cjedwards.xyz

Author: jedwards

  • Knowing Better

    We (incorrectly) indicate to citizens that bureaucracies guided by scientific knowledge are efficient and benevolent – Ivan Illich in Deschooling Society.

    This statement directly relates to my experiences attempting to apply evidenced based practice to human services. We are playing shell games with families in need all with justification of some greater good, “that we as professionals know better”, simply because we were enlightened enough to “listen to someone else, who knew better”. 

    Who knows the client better than they know themselves?

    This post was first made in June of 2012 – CJE

  • Win-Win in the Classroom

    Do you trust enough to think win-win?  Do you trust yourself?  How about other people?

    After having taught at a variety of colleges in two states for the past 12 years, I am often surprised by the perceptions of many students in my courses.  I get the feeling that some students believe that education and class is a competitive process with their instructors.   Simply put, us (the students) vs. them (the professor).  This seems a little perplexing to me.  

    Some assumptions I have heard from students about the student-instructor relationship:

    • The instructor is here to give me busy work 
    • The instructor wants people to drop out 
    • The instructor wants to give me a bad grade 
    • (Believe me, it goes on and on…)

    What ever happened to the idea that we are all in this together?  This journey of education could be a win-win for both the student and the professor?

    (more…)

  • Past(ed) Tense

    Our helping community has changed in recent times; years of funding reductions (and mental health restructuring) have created such an unstable environment.   What I see here in VA in my work with non-profits is so much different than in NC. In NC there seems to be a constant state of stress and holding on that whatever life-line is left. 

    Life-line living certainly takes its toll on both programs and staff.   I miss conversations that were about planning and dreaming of ways to meet the needs of the community and the families we serve.  The message we seem to give families today is that we are simply holding on, they should be happy with the service we were able to provide and don’t expect much else…conversations about quality, morals, organizational development and simply saying “we will give you and your family a chance to be proud and gain success”, I just don’t know where those conversations are anymore.  

    (more…)

  • My Perfect School…

    “Humanly speaking, the school, the college, society, make the difference between men…When a man stupid becomes a man inspired, when one and the same man passes out of the torpid into the perceiving state, leaves the din of trifles, the stupor of the senses, to enter into the quasi-omniscience of high thought–up and down, around, all limits disappear. No horizon shuts down. He sees things in their causes, all facts in their connection.” 

    – Ralph Waldo Emerson in Emerson on Education

    What is a school, why do we send students to school and when in school, what must be achieved?   The outcomes of each of these questions are difficult to ascertain, but my foundational belief is that schools must be inspiring.   An inspired school creates excited and energized students who spread their wings and develop the muscles of their minds.  The growth of the student can then quickly allow for personal development and expansion of their lives to experiences that were never considered before.  

    Schools must be inspirational. 

    (more…)

  • My Thoughts About “I”

    Thoughts About “I”

    This semester students are required to write numerous essays and long form responses for the sociology and human services courses that I lead across multiple institutions.   A common theme with undergraduate students and their academic writing is the overuse of the term “I”.   Since most of my assignments frequently require a first person narrative the overuse of certain pronouns, especially “I” is a common challenge. 

    Repetition of any word or phrase in academic writing is distracting and creates a lack of confidence in the writer’s ability to convey the depth of their knowledge.   This is a case where too much of any good thing (or word) is generally less and not better.  The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill published a wonderful article titled Should I Use “I” that expands upon the potential and possible risks of using first person pronouns in general.  In addition, the Dartmouth Writing Program posted an informative piece addressing the question of What is an Academic Paper that is a must read for students. 

    (more…)

  • Failure is No Longer Accepted

    Failure must be embraced.   Failure creates growth.   Failure teaches us much more than success.

    Yet, we implement programs in the field of helping where failure is not a norm, but the exception.   Programs promote success rates that reach the sky.   Eighty percent of this population is successful, ninety percent of this one is successful.   Cases are closed early, or kept open not because of client performance or need, but in order to ensure a successful outcome.   Cases are closed on the first day of the month, instead of a last day of a month to prove that program capacity is met.   We work so hard as a system to prove success, to manipulate, to ensure funding or to gain political points.

    (more…)

  • The Cost of Providing Services

    Thinking back to my younger years in human services a common refrain was “no matter the cost, if we only helped one person, it was worth it.”

    Fast forwarding to recent times, I have not heard anyone say this.   Times are tough, budgets are tight, funding levels decease…if they exist at all.   Human services has become much more business orientated and goal driven.   At the same time, money has changed the field forever.   Salaries have increased, we follow medical models, yet clients are being served at lower rates than ever before.   Agencies are saying yes to almost anything in hopes of staying afloat.

    (more…)

  • How Did I Get Here?

    Students frequently ask how I ended up in the field of human services.  Many expect a grand plan or lifelong dream to be shared.   Neither is true in my case.

    I was given a great opportunity when very young (19 years old to be exact) to be involved in a new human services program providing for the needs of citizens within the same town as my college.   The assignment was scheduled to be only two weeks with the duty of providing technology assistance to the newly hired staff.   I can still remember the interview for that two week job as if it was yesterday. Unknowingly those two weeks turned into over seven years of experience. Simply put, Jamie was in the right place at the right time.

    (more…)

  • You, Me and Participatory Research

    McSpirit, Faltraco, and Bailey’s book titled Confronting ecological crisis in Appalachia and the South: University and Community Partnerships (2012) is all about community involvement, social justice, and community development skills from different parts of Appalachia. It challenges the traditional role of universities and introduces ideas that are the basis for Participatory Research. One thing that stuck out to me in the early chapters was that true community change starts with people who care and are involved.

    (more…)
  • Missing the Target – FAQ

    Missing the Target – FAQ

    A version of this post was originally posted on Oct 17, 2012.

    The preceding post is accessible via this link.

    During the academic year, students frequently inquire about the “Missing the Target” post, which I incorporate into an Introduction to Human Services course. The actual post can be accessed here. This narrative has been an integral part of the course for over eight years.

    (more…)