How do we support autonomy and initiative in students?

As teachers, we can support psychosocial development in a variety of ways. For example, if you're planning to teach in preschool or elementary, you can ENCOURAGE children to complete tasks for themselves and reward them for taking initiative. In middle school or higher levels of education, we can publicly reinforce student's autonomy and initiative with COMMENTS like "I really like it when someone acts on their own and takes the initiative to make our classroom better." With a positive tone, this comment show that the teacher values all personal initiative in the classroom.