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I created these principles when we were running the Community House afterschool programming. The goal was to support the vision of a healing space for these young people. The children in our neighborhood were commonly subjected to a number of high-threat experiences, and our goal was to provide a means of self-expression and self-realization that would allow them to follow their own hearts, learn to believe the world could be a kind and supportive place, and discover their gifts and interests. I thought I would share them, as they have a universal appeal. I could see these being adopted in a wide range of environments, or adapted to your particular situation. Feel free to take whatever might work for you. The Twelve Principles 1. BE VISIBLE, 2. BE FRIENDLY, 3. BE WELCOMING 4. CONNECT THEM TO THE CURRICULUM, 5. GIVE THEM CHOICE, 6. ASSIGN A MENTOR 7. BE PLAYFUL, 8. LET KIDS LEAD, 9. DON’T BE AFRAID TO GO TO “DARK” CONTENT 10. IDENTIFY FEELINGS, 11. SET BOUNDARIES, 12. EMPOWER YOUTH LEADERSHIP The first three principles. BE VISIBLE BE FRIENDLY BE WELCOMING The first three principles will help us connect and draw in the youth in our neighborhood. To be visible, stand out in the garden or perhaps water the front lawn. We can use signs, either holding, or placing signs outside our space. Be friendly, waving and saying hello to people walking by. Introducing yourself, stating your name, and getting people’s number if possible. Inviting them to view the space. Every child should be welcomed. Calling them by name and asking them about their day. This is important for building trust and a relationship with each child. It fits with the principle of RELATEDNESS of Self-Determination Theory. The second three principles. CONNECT THEM TO THE CURRICULUM GIVE THEM CHOICE ASSIGN A MENTOR - Work One on One! The next three basics principles are designed to connect the kids to the content of the day. It is important for them to have choice. We are seeking to create an environment where children have freedom to pursue their own interests (AUTONOMY). The activities we design should have some relationship to the basics of the Virtues and Positive Psychology. The next step is to work one on one! The third three principles. BE PLAYFUL LET THEM TAKE THE LEAD DON’T BE AFRAID TO GO TO “DARK” CONTENT - Be therapeutic The next three components ask you to set a tone that will build opportunities to let the children explore ideas that are living within them. Play is a natural behavior that is intimately linked to learning and self-awareness. When we create safe learning spaces, we allow children to play, even when the content is so called “inappropriate”. Our ability to understand and support the therapeutic use of play is one of the greatest assets of being an independent organization. We are not choosing the themes of the play. We are not forcing our ideas on the children, nor are we judging what they create in their imaginations. However, we can direct their play into new venues, introducing ideas that can help them create healthy choices. For example, If the play becomes violent, we can create a character who is a helping professional who can model positive, compassionate, and kind behaviors. If the play reflects sadness, or loneliness, we can create scenes where the character connects in love and compassion. Play is a powerful tool. We should alway encourage play, and be playful. Play can be used to transform behaviors, if a child is being defiant, a playful approach can turn things from defiance into connection. The fourth three principles.
IDENTIFY THE HURT - FEEL TO HEAL SET BOUNDARIES EMPOWER YOUTH TO BE LEADERS FOR JUSTICE Our kids are dealing with many heavy emotions. Our job is to help them understand and transform these feelings so they can become the resilient youth leaders of tomorrow. When we see they are shutting down, or acting out, we can give them time to cool down. One of the staff who is close to the child, or their mentor for the day, can go to speak with them and ask them what they need. Using coloring, drawing or writing tools is useful here, or even stuffed animals and cuddly toys can be helpful. We have a space in the yoga room, or the side room in the CCL (800) can also be used as a quiet room. De-escalation is the goal when a child is upset. There is no way to come to a place of understanding when in an emotional upset. Art and emotional expression. There is no better tool than art to help with emotional healing. Using the activity of the day, or one developed on the spot, a child should be supported in expressing emotions in art. Play, as mentioned before is another tool. Use the other members of the team to brainstorm solutions on the spot. We can be responsive to what the needs are when we are present and aware of our kids and the goals of the staff to support and transform.
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Creative genius is a capacity that can be developed, and it is probably one of the most important ability to develop in our young people. Many highly creative people learn the opposite. They learn to shut down their creativity and give the expected response. Their own creative nature becomes a burden.
Children learn this very early. have high level creative capacities are often misunderstood, or diagnosed with disorders. If a young child is not "on task" but staring out the window, it is seen as a problem, rather than perhaps the process of imagination and incubation of ideas. When a child comes up with an answer that is far away from the expected one, they are not honored for this uniqueness, but simply given a poor mark. I recall one day watching a young while observing a traditional kindergarten class. He was the most joyfilled student. With great excitement and enthusiasm, he would interpret each lesson from a completely different lens. Throughout the day, he came up with his own ideas to every exercise. He enthusiastically shouted creative (but wrong) answers. That day was a standardized test day. On the shapes-test, when the teacher presented the rectangle, he enthusiastically shouted "refridgerator". I loved that answer. But it did not give him any points on the test. At the end of the day the teacher had pigeon holed him as dumb, and I just wonder how far that lable will be carried with him. I wonder how long it will take before he stops shouting answers, and hides in the back, or acts out instead. I wonder how long before his spark is extinguished. Creative expression is a process of allowing, not controlling. The intellect must move aside. Judgment has no place here. In the pure creative process, the creative person becomes the vessle for co-creating with God. Children are naturals at this, until they learn it is unwanted, or inappropriate. In the book Power vs. Force, author David Hawkins describes it as follows: Creativity and genius are the center of powerful, high energy attractors. No human talents are more germane to the creation of new M-fields or the unfoldment of the enfolded universe; in fact, these are the explicity domain of creativity and genius. Yet these closely allied processes remain shrouded in mysteryl there is a paucity of information about the essential nature of either creativity or genius. (pg 217) The mention of the role of M-fields is similar to the work of others, such as Amit Goswami's work (see his book Quantum Creativity) Here Hawkins refers to the way in which creative people help with the creation of new M-fields (short for Morphogenetic fields, as per Rupert Sheldrake) I like to think of creativity as tapping into the existing field, and then becoming the vehicle to express the essence of that collective field. The connection to the expression of what already is, rather than the creation of something entirely novel to the individual is described in the following paragraph. The process of animating genius most commonly infolves first formulating a question, and waiting an indefinite interval for consciousness to work with the problem; then suddenly, the answer appears in a flash, in a form that is characteristically nonverbal. Great muscians throughout history have stated that they ddid not plan their music, but rather wrote down what they heard, finished, within their own minds. (continued from pg 217) This type of inspired idea formation is akin to channeling. It is a process of revelation after incubation. Hawkins describes this revalation process as a jump from a lower to a higher attractor energy pattern. Attractor energy patterns have harmonics, as do musical tones. The higher frequency the harmonic, the higher the power. What the genius arrives at is the new harmonic Every advance in himan consciousness has come through a leap from a lower attractor pattern to a higher harmonic. Posing the origianl question acivates an attractor; the answer lies within its harmonic. This is why it is said that the question and the answer are emrelyu two sides of one coin, and that one cannot pose a question unless the answer altread exists--otherwise, there would be no pattern from which the question could be formulated. (pg 218) |
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