
EP 66 | Firm AND Fair: Finding the Middle Ground in Behaviour Support
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood PodcastShow Notes
How do we hold boundaries without becoming harsh - and stay responsive without feeling like we have to let everything go?
There can be a real tension between being firm and being fair when we’re working with behaviour. In this episode, I’m unpacking warm authority and what it looks like to bring warmth and steadfastness together, so we can lead with confidence, protect children’s dignity, and respond to the child in front of us without losing the boundary altogether.
You’ll hear: ✨ Why rights-affirming practice doesn’t mean children always get to choose ✨ How warmth and steadfastness work together when we’re holding boundaries ✨ Why fair doesn’t always mean every child getting exactly the same response ✨ How to work out what genuinely needs to hold (and where there might be room to flex)
We can be in control of the situation without trying to be in control of children, and the more confident we become in knowing what needs to hold, where we can flex, and how to stay warm while we lead, the easier it becomes to find that middle ground when behaviour gets hard.
Doors to The Behaviour Reset are OPEN! If you want to be able to understand the behaviour you're seeing, decide how to respond, and adapt your approach when things don't go to plan - without constantly questioning whether you're doing behaviour "right" - click here to join us! Doors close on October 22.
More from The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
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When did praising children become so dang controversial?!
What if we scaffolded children’s behaviour in the same way we already scaffold every other area of their learning?
Why can we have hundreds of behaviour strategies at our fingertips and still find ourselves wondering what the heck to actually do when behaviour gets hard?
Why can a child cope beautifully in one environment yet really struggle in another?