Structural support!

Support can be, and has been, built into the system

Last week I looked at what it takes for an adult to support the development of meaning making (ego or consciousness development) in a child.  For a young child there is really no other way than to have an adult provide the support through the first two development stages 0 – 1.5 years (Impulsive) and 1.5 – 4 years (Egocentric).

However, for children who go to school, schooling post-WW2 has been structured to support children moving through the next two development stages, 5 – 12 (Rules Oriented) and teenage years (Conformist).

The way it does this follows the research about how adults make the transition from one stage to the next.  This research indicates that adults need:

• a dis-equilibrating event (shock) that they cannot make sense of at their current level of meaning making

• to be emotionally invested in the success of making sense of what is happening

• a supportive environment for the new stage that is emerging

Our schooling system supports children’s growth by timing starting school at one point of transition and timing the move from primary to secondary at a second point of transition.  In their respective cases teachers support the stage that children are moving into.

Ludovico Einaudi in concert - 25-1-20

All this has meant that schooling has been very stable for a long time, and children have made these transitions relatively smoothly.

However, problems have been mounting up over time as school leaving ages have gone up to the current eighteen and society has created stimuli to encourage children to move to the next stage (Expert) at a younger age (fifteen or sixteen, if not earlier).  Curriculum and pedagogies have moved to support this (it is the Expert stage that can develop ‘21st century skills’, for example) but the resolution of how to support this shift: by adults providing all three stages of support or structural changes with adults on the new far side supporting this emerging stage (and may be year 9 campuses are a step in this direction), or may be a combination of both.

Whichever it is, teachers at the higher levels (year 10 – 12) need at least the capacity to support students transitioning into the Expert level, indicating that they need to be a level higher (Achiever).

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation. At the core of this work is the practice of encounter.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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