The Nurturing Programme

What is Emotional Literacy?
The Four Constructs
Policy Initiatives
Research & Evaluation

The Four Constructs

The Four Constructs provide the building blocks of the Nurturing Programme. All the approaches, strategies and ideas in the Programme are based on these four key concepts.
   
    Self-awareness and self-esteem Self-awareness and self-esteem
The art of self-awareness is to know ourselves well - what we do and don't like, what our needs are, how we feel. If we are sensitive towards ourselves, it's easier to look after our needs. Nurturing ourselves by meeting our own needs helps to boost our self-esteem, making it easier for us to nurture others and particularly to help children develop their self-awareness and a healthy, positive self-esteem.

 
    Appropiate Expectations Appropriate expectations
Children grow up in different ways: physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally. We need to match our expectations to what they can actually do. They learn all the thousands of skills at different rates. What one child finds easy another child of the same age might find hard. If we expect too much or too little of them, children tend to become rebellious, frustrated and angry, or to give up in despair. It is helpful to them if we recognise each small step in their learning.

 
   

Positive Discipline

 Positive discipline
All children need discipline to learn what behaviour is OK and what is not. Positive discipline focuses on praise, rewarding their efforts, giving choices, negotiating and awarding responsibility. There are also fair penalties for poor behaviour. It makes life more enjoyable for adults and children, and helps to build self-esteem. Negative discipline, on the other hand, uses punishment and fear; it is stressful for everyone.

 
   

Empathy

 

 Empathy
This is the cornerstone of the Nurturing Programme. Empathy is the ability to sense how someone else is feeling, to tune in to their emotional point of view. We don't have to agree with what the other person thinks - just to be sensitive to the way they feel, and to accept it. An empathic response to a child's inner world, to their excitement, frustrations and fears, fosters a close, trusting relationship, and helps them learn to respond sensitively towards others.