Right Motivation in Leaders
Making kind choices to help others
Teacher Experience
A contemplative invitation for educators to reflect on before teaching.How can we embody kind-hearted motivation as leaders of our students? Reflect on those teachers who made a positive impact on your life, and consider the attitude and awareness you wish to bring to your students. Contemplate this reflection by Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Recite a simple aspiration prayer for their wellbeing, such as the Morning Aspiration from MWS (See resources).
Student Experience
A contemplative invitation for students to connect with this learning goal.Reflect on times when someone helped you feel better or when you helped someone else. Remember how you felt. Imagine how the other person you were helping felt.
Understanding
Students will understand...When we help others instead of hurting them, everyone feels better, and our community becomes a happier place.
Action
Students are able to...Practice making kind choices in classroom situations by identifying when someone needs help, demonstrating gentle ways to guide friends during play, and explaining how helping others makes everyone feel better.
Content Knowledge
Students will know...When people are in charge of helping others—like teachers, parents, older siblings, or class helpers—they can be kind or unkind. Being kind means helping others feel safe and happy. When helpers use gentle words, share things, and take care of people who are sad or hurt, they are practicing non-harm. Non-harm means not hurting others with our actions or words. Good helpers want everyone to feel included and cared for, just like how we want to feel when others take care of us.
Guiding Questions
Implementation Possibilities
Create daily helper roles where students take turns being classroom leaders who look for friends who need assistance. Practice “gentle guiding” through role-play scenarios where students demonstrate kind ways to help others rather than bossing them around. Establish a “kindness circle” where children share stories of helping and being helped. Design simple decision-making activities where students choose between helpful and hurtful responses to common situations. Use puppet shows or picture books to explore what makes someone a good helper by illustrating the impact of their actions.
Assessment Ideas
Observe students during free play and structured activities, noting instances of spontaneous helping behavior and gentle leadership. Listen to children’s explanations during kindness circle sharing to assess their understanding of how helping affects everyone involved. Document students’ choices during decision-making activities and their reasoning for selecting helpful responses.
