in tro spec tion to con sider the mu tual in flu -
ence of in ter ac tion be tween the
re searcher and re searched evironment or
phe nom e non.
Why is it then that we often avoid
doing this when we as sess chil dren? Rarely
(if ever) will you read an as sess ment about
a child, and see ref er ences to the as ses sor
in terms of in tro spec tion about the in flu -
ence of the as ses sor on the child and vice-
versa. And again con sid er ing the re search
met a phor, when we avoid this pro cess of
con sid er ing this mu tual in ter ac tion and in -
flu ence, we se ri ously jeapordise the
re li abil ity or trust wor thi ness of the as sess -
ment by leav ing out a crit i cal as pect and
im por tant tar get of as sess ment. In doing
so, our as sess ment pro cess can be se ri -
ously flawed, and there fore also our
in ter ven tion plan or strat egy fol low ing as -
sess ment.
But why do we leave out this crit i cal
as pect of as sess ment? This would be an in -
ter est ing topic for fur ther re search, but
allow me to spec u late for the time being.
In tro spec tion can be a daunt ing pro cess,
re quir ing from us not only the abil ity, but
the will ing ness to also view our own hurts
and pain in the pro cess, when con sid er ing
how we in ter act with chil dren and why
we in ter act the way we do. As sess ing our -
selves as part of the as sess ment tar get also
makes us vul ner a ble by ex pos ing our own
weak nesses, and in doing so may ask of us
to make cer tain changes, a pro cess which
can be both pain ful and chal leng ing. So
why would we shy away from this? Is this
not an op por tu nity we should ea gerly grab
hold of? I can only imag ine that prac ti tio -
ners would be hes i tant to make them-
selves vul ner a ble if they work in an
unsupportive evironment, or have in ad e -
quate su per vi sion, or are so over whelmed
by their work that they are be com ing
emo tion ally un avail able to chil dren (and
then by def i ni tion to them selves as well).
Or per haps it may be that we sim ply do
not un der stand just how much we in flu -
ence the en vi ron ment and the child that
we are as sess ing. I am sure there can be
many more ex pla na tions.
In the end, what ever the rea son for
avoid ing this crit i cal as pect, my chal lenge
to all of us is to ex plore with out fear or
ap pre hen sion the value of in clud ing our -
selves as tar gets for as sess ment, and I dare
to say that we will not only be more ef fec -
tive and ac cu rate in our as sess ment, but
we will be richer emo tion ally by ap ply ing
this form of self su per vi sion and
autocorrective feed back.
60
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
W
e like to think we’re a civ i lized
coun try. We have laws, we
have rules, we have stan dards
of be hav iour that go back, in some cases,
hun dreds of years.
It’s in ter est ing to see our so ci ety
through the lens of a dif fer ent cul ture – a
cul ture that has been around so long it
makes ours look like a new dance craze
sweep ing the internet.
Re cently, we wel comed a for eign stu -
dent into our home. Gao Lai is from
China, study ing at the Uni ver sity. (Gao Lai
is his mother's nick name for him. It is sort
of pro nounced “Gow-lay”. We tried to
wrap our tongues around his ac tual full
name, and came ad mi ra bly close, but he
gave us this easy, pro nounce able
out.)
He’s a young man, only 22,
and he came to Can ada
alone. He came here de ter -
mined not to im pose his
cul ture on ours, but rather to
adapt to and learn from our way
of life. He in sists on eat ing our
food (and being a boy barely out
of his teens, he eats a lot of our food). He
wants to lis ten to our music, read our
books, watch our tele vi sion. I think he’s
brave and smart and he will come away
much richer for hav ing learned so much
about an other kind of life.
But along the way, there is cer tainly a
lot of adapt ing he has had to do.
He ar rived on a Sat ur day at noon, ex -
hausted from the long trip half way around
the world. And be cause he’s a young man,
my wife fig ured he’d be hun gry. In his halt -
ing Eng lish and through a set of quick
cha rades he con firmed this, so my wife
whipped to gether a toasted to mato and
cheese sand wich.
She set the sand wich down in front of
Gao Lai. He smiled and thanked her. And
looked at the sand wich. And smiled again,
and thanked her again, and looked at the
sand wich again.
Fi nally, he asked, “What is ...?”
“Oh, it's to mato and cheese,” said my
wife. “Do you not have those in
China?”
“Yes, but ...”. He seemed
very un com fort able. “How do
you ... eat?”
He had never seen a sand -
wich.
Now, we know that some
foods are going to be dif fer ent. Of
course they will be. But this re ally sur -
prised us. We apol o get i cally showed
Gow-Lay how to pick up the sand wich
and eat it. He was clearly un easy about
this.
“No ... fawk? Spoon?”
What we did n't know – and what he so
61
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
Nils Ling
Being Civilized
del i cately ex plained to us later – is that in
his cul ture, food is rarely touched with the
hand while eat ing. It is usu ally con sid ered
mon u men tally im po lite. And here he was,
just off the plane, and we were ca su ally
ex pect ing him to com mit a se ri ous breach
of table man ners. And smil ing at him, and
wait ing to see if he enjoyed it.
Think about how you might feel in that
sit u a tion. You get on a plane and land in
an other coun try. You’re hun gry. Your
hosts cheer fully put a plate of food down
for you, then ask you to, I don't know, eat
with your feet. “Bon appetit!”
Yes, I think I might be a lit tle dis con -
certed.
But give the boy credit, he rolled with
it. And he has con tin ued to. But we al ways
have to re mem ber that most of the dishes
we have served him are new to him. So
we find our selves hav ing to dem on strate
how our food is eaten here. Corn on the
cob. Fried Chicken. And it was par tic u larly
fun to show him how West ern chil dren
eat spaghetti.
I'm im pressed by his will ing ness – his
ea ger ness – to in hale our food, be cause it
is so dif fer ent from what he knows. But
we want to learn from him, too. So I took
him to the local Asian mar ket, got him to
pick out some typ i cal spices from his re -
gion of China, and cook us a small noo dle
dish.
Well. This is going to sound like I made
it up, but I prom ise you I did not: he gave
me a sin gle noo dle from the pot. I put it in
my mouth and tasted the var i ous fla vours
of this dif fer ent cul ture, sa vour ing the rich
— Oh, dear God, what is hap pen ing in my
mouth?
I could FEEL the taste buds being cau -
ter ized. My teeth began to melt.
Imag ine gob bling down a plate ful of
jalapeno pep pers, but stop ping to roll each
one around for a bit. That was the ef fect
pro duced by a sin gle noo dle. I can see
why they don’t eat with their hands. You
would need oven mitts.
So I ad mire him for deign ing to eat our
food, which must taste so bland to him
that it would be like eat ing noo dles with -
out any sauce at all. And he is learn ing that
our cul tures are dif fer ent and that he must
be pa tient with us be cause we are sav ages
who eat with our feet.
And we are learn ing that for a civ i lized
peo ple, we have a way to go.
From Nils Ling’s book
Truths and Half Truths.
A col lec tion of some of
his most mem o ra ble and
hi lar i ous col umns. Write
to him at RR #9, 747
Brackley Point Road,
Char lotte town, PE, C1E
1Z3, Can ada.
62
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
G
reet ings from the South east of
Eng land where I started my visit in
the an cient city of Bath lo cated in
the County of Somerset. Bath was named
Aquae Sulis by the Romans back in AD 43!
Lo cated about 100 miles west of Lon don,
Bath was granted city sta tus through Royal
Char ter by Queen Eliz a beth I in 1590, 7
years be fore Can ada’s New found land be -
come the first col ony of the Brit ish
Em pire! Bath was granted World Her i tage
sta tus in 1987 and the an cient Roman
baths have been care fully re stored to pro -
vide amaz ing glimpses of life in an cient
Brit ain of fer ing rich learn ing op por tu ni ties
for chil dren and young peo ple of all ages –
even old ies like me.
As a ded i cated ‘peo ple watcher’, I am
al ways on the look-out for the kinds of
things chil dren or young peo ple are get -
ting up to in the places I visit. It was
in ter est ing to watch chil dren and young
peo ple at the Roman Baths lis ten ing to the
audio guides, pick ing up on the free ed u -
ca tional ma te ri als that were readily
avail able, or just hang ing out, whether with
adults or doing things and fill ing time by
them selves.
I’m par tic u larly in ter ested in mo ments
when one finds young peo ple hang ing out
on their own. In my ex pe ri ence, one
does n’t find young peo ple hang ing out on
their own all that often. So when I do find
such in stances, it gets me think ing: What
may be going on in their lives? What does
the body lan guage com mu ni cate through
this image of a sol i tary youth? Does the
body lan guage con vey re lax ation? Maybe
one iden ti fies tired ness or ex haus tion?
Might this be a young per son in pain? We
will never re ally know but how often do
63
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
leon fulcher's postcard
from the southeast of
england
Re flec tions aris ing from this
Image of a Sol i tary Youth
Learn ing Op por tu ni ties dur ing School Hols
at the Roman Baths
you find young peo ple sit ting in this man -
ner with their heads in their hands? How
might one con tem plate con nect ing with
such a youth?
My visit to South west Eng land was dur -
ing the school hol i days so there were
plenty of chil dren and fam i lies around.
There were also a lot of car a vans and
camper vans on the roads! I watched with
fas ci na tion as this street vender per -
formed his magic for youn ger chil dren and
adults, cap tur ing our at ten tion and
prompt ing amaze ment plus laugh ter in a
va ri ety of ways. Some street ven dors and
busk ers cater for adults. Those who per -
form for chil dren and par ents – like cyc
work ers – have spe cial tal ents.
As we moved fur ther south through
Devon and Cornwall, I was filled with
amaze ment while vis it ing old Tintagel, the
birth place of King Ar thur – he of King Ar -
thur and the Knights of the Roundtable!
No, it was n’t Cam e lot – that imag i nary
place that fea tured at the end of King Ar -
thur’s life. One look at the roof line of the
Tintagel Post Of fice spoke of its long life,
re mem ber ing of course that Ar thur lived
there cen tu ries ear lier!
The Cornwall beaches were of course
teem ing with fam i lies. All seemed in tent
on soak ing up sun shine after the wet
Spring time in many parts of the UK.
Given the num ber of non-Eng lish speak ing
vis i tors, it seemed as though half of Eu -
rope was also spend ing their school
64
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
Mag i cal Mo ments for Chil dren of All Ages
in the Cen tre of Bath
An cient Tintagel Post Of fice built well after
King Ar thur lived there
Granddad, Daddy, Chil dren & the Dog at Cornwall Har bour
hol i days in Cornwall. One par tic u lar fam -
ily group caught my at ten tion at Pads tow
Har bour. As I en gaged in my pas time of
peo ple watch ing, this ex tended fam ily plus
dog were also hang ing out, en gaged in the
very same pas time!
But for all of the Biker Clubs I saw dur -
ing this trip, and even those that I’ve seen
over my many years of travel, I con fess to
never hav ing seen a group of old Bik ers
like this one that I found on my drive back
north to Scot land. Here these old guys
were – many prob a bly my own age and
older – all dressed in their leath ers and
Biker gear but all were rid ing Vespas,
maybe two dozen of them! Who needs a
Harley, eh? Enjoy!
65
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
Club Out ing for Old Bik ers with their Vespas
Gary Adams (1985) in his ar ti cle “Ver bal man age ment of con ta gious be hav ior” (Jour nal of Child and
Youth Care Work,1(2) stated that: “Lengthy discusions are not ap pro pri ate for bel lig er ent groups.” We
thought this car toon il lus trated his point ad mi ra bly:
miscellany
EndNotes
Until a few months ago
We did n't know what it was to live
with out fear, un cer tainty, em bar rass ment
and hurt;
We did n't know what it was to feel
safe, happy, and loved;
You helped us to shed our con flicts,
anger and emp ti ness,
And filled us with hope, courage and
peace,
So that we could live and achieve and
move for ward.
Until a few months ago, we did n't
know that we would ever want to say
Thank You.
___
“Women and cats will do as they
please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea.”
— Rob ert A. Heinlein
There is a the ory which states that if
ever any one dis cov ers ex actly what the
Uni verse is for and why it is here, it will
in stantly dis ap pear and be re placed by
some thing even more bi zarre and in ex pli -
ca ble.
There is an other the ory which states
that this has al ready hap pened.
— Douglas Adams
(The Res tau rant at the End
of the Uni verse)
___
“Never put off until to mor row
what you can possiby do the day after
to mor row.”
— Mark Twain
___
66
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
“Son, I think I’m be gin ning to un der stand you
better ... I’ve been pag ing through this book called
How to Know your Teen ager.”
— Charles Schulz be fore the days of
‘Pea nuts’
In-depth con ver sa tion
be tween fa ther and
young son
“It is a model of how adults can
and should but so rarely do talk to
chil dren, for it is above all a con ver -
sa tion be tween equals. Not that the
man and the boy are or pre tend to
be equals in ev ery thing; both know
very well that the man has much
more knowl edge and ex pe ri ence.
But they are equals, first, be cause
they work as col leagues, are equally
in volved in the con ver sa tion, equally
eager and de ter mined to find as
much of the truth as they can. And
they are equals be cause the man
treats the boy with ex actly the re -
spect that he would want an adult
col league to treat him, takes his
thoughts, con fu sions, and ques tions
as se ri ously as he would want an -
other adult to take his own. Again,
we can only envy all chil dren who
have such adults to talk to.”
— John Holt
___
67
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
“Look, Tim o thy, if I give you the two bars of choc o late and
the fifty cents, will you tell Mummy that Daddy is on the
tele phone?”
___
You are wor ried about see ing him spend his early
years in doing noth ing. What! Is it noth ing to be
happy? Noth ing to skip, play, and run around all day
long? Never in his life will he be so busy again.
— Jean-Jacques Rous seau, Emile, 1762
___
I am fond of chil dren — ex cept boys.
— Lewis Carroll
68
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
information
Editors
Thom Garfat (Can ada) /
thom@cyc-net.org
Brian Gannon (South Af rica) /
brian@cyc-net.org
Correspondence
The Ed i tors wel come your input, com -
ment, re quests, etc.
Write to
cyconline@cyc-net.org
Advertising
Only ad ver tis ing re lated to the pro fes sion,
pro grams, courses, books, con fer ences
etc. will be ac cepted. Rates and spec i fi ca -
tions are ob tain able from
advertising@cyc-net.org
CYC-On line is a web-based e-pub li ca tion and there fore not avail able in printed form.
How ever, read ers are al ways wel come to print out pages or chap ters as de sired.
69
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
Document Outline - Contents
- Editorial: Appealing for the Future / 3
- Teaching Students to Overcome Frustration / 6
- Academic Roles and Relationships / 13
- No Need to Fix Anything – Just Add the Missing Parts: A Needs-Based Approach to Child & Youth Cared / 16
- CYC Week – 1996 / 22
- Developmental Pathways as Rites of Passage / 25
- Ron Garrison
- Fair Start for you: a Free Online Education and Development Program / 31
- With mental health and wellbeing in mind / 34
- Cat and Youth Care, Part 3 / 42
- Who will regulate the regulators? / 47
- Power Down for Dinner / 49
- Authentic Assessment for Restorative Outcomes / 50
- Clean your room / 56
- The Assessment of Children / 59
- Werner van der Westhuizen
- Being Civilized / 61
- Postcard from the Southeast of England / 63
- EndNotes / 66
- Information / 68
Dostları ilə paylaş: |