CYIL 2012

SŁAWOMIR REDO

CYIL 3 (2012)

5. Mentoring the next generation: how to love children and educate students?

“The highest expression of human love and creativity is mentoring the next generation ”. 43 Corresponding with this is the child’s right to love and the right to education, which have both been stated in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 44 but originally formulated by Janusz Korczak. 45 Surely, it is not coincidental that Korczak’s heritage has been taken on board by the United Nations. But since the goal of this essay is to demonstrate that the academic and United Nations criminology studies have accumulated and reviewed evidence for diagnosing and countering crime of succeeding generations, now this essay will finally demonstrate that also the very concept at the heart of childrens’ upbringing, i.e. the attachment of them with their care givers (especially parents), applies also to the relationship between students and teachers. By this, this essay seeks also to document that in the United Nations Criminal Justice Studies not only the knowledge of “what”, but also the skills, i.e. “how”, are important. An opportunity-sample study of 244 U.S. students recently offered findings on how student-student and student-teacher friendships and attachment styles link to General Educational Development (GED) programs providing high-school level academic skills. The authors statistically documented that students’ relationships with students and instructors, as well as secure attachment styles, were positively associated with earning a GED. More than 87% of those who earned GEDs had a considerably greater attachment than those who did not. The study demonstrated that both student-student friendships and student-instructor relationships positively predicted attachment and subsequent GED program completion. In addition, those who had secure attachment styles had better relationships with their fellow students and instructors. These findings confirm earlier results of studies by Bowlby and Hirschi which suggested that attachment positively influences learning. Academics and practitioners may now appreciate how and why salient interpersonal relationships and attachment can promote educational attainment. These findings may be helpful to educators to identify productive means to improve students’ learning outcomes. Consequently, they can use these findings to inform instructional efforts and promote more effective learning environments. 46 43 Mendizza, M., Pearce, J. Ch., Magical Parent-Magical Child The Optimum Learning Relationship Special Workshop Edition, In-Joy Publications, 2002, p. 7. 44 GA resolution 1386 (XIV), 10 December 1959. 45 Lifton, B. J. (1988) The King of Children: A biography of Janusz Korczak . New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. See also: Jilek, D. The Invisible Dialogue on the Rights of the Child: Ellen Key and Janusz Korczak, Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law , Vol. 2, pp. 85-94. 46 Reio, T. G., Marcus, R.F., Sanderreio, J., Contribution of Student and Instructor. Relationships and Attachment Style to School Completion, The Journal of Genetic Psychology (2009)17 (I), pp. 53-71.

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