OK, I ate my easter eggs, slept in a few times, visited friends, family etc.
Then I decided, now that it’s the holidays, that I would read a book for pleasure rather than as part of our course as I’ve not had time to do this since October! (I probably shouldn’t be doing it now either, but never mind…).
Anyway, I decided to read Barack Obama’s ‘Dreams of my Father’ which he wrote in 2004. I’ve not finished it yet but was struck as soon as I started reading it by how much of it made me think about the theories we are learning about in class, in particular personal construct theory and narrative theory.
Much of the book is about his recollections of his childhood which were to a large extent built from the stories that his family had told him. He also attempts to recognise what formed him, what created his identity and what led to his current views and opinions. A couple of examples of this are as follows. In a quote from the first page:
“I…went to work with the belief that the story of my family, and my efforts to understand that story, might speak in some way to the fissures of race that have characterized the American experience, as well as the fluid state of identity – the leaps through time, the collision of cultures – that mark our modern life.”
and a few pages further on:
“I learned long ago to distrust my childhood and the stories that shaped it. It was only many years later…that I could circle back and evaluate these early stories for myself. Or, more accurately, it was only then that I understood that I had spent much of my life trying to rewrite these stories, plugging up holes in the narrative, accommodating unwelcome details, projecting individual choices against the blind sweep of history, all in the hope of extracting some granite slab of truth upon which my unborn children can firmly stand”
While I was reading I couldn’t help thinking that this was a good example of personal construct theory where in this case he recognised that his identity had been constructed over time – often through the power of his own family’s stories or narratives – and that he was attempting to make some sort of coherent sense or ‘truth’ out of it all. Furthermore, he was attempting to ‘re-write’ the narrative in a way that he would find more ‘truthful’ – hence the book. In this case he was clearly aware of the fact that identities can be ‘fluid’ and that there can be different interpretations of the same narrative leading to a different view of identity.
I’m now finding that the stuff we’re learning is colouring a lot of what I’m reading or watching on telly, when I’m chatting with friends and even when I’m negotiating with my teenage daughter! I keep seeing bits of humanism, bits of existentialism, bits of construct theory etc wherever I go!!
Which I suppose makes me think that when we’re working as advisers (which I hope will be soon!!) as well as the practical tools that we have been given our practice will be informed – whether we like it or not – by all the theories we have absorbed throughout the course.
So much for switching off…!!
