The Gathering

In most school-age programs, there is a time of day when all the learning community members come together. Depending on the program, this time, together have different names. Programs call it circle time, group meeting, or a gathering. Often the gathering occurs more than once a day. 

What elements make the gathering an experience that builds the learning community?

I started thinking about my classroom experiences and observations to find some answers. I also did some research and came up with seven essential elements that make a gathering productive and beneficial for children and educators alike. Keep in mind these elements are coming from the perspective of a school-age provider. The seven elements adapt well to different ages and different communities of people.

How we lead the group is what we are promoting in the community. Our presence as the gathering leader guides the children about grace and courtesy. How we talk to children, other educators, and community members is essential. If we focus only on rules, being quiet, sitting still, and compliance, we tell children that these attributes are the most critical in our community. 

Educators lead, children speak. The role of the educator is as the facilitator as we lead the group of children in discussion. We are part of the discussion, but our voice should be less prominent during the dialogue than the voice of children. Our role is to guide the children in expressing themselves as various topics are under discussion.

Children get to be themselves. Children will be in different states of physical movement and verbal expression during every gathering. Some children will sit quietly and observe. Other children will move the entire time, stand up, or lie down. Because they are active does not mean children are not engaged in the gathering. They are being themselves and contributing in a way that feels comfortable.

Children talk about issues and form agreements. During the gathering, we talk about the daily workings of our learning community. Children want to clarify past agreements and propose new agreements to other community members. Educators may bring up a social issue affecting the group and open a discussion highlighting the children’s perspective.

Children share their work, techniques, and new ideas. The gathering is a time for children to talk with peers about their current projects and share thinking about their investigations. Often this is a collaborative effort with several children sharing how they view the same research. Children also share their creative work and tell the story about the creative process. Sharing work is a time filled with many questions and comments between the children. Talking about work often inspires new investigations and projects.

Children share stories. Children like to share stories about their lives with other children during the gathering. It could be about a social outing like visiting family, a play date, or a birthday party. The children also share their adventures from vacations, school, and the neighborhood. As they share stories, children learn more about each other and their lives outside of school. These stories help form deeper relationships. As children share, they realize other children have similar experiences and challenges away from school.

Time to bond as a community by sharing books and songs. Children and educators take turns reading and leading songs to bring the community together. Teachers share songs they know from childhood, and children share songs they know from camp or school. Singing is always a fun time for sharing our voice and connecting with the music. Reading books to children is a daily activity. The stories we share relate to the current interests of the children. 

The implementation is the most critical aspect of choosing any of these activities as part of a gathering. The gathering needs to be gentle and teaching. As educators, we need to be responsive to what is happening in the classroom. There are teaching moments during a gathering that educators can approach with playful, timely, and appropriate instruction to nurture learning and group cohesion.

The gathering is a conversation amongst the learning community filled with possibilities for the work in the classroom. It is one of the most challenging skills to master. It is a continuous work in progress. When the gathering comes together, it is a beautiful expression of where the children have traveled and wish to go.