yes... but we NEED to judge others - are they safe to be with, are they talking truth or propaganda, are they treating other people fairly, do they need my help, or my understanding or me to just be quiet. As teachers we need to judge if the child is thriving, and make judgments about how we should best respond...
The problem arises not with the judgment but with a lack of knowledge, and when fear and bias and prejudice influence our ability to make sensible decisions about people and there is no rational explanation as to why you don't feel safe other than prejudice, or that it affects how you treat other people - ie teachers assume boys are noisy, playfight, where certain colours, behave in certain ways and girls play and behave in other ways - this judgment of children lacks an open understanding of the actual individuals and fails to notice their actual actions and intentions. Their closed way of viewing and understanding the world limits their ability to make reasonable decisions.
So we can make good judgments, bad judgments, we can have a poor sense of judgement, limited ability, or an open and knowledgable sense of judgement. It's not about being non-judgmental v judgmental - it's really about how wisely and inclusively and fairly are we using our judgment.
Does that make sense? Because how you described is how I first thought about it... but then I started thinking about it more...
When I saw the word non-judgmental I assumed it meant towards other people. Not judging other people
yes... but we NEED to judge others - are they safe to be with, are they talking truth or propaganda, are they treating other people fairly, do they need my help, or my understanding or me to just be quiet. As teachers we need to judge if the child is thriving, and make judgments about how we should best respond...
The problem arises not with the judgment but with a lack of knowledge, and when fear and bias and prejudice influence our ability to make sensible decisions about people and there is no rational explanation as to why you don't feel safe other than prejudice, or that it affects how you treat other people - ie teachers assume boys are noisy, playfight, where certain colours, behave in certain ways and girls play and behave in other ways - this judgment of children lacks an open understanding of the actual individuals and fails to notice their actual actions and intentions. Their closed way of viewing and understanding the world limits their ability to make reasonable decisions.
So we can make good judgments, bad judgments, we can have a poor sense of judgement, limited ability, or an open and knowledgable sense of judgement. It's not about being non-judgmental v judgmental - it's really about how wisely and inclusively and fairly are we using our judgment.
Does that make sense? Because how you described is how I first thought about it... but then I started thinking about it more...