Finally, a name!

Constructive Mutualism (re-)emerging to replace Behaviourism

After several months of looking to name the emerging (or perhaps, better, re-emerging) teacherly authority-based paradigm we have finally settled on ‘Constructive Mutualism’, first proposed by Mark Merry, principal of Yarra Valley Grammar (and my co-author) back in early October.  I intuitively liked the name from the outset, but my logical mind needed to make all the relevant connections.

Thus, we have Constructive Mutualism (re-)emerging to replace Behaviourism. I say re-emerging because there is ample evidence that many of our ancestors operated within this paradigm (some as recently as the 17th or 18th century in North America and here in Australia).

Under Constructive Mutualism the offer of safety (physical and psychological) from teacher to student is always unconditional and thus this offer is capable of meeting students’ needs for their own safety and for learning how to offer the same type of safety to others.

For Mark and me, this is the heart of the shift in paradigm – from conditional safety to unconditional safety.

Conceptually, a simple shift but, practically, a major effort for most adults and their institutions.

We had better get started then!

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 concept and practice of teacherly authority.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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