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| Self-portrait by the Aktiv wordsmith |
Konduktive
Förderung
In Germany many years ago the term konduktive Förderung was introduced by
Fr. Dr. Prof. Karin Weber. It was believed that this would describe what it is
that conductors do. I am not sure that it does but that is another story.
I have rarely used this term. I tend to speak in terms
of upbringing, lifestyle and education, and conductive pedagogy, just as I did
in Hungary when I was training to be a conductor. I simply translated these
words for my own use into German.
The children in my groups in Germany, and their
parents, have also avoided using this term and we all tend to just say ‘Petö’
in our everyday communication. This is how it has been right from the start
here in Nürnberg some fifteen or more years ago. I think it is the same in much
of Germany. I am quite happy to stay with this because it keeps everyone well away
from any connections to therapy when we speak.
Aktive
Förderung
Recently one of our teenagers invented her own new
descriptive term for what she thinks it is that we do together.
This young lady does not have profound problems with
her speech but she is sometimes so excited and fast that she trips over her
words and jumbles things up a bit.
I wonder whether this was how she originally created
the new term – then, liking the way it sounded, she stuck to it. However it
originated it has stuck, and she began using it regularly. Gradually we all
began to use her words to describe our work together while in her company and
sometimes even outside her group.
We all now do what our inventive teenager calls aktive Förderung – active development,
active education, active Petö!
The parents love it. ‘Yes’ they said when they first
heard it, ‘Our children certainly are very
active!’
