choice

[from Mary Powers 200001.31]

A few points that people undoubtedly know but seem to be ignoring:

1. It is pretty nasty to lay it on a kid that he was consciously choosing
to do what was actually a side-effect of what he saw himself as doing.
However, in RTP, when the teacher tells a child that by disrupting he has
made a conscious choice to go to the RTP, it is when the child disrupts for
the _second_ time. The child is probably aware at that point that whatever
he is doing, he is also disrupting. Even if to him the disruption is
incidental, the fact that it is disrupting has already been brought to his
attention.

2. One should keep in mind that going to the RT classroom is not exactly
the end of the world. It is NOT detention, it is NOT punishment. The RTC
is a place where one is encouraged to have insights into one's goals and
actions, etc., etc. It is often viewed as a haven. The teacher there has
the time, and the mandate, to be really focussed on the child who is sent
there, and if she has any skill at all, this is a positive experience.

3. There is a lot of confusion, I think, about going up levels. This isn't
a special, therapeutic experience - people are going up and down levels all
the time. I think about what I'm writing, then I think about correcting a
key stroke. I can if I want think about the feel of striking keys, then go
back up and write about that, then think about getting my coffee from where
I put it, etc. The Method of Levels as therapy comes into play when there
is conflict. If a teacher says "what are you doing?", the child may go up
a level and say "oops! I didn't realize what I was doing. Sorry!", and
stop. No conflict, no MOL necessary. If he can't or won't stop, he goes to
the RTC - where his dealings with the teacher may help him resolve whatever
it is he is unsuccessfully dealing with by disrupting. The teacher in the
RTC may know MOL and use it, or maybe not - but even something behaviorally
oriented like plan-making is an up-a-level experience, and could be helpful
in resolving conflict. MOL is an extension of a normal process. We go up
and down and up levels all the time. We take care of conflicts this way
all the time. We need help only when this process gets stuck.

(At least it looks that way to me this morning)

Mary P.