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Conference HEART AND SOUL OF LEARNING

Woudschoten, 31 May - 2 June 2002

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT SAYS NO TO THE POLLUTION OF OUR PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

THE CHILD MOVEMENT SAYS NO TO THE POLLUTION OF THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT OF THE CHILD

Presentation by Michiel Matthes of Ecology of the Child

An environmental movement for the child is

=A child movement

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I speak at this meeting as a father of three children, as an (ex) partner of a woman and as founder of Ecology of the child

I discovered that ‘good fatherhood’ goes further than my own family.

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Each day we read in the paper:

• Drug abuse

• Suicide among youth

• Smaller classrooms

• Child prostitution

• Foster Parents; Youth Care

• TV and the Internet in relation to children

• School programs• Homeless Children• School careers• Child abuse• The spending of free

time by children

…Etc.

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I asked myself:

• Which science covers all aspects of the life of a child?

• Which organization in our society is monitoring/ looking after all aspects of the life of our children?

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Answer to the first question:• There is not such a science, but it is a whole bunch of

scientific disciplines, that study the various aspects of the life of a child. These different disciplines hardly communicate with each other.

Answer to the second question:• There are dozens of organizations (governmental,

semi-governmental, private, companies) that work with / for children.

• These organizations hardly communicate with each other.

• They have no common perceptions, goals, etc.

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I was wondering:

• Is there a model, which brings together all aspects of the life of a a child?

• A model, in which we can give a place to the various scientific disciplines focusing on children?

• A model, in which we can fit all organizations that work with / for children?

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Age categories Time spent at home Time spent at

school/work

Free/recreational time

25 and older

19-24

15-18

13-14

6-12

4-5

0-3

Pregnancy and

birth

Period from

e.g.. 3 years

before birth

Schema Ecology of the Child:‘The Whole System’

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Age categories Time spent at home Time spent at

school/work

Free/recreation time

25 and older (4) (1) (4) (4)

19-24

15-18 (2)

13-14 (3) (3) (4)

6-12 (5) (1) (5)

4-5

0-3

Pregnancy and

birth

Period from e.g..

3 years before

birth

(2)

In the life of a child everything is connected with everything else; ‘mistakes’ tend to amplify

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Age categories Time spent at home Time spent at

school/work

Free/recreation time

25 and older In every cell

19-24 persons

15-18 and organisations are

busy

13-14 Working on the

6-12 Specific goals

4-5 Of that cell

0-3 But there is no

Pregnancy and

birth

Organisation that

focusses on

Period from e.g..

3 years before

birth

The whole schema

The Schema can also be used to map the various organizations

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Two conclusions:• There should be a science, that focuses on all aspects

of the child and its environment and the interaction between the two (Ecology of the Child)

• There should be an organization that focuses on/ takes care of the child and its living environment.Its task:– Monitoring the quality of the living environment– Developing an approach for the whole system and the sub-

systems– Best practice / benchmarking– Leading role in relation to main actors and stakeholders

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Indications(per year) Situation in the Netherlands (15.5mln inhabitants)

Situation in the U.S.A. per 15.5 milloen inhabitants (3, unless mentioned differently)

Total number of children (0 t/m 23) 4.693.226 (2) Number of children that die from abuse or neglect

50 – 100 (in Belgium 500) (5)

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% girls, that are sexually abused 16 (1) N.A. % children that are physically abused 8.5 (2) Number of children that die of Aids 70 Number of children that commit suicide 38 (4) 141 % of children that have thought of suicide in the past year

20 (2)

Number of children and young people murdered

500(estimated)

Number of children killed by explosives or guns

1 (1990,4) 329

Number of children whose parents are divorced

22.000 (2/aged 0-18) 67.360

Number of children of whom one parent/carer is an alcohol addict

circa 250.000 (6)

Number of children with a parent who is a drug addict

5000-8000 (2)

Number homeless children 6000-7000(2) 6.500-20.000 Number of children that died in traffic (0-24 in 1991)

444 (4) N.A.

Number of abortions in 1990 15697 (4) (9% of all pregnancies)

Number of hours a week that children watch TV

20 (7) 40 (7)

Number of teenage pregnancies 2.561 (1993,2) 65.400 Number of children reported as being abused or neglected

13.220 (2) 174.000

%Number of children that have no medical insurance

13.8

% drop-outs 14% (1) 27% %children under the poverty line 8% (4) 20% %children who are the victims of crime 45% (4) N.A. %unemployed adolescents from16 to 25 years -native inhabitants -of foreign origin

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5,6 (alle leeftijden) 17,3(16-19)

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First conclusion:

• There are big differences between some indicators, when comparing the Netherlands and the US.

• There are indicators that differ by a factor of 13 to 350.

Note:Per head, the US is 50% richer than the Netherlands

Why are some indicators in the US so much higher than in the Netherlands?

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Reply:The American system apparently produces a higher output of certain events than the Dutch system.

System = the social system,

i.e. the whole of persons, organizations, roles, goals, attitudes, behavior, knowledge, perceptions and activities concerning the child.

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Conclusions:An easy conclusion:

The Americans can learn from the Dutch.

A level deeper:• We can define the living environment of the child

in a country as a system.• The comparing of different systems is a powerful

tool to discover opportunities for improvement.• In this way, blind spots, taboos and fundamental

shortcomings can more easily be found.

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Situation at home School Spare Time

Other Stakeholders/Actors Other Stakeholders/Actors Other Stakeholders/Actors

Network Organisation

www.ecologyofthechild.org

Organisations of citizens

Organisations of citizens

Organisations of citizens

Other Stakeholders/Actors Other Stakeholders/Actors Other Stakeholders/Actors

The Strategy of Ecology of the Child in a nutshell

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Strategy:How to change a whole system?

1. By starting to talk about the entire system

2. By building networks at the most important places in that system; Ecology of the Child focuses on the organizations of citizens;

3. By building a learning organization

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Old approach:There is something wrong with the child, and we have to repair it (‘deficit model’)

New Systems approach:In what way does the system produce problems concerning children? How can we adjust the system?

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Dialogue concerning goals• Carnegie Corporation

• Fatherhood, motherhood, partnership

• Goals concerning parenthood: how to empower parents

• On Becoming a Person (Carl Rogers)

• Nussbaum (10 capabilities)

• linkage between the schooling and work situation (OECD Rapport)

• Citizenship, community, democracy

• Delors report goals:

Learning

Learning to learn

Learning to live together

Learning to be

• UN Treaty of the rights of Children

• Reggio Emilia approach, the benchmark for raising and educating children aged 0 tot 7

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Essential Requirements for Healthy Adolescent Development, as Formulated by the Carnegie Corporation

• Find a valued place in a constructive group.

• Learn how to form close, durable human relationships.

• Feel a sense of worth as a person.

• Achieve a reliable basis for making informed choices.

• Know how to use the support systems available to them.

• Express constructive curiosity and exploratory behavior.

• Find ways of being useful to others.

• Believe in a promising future with real opportunities.

• Master social skills, including the ability to manage conflict peacefully.

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• Cultivate the inquiring and problem-solving habits of mind for lifelong learning.

• Acquire the technical and analytic capabilities to participate in a world-class economy.

• Become ethical persons.

• Learn the requirements of responsible citizenship.

• Respect diversity in our pluralistic society.

Essential Requirements Carnegie Corporation continued:

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Concrete Activities of Ecology of the Child

• It defines the system in a new way (the earth is round instead of flat).

• It provides a positive perspective• It provides information concerning the system

(monitoring of indicators, best practice, bench marking)

• It creates a social system of actors, who work together towards a common goal (learning organization)

• It is an Action Group within the Child Movement

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Heart’s Wish of Ecology of the Child

To incorporate in the new Governmental Agreement, valid for the period 2002- 2006:

To hold a conference between the main ‘Child Ministries’ and other important stakeholders on:

• objectives concerning education and pedagogy in the Dutch society;

• roles of the various stakeholders and actors.• Methodology how to start a continuous way of innovation

in this domain.