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23 FEBRUARY 2009

NO 1404

Care work

Paul was beginning to move with the flow of ideas. "But they do have to learn what adults expect. They need to know what adults will accept and what will be considered unacceptable. The world must speak back to kids as it does to all of us . . . sometimes in words and sometimes in rewards and punishments. To know and predict these things is essential for us to plan our lives as we want them to be. Surely this is the basis of self-determination and responsibility. It comes from experience and, as adults, we do what we can to make sure that kids have these experiences. As I see it the disciplining of a child, by whatever means, is no more and no less than the structuring experience, as a teaching device."

Charlotte nodded in acknowledgement of Paul's position. "This is why so much rests with the attitudes and intentions of the child care worker and why I was so concerned about your emphasis upon technique. If the worker doesn't make personal learning the primary concern and examine the experiences of the kids from this perspective then I have serious questions about her or his motives. My suspicion is that the primary project will be to make the child into something that meets the workers' own needs for control, acceptance or salvation. This is a selfish reaction rather than a self-full purpose. In the presence of such an adult, no child will be encouraged to examine her own experience or pursue his own unique journey of learning. Instead, the world will indeed speak back, but only from the unacknowledged personal need of the adult to control."

"Sort of a `my way or the highway' approach to child care, eh?"

"Something like that but without any signs reading `Highway this way."'

"But when I work with kids, I know I make moves to control them for my own sake. Maslow might see it as a basic survival need for child care workers. Jeez, none of us are going to walk into a group of acting out kids and let them do whatever. First we have to protect ourselves. Secondly, we have to decide what's acceptable within the particular situation. None of us would keep our jobs if we all had different standards and expectations from those of our supervisors." Paul looked directly into the face of his supervisor and winked.

Charlotte wagged her finger in mock chastisement. "The issue is in the overall intent. Of course, I'll control the world around me to ensure my personal sense of safety and well being. Beyond this, I'll test out my efficacy by acting upon my world; this is how I come to understand the incredible potential I have, as well as my own limitations. When I set out to impose myself upon the behavior of a child I may do this in order to protect my own boundaries or my right to pursue my own projects in a responsible way. When I structure a learning situation for a child, as a teacher might set up a classroom, I certainly want the world to speak back to the child.

"These circumstances are quite different in both intention and desired outcome. In the first instance my intention is to preserve my own sense of integrity and I have a very real investment in wanting
the child to change. Here the child must come to understand that the issue is one of freedom and not one of control. Developmentally this is a tough one for kids to learn but it's absolutely critical. If this lesson is not learned, control becomes the central theme and children await their turn to exercise it over others . . . it becomes a matter of power rather than freedom.

"In the second case, my attention is focused on the opportunity for the child to learn. Here I cannot invest myself in what the child chooses to do with the information as the world speaks back. Given that I've met my own needs to make sure that the young person is safe from life-threatening danger, my project is one of allowing the child to take the information into her or his own world and examine it in the light of personal experience. Since I can never fully know the private worlds of children, I must assume that they are making decisions that are right for them at that moment in time. These decisions may not be right for me and I may predict that they will not always be right for them but that's what experiential learning is all about. Such decisions are not right or wrong, good or bad, they are just part of learning. Even when decisions made at one time don't fit any more, they can be valued for the time when they did fit and then given up without judgement.

"In child care our task is to be there, available, caring and supporting through this process. Good child care is like a gentle massage from a highly skilled, caring and sensitive masseur. It uses the natural process of growth and development in the same way as the masseur delicately facilitates the movement of energy around the body. It is not the imposition of an outside force created by the wielding of power and authority. When change occurs, it's not the brilliance or tenacity of the child care worker that brings it about – it's a decision on the part of a child who may, in the presence of that worker, decide to take the first risks in the process of self-discovery and self-determination."

GERRY FEWSTER

Fewster, G. (1990). Being in Child Care: A Journey into Self. New York. Haworth Press. pp. 14-16.

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