E ngaging the disengaged A presentation by Peter Slattery to the ICAN conference Adelaide 16 th August 2006

Today Remind you of some important ideas Some strategies What to do BEFORE you start… What to do when it goes ‘pear-shaped’ Qualities young people value in us Look at connections with strengths based approaches, to motivation and to resilience

Engagement Catching a person’s attention in a MEANINGFUL way Forming connections with: What How Who

Before we even start, ask: What are we here for? Where are we? Who is involved? How much time do we have? What am I trying to do with this topic, in this place, with this time, with this group?

Disengaged This person has not flourished in the mainstream system This person has probably not enjoyed the mainstream system If we do the same as what they have experienced before, we will get the same result So we must do something different

Engagement means creating: A relationship… A conversation… A process… So we can do what we are here for

So this means asking: What ‘feel’, what process do we need so we can achieve this?

What affects this process? The space You The individual or group The topic The methods you use Each person’s ‘state of mind’ on the day

The space How does it ‘feel’? What does it invite? What ‘feel’ do we need? How can we create this?

You, me, us Draw…

You, me, us You like what? You don’t like? Really care about…? Tend to get angry when…? Tend to get excited/enthusiastic about…? What brings out the best in you?

Styles Visual, aural, tactile… As true as these are, there are other equally important aspects

Styles Physical Not so physical

Word stuff Verbal Not so verbal

Key aspects of this approach Privacy Choice

The topic Important does not = interesting The less interesting a topic is the more interesting the process needs to be Again: what do I want this person/s to take away from this moment?

A person’s state of mind What do we need to know about what has happened for this young person today? Their overall health? Their emotional state?

Hope and imagination Having hope means looking towards something This requires imagination

Methods Playful, meaningful question and answer Blind draw of self Scales Drawing Story telling Questions. Often built in Conversation

Characteristics of the process Choice Privacy Invites all styles Physical, less physical Verbal, less verbal The same topic can be approached in any number of ways The asking of questions

The process Interesting Co-operative and supportive Challenging Inspirational! Motivational!

Along the way… Notice what we are noticing Develop good eyes Language Rather than say what we don’t want, say what we do want, say what we are aiming for Be truthful And, judiciously do use potentially disturbing truths

Before we start, ask… How will I know if you get: Bored? Hurt? Confused? Frustrated? Sad? Angry?

What do you want me to do? What do you want others to do? And what can you yourself do at those times?

And… How do we make sure we are having fun… How do we make sure it is interesting? Challenging? What is my job? What is your’s?

When something goes wrong Stop and breath Decide what you want to have happen Ask yourself how you can get this to happen Actions do have consequences A useful response includes: Being supportive. Let’s find a solution Working out what to do for next time Again, say what you want, and what needs to happen for this to come about

What do young people value in ‘useful adults’? ‘Someone who is fun’ ‘Someone who helps me learn’ ‘Someone who doesn’t let me muck up’

The importance of relationship It is the strength and quality of the relationship between 2 people that is the single most decisive factor in bringing about growth…change

A relationship means we can: Find out what interests a person, or concerns them, or excites them Find out about their talents, what holds them back; their fears, hopes and dreams And together, we can work on these things

Have fun..see yas next time Peter Slattery PO Box 153 Dulwich Hill NSW Australia