Today we are talking to Amar Muhić, who has been in charge of movement (physical education) at Bloom for over ten years. In this interview, Mr. Muhić talks about the importance of focusing on natural movement in schools and his role as the coordinator of the Cambridge program.
Tell us something about yourself.
When I was four years old and I was asked "what do you want to be?", my wish was to be a teacher. And my wish came true. I really like working with children. It fills me with joy when I see children smiling and enjoying what we do together.
I started working at Bloom as a physical education teacher in 2012. From the very beginning, I liked the concept of the school that Maëlys (de Rudder Tanović, founder of Bloom) came up with, from how the children behaved in school, to the Montessori philosophy itself, and everything else.
After some time, through working together and talking with Maëlys, we discovered the MovNat programme, that promotes "natural movement" as a way to support our natural human potential. We became very interested in this concept, and I was offered by Bloom to be trained in London, where I became a certified MovNat trainer and was then able to start implementing a natural movement program at school for the students.
At Bloom we put a lot of emphasis on movement - whether it's in the classroom or outside. This is the result of our Montessori approach and supported by recent trends in education. Since the school is surrounded by a forest, we use every opportunity to spend as much time as possible in nature.
Why is it important that we practice "natural movement" rather than classical physical education at school? What is the difference?
The difference is that we support and develop natural movement patterns for which our human body was designed. It is the way we moved as little children, and most of us have lost these skills. Crawling, spinning, jumping, coordination, balance, these are all things we did instinctively when we were babies and toddlers. These movements are unfortunately forgotten in classical physical education programs today. At Bloom, we emphasise strengthening the upper and lower limbs of the body, coordination, balance, and we do it all in a natural environment. This is very important for children. It is much nicer when children are able to work in a natural environment rather than, say, inside. They enjoy it more and it has far more benefits for their bodies and cognitive development.
Does it help them learn better?
It does. The best example is, say, balancing. When they need to find balance on a beam, the left and right sides of the brain communicate, which rarely happens in other sports. In fact, it almost never happens. The left and right sides of the body communicate in a very specific way as they maintain balance so as not to fall off the beam. This is very important for their development.
It should be mentioned that the man who designed MovNat and is the founder of the movement, Erwan Le Corre, confirmed that we are pioneers in this project! His goal is for the natural movement project to enter all schools as part of the curriculum. We have had it in our curriculum for a long time, which is something we are very proud of.
In addition to this project, you are also one of the school coordinators. Could you tell us more about it?
I am the coordinator for the Cambridge program. So, my tasks are: correspondence with Cambridge, the preparation of exams, the preparation of test schedules, etc. It's a lot of work, but I do it with great pleasure. It is also a wonderful feeling to receive confirmation of your work from the outside - when we had an inspection from Cambridge, they were very satisfied with the quality of the implementation of the program as well as the fulfilment of our obligations towards Cambridge.
What do you feel is your purpose within Bloom?
When I see that the children around me are smiling, that's what moves me, what motivates me in my work. When you look around and see so many happy and smiling faces around you, that's what motivates you for that day and the next, and for the following years, to be the best you can be at your job.
What do you hope to teach your students?
To be good people, to be honest, to respect themselves and those around them.
And what have they taught you?
They've taught me that every day is a day for itself and that every day is different. When working with children, you can never expect that every day will be the same. Good and bad things happen. You have to be ready for new challenges when working with children on a daily basis.
Do you have a favourite moment from this past academic year?
Yes: when we went to a competition with boys who had wanted us to participate in one for many years. This competition was for football. They were so excited be a part of it. I felt their happiness the moment they ran out onto that field and did their best to win.