A Kid's Version

Last update: 2012Aug

Teachers,

This was used for mid-Primary onwards by my teacher wife, Helen, for her year 4 & 5s (p.s. they get it! The conversations I heard: "Blue this..." - "oh we need a Yellow" - "I don't want to be Red!" - "I 'm an XXX" - "that's very Orange/Blue/whatever..." - nice to hear the knowledge in action)

After you get a sense about the PCVJ/Values Journey terminology and stations, read this link. It's about the schooling system and ways of directing children with a different way of thinking/behaving than you get at teacher's college. It gives some clarity of direction in a complicated world.http://www.integratedsociopsychology.net/Education/index.html

This is an interesting albeit slightly confusing site to investigate worldviews... http://www.projectworldview.org This site's worldview development goal is to get you to consider your relationship with 1) knowledge, 2) other individuals (including yourself: introspection), 3) groups of individuals (including society in general), and 4) the natural environment. There's a useful series of questionnaires too. The students will need teacher guidance through the site (but it's worthwhile).

It's useful to know which paradigm kids are operating in

This educational leadership paper http://www.trans4mind.com/news/Perils-and-Promise-of-Praise.pdf (link there) talks about 2 main paradigms. The fixed (Blue) & growth (Orange) mindsets and how praise affects the effort of each. As a teacher, I would have liked to know this years ago... Praising for 'smarts' is short-term; praising for 'process' (the tools for learning) supports flexible, life-long learning & overcomes some inhibiting factors of the fixed/safe/limiting mindset. Please read it - it's only 5 pages. Go for teaching personal growth.

KIDS START HERE:

I hope to take you on a journey... a journey through your life. [click on any graphic to enlarge it]

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There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?"

The two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and asks, "What the heck is water?"

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Kids, we don't usually know what we don't know...

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a joke: How do you eat an elephant?

(A: one mouthful at a time)

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What has elephants got to do with values? There's a message in it like the first joke...

When we start biting off some education (for example starting at Year One), we just have to keep on going to school for a while to keep learning (eating) enough. Eventually, we get to Year Twelve or more then start work. Meanwhile life goes on elsewhere and the world changes and other people learn stuff too. If we started eating an elephant herd one at a time (thinking we would eat all elephants eventually, given enough time) but the other elephants in the herd kept breeding, when we finished eating the first elephant, another ten would take its place. That's a lot more eating than we first thought we would have to do...

So... knowledge is growing like those elephants, as we learn, we gradually come to realize that there is MORE to learn than we could possibly do in a lifetime.

So... if we cannot know ALL knowledge (or even a lot in comparison to what knowledge is 'out there'), even at the end of our lives, and even in our particular speciality (for example: if you were a Doctor or Train Driver), perhaps we should consider that there might be other ways of looking at things than our own way. (Remembering that we've only been on the planet for a few short years too).

I hope you consider that this might be true and look at other ways of thinking, behaving, and believing than your own way at present. Read on...

Why people do what they do!

Hi guys and gals, this colourful picture model (below) is to help you understand yourself, people, and the various cultures that exist on the planet. Cultures could mean a different country, or it could mean different political parties... or just the different play groups you see at big lunch. Some groups might be bullies; other groups might like playing competitive sport; still others might have a great time going to a library. As you read this story, look at the graphics as you go… This is not a game; this is real life AND it's fun like a game.

This story is about human beings - why they behave like they do and how people grow intellectually, emotionally, and socially. It also helps you understand YOU and your friends and peers at school. Colours and shapes are used to help you remember and learn the various parts and meaning of the diagrams easier. The first diagram has a lot of information on it (aarrrggghhh!!!) but I will explain it as we go along... for now, just look at it and try not to think too much about it - just be curious (and then have patience).

This tool (the diagram) helps you (eventually) appreciate and respect others by helping you to see the world through their eyes. It helps you deal with conflict, communicate better, or even be a leader in your school. So, understand what YOU value (what makes you feel good deep down and what makes you act and react) then learn about others.

In your life, your values change as you travel along the khaki coloured snaking line below. Most people only get to Blue or Orange at present, though your age group will make it further. Where are you on this chart? Read on to find out...

We (people) value different things or activities… Some people value being warm, eating sweet foods, caring for animals, being kind, being rich, winning, impressing their teacher, etc… Those ‘values’ are easy to see. Other hidden values are ‘known’ through a person’s behaviour, words, and attitudes to situations. Teachers are trained to see meaning behind certain behaviours (that's one of the reasons why you say that they, and your Mum, have eyes in the back of their heads - they know what to listen and watch for). We can recognise these behaviours too using easy-to-understand shapes and COLOURS (for simplicity). It’s not really this simple, but remember that this diagram is a tool to build understanding.

Deeper values are often the hidden ‘reason’ or motivation for doing things… it’s what we REALLY, really value like feeling secure and safe, helping others, being loved, being strong, winning, etc. Here we look at the collection of DEEP values, that is values that are under or make us display those other more obvious behaviours. As you go through school, you learn a lot of different things, especially about how to behave at different times. Those observable behaviours give an indication your deepest values.

I will use the colours [from the diagram] as a name to explain beliefs, thinking processes, and behaviours of each group type...

Purple: Babies are Purple... because PURPLES have very little control over their life. Mum feeds them, carries them about, washes them, etc - they are dependent. We'll just talk about school for a while... not babies. As a kid, when you start at Prep school, you might feel worried and scared and don’t know what to do (then you act like a PURPLE). Soon you make friends, form groups with sometimes bossy leaders. You would probably be a PURPLE with a RED leader of your group. Unfortunately, you might be getting into trouble often with the teachers or principal. This happens because you won't know what to expect or what to do right away at school. It's different at home - you KNOW what Mum and Dad expect. You probably learned those rules without really knowing you were learning. Sometimes if you are REALLY ill or injured, you might behave like a Purple - dependent on doctors and nurses to care for you. Not a nice feeling!

REDs are learning to take control and handle personal power and are trying to climb up the pecking order. Hopefully, you finally learn what is 'right' in Prep (you are getting more BLUE but we'll talk more about Blue in a minute). Then suddenly you are in Year One – and it seems like you have to start over again… you might feel a bit lost, perhaps scared (PURPLE again) then make friends and begin to feel more confident (PURPLE/RED). If you see a Preppie, you might want to boss them around because YOU are bigger and start to use your power (bullies are RED, but you don't need to be a bully to be RED). The good side is you usually have a feeling of confidence and desire to have a go at your goals/dream/whatever. The Red gives you energy - choose HOW you use it. Reds often DON'T know the rules (next), so you may run into trouble with authorities.

So far, with this little story, I hope you see that there is a cycle to your life... people go back and forth between the sort of Values that we demonstrate, depending on the situation. So, you can be Purple in one part of your life but Orange in another... All human cultures have this characteristic - that's what makes human beings so complicated.

And so the cycle goes on… it’s a bit like a eagle spiralling upwards – the higher you go, the more you can see and do and the more power you have in your life (there are different sorts of power too - more on that later). Let's keep going...

Blue: Hooray, we have just learned the rules of this school Year and the new teacher (we are usually therefore now more BLUE). But each year has new lessons; new rules to learn about English, Maths, SOSE, etc, so we may now be smarter and learn the new rules quite fast when we change school or class, next year. BLUE is about learning the rules of society (e.g. your classroom) and working hard to feel safe. You (hopefully) learn that there areconsequences for your choices and actions. Remember this: NOT making a choice is a choice, as is NOT taking action - they still have consequences. Blues are trying to create a safe environment whether at school or work or in your suburb or town. Blues have LOTS of rules... You will hear Blues when they talk... they say 'must', 'should', 'always' - word types that we call absolutes (ask your teacher to explain that word). Humans built civilization on rules - rules on how to treat people (and repercussions if you don't); rules (laws) to pay taxes to create roads, water reticulation, flushing toilets; rules for running the country or a business - ALL for a safe healthy world.

Schools are usually quite BLUE places.

Orange: I guess you'll know some students who try to achieve more – perhaps individually or in team sports, academic Dux, nominated Best Actor in drama, being School Captain, Student Director, etc. Then they are really learning to work with ORANGE values. But first, ORANGE needs to understand the rules to play the game, do the concert, be Captain, etc… like sports, each has different set of rules, but those students are trying to be successful and achieve something. You may deliberately work in teams, or later, form companies to 'get ahead'. So the people that achieve learn the rules (BLUE) fastest, then learn to achieve within those rules (but probably not what Blues think the rules mean). If you like breaking or ignoring rules, then you are probably being a bit RED (NOT Orange) and you may feel angry or be a bully as you are frustrated while trying to be happy in a way that does not work well in the social environment we live in.

Now kids, this life journey has to happen in order... Purple, Red, Blue, Orange, etc... There are no shortcuts - just some people who learn fast... Surrounding yourself with the people who are doing what you want to do in the future is one way of learning fast - by learning the Value set (thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours) of those people. So, choose your friends wisely to succeed in what you desire! If you want to be a great sports person or actor or business person, you look up to and aspire to be like another great person - like Michael Jordan, Angeline Jolie, Richard Branson, a Prime Minister, your teacher... whomever!

Unfortunately, not all people continue to grow. Most people so far get to BLUE or ORANGE in their life. That's okay, it's normal... as each generation usually learns a bit more than their parents... it's a slow change. Only about 15% grow past ORANGE. Your age group (generation) will increase this percentage incredibly because you can get more education and learn fast from the past because of the information and instant communication available (e.g. Internet).

Green: So perhaps now you will be getting an increased AWARENESS of yourself and the bigger picture of the environment and planetary events and how humans affect them (like wars, chemical or oil spills, global warming, etc). You are now thinking about the big picture - GREEN starts this. Greens also start by building soft co-operative relationships so they can work together. Orange teams are usually competitive (hard) relationships; Green teams are trying to be empathic, considerate, and collaborative to achieve a good overall dream for the group. I say 'trying' because they can sometimes get stuck with too much talking and trying to please that there is insufficient or no action or outcome. So an 'ideal' solution could fizzle. Tools for HOW to create the illusive ideal, comes with Yellow (see later).As you see, ALL Value Stations have positive aspects and negative - more on that too, later.

Experiencing the journey:

Like your parents and grandparents, I was never taught this at school and I did not have Internet until I was much older than your parents are now (it started in 1994), so have patience with your parents and grandparents - you are learning much more than they ever did (and faster), but they have life EXPERIENCE - that counts a lot. Also remember to still consider other people's viewpoints (especially your parents - they have OTHER things to give you even if it's not the latest knowledge and training).

School education gives you some knowledge and a little bit of practice - the higher you go, you get more knowledge (but not necessarily practice). Who you surround yourself with and your experiences gives you a different education (life lessons) - you need BOTH.

BTW: I was [and am again in 2012] a university lecturer and I learned and researched about this stuff when I went back to school - a university - AFTER I had been working for over 30 years. I needed my life experiences to make sense of this. ANYone can learn at ANY time and we all do learn stuff even if we don't recognize it at the time. So don't be concerned if you don't understand what you read here - you will eventually (remember: this is really advanced education that some adults only get to know by experience but most do not).

So, kids, are you still reading... maybe it's time for a rest before the next bit!

dah, de dah, de dah! Oh you're back! Great, read on...

As people, we continually ‘cycle’ through all previous stages at different times and in different circumstances. ONLY when something causes us to want to learn more (usually in the beginning, it is a crisis) do we move into the next stage. Unless you are really emotionally strong and have a good mentor to guide you, you will feel lost and sometimes angry or depressed during a crisis (it's like going back to Purple... no-one likes it).

Just remember: Everyone can continue to learn and grow throughout their life – everyone!

So, be careful how you use this model.

It’s to aid understanding of different viewpoints, not to create fighting groups or competition. Use it wisely and seek to create co-operation and community. As you grow and get more liberated and aware, there is a price to pay... the pain of change each time as you jump the hurdle to the next level. But the reward is many times greater...

Now to Yellow: They are a bit like a mix of Green & Orange - Green for thinking of the 'big picture' (that is, many viewpoints or holistic) and being compassionate and Orange to make things happen (outcome oriented) but in a different way to Oranges. They are also good with being Blue [knowing the 'rules']. Yellows are usually interesting and possibly strange to understand. They may help you in ways you don't understand but you feel is okay. They may get you to play challenging puzzles and games to learn by. Yellows usually think of many possibilities and solutions for all sorts of situations because that's what they are good at - solving complex problems. They may be called Systems Thinkers too (more later). Yellows are encouraging and supportive leaders in a team or company (or could seem like your toughest opponent ever - if that's what you need right now).

Why continually grow:

Think of sports stars. They get up early in the morning to train (and can't always eat junk food or watch a lot of TV). They have a goal and will endure the sore muscles, the repetition of practising, missing out on their friends sometimes, the intense focus on the future win, because in their value system learning to succeed means training must come first (within reason - there must be some balance).

To grow in life, you have to train yourself to learn; to endure sore brain muscles; to develop emotional stamina to cope with frustration and losing, and so train your intellect and knowledge factory to move forward in this fast-moving society. It all takes THINKING CAPACITY, as well as ACTION, not just thinking; it takes FEELING, not just thinking or action... it takes YOU to find what is YOUR passion, your deep values that drives you and in a balanced way - to grow. Why? To feel good about yourself and your life - to be happy deep inside. ALL people do what they think is the 'right' thing to make them happy (according to their current value system).

Here's another way to look at Values...

Dependence-Independence-Interdependence:

If you follow the curvy line from the bottom left (The Journey), you will see it starts in an area called Dependence. (in the diagram, Paradigm means the whole set of thoughts, beliefs and actions of a particular way - so, you could say Red Paradigm, or Interdependent Paradigm, etc).

When you are acting Dependently, this is what you think or feel: you take care of me; I blame you; you do this for me; you didn't come through for

me.

When Independent, you would say or feel: I can do it; I am responsible; I am self-reliant; I can choose. So here you have more power or freedom in your life.

If you were Interdependent, you now work together with others, saying: We can do it; We can co-operate; We can combine our talents and skills and make something bigger together.

So kids, you will now be able to recognize what values teachers are trying to teach you (other than just school work like language, maths, science...) i.e. values and ways of living that HELP YOU get ahead and happy in the society or your own life and family groups. Being angry or aggressive does not help for long these days. That only worked when there were NO rules so Ghengis Khan, Hitler, Alexander the Great and others made war and rampaged and pillaged, taking other people's stuff and killing whenever they wanted. Now things have changed. We have to learn how to get what we want by using knowledge and with consideration of others. That's why along the bottom axis, it says - rational and considerate (i.e. using education and thinking skills while considering other's needs too).

This is why education and experience helps YOU be happy AND not think you have to hurt others in the process. This is why there are certain lessons in life... because there will always be new behaviours to learn, even after leaving school. Not everyone wants to learn their lessons to be happy and free - WILL YOU?

How can you use this model?

So this chart is like a MAP to get you to fit in with your community and also get YOUR needs met.

How? By understanding what is important to others (THEIR values), you can CHOOSE to accept or respect their viewpoint (even if you don’t agree) and recognise your own NEEDS (deep values) so you can be happy. Gradually, as each of you try to understand each other, you can create stronger friendships or at least reduce conflict. (I will talk about conflict later, but for now, remember that conflict is good - SO LONG AS YOU RESPECT who you are arguing with and argue it without putting them down. You need to learn to disagree gracefully. Just remember that they might have different values - there are lots of different values possible in the world).

This next bit needs some more explanation (when I make time to write more here - just discuss it with your peers or teacher if you can get them to).

My 4H guideline for life learning: Use your...

HEART (use your passion (strongly positive emotion) to keep you going, develop your sense of intuition; be empathic to other's needs); Afterall, EVERYONE is really trying to satisfy their OWN feelings - it is HOW they try to do it that can be the problem... so on to ACTION. We are ALL feeling animals & our feelings drive us. If you know [i.e. using your head] your feelings, you can succeed easier.
- HEAD (know yourself & get informed or learn about the situation); Make positive decisions
- HAND (put your decisions/your dreams into action - start with your big dream/goal then plan backwards with deadlines and DO lots of little steps) - remembering that there will be changes along the way as you improve your intuition and self-knowledge;
- HOLISTIC (look for balance of the previous 3 and with other people and the planet - i.e. you think & feel & act about YOUR goals while being CONSIDERATE about others' and the world's needs [their goals] - especially considering the ongoing effect of YOUR actions or inaction way in the future).

When you really get them all working together, that's Holistic (Yellow)

Perhaps this will help... Another way of living life...

1: understand YOUR perspectives, thoughts, feelings, needs [& wants], values – WHAT ARE YOU DESIRING – e.g. FRIENDS, HAPPINESS, SAFETY, POWER, INFLUENCE (or all of these or perhaps others)

2: before responding to others, LISTEN and WATCH for ACTIONS or REACTIONS that demonstrate what the person in front of you is interested in or values or understands. It may be different but RESPECTing THEIR view is part of getting YOUR perspective & needs met (in the long run).

3: consider YOUR reactions/actions to the situation while trying to respect THEIR needs and fears.

4: continue practising and learning about yourself and you will understand others…

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Now, enjoy your journey along the river of life with...

A river story:

You are a river, starting humbly in the distant hilltops. At first you are a trickle, reliant on occasional showers to exist, you will have to stumble over rocks and filter through logs and litter on the forest floor - sometimes in the dark. Life just is... and you travel onwards bouncing off whatever rock is in your way. Later, you go through the tightly congested and steep-sided wooded gullies with vines and smoother stones trying to hold you back (for some rivulets, you soak into the sands of a desert and disappear for a time). You begin regretting the rocks throwing you around but you manage and flow onwards despite them. As your stream builds, you create occasional pools of safety and quietness - a place to rest for a while.

A storm comes. You suddenly seem tormented into becoming a rush of change as you create mini whirlpools - spinning, spinning, then out the other side. You torrent some more to become a waterfall - leaping into the unknown... weeeeee... falling... into an even bigger pool; even stronger currents; even bigger rocks and deeper pools, then meeting other creeks and rivulets - growing, then slowing once again moving onwards... in relative calm. The rocks don't concern you any more. Slowly you notice other things around you.

Another change occurs. You notice that you now have more fish, some bigger animals, and lots of plants reliant on your waters to survive. You look up from your daily journey and see the sun more often now. You can see trees on the far bank - they seem so far away now (being essentially flowing water, you can go over to that side and visit them if you choose). You come upon a shallow gravely bank - you haven't seen one of these before - that resists your pushing; resists such that YOU have to speed up to go OVER it... You are finally past it and feel that was easy, just strange to get that sort of resistance. You were used to hard rocks, so strange to have all those tiny rocks that can affect you so much. What happened to my beginnings in the hills? That was so quiet!

More small rivers join you... you chat and mingle... you form a community of fresh water - not knowing anything else is possible. Not knowing what is in store for you. You may expect more waterfalls - but you know how to survive them. You may expect whirlpools, but you almost enjoyed that thrill (at least in hindsight). Even the darkness was conquered - you know are strong and experienced. You know what you know.

You can smell something different. Phew, it pongs... you are told it is mud... mud feeding more reedy and smaller plants... and more birds.

I think: Do I know what I don't know? I didn't know about the mud smell before. What else is there that I don't know?

The journey slows and you enjoy the peaceful repetition of day, night, day. You enjoy the animals coming to visit. You even enjoy the occasional storm because you know, as a river, that you need to be topped up from time to time. You meander around great bends meeting more sand and mud banks. You know by now that the outside of the bends are steep banks and sometimes more rocks but they don't scare you anymore. Your water is much muddier than when you started your journey so long ago, so far back in the hills... but you are more peaceful now.

You notice your flow is slowing and the trees are farther apart on each bank... much farther.

The smell of the air above you changes... something VERY different is coming... perhaps around the next bend? Soon you notice your flow is being slowed twice a day... what is going on? Little islands appear in the shallowing waters of you, the river. You break up, once again, into smaller channels and you taste of something unusual... the fish in you are changing and you see different types. Crabs now scurry across your muddy bottom and among those new trees that grow in your water - mangroves. The taste is very strong now and you regularly flow backwards - something called tides. You are NOW affected by the moon that you have seen since your earliest days.

You are so old and wise now... and you have done EVERYTHING! Now you KNOW everything!

...

You think 'Hmmm, gee, I am really salty now... what is that roaring and crashing noise?'

...

Ahhhh, here you go again rushing into turbulence! You can't see the banks anymore... you get nervous and afraid of the new unknown. 'But why?' you think, 'I am an old and experienced and wise river - I know all there is to know!'

Soon, you meet the even wiser old northern current who says to you "Do not be afraid of not seeing the shore... you have so much more to learn yet, youngster. Enjoy your journey - now as the current of a vast ocean!" (c) 2008 MG