| Gentle Teaching has developed in a lot of countries a
very fruitful approach of non-violence. It is evident that this method, with
principles as interdependence and companionship can be applied in different cultures.
It is, however, also very important that we exchange our experiences with
Gentle Teaching in different societies. Therefore we appreciated it very much that
we got an invitation of "The Japanese Society for Gentle Teaching" to
participate in two workshops in Osaka and Tokyo. After this Hans van de Raadt, a caregiver from an organization for intellectually handicapped people named The Hartekamp in the Netherlands, will give his impressions of these workshops. Coincidentally, this month, March, it is exactly 30 years ago that John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed at a hotel for a week "Bed in for Peace" during their honeymoon in Amsterdam. The event an important pro-peace initiative was aimed at inspiring "young people to do something for peace". We can find our own ways of inspiration to develop the non-violent approach for people with special needs. In a world, with still a lot of violence, we do hope that many people take initiatives to do "something for peace". "Let it be" |
| Last 28th of February, I left for Osaka, Japan on
invitation of "The Japanese Society for Gentle Teaching". My goal was attending and giving workshops in Osaka and Tokyo. Luckily
I was picked up from the airport, because I soon noticed that a guy from Holland is lost
in Japan easily. The public transportation is fast, but not understandable.
Also crossing a street, in a Dutch way, is dangerous. After this "culture
shock" the Osaka-workshop started the second of March with an introduction/beginners
and an advanced course in In the afternoon my director, Mr. Ton Millenaar gave an overview of our organization "The Hartekamp". He also gave an overview of the McGee-workshop in the Hartekamp ('93, '94, '95 and '96) and how we try to implement Gentle Teaching in our organization by using a "Promotion team". This promotion team contents a teacher, a psychologist, a staff member, a case-manager, a trainer Gentle Teaching and Ton Millenaar as director. So with this promotion team we are flexible whatever the question or cases may be. In the last part of his presentation Ton looked in the future how the organization will change over a number of years. From residential care towards group homes in the society and the social and cultural changes in the Hartekamp. My presentation had two parts. First a short introduction in Gentle Teaching I used this to reach a concrete level of caregiving. By video images I explained several techniques, which you can use to build up your relationship with a resident and how you can use this techniques in a methodical, systematic way. These techniques are necessary for our most difficult clients. The second part of my presentation I talked about further implementation of Gentle Teaching and strategies explained how to implement this in the care for our most difficult residents. By using video I gave an insight what the effects could be done over the years (long term) in giving care and changing the social, cultural climate in a group homes. Many questions followed this presentation. Practical questions of comparable situations and exchanging similar experiences. The second day of the Osaka-workshop contained a symposium, a report on the training course of Gentle Teaching in the U.S.A. and a report on the first I.I.O.C. (International Institute on Companionship) meeting in Philadelphia, U.S.A., followed by a group discussion/evaluation. I must say this Osaka-workshop was very fruitful. The enthusiasm of the participants and the high-level of thinking/dealing with complex situations impressed me very much. Before going to Tokyo, I visited the "temple city", Kyoto. Ken(Mr.Nishiyama) took me around and he showed the beautiful places. Tokyo was a short repetition of the Osaka workshop. For the most participants it was their first encounter with Gentle Teaching so this one-day workshop was more focussed on an introduction of Gentle Teaching and sharing experiences. I met a very dynamic man in Tokyo. Mr.Seki, director of the inservice education of Tokyo Government and supporter of the Tokyo workshop. He and Ken took me on a sight tour through Tokyo. After that for me it was time to go home to my wife, son and daughter. I want to thank Ken, Yoshimi and Masako Iwasaki for taking good care of me. I felt very safe with them. I learnt more during these workshops. Especially the systematic way of implementing Gentle Teaching and the efficient way of organizing the workshop was very instructive for me. Last but not least this kind of workshops in other cultural surroundings gives a very good opportunity to reflect your own attitudes and context. Of course our translators too, who did an excellent job and Mr.Seki and Mr.Kato for their tremendous involvement. On behalf of my director, Mr.Ton Millenaar, and myself, thank you, we love you. |
| The 3rd Gentle Teaching Workshop was
held in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. Workshop in Osaka lasted 2 days, March 2nd and 3rd, 1999. About 50 participants from all parts of Japan took part in this workshop. The participants were from various areas of work: caregivers, psychologists, social workers, teachers and parents who have children with disabilities. On the morning of the first day, we had two courses: one for the beginner and the other for the advanced who had attended our workshops previously. In the beginners' course Mr. Nishiyama (psychologist of Tokajuku, Japan) lectured about Basic Theory and Principles of Gentle Teaching, explaining the 4 pillars of Gentle Teaching, by using video clips selected from the past workshops. In the advanced course Ms. Iwasaki (director of Tokajuku) introduced the developing situation of Gentle Teaching practiced in Tokajuku and Mr. Okumiya (vice-director of Tokajuku) explained the staff training system. Then participants reported their implementation of Gentle Teaching and asked on the difficulties they had experienced. In the afternoon Mr. Millenaar (director of de Hartekamp, the Netherlands) introduced an overview of his organization and workshops by Dr. McGee in the Netherlands from 1993 to 1996. He also explained how to implement Gentle Teaching by constructing a promotion team. Then, Mr. Raadt (caregiver of de Hartekamp) showed how to change caring attitude and how to establish good relationships with clients by using case video. On the morning of second day, we had a symposium on how to establish and develop a community based on Gentle Teaching. Firstly, Ms. Iwasaki introduced general situation of both Japan and the Netherlands. Mr. Nishiyama followed by presenting an assessment system for evaluating the implementation of Gentle Teaching. Later, Mr. Millenaar talked about future plans and how the organization will change in connection with deepening and expanding efforts on Gentle Teaching. Mr. Raadt showed some techniques and explained how to use them for most difficult cases in caregiving. Then everyone discussed each theme. In the afternoon, we had two study-tour reports. Mr. Deguchi (director of Midori-Gakuen, Japan) reported his experiences on Gentle Teaching training course in U.S.A. and the Netherlands. Ms. Ishiguro and Mr. Mita (caregivers of Tokajuku) reported the abstract of and their impressions on the 1st I.I.O.C. (International Institute on Companionship) conference held in U.S.A. on April 27-29, 1998. After a coffee break we exercised the kitchen table assessment. We made small groups composed by 3 or 4 members and discussed how to implement and evaluate Gentle Teaching practice. Finally, we had many practical questions and opinions from different participants. Workshop in Tokyo lasted one day, but we had about 80 participants. The contents were decreased version of Osaka. There were many questions which varied from basic to high level because participants' levels of understanding and practice were unequal. Therefore, in the future we have to plan at least a two-day workshop as in Osaka to satisfy the needs of different participants with different level of knowledge related to Gentle Teaching. Both workshops had finished successfully. We were very happy to have many warm participants and thank Mr. Millenaar and Mr. Raadt for their fruitful presentations. We felt that the feeling of companionship and our gentle community were expanded in progression. Special thanks to Mr. Farsad,D. for attending our workshop and checking this report in detail. |
