TACTics
Journal
A Publication for and by TOC
for Education Practitioners
February 7, 2003
In this week’s issue:
Networking
(1) Children: Seen, But Not
Heard?, Eleanor
May-Brenneker
Connections
(2) 7 th Annual TOCFE Conference
Editors’ Notes
(3) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A.
Edwards
NETWORKING
(1) Children, Seen But Not Heard?
From Eleanor May-Brenneker, The
Netherlands
A Serious Question:
As we put TACTics together each
week, one of our objectives is to provide articles from TOCFE practitioners
that can be used as a catalyst to open our imaginations to more and better ways
to use the TOC thinking tools, to help children learn, and become responsible
adults. Today, Eleanor has a question:
Dear Colleagues,
The Victorians used to say,
“Children should be seen but not heard.”
The following article deals
with concerns expressed by TOC-ers in The Netherlands about use and possible
abuse of TOCFE (NBr). The text is inspired by voices raised during our latest
POOGI meeting and reflects the disquietude on the subject among my Dutch
colleagues. We wonder if similar hunches live among the rest of the TOCFE
practitioners and we would welcome a debate on the issue.
About a month ago, Philip
Bakker hosted our (TOCFE.NL) regular POOGI meeting in Amsterdam. We usually
start with the “barometer reading”, when everyone gets a chance to update the
group on professional and/or personal points of interest or concern.
Nel Hofmeester, our chair, aired her views on application of TOC and,
possibly unknowingly, manipulation of pupils by some teachers in order to
maintain school rules with detrimental effect for the children. She expressed
her misgivings about some cases where the Negative Branch may be ill-applied in
dealing with children with behavioural difficulties (or differences?), thus
exacerbating the cause of the behaviour for the sake of cure the effects. And
soon, Nel discovered that the group shared her concerns. The subject of
manipulation had previously been touched upon in training sessions.
The conflict is hinged on the
following issues:
Do we bend the rules?
Do we bend the child?
I seem to remember Kathy’s
cloud in my early training days:
D: break school rules/D:
enforce rules
D’: not break school rules/D’:
not enforce rules
Maybe this particular issue
goes a step further. It is only too easy to enforce the rules and make the
child “see sense” and compel it to fit the required pattern rather than to dig
deeper and to examine together the cause of the child’s behaviour.
What goes really on behind the
disruptive behaviour or the non-co-operative attitude? What lives in the heart
and soul of the child that leads to negativity? How do we apply the Negative
Branch ethically, elegantly and correctly without harming and/or manipulating
the child when thinking through the effect of the negative behaviour? (The
latter is even more relevant, though, when a child’s behaviour is publicly
analysed in front of a group or a whole class.) Does the child’s integrity
(wholeness) and self worth remain in tact during the process? Is it not imperative
to find the cause of the effects before trimming the NBr? Would the conflict
diagram (cloud) possibly shed some light on obscure and hidden agendas?
Is the child seen but not
heard?
Do the above concerns live
among TOCFE members elsewhere? Is it a Dutch-only issue or is it worldwide?
Would you like to join in the debate?
Eleanor.
CONNECTIONS
(2) 7th International TOCFE Conference
May 16-19, 2003
Ramada Plaza Beach Resort
1500 Miracle Strip Parkway
Ft Walton Beach, Florida, USA
Hotel:
• For reservations, USA toll
free: 800.874.8962.
• Please reserve your room
under the TOCFE Conference block of rooms.
• Boxed continental
breakfast-up to two per room included.
• Blocked rooms will be held
until April 24, 2003 (afterward, reservations
only if space available).
• The following prices are for
maximum of 2 people per room (additional person is $10/person per night up to
maximum of 4 per room).
Standard: $120 (plus tax) per
night.
Courtyard: $135 (plus tax) per
night
Poolside: $155 (plus tax) per
night
Beach Front: $175 (plus tax)
per night
Airport:
• Fort Walton Beach, Florida
(VPS is the airport code).
• Cab/shuttle service from
airport to hotel is about $15.
• Driving information will be
shared in a future TACTics.
Conference Fees:
• Daily Rate: $25 includes
lunch, coffee breaks and all materials.
• Full conference rate: $125
includes 4 lunches, all coffee breaks, all materials and Special
Dinner/Entertainment Event on Sunday, May 18. A Special Event is still being
planned for Saturday, May 17!
• 10% discount if registration
fees are paid by April 1, 2003
EDITORS’ NOTES
(3) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A.
Edwards.
Feel free to share with us.
Send your responses, applications of the thinking processes, lessons,
announcements, and etc. by mail to: Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island Rd.,
Cedarville, Michigan 49719, USA. Or send hyperlink to cedwards@cedarville.net
or bucknek@earthlink.net.
You may also view TACTics in its intended formatting, by visiting our web site at www.tocforeducation.com. Click on “What’s New.”