Chullora Public School, NSW

Apart from addressing many parts of the PDHPE curriculum including interpersonal relationships and child protection, I find massage makes a big difference in a number of different ways. I find that class management becomes much easier with the use of massage and a range of benefits are provided for all students.

I’m a teacher in the South Western parts of Sydney. I’ve been using massage in my classroom for the last 2 years with a year 2 class, and year 3. Both my classes have loved giving massages to each other and really see it as a way to do something beneficial, and to have a chance to relax and unwind.

Many of my students are from Muslim backgrounds and are not encouraged have physical contact with others very often, even within their families. Those students in particular, have found massage very exciting and have gained a lot. They have begun to develop deeper relationships with others and to accept closeness and contact in a more positive way. They have even been taking their massage skills home and practising on their parents, or older brothers and sisters – from whom I have been getting rave reviews of the massages the following day in the playground! This increase in contact makes a visible difference to relationships as well.

Relationships with siblings and family improved when the students started giving massages at home. Relationships between class members are also enhanced through massage. I often find that once the class has learnt the massage sequence, students often choose to partner themselves with others that they have recently had problems with in the playground or in the classroom. They see massage as a way of doing something nice for someone else, and a way of putting problems and issues behind them. 

Students who have other socialising problems are often reluctant to join in initially, but after starting the massage with me for the first few sessions, they often choose a class mate whom they trust to be partnered with. In their eyes, giving and receiving massages from someone really cements the relationship. It also allows these students to begin to trust others, even if it’s only that one person, to accept touch from others without shying away and to join in with partnering activities which they usually don’t like to do. From my perspective, massage helps these students the most of all. They develop more confidence because of the trust and friendship they develop with a class mate.

As a teacher, I find that massage does more than help students (and others) build trust and develop relationships. Massage is also a really helpful class management tool. Most teachers have some system of helping to calm or settle a class, whether it be silent reading or relaxation time where students lay down, listen to classical music and focus on their breathing; but I find that when the students are really excitable, angry or riled up this method only works for a few students.

Silent reading becomes a time to chat or read each others’ books, and relaxation time becomes more of a nightmare than a time to relax. Massage though, I find, is something that all students enjoy doing on most days. Occasionally you’ll find one or two who don’t want to be massaged on a particular day, but they join in the next time. I find that the days that students are more uncontrollable, massage works the best.

Once the massage sequence has been learnt entirely, massage becomes a really special time for my class. We close all the shutters and blinds, turn the lights off and close the doors. We make the classroom dark to help us relax – using massage as a special time. The students request massage on days they seem to be particularly restless or hot and bothered, so they also see it as a way to relax, unwind and to settle.

I have found, with my students, that massage gives students a release of sorts. Students in my classes who struggle with correct behaviours and social skills seem to be able to use massage to calm themselves and get over any wrong doing they feel has been done against them. I have noticed that most students who have had recent problems with others in the playground or classroom seem to choose each other as massage partners and use the massage as a way to resolve their problems and become friends again.