When I was a
student and pretty much forced to keep a reflective diary I vowed I
would carry it on once I qualified. I didn't keep it up, not only did I
not keep it up, I didn't even start it. From the day I was no longer
required to keep a reflective diary I stopped doing it.
Starting
this bog (that was a typo, but I'm keeping it in as it amused me) has
caused me to ponder on whether it constitutes a reflective diary of
sorts. I'm only 4 posts in, but it does have the same feel about it as
back in my student days. So far the main difference is that I am not
confident enough to really say what I think. I did as a student, my
diary was truly reflective, warts and all. If I was ever scared or
worried I wrote it, if I didn't understand something I said so, it did
me no harm and I actually received praise for my candor. I'm nowhere
near achieving that level of confidence with this yet. I had a little
interest in this blog and already I feel the slight weight of
responsibility, don't want to offend or say the wrong thing. I'm quite
an outspoken chap, sometimes without much forethought, this can land me
in trouble, but I normally manage to get myself out it. That's not so
easy when what you say is in 'print', I can't claim to be misunderstood
or misquoted. But I feel the 'real' me fighting its way to the surface,
hence this post I guess. Also this post may serve as a slight warning to
anyone who is reading my blog (is anyone reading this?) that I may, in
the not too distant future, start to stick my neck out a little.
For
now though I am playing it quite safe. But I want to say one thing, I'm
not even sure if its controversial really. I want to say I'm sick of
hearing that my profession is in crisis when something bad happens such
as the recent Saville revelations. We work in a profession which by its
very nature is dealing with risk every day. Every day we make decisions
about children's lives which involve us balancing risk, inevitably we
get it wrong sometimes, the results of this can be catastrophic. Let me
make it clear I am not seeking to be an apologist for poor risk
assessment, but what I am saying these mistakes which lead to tragic
consequences are not themselves an indication that our profession is in
crisis. The dangerous and simplistic attacks which follow tragedies do
not end up making children safer. I believe they lead to defensive
decision making which can have severely adverse effects on the outcomes
for the vast majority of children we deal with who are not at risk of
significant harm. Serious Case Reviews are essential following such
tragedies as they allow us to learn from our mistakes, claiming we are
in crisis is not essential. I do not believe for one moment that should
some of the pressure heaped upon by the 'crisis tag' be removed, we
would suddenly play fast and loose with safeguarding issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment