In 1977, I accepted a job at Central Kentucky Re-ED, a residential school for children with serious behavioral disorders. The school was located on the campus of a state psychiatric hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. Working there was a great experience, in part, because I was introduced to the Re-ED model - an innovative approach for working with children and families. A few years later I accepted a job at Wright School in Durham which is another residential school for children that is based on the same Re-ED model.
The Re-ED model was created by Nick Hobbs in the late sixties. Nick was a psychologist and very wise person at Vanderbilt University. His model for working with children was based on 12 principles.
I am now old and retired but those 12 Re-ED principles are more relevant to me now than ever.
Twelve Re-ED Principles
The italicized comments are mine and should not be blamed on Nick Hobbs.
1. Life is to be lived now.
I think Nick Hobbs thought children should not be required to drag the baggage of past negative behavior with them into the present. What a profound idea!
I have found this principle extraordinarily important as a life-long reminder to (in the words of Ram Dass) …Be Here Now.
2. Trust is Essential
Nick Hobbs thought trust is essential to the relationship between teachers and students. I have since learned that it is essential to all authentic relationships at every stage of life.
3. Competence Makes a Difference
Re-ED schools focused on teaching new skills and behaviors instead of waiting for therapeutic insight that might never arrive. I think most of us now realize that competence breeds confidence and it is key to anyone’s success.
4. Time is an Ally
Hobbs realized that many problems will find a solution or they will just pass away over time. This principle has been extremely important to me over the course of my entire adult life. I particularly appreciate remembering that Time is an Ally in the midst of chaos that is 2020.
5. Self-Control Can be Taught
In the 1960’s this was a radical idea in the treatment of children with behavior disorders. In 2020, we must hope that it is still true and relevant for elected leaders, stressed-out police officers, rioters, and all others acting out in the public square.
6. Intelligence can be Taught
It is hard to believe that professional educators would have doubted this in the sixties. In Re-ED schools children learn “problem-solving skills” and those skills contribute to intelligence. Don’t you wish that these skills were taught to people today who spend time on the internet embracing their lack of problem-solving skills while ridiculing the intelligence of others?
7. Feelings Should be Nurtured.
This principle is well-understood in schools for children with behavior disorders. It is much less understood by most adult men in our culture.
8. The Group is Important
In Re-ED schools, kids live and work in small groups of six or eight. They learn from each other how the behavior of an individual can have impact on the group and vice versa. They learn how valuable and powerful it is to feel connected to a group of peers who are working toward common goals. Today there are some who would likely think this principle promotes socialism. Maybe it does. I hope so.
9. Ceremony and Ritual Give Order and Predictability
Kids respond well to ceremony and ritual. In 2020, I yearn for the some of the ceremony and ritual that we used to associate with long-standing, respected institutions. I miss the prospect of holiday celebrations, spectator sports, non-violent election days, inauguration days, etc.
10. The Body is the Armature of the Self
I think Nick Hobbs realized that mind and body are interconnected and function as one unit. Even now, we remain unlikely to improve one without the other.
11. Communities are Important
The Re-ED model was sometimes called an ecological model. It recognized that children live and interact within a context of a community. That community could alter the behavior of a child and the child could alter the behavior of the community. They were, just like we are now, interconnected.
12. A Child Should Know Joy Each Day.
This was another radical idea in the treatment of kids whose young lives had already included so much pain. But it was a beautiful aspiration of teacher-counselors to look for joyful opportunities for their students.
Today I am 71 and it remains a beautiful aspiration. It is why I have written this post.
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