Framework

Background Context

Every "Encourager I have encountered who is in the "People Helping" field has some form of a "tool", usually a "Binder" to assist in the task of moving people along in their lives. Tony Robins has his sets of books, tapes and binders to hand out in his seminars; Bill Gothard his three-inch binders of materials for his stadium-sized youth seminars; and of course the assorted PBS self-help gurus all flog assorted wares relating to their presentations.

I don't think it is so much copying others, as some sort of a drive to assist others better which goes with their personality. That is, I believe these products are each "spontaneously produced" by people in this field.

I am no exception. I too developed a "binder" set of tools to facilitate the work I do with individuals, to ease the workload, and to allow people to work at their own speed. Like the others in the field, most of the material arose out of my own journey, and is therefore unique, though it is often tailored, tuned up and smoothed out by the ideas of others in the field. It tends to be a product in a continual state of improvement for all practitioners, including myself.

I refer to my system as the "Framework".

Approach Used

Framework arose from my own personal journey as well as my work with others in the career / vocation / academic advising fields. The specific contents arose in response to specific situations and then were honed through repeated use. It is in fact a new rule-set for a paradigm of personal growth which found its main locus for growth in the academic advising context.

When I worked at the Mature Student Center at BU, the Center was being phased out, and the Director frequently reflected on its vision of "one stop shopping" to assist adults succeed at Higher Ed. Being a perceiver-encourager, she presented the paradigm, and I put the wheels under it in the new context of scaled down resources. I pulled my existing material together, added in new material, and field-tested it on the run. During a series of further contract positions in the same general field, I developed and shared the process with others. The core of this material formed the base of the White Bear Media Project's process for helping others to "Get on with their lives". It continues to have material added to it.

Current Status

The core material is now in place and works very well. It is adaptable to a variety of situations. It is the core of the process of Church Renewal, as it was in this context that the "missing piece" was first identified articulated, and seen as being useful in that context as well.

Findings To Date

It was found that there was frequently a need to "get the heart working first", that is, tease out the primary motivation in a person's life, in order to create a foundation for further growth.

Terry O'Bannion wrote an article which identified the place of this material in the sequence of academic advising. He pointed out that this initial step was frequently omitted, but when put in place, enabled all further growth to proceed quite easily. The materials of the "Framework" are primarily designed to facilitate this initial motivation-articulating task, and connect it with the next levels of activity, depending on the context of its use. It is for this reason that the "Framework" has such a wide range of possible applications.

Lateral Connections

Required for Completion

Some form of dissemination is required.

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