About the author Linda Ward has been working in education for 35+ years and currently employs over 30 teachers in the three centres she owns. Through her training company “Forward Professional Development” she mentors and trains teachers, new business owners and managers. Her passion for education is evidenced through creating nourishing value-based environments, through involving herself in ongoing thinking, and by having a willingness to experiment and take risks. “I need you to play over there.” “I need you to put your shoes in your locker.” “I need you to lie down.” Knowing expectations and what pleases a person eliminates a lot of wasted time, effort, and decision fatigue. Once the instruction has been followed, hopefully the child receives some wonderful praise, endorphins increase, and a sense of relaxation occurs. Giving children freedom of choice allows children to feel involved in their own wellbeing, have an important role in the room environment, gain a sense of independence and build their self-esteem. The challenge is to find a comfortable balance between building their confidence in the decision-making process and protecting them from getting bogged down by the trivial decisions that can negatively impact their mental wellbeing. Sometimes reducing the available options is actually protecting the child from mounting pressures. 6. RECOGNISE FATIGUE AND PROVIDE SUPPORT If you observe decision fatigue in one of your children (task avoidance, procrastination, impulse issues) it is essential to step in. Use supportive language eg. “I can see that you are finding this hard at the moment, let’s take a break and see if that helps. We can come back to it later.” Supporting by providing rest and alternatives is important, but we should also be on the lookout for “learned helplessness” which is characterised by a child’s inability to complete tasks because of a dependence on adult support. Whereas decision fatigue comes about because of having to make too many important decisions, learned helplessness comes about from a child learning that certain behaviours result in others completing a task for them. What might start as decision fatigue can quickly develop into learned helplessness in children. Finally, decision fatigue can affect all children, regardless of age, when presented with an overwhelming number of choices. Limiting the number of decisions a child must make is helping to set them up for success. We prevent decision fatigue by allowing our children to store their willpower so they can make good choices when they are the most important. August 2023 { 26 }
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