Careful the things you say
Children will listen
Careful the things you do
Children will see
And learn
Children may not obey
But children will listen
Children will look to you
For which way to turn
To learn what to be
Careful before you say
“Listen to me”
Children will listen
***
I heard these lyrics live last night, in the touring production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods. They have many important messages for teachers, of course, and for parents and grandparents and everyone else responsible for children.
They tell us that children will learn from our example. We know this, of course, but it’s good to be reminded.
For me, however, the most important lines are “Children may not obey / But children will listen.” I can’t count the number of times I’ve said that a student doesn’t listen to me when what I really mean is that they don’t do as I tell them. But the truth is that, even when a kid is being a complete pain in the backside, they are listening, watching, learning from our example, and filing away the things that we tell them.
Ignition for Education 
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