Listen to this
We never imagined this moment this day, this anniversary.
When Brian Gannon and I started CYC-Net so many years ago we had a dream – a free internet site which would connect people around the globe and provide learning for us all. One vehicle for that learning was to be CYC-Online (Brian’s choice of name) and here we are 25 years and 300 issues later (February 1999 was the first issue, see here: https://cyc-net.org/CYC-Online /cyconline0299.html).
A lot has changed in the intervening years – and quite a bit has not. We still struggle with power and authority; points and level systems are all around us and new voices in the field struggle to be heard. But we also, at least in some corners, listen more carefully to the voices of youths, try to balance the power in relationships and reflect on how we, as caregivers, might be interfering with the healing process of those with whom we work. We also, in many corners, no longer think of the family (especially parents) as the enemy, rather considering them as partners; we recognise more than before that not everyone values traditional western values and beliefs and that everyone lives in their own culture to which we must adapt / adjust; spirituality has become an important focus and relational practice (not relationship-based practice) has established its place in our work, albeit tentatively.
One wonders what the future might hold. Gerry Fewster (2005, p. 3) once said that relational practice “is not only a very different perspective; it is a different pathway, across a very different terrain, in search of a very different destination”. As we have walked this evolving pathway, sometimes together, sometimes alone, over the altering terrain, we are still left to wonder ‘what is the destination?’
And ‘wonder’ I do. And I wonder if you wonder – because wondering can lead to action and action is what is needed if we are going to shape the future to be what it can be – to be what you think, or wish, it could be. Without wonder and action, the future will be shaped by others who wonder and act. So, we invite you, on this anniversary of CYC-Online , to wonder and then act. Wonder about:
CYC-Net and CYC-Online came into being because Brian Gannon wondered what it would be like if care workers were connected internationally and had access to free learning. But he didn’t just wonder, he acted on his wondering and here we are today. Throughout the years others have wondered and acted. Through their wondering and actions (writing for CYC-Online , making suggestions, challenging us) CYC-Net evolved to what it is today. On this anniversary we also invite you to wonder about how you would like to see CYC-Net and CYC-Online evolve into the future – and then act on your wondering and send us your ideas.
As Frances Ricks (1992) said caring involves action. If we care, we act and change occurs because someone does something. If we do nothing, nothing changes (Garfat, 2008, np). But if you – yes, you! – wonder and act, then something will change. The field needs you. I wonder, will you step up?
References
Fewster, G. (2005). I don’t like kids. Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 18,3, pp. 3-5.
Garfat, T. (Feb 2008). Do nothing; Nothing changes. CYC-Online.
Ricks, F. (1992). A feminist view of caring. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 7 (2) 1992, pp. 49–57.
