We often hear that our actions are rooted in our own beliefs and values, and, in fact, in the field of child and youth care the notion of self awareness is seen as a pivotal ingredient for both the practitioner and the client for that very reason.

However, curriculum is commonly developed from a context of what the learner needs to learn rather than what he or she brings to the classroom and what beliefs provide the glue for the program. From a program development point of view, the above tenet suggests that we, as a faculty group, develop and deliver curriculum which is grounded in the subjective experience of the students. To this end we invite and value their opinions and personal experience of their learning, and their relationship to the curriculum. We create opportunity for students to share themselves with others, and we integrate this into our evaluation process. To be true to this belief we have to suspend the traditional notion of lecturing the content to the students so that they can be "filled up" with the useful information, and instead facilitate a process whereby students interact with material from a very personal place and begin to understand that material by understanding their subjective experience in relation to the content. From a faculty point of view it commits us to listening closely to the experiences and views of all and to sharing our own selves with each other and the students. It also provokes us to question our own ideas about what is valid academic material.

The process of validating and holding the student’s subjective experiences as important in the learning process creates a cycle in which the students then begin to understand that their quest as practitioners is to understand and respect the subjective experience of the children with whom they work, that is, what it is like to be me, living in this family, going to this school, in this community. Only from this point of reference can the practitioner understand a child’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Ultimately, through the process of understanding the child and the child’s world, the practitioner is able to develop a sensitivity toward that child’s world, recognizing that whatever they do as practitioners will be interpreted in this world and the child will respond accordingly. This orientation to practice allows us to offer new information and be with the child in a way that makes sense to them. Child and youth care is a profession that has the time, the mandate, and the skill to work in this way.