The Solution-Focused Approach

The solution focused approach is characterised by these principles:

• Solutions NOT problems
• The future NOT the past
• What to do NOT who to blame

At the beginning of a meeting:

• What are your best hopes for this meeting?
• What would you like to achieve today?
• How will you know later that this meeting was successful?

The solution focused approach gives practitioners a proven, positive program that helps children and young people deal with their problems, reach their own decisions, and gain self-esteem in the process. Rather than dwelling on deficits or the history of the problem, the solution-focused practitioner searches for times when the problem does not occur, and utilises these exceptions to begin to construct potential solutions.

This model is a practical, effective approach to working with children, young people and their families.

Underlying the solution focused approach is the positive and respectful attitude to the children and young people that the practitioners are working with. Using this approach, practitioners collaborate with children and young people and:

• Assume that they want to do well
• Assume that they can have or can develop a goal or goals
• Assume that they can have the capacity and personal resources to move towards the goal - even if in very small steps.
• Take it for granted that the children and young people are experts in their own lives and learning.

As the young person is an expert in her own life, the practitioner avoids using leading questions ("Why don't you..?" or "Have you thought of...?"). Leading questions may embed the practitioners solutions.

(Taken from Handbook 3 for National Induction training programme for level 3/4 children's workforce practitioners, pgs 41-55. )

Course Review

COURSE REVIEW

The content of the course calls for a certain degree of academic maturity to enable independent research and drawing information from resources such as books and the internet. Students must extract information that is relevant and disregard irrelevant material.

STUMBLING BLOCKS

Students lack the initiative to search for relevant information independently

Students find it difficult to skim read texts for relevant information or to paraphrase.

DELIVERY

The delivery of the course is mostly in a lecture format followed by handouts with written guidelines on the set task/part of the portfolio.
Handouts lack visual aids/colour.
There is little engagement with the subject matter, i.e the course is not ‘brought to life’ by alternative methods such as role playing, visits/speakers, videos etc.

MARKING

All pieces of work are essentially a work in progress and once marked, are given back to the student to re-draft and return. Students cannot grasp this method of marking as they understand that once a piece of work is submitted, it has been completed. The constant need to go back over work already submitted creates a lot of frustration among the students and effects morale and effort. This is reflected in the current portfolio attainment grades.

STUMBLING BLOCKS

Students becoming increasingly frustrated with work, leading to disruption and poor effort.

BUILDING BLOCKS

Start up a resource bank of information, including leaflets, occupation cards and handouts.

Work help sheets - sentence starters.

Group presentations on different tasks using interactive white board.