New lessons in guiding children on behaviour and communication have been shared by preschool administrator Marion Dyer, who now wants to spread her insights and get others certified.

Hamilton Rotary Club heard how Ms Dyer adopted the “blueprint” of a popular United States educator and social worker to offer a course for teachers on classroom management.

“I have been teaching an eight-week series, now approved by the Bermuda Educators Council, for teachers from preschool to high school and some support staff for the past two years, and I am pleased to say it has been well received,” the experienced teacher told yesterday’s gathering. Her own teaching career sprang from a wish to make a positive difference in children’s lives, she said, but over the years she wished she could help parents more.

“I felt I needed to help them before they got to preschool,” she said.

In late 2011, Ms Dyer got certified as a parenting facilitator, saying she “fell in love with the programme”, and acquired new tools and research to encourage new ways of dealing with young people. “Children are no longer seen but not heard,” she added.

Ms Dyer’s next inspiration came from the “parents’ toolshop” philosophy of US author Jody Johnston Pawel, which focuses on preventing misbehaviour by building children’s confidence and self-esteem.

Better results, she said, come when parents “help them to learn the skills to become independent — make them responsible for the problems that arose, by teaching them skills to be successful; make them responsible for outcomes as the results of choices they have made”.

With the Island troubled by a rise in antisocial gang behaviour, which Ms Dyer believed has roots early in life, she contacted Ms Pawel to adopt “the basis of the blueprint and the skills in her book that were relevant to offer teachers the tools for classroom management”.

Her eight-week course entails a review of management styles, with tips on how to offer praise and avoid power struggles.

Ms Dyer said she also teaches the reasons underlying intentional misbehaviour, as well as methods for helping students to learn to take responsibility.

“It would be great if we could have every child that comes to school feel valued and important,” Ms Dyer concluded, telling Rotarians that the classes were aimed at “anyone who wants to raise productive, contributing members of society”.

To learn more, contact Ms Dyer at kmarion_dyer@yahoo.com.