The complete set of 198 Hints are available in paperback from the CYC-Net Press store.
Listen
The best theory is the theory we haven’t yet fully understood. Any one of us who believes that he has all the theory needed to work with young people and their families, is a danger both to his clients and himself. He is, literally, not playing with a full deck.
At the beginning of each day, of each shift, or each encounter with a youngster, whatever theory we have thus far gleaned is down-graded to the status of hypothesis, amenable again and again to testing, exposure to reality, and measurement against our experience. Unless we accept this, then we limit the possibilities inherent in each meeting with another child, colleague or family member. We are in danger of bringing our same old viewpoint and understanding to each new meeting.
The exhilaration of our work is that as we approach, on the very edge of openness and anticipation, an encounter with another person, that person in turn is aware of new possibilities shared in the co-creation of a new moment. Otherwise why bother to get out of bed in the morning?
This electricity and energy in our daily work results from theory which is as yet incomplete and unwritten – the best kind.
And the best practice?
