Circle time

[neeeel]

What do people think of circle time?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_time

 

http://www.circle-time.co.uk/

 

Its supposed to be a way of opening up children to self discipline and self esteem, a way of discussing feelings and learning about others. 

 

I have been witness to, a part of, circle time in a school setting. My reaction was "yuk, this is stupid". First , I dont think its optional, that is, everyone has to at least sit in the circle, if not participate in the discussions. Disruptive, bored or restive children are disciplined, and forced to listen to the discussion, to keep quiet. It might seem fair so that everyone is given a voice, but it just seems counter productive to me. 

 

I suppose the idea might be sound, getting people to open up, be honest etc. But in practice, it just seemed false, controlled and too large a group to be effective( the leader of the circle time must spend a large amount of time keeping order).. Rather than teaching acceptance of self and others, it just seems to be teaching submission to the group, submission to authority, and compliance. 

[hannahbanana]

My old college improv club used to "circle up" at the end of workshops, and I thought they were great. We'd usually do something like "talk about something you did that you liked, and something that someone else did that you liked." I really enjoyed that, because inexperienced improvisors could develop some pride and confidence in their skills, and we could all show some appreciation towards each other. Now, this was among people in their late teens-early twenties.

But as I recall as a child, it didn't seem to be that helpful to me. It often became tense, as one of us would want to talk before our turn, and the teacher would have to try to keep things controlled-not a very relaxed environment.

[J. D. Stembal]

I hated these kinds of activities when I was a child. Usually, you would have to say something positive about the class or fellow students. Why couldn't we air our grievances instead?