3 skills to make your preschooler a responsible decision maker
Responsible decision making is to “constitute caring and constructive choices about personal behaviour and social interactions across diverse settings”. It is to recognise that every action has consequences which affects the well being of an individual and the community. (CASEL).
To develop this competency one must learn to identify the problem, analyse the situation, solve the problem, consider ethical responsibility, reflect and evaluate. Decisions cannot be made unless the child is not able to identify the problems. Thus, identifying problems which need a solution is the first step to making any responsible decision. To analyse the problem, the how and why must be kept in mind. All possible solutions should be explored with all the consequences they possess. These solutions should not hurt the ethical and moral principles of others.
Listed below are ways where young children can be taught to develop the skill of responsible decision making-
- Fostering Open Mindedness-
Children thrive in environments where they watch and learn rather than where they are being taught and instructed at all times. Open minded children tend to be critical thinkers, risk takers and mistake learners. They respect others and accept the fact that others think differently than them.They, in a sense, can make better decisions when they keep others in mind and respect the differences.
Having friends from different backgrounds builds this ability as it makes them understand what diversity is all about.
2.Decision Making and Reasoned Judgement -
As children use ego-centric reasoning which is very different from adult logic and judgement, decision making at such a young age through logic might be tricky (Dr. Jean Piaget). To incorporate the ability of logic in a child, the caregiver ought to challenge their thinking by giving them the chance to choose for themselves.
Ask the child if they want to use a pink or a red crayon to color in a flower. This gives them the opportunity to think for themselves and there is no wrong answer.
3.The Skill of Critical thinking-
Identification from what is right and wrong constitutes critical thinking. It also means to approach a problem after considering several suggestions.
While watching a movie together ask them questions like what made the character behave in a certain way?, how else could the character have reacted?, if you were the protagonist, what would you have done? This promotes critical thinking as it makes the child consider different scenarios and actions which let them decide what would be best for the characters and the people around them. The children will be able to apply this approach while tackling a problem in the future.
Making responsible decisions makes children rely on themselves. This allows the children to become patient and considerate by following a step by step process for the realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions, and the well-being of self and others
(Minnesota Department of Education). Responsible decision making builds confidence in children, it makes them thoughtful and empathetic towards others. This skill cannot be developed overnight but it has to be progressed through trial and error.