June 28th, 2019

It may seem a bit exaggerated, but for me, the participation in the HEBE project has been accompanied by a handful of changes and shocks regarding personal and family fields that has offered me the opportunity to look at my profession with different eyes, with a different point of view that will inevitably mark a before and after.

One of the ideas that I carry and made

my own during my involvement in the Focus Group is that error is an element for learning.

A very important part of my work consists of accompany the teenager to reflect and be aware that everything that he “is” is thanks to what he has lived. The error, even the option or possibility of making a mistake, is an element that I’ve introduced and it has become stronger in my daily life and in the development of my classes and orientative sessions.

I focus my attention in making the teenager realize that growing up is about making decisions, taking into account all the options and the fact that he/she will be the ultimate responsible for them and will have to assume its consequences.

I’ve been more persistent about this after participating in the HEBE project.

A second idea that I’ve restated and made much more visible to me, since I didn’t have it as clear as it is to me now, is the idea that our work is the “water” that feeds the teenager’s potential. I’ve always believed that my students or users, be them young or not so young, they all have a potential which too often they are not aware it exists. Part of my job is to make that potential arise, but I can’t always see results, since blooming is a slow and delicate process.

The involvement in this project has given me the opportunity to push myself to look back to my job with a different perspective, being aware of the transcendence of my work and whether

that “water” with which we water the teenager and his/her potential is significant or not.

At the beginning of this entry, I said that my participation in the HEBE project had been accompanied with some personal and family experiences that had contributed to having a different view with regards to my work. There have been three shocks that have helped me grow:

The death of my father, last November, meant to me the sudden loss of a vital

support that I wasn’t aware I had. Recently I have realized that he has been an element of empowerment that has been with me my whole life, until now.

My father represented the unconditional support of someone who was sure that everything would turn out fine and that everything is possible. He gave pieces of advice from experience and love, without expecting anything in return.

Another emotional bump, the autism spectrum condition diagnosis of my 9 year-old son, has shed light on some of the difficulties that I always noticed my

son had. From home we’ve always tried to give him the tools and strategies to overcome them, but this effort from the family wasn’t enough to overcome the death of the grandfather, from whom he had an indispensable support. That has led us to that medical “label”.

Realizing how important family support is (which not everyone has) to overcome some limitations; realizing how important it is to have an understanding and non-blaming look at the behavior or attitudes of the people who come across our lives, and realizing that our work necessarily involves a “craft” accompaniment, personalized and respectful of the limitations of our users (whether they are young or not), are other learnings that I take and have made my own.

Lastly, the dyslexia diagnosis of my 12 year-old daughter in February. Despite the constant observations I made to my daughter’s tutors during elementary school, nobody ever took seriously her difficulties with languages. It was a family decision to have her examined by a professional, who gave us an explanation to those many difficulties… and also a new “label”.

My daughter, has been forced to generate, by herself and during all these years, strategies to face her difficulties and that, to a great extent, have helped to mask the diagnosis.

Observing my daughter, I have seen how important it is for professionals to look at the users/students, both their difficulties/limitations and their potential, it is vital to be able to accompany young people in their empowerment.

That is why this year has been such a revealing year. A year in which I have learned, because I have lived it and because Hebe Project has given me the opportunity to find the moments to reflect, how important it is:

– The watchful gaze
– The sympathetic and non-blaming look
– The “artisan” work of accompanying
– Personalised and respectful accompaniment

– The possibility of error
– Accepting difference with understanding and respect
– Respecting the moment and not rushing to give the real learning … and vital!

Beth, June 2019