It's relationships, that's all, relationships
As humans we are programmed to try to fix things. In recent times, we seem to have relied on the professionals to make things better. We seem to want to buy into some new strategy or other that claims to fix the issues that trouble us, and to follow the leaders who offer up these strategies. We have forgotten how powerful and effective we are as individuals connected and working together. The communities which thrive are the ones where people are connected and involved and that's about relationships. John Carnochan talked about his experience of getting things done; challenging what is seen as 'normal'; and said that it is people and relationships which make everything possible. He made a plea for professionals to take their humanity to work and noted:
- There is no such thing as a perfect parent or a perfect child
- We have professionalised the world and bureaucracy sucks the life out of you
- Professional job descriptions and specifications should include attributes such as empathy, compassion and humanity along with academic qualifications
- General attitudes to children need to change, beyond simply tolerating children. Childcare should not be 'car parks for kids'
- We are born connected and we stay connected
- What we describe as attention seeking is connection seeking
- There are serious consequences for those who do not have good early attachment and connections - detachment; low expectations; risky behaviour; victims of abuse; short lives
- For people to be healthy and connected their worlds need to be comprehensible, manageable and meaningful
- Our place as professionals is to help them have that. The public health ecological model works at the individual, relationship, community and societal levels to reduce violence. It is based on reducing inequality
- We cannot prepare our children for everything but we can help them to be ready for anything
- Individually we can all do small things that matter by trusting ourselves and by being leaders
- Hope changes everything
John Carnochan got it - it's about humanity not about your qualification. About ability to connect and build relationships. Participant