The work of the brave, talented, diligent people who pioneered the field of CE has started to pay off a bit: CE is more widely known - mostly in the private sector of rehabilitation of physical disabled - in some cases getting accepted, different kind of conductor training programs are existing. Even, some Universities take notice of our profession. I should say we are effective.
Beneath this veneer of effectiveness however, there is an irony in the profession that I think of as CE paradox: For a profession that systematically helps people aspire to and reach their innate and function potential, CE has not yet reached its own potential. In fact, although CE is a 60 years old profession, it is still in its relative professional infancy.
CE lacks a coherent, widely agreed on definition, conductor training varies in content and its interventions differ sometimes greatly. In short, CE is still a broadly defined endeavour in need of refining. I would not suggest to look for ‘mistakers’ but we should definitely learn from our mistakes of past and start to be more constructive for the future.
So, we are here, but what next? In which directions CE might move how our interventions and services might evolve in the near future. Where do we, as profession, go from here? CE has long been a powerful force for transformation in people’s lives. Whether contributed in school situations, in blocks, summer camp ways, private, etc., CE is about harnessing the best in people and inspiring them to live out their potential. CE should be a wake-up call, challenging habilitation, rehabilitation, challenging folks to tap their inner abundance. The profession of conductive pedagogy is fortunate to have many skilled and imaginative people working toward a great end.
I hope we can get there one day….
Beneath this veneer of effectiveness however, there is an irony in the profession that I think of as CE paradox: For a profession that systematically helps people aspire to and reach their innate and function potential, CE has not yet reached its own potential. In fact, although CE is a 60 years old profession, it is still in its relative professional infancy.
CE lacks a coherent, widely agreed on definition, conductor training varies in content and its interventions differ sometimes greatly. In short, CE is still a broadly defined endeavour in need of refining. I would not suggest to look for ‘mistakers’ but we should definitely learn from our mistakes of past and start to be more constructive for the future.
So, we are here, but what next? In which directions CE might move how our interventions and services might evolve in the near future. Where do we, as profession, go from here? CE has long been a powerful force for transformation in people’s lives. Whether contributed in school situations, in blocks, summer camp ways, private, etc., CE is about harnessing the best in people and inspiring them to live out their potential. CE should be a wake-up call, challenging habilitation, rehabilitation, challenging folks to tap their inner abundance. The profession of conductive pedagogy is fortunate to have many skilled and imaginative people working toward a great end.
I hope we can get there one day….
3 comments:
Andrew has written about this idea of CE being different things to different people - including conductors on his blog at http://andrew-sutton.blogspot.com/2008/07/chinese-puzzle.html
and
http://andrew-sutton.blogspot.com/2008/11/elephant-in-room.html
Perhaps this will help initiate the discussion he hoped for and is desparately needed.
I hope we get there too one day. We may still be in our professional infancy but any mistakes which have been practised for over twenty years since Conductive Education was brought out of Hungary are going to be very difficult to change. Maybe necessity really will be the mother of invention.
As you say "CE is about harnessing the best in people and inspiring them to live out their potential". I am experiencing this first hand in the group I am working in at the moment and not only with the children who really are coming to life. I have been working with a conductor I have known just two days and we are inspiring and bringing out the best in each other every single minute of the day.
This gives me hope that the future will turn out OK maybe even move towards a great end!
But as I discussed with my new colleague this evening this future needs to be talked about openly and mistakes faced up to.
Dear Laszlo,
I really enjoyed reading your post. I read it again, and again, and again. You raised a very important question. ‘So we are here, but what next?’
The directions of CE will be determent on the clarity and focus we are prepared to invest in creating its future. Clarity is power. We know this from our work when we facilitate in a conductive way. Just when we look at how CE works at its best, what do we need for that? Amongst many other things we need a unified team who believes in, manifests and carries the same highest level of standards, with a clear outcome in mind. Wishing and hoping will not take us there. Do we want it badly enough to make us move and create such a team? Do we really want to have a professional body, which is prepared to publish the basic core values, standards and structures that would truly represent Conductive Education?
We need more brave, talented and diligent people in the here and now to deal with this paradox and to help all of those who are trying to work with CE in different settings. If we really wanted to be taken seriously I think it is about time that we created something valuable for all of us and for the future generation to come.
Once hearts and minds meet it will be done.
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