Behaviour traffic light in the daycare centre
The behavior traffic light is an efficient tool for recognizing borderline behavior in daycare facilities. A daycare team developed it with my support as part of their protection concept.
Initial situation
A daycare centre team wanted to develop a behaviour traffic light as part of their protection concept and I was asked to accompany the process. We planned about six months for this. Team meetings are often overloaded with other topics, so we planned several team days where we could work intensively.
Common conception
Build foundatinos
Firstly, we had to agree on terminology. The participants wrote down on large cards all the actions that occur with children in the setting. This ranged from talking and feeding to ‘pulling on the arm’ or ‘taking on the lap’, ‘comforting’ and ‘listening’. In the next step, we discussed the three colours of the traffic light and their meaning. Green means that development-promoting behaviour is being shown, i.e. encouraging and loving behaviour that respects the boundaries of the other person. Red is behaviour that violates boundaries, that verbally or physically hurts or degrades a person and thus inhibits development. Yellow is a centre area where some actions belong, which can be red or green depending on the situation and therefore always require approval or consent (taking photos, for example).
Common understanding strenghtens the team spirit
Discussions build clarity and trust
The team now had a long while to assign the interactions. Once an initial rough categorisation had been made, we discussed the critical points. It was not possible to reach consensus on all actions. That’s why the discussion was so important. In moderated, targeted discussion rounds, the professionals developed a common understanding of many of the terms. This brought up many examples from everyday life that would otherwise never have been discussed. The team gained transparency and trust.
Clear rules for team interaction
Respectful criticism and role-playing for everyday situations
Once a basic initial order had been achieved (after around 3 months), the team had to agree on the form in which consequences were to be defined. What reporting system should there be? How could a colleague be made aware of misconduct according to the behaviour traffic light? How do you formulate respectful criticism? This was not only discussed in theory, but also practised in role plays.
Outcome
The team had the task of constantly reviewing and adapting the behaviour traffic light. The feedback on the process was mixed: for some, the discussion was too intense – others felt closer to their colleagues than before and were able to work with them more confidently.
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