People work hard, and they work together. One more example of the importance of belonging to something, being part of something, and connected to something. I am told that if some great crime is committed within a temple the punishment is banishment. Not beatings or incarceration, but the removal of connection with people and place. And again it’s only an impression, and possibly superficial, but I saw very little graffiti, very little of ‘adolescent acting out’, very little hostility or aggression. And yes surely there are problems, but it is rare, especially outside the major tourist area, to even hear a raised voice.

And while I do suspect that the goat’s sense of belonging may well have been short-lived, I still regard Bali as a place of considerable peace, beauty, and purpose.

‘…in an EU-funded ‘Shared Space Project’, more than 30 villages in the Netherlands, and several other places in Europe, are actually removing traffic control devices to deliberately create driver uncertainty. As a result, speeds have reduced dramatically and there has been an increase in safety. Drivers are forced to look each other in the eye and negotiate their way through the space.’

There is something in this idea of encouraging looking after yourself AND others and relying less on rules to do this. I find it appealing. David, at the same conference, had this to say:

‘It seems counter-intuitive, but perceptions of danger can make people act more responsibly. Making things appear safer encourages them to take more risk.’

And I have no idea really just what happens in school here though yesterday I did chat with an American living in Bali who has a child at school, and is herself a teacher and on the local school board. And she thinks highly of her experience here. And I try to pay attention, and still I wonder how and in what ways the children grow up here. I was speaking to a traveller the other day who said: ‘I have heard children crying here, but they have all been Western kids.’ Hmmm….

So with possibilities in mind, I again say thanks to Wes Fryer for the following.

And I think I might just quote him holus-bollus and you can decide what you think. It is another comment in the ongoingly important discussion about education and the world we live in. Sometimes…with two small children…I just look at the future (ie next week?) and LOL….oh and have the occasional thought and even discussion…sometimes with people other than myself.

This is what Mr. Fryer has to say referring to the Bloom’s model:

‘This mode of teaching is certainly “messier” than traditional, teacher-directed instruction, but this is exactly the sort of dialog we need to prepare students to be engaged and educated citizens in the 21st century. Our need for critical thinking is greater today than ever before. Are you living in an echo chamber? Are your students? We need to find ways to regularly step outside our bubbles of normalcy and question both our assumptions and our sources of information. This inquiry-based process should allow us to act as true “sceptics” guided by a scientific way of thinking rather than “deniers” driven primarily by ideologies or other biases. Our digitally connected learning landscape makes this need even more apparent than it was a decade ago, last year, or last week.‘

Of course I may just have this romantic western view of things. Though at the moment with our eye infections, it is a red, vision-reduced painful blur. And Bali is still just great.

Last week I ran a workshop about drug use for a mixture of young people who are, for various reasons, not living in homes with their families. A totally lovely group of young people. The focus of the workshop was not on drugs at all but on people and why any of us do what we do, what might encourage us to take risks, for better or for worse, and ideas about looking after self and others. And so the following is timely. On the Harm Reduction Journal website
is a review of Alexander Brucek’s book ‘The Globalisation Of Addiction: A Study In Poverty Of The Spirit.’ One of the quotes is this:

“People can endure dislocation for a time. However, severe, prolonged dislocation eventually leads to unbearable despair, shame, emotional anguish, boredom and bewilderment. It regularly precipitates suicide and less direct forms of self-destruction. This is why forced dislocation, in the form of ostracism, excommunication, exile, and solitary confinement, has been a dreaded punishment from ancient times until the present….”

“Material poverty frequently accompanies dislocation, but they are definitely not the same thing. Although material poverty can crush the spirit of isolated individuals and families, it can be borne with dignity by people who face it together as an integrated society. On the other hand, people who have lost their psychosocial integration are demoralized and degraded even if they are not materially poor. Neither food, nor shelter, nor the attainment of wealth can restore them to well-being. Only psychosocial integration itself can do that. In contrast to material poverty, dislocation could be called ‘poverty of the spirit’.”

And here, for someone who is ‘demoralized and degraded’ and experiencing a ‘poverty of the spirit’ is the creation of a receptive audience for dangerous substance use. Which tells me something about where our efforts should be if we are interested in making a real difference to people harming themselves with drugs.

I am happy to keep on singing the praises of Bernie Shakeshaft, Backtrack and the amazing work that goes on with the boys up in Armidale New South Wales. Here is a beaut vid of the dogs programme PAWSUP…take a look.

And just to remind you in case someone has blocked your access (because clearly you are untrustworthy), here are a couple of pics here of what it’s all about…

…boys looking after the dogs, expecting the best from the dogs and encouraging them to jump high, getting up REAL early and going to comps, being together, developing relationships, skills, confidence, faith in self and others…