomb-resistant bunker in Canada. By the end of the tour, I wanted to keep them all, let them stay overnight and take them on another tour the next day.
However, not all groups can be quite so terriffic. There have been some groups where not only was their attention lost within the first 10 minutes of a 90 minute tour, I have seen the supervisors actively egging on the bad apples in the group ... giving them the attention they crave, and, if anything encouraging their misbehaviour. I have seen kids look at me, almost daring me to stop them as they try to pick up artefacts or grab onto hardware which is not only fragile but potentially dangerous. Inside the Diefenbunker is a bank vault, once owned by the Bank of Canada, and in there, I have had kids screech as loud as they can .. in an enclosed concrete environment, you can only begin to imagine the racket that can be generated.
However, a good kids' group will make my day. To see the look on their faces when they realize just how scary the cold war was, and how fortunate we are that nuclear conflict never broke out makes the time spent all worthwhile. So see their imaginations captures by this big, weird underground building, when they realize the Prime Minister, the Governor General, cabinet ministers and even CBC reporters would have lived in the bunker for a month is a priceless occurrance.
If anything, I have come to appreciate the job done by some teachers, and some parents, as this can make all the difference in the world. Teachers and parents who tend to treat their students and their children with firmness, but kindness, with respect but authority are, in my opinion, miracle workers. They are the embodiment of the role models that these children will take with them into later years, and they remind me of some of the outstanding teachers I had when I was in elementary and highschool.
School kids, I believe, do not want, nor do they need buddy or a bully as a teacher. They want someone who they can look to, someone they can count on to be respectful, consistent, calm and empathetic. Kids are remarkably preceptive, and can often immediatley tell whether someone respects them, or wants to dominate them.
Whenever I have kids on my tours, I never talk down to them, nor do I assume they don't understand the complexities of politics and engineering .. often kids will have an amazingly intuitive understanding of things, far beyond what adults may give them credit for. For instance, in the Diefenbunker, it was necessary to replicate all the essential services available outside in order to survive for a month. I usually ask the kids what they think must have been inside the building for this to happen .. they'll quickly rattle off the most obvious ones .. water, food, beds, air .. but often will think of some of the more obscure requirements as well .. electricity, a jail, a hospital, an emergency escape. Moments like that, when kids have a moment of inspiration, are wonderful.
So, kids are fun. They're energetic, curious, inquisitive, honest and often very much not shy ..
I don't have kids .. yet. But I believe that having this experience will make me a better parent, having seen what the results of excellent and abysmal teaching and parenting can do.
But, what I find is that I've come to enjoy the kids' groups perhaps more than any other.
I should qualify that. Kids' groups are typically one extreme or the other. They are either the most enjoyable, amusing and curious people to have on a tour .. or, they're a walking advertisement for Ritalin and solitary confinement.
Recently, I've experienced both extremes. At the Diefenbunker, we've recently had a number of school groups come through the museum. Given that all of the kids aren't old enough to even remember that Germany was once two countries, and the the USSR was, for decades the scariest presence on the planet, it's sometimes a challenge to find ways to relate their experiences to the Cold War. From one school, came a group of kids who had obviously studied the Cold War, and Canadian politics, and asked remarkably mature, intelligent questions, and were fascinated by the experience of walking through the largest nuclear bomb-resistant bunker in Canada. By the end of the tour, I wanted to keep them all, let them stay overnight and take them on another tour the next day.
However, not all groups can be quite so terriffic. There have been some groups where not only was their attention lost within the first 10 minutes of a 90 minute tour, I have seen the supervisors actively egging on the bad apples in the group ... giving them the attention they crave, and, if anything encouraging their misbehaviour. I have seen kids look at me, almost daring me to stop them as they try to pick up artefacts or grab onto hardware which is not only fragile but potentially dangerous. Inside the Diefenbunker is a bank vault, once owned by the Bank of Canada, and in there, I have had kids screech as loud as they can .. in an enclosed concrete environment, you can only begin to imagine the racket that can be generated.
However, a good kids' group will make my day. To see the look on their faces when they realize just how scary the cold war was, and how fortunate we are that nuclear conflict never broke out makes the time spent all worthwhile. So see their imaginations captures by this big, weird underground building, when they realize the Prime Minister, the Governor General, cabinet ministers and even CBC reporters would have lived in the bunker for a month is a priceless occurrance.
If anything, I have come to appreciate the job done by some teachers, and some parents, as this can make all the difference in the world. Teachers and parents who tend to treat their students and their children with firmness, but kindness, with respect but authority are, in my opinion, miracle workers. They are the embodiment of the role models that these children will take with them into later years, and they remind me of some of the outstanding teachers I had when I was in elementary and highschool.
School kids, I believe, do not want, nor do they need buddy or a bully as a teacher. They want someone who they can look to, someone they can count on to be respectful, consistent, calm and empathetic. Kids are remarkably preceptive, and can often immediatley tell whether someone respects them, or wants to dominate them.
Whenever I have kids on my tours, I never talk down to them, nor do I assume they don't understand the complexities of politics and engineering .. often kids will have an amazingly intuitive understanding of things, far beyond what adults may give them credit for. For instance, in the Diefenbunker, it was necessary to replicate all the essential services available outside in order to survive for a month. I usually ask the kids what they think must have been inside the building for this to happen .. they'll quickly rattle off the most obvious ones .. water, food, beds, air .. but often will think of some of the more obscure requirements as well .. electricity, a jail, a hospital, an emergency escape. Moments like that, when kids have a moment of inspiration, are wonderful.
So, kids are fun. They're energetic, curious, inquisitive, honest and often very much not shy ..
I don't have kids .. yet. But I believe that having this experience will make me a better parent, having seen what the results of excellent and abysmal teaching and parenting can do.
posted by xiz at 7:11 AM
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