Live ACT

Starting the School Year
I just finished reading an article on emotions that Bill Powers wrote. It is available in the book PCT A Book of Readings a free downloadable book available at www.livingcontrolsystems.com . A few of the articles in the book will be of special interest to IAACT folks. Some are more technical, others are very user friendly. (Jim Soldani’s article for example). As I read the article on emotions, I was struck by the wonderful simplicity of PCT. As an instructor, we are often asked, “Why did/does 'so and so' do 'such and such'?” the short answer is because they were experiencing error. However, what I think most folks really want to know is how to change the ‘such and such’.

In his article, Bill explains that “Under normal circumstances, behavior comes about for one of two reasons: either there is a disturbance which changes some perception and thus generates an error signal, or there is a change in the reference signal demanded by some higher control system, which change also generates an error signal.” This answer perhaps better addresses the answer to how do we change ‘such and such’. If we want a person to change the disturbance (environment) needs to change or they need to want (reference) something different.
As most of you begin the school year, this idea becomes very important. Spending time at the beginning of the year to clarify references addresses both reasons for behavior changing. It changes the environment and it provides different references. Remember that disturbance is anything in the environment over which I have no control that is having an effect on what I want (what I am control for). Disturbance is either helpful or hindering. When I think of disturbance, I often think about young children around the age of two, the classic age of ‘me-do’. When we perceive our actions as helping and they perceive them as hindering. Children of this age are often seeking independence and they view our helping as hindering their desire for independence. The same also can be said of middle school students, and seniors who are often control for independence and our actions are perceived as hindering them.
When we are building connections at the beginning of the year, we are laying the groundwork for less error throughout the rest of the year. I think we are also doing something else, we are trying to shift the reasons for why we do what we do - ‘Bump it up!”. As Jim Miller, founder of Warrior Concept International wrote; “We have a choice. We can be ‘nice’ to others because it’s proper manners to do so because we expect to get something from them, or because we have to live with them. Or, we can treat others with respect and honor because we recognize that we are already connected to them in some way.” (http://ezinearticles.com/?Martial-Arts-CHARACTER-And-the-Universal-Law-of-Interdependence---The-Keys-to-Life-Mastery,-Key-2&id=13554 ) Doing what I do because it is who I want to be and because I understand that, I am connected to everyone on this planet is very different from doing it because my elders told me to. One last for the moment the other lasts for a lifetime. Start the year thinking about the lifetime of you and your students, because in the end it will change many moments along the road.