Term 3-05
Innovative Approaches to Difficult Problems
The psychologist Dr Abraham Maslow is famous for leaving us his theory on the hierarchy of needs. It goes something like this; at the base of the hierarchy, as humans we need to eat food get rid of waste, be neither too hot nor too cold, we need to avoid pain etc. Once these needs are met, humans begin to look for safe circumstances, security and order. The next step up has us establishing relationships, falling in love, bonding with family etc. The next step up has us attempting to satisfy self-esteem matters. Maslow breaks this into a further hierarchy that I will not detail. Finally, at the top of the pyramid comes self-actualisation.
I comment on this as the college has for some time been working in with many groups who in have fallen into different parts of Maslow’s hierarchy. The first project I will mention is a partnership we formed with the St Vincent de Paul Society who brought to us an idea for helping homeless men. Through their centre in Surry Hills, the Charles O’Neill House, St Vincent de Paul would provide the basic two layers of the pyramid, by providing a secure place where the physiological needs could be met so that the program participant could begin to move into the next two levels of Maslow’s hierarchy. We at the college, along with other partners were engaged to develop programs that worked on ‘Belonging’ and ‘Esteem’ layers. Three very innovative programs were developed around areas identified as important. Problem solving and communication, sleeping, and finally, grooming and appearance.
We have all seen and ignored homeless men. We have all observed the kinds of habits and behaviours held by this outcast group. We can all understand the challenges involved in bringing a group of such men together in a residential setting. Educationally, it is a tough assignment. However, of all of the things done at the college, this program affecting the lives of just a few men, is one of the most important thing that we do. The program was deemed so successful that it was awarded “Program of the Year” nationally at the Adult Learning Australia awards in Adelaide last November and was “Highly Commended” in the Innovation and Learning category in NSW in the same year.
The second project I want to mention is the Waterloo/Redfern Residential Leadership Project. This project is a partnership between the College and the Department of Housing and Community Services (HaCS). The idea was to help residents to gain the skills necessary to negotiate with the HaCS to solve problems and build among other things, a safer healthier community. Having been a Waterloo resident for about ten years, this project was of particular interests to me.
In this case, the college was working with program participants who were already in the top two but one of Maslow’s hierarchy. We were working on ‘Belonging’ and ‘Esteem’. It strikes me continually, that education and learning is like no other function and benefit of an organised society in that it has the capacity to so regularly work within these two domains. What also strikes me is that to be truly effective, education cannot silo itself. Good partnerships with progressive organizations result in good programs.
Unfortunately, the college’s ability to respond creatively and effectively to the many challenges within our community has been drastically affected by the 33% cut in funding by the NSW State Government last year. Requests to have this decision reversed have fallen on deaf ears.
Reports of the programs mentioned can be got from the college website. http://www.sydneycommunitycollege.com.au/s/reports
Garry John Traynor
Principal
garry.traynor@scc.nsw.edu.au
The views expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
