Sunday, August 23, 2009

Quotes from Ginott

Quotes from Between Teacher and Child

    I have come to a frightening conclusion.
    I am the decisive element in the classroom.
    It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
    It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
    As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.
    I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
    I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
    In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.

--- Haim Ginott

Haim G. Ginott (1922-1973) was a teacher, child psychologist and psychotherapist, who worked with children and parents. He pioneered techniques for conversing with children that are still taught today. His book, Between Parent and Child,[1]. stayed on the best seller list for over a year and is still popular today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haim_Ginott