OPENING HEARTS
Fourth International SEAL Conference in Argentina - February 15-16-17, 2002

Silvia Baeza

Silvia is an Educational Psychologist, Family Therapist, who has been teaching at University over 20 years, and is presently working on her doctorate thesis, focusing on systemic models, techniques and strategies applied to education.

She was trained at the Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto, California and the Minuchin Center for the Family, New York.

Belief System: family, learning, professional world

The presentation aims to explore our belief system, focusing on beliefs specially related to family, long life learning and professional world. Its objective is to gain awareness of the functional and/or dysfunctional beliefs, think about the ones we want to keep and those we consider need to be modified.

Reflect upon our personal roles (friends, wives, husbands, parents) or professional roles (teachers, therapists) and think of strategies for future change.

SILVIA REPORTS HER IMPRESSIONS

The mini workshop, as Henk humorously called it an "appetizer", on Belief System, by coincidence came after Adrian's excellent conference "Good leadership is learning...." Thanks to it many of the core concepts concerning systems thinking, or, as I like to call it, the SYSTEMIC PERSPECTIVE, were explained and referred mainly to the teaching /learning process.

My aim was to help colleagues expanding awareness about functional and/or dysfunctional beliefs related either to whole life learning, family and/or working contexts. These beliefs always underlie our conduct, what we do, they lead our "action theories" as they are also called.

After a short and brief explanation of circularity, complexity, uncertainty, interaction, connectedness, co participation and maps (not territories), we moved into the world of beliefs.

The group explored quite a number of well-known beliefs about family life, learning and working cycles. Each member was invited to remember who told us "that particular statement", how old we were then, which were the circumstances, etc.

In association with the memories, sounds, smells, voices and a thousand more feelings appeared. Some were nice, warm memories, others were not.

The same statement considered as "good" for one meant exactly the opposite for another one!!!. The group split after into subgroups and shared beliefs and feelings, basically focusing if these should be changed partially and/or totally in our present time.

The whole idea was challenging these beliefs for starting considering them as possible to be changed, if they were no longer useful.

"Be nice!!!", "Men don't cry !!!", "You'll never learn it!!!" .... and others, were questioned and challenged.

There was no time, and it takes more than a workshop to change them, but at least the idea that although underlying and supporting our conduct we are not always aware of them. The seed was planted / they can be changed/. As any seed it can grow and develop... or not.

Just as families have myths and beliefs about individual members, or groups schools and working places also have them. These beliefs constrain views of reality and organize interactions. Each system has myths and beliefs regarding one another and their relationship with each other, which either facilitate change or function to maintain the "status quo". Myths and beliefs often narrow what families, schools and working settings are able to see, constrain available relationship options and contribute to stereotyped cycles of interaction. Some beliefs arise from current theories that are passed as the "truth" about human nature, rather than lenses that make certain information available while proscribing other information, or they may rise from prejudices about social or racial categories or characteristics, even reports written by professionals can perpetuate dysfunctional beliefs and/or labels.

For me it was a very pleasant experience. I currently develop these ideas with students either under or graduated level. Sharing this time with colleagues, many of who are also good friends, was at the same time challenging and gratifying. I felt the whole conference was a kind of weaving, every lecture or workshop almost magically was connected consistently to the rest.

Again, with Robert explaining "the Transition Curve" we walked through beliefs such as " it will never work!!!!" towards new experimentations, testing new behaviors.

Luckily the age of dogma is no longer haunting us, the shift towards the systemic paradigm in this case concerning human behavior, the acceptance of chaos and disorder is much more connected and in syntonic to the actual scientific paradigm. It allows us dealing /or at least facing, concepts such as mapping, crisis intervention, feed back and feed forward....and many others.

Teaching training should focus on these concepts and issues evaluating their impact on individuals, families, groups, peers and the learning process.

Niels Bohr's well known remark that "the opposite of a correct statement is an uncorrupt statement, but the opposite of a profound truth is another profound truth..." , help us bare in mind that the truth embraces polarities. Probably this is not or will not be the last "mind transformation" we will have to cope with, but the role of a teacher includes a therapeutic aspect, which tough it is not yet fully considered, must incorporate this perspective even to the risk of un/learning previous, and let me say, not useful previous learning. Teachers can promote or interfere change concerning self/ family concept, possibilities, limitations, alternatives or the opposite.

Reflecting about functional and or dysfunctional beliefs is a resourceful tool in the complex world of education.