Cars 'R' Us

Okay, so last week I was working with a young man in year 8 who had been suspended from school for fighting. He has been diagnosed with ADHD by a paediatrician and takes medication. He believes he is a problem child.

I decided to use the Cars 'R' Us Kit, created by Ivan Honey, Russell Deal and Matt Jones.

I began by asking him to select a picture that represents the car he was driving on the day of the fight. He selected a fairly appropriate picture, showing two cars colliding. We had a discussion about how that car was feeling, what it was thinking, what it's body was doing and what its actions were. This discussion went on for about 10 minutes or so.

Then, I asked him to pick another picture, representing the car he'd like to be driving. He selected a flash, fancy and sporty looking car. We then discussed how it would feel to be driving this vehicle. What he'd be telling himself if he was driving this car, what his body would be doing and what his actions would be like. This discussion went on again for probably another 10 minutes.

I found that the cars enabled him to make a shift toward accepting responsibility for his own behaviour. It also enabled him to focus on his own total behaviour, not that of others, and what he would prefer it to be.

He made a plan of things he could do that didn't rely on anyone but himself so that he would be able to remain behind the wheel of the fancy car. We made a colour photocopy of the car he'd like to be driving and pasted it into his student diary, along with his plan.

I found the cards to be outstanding. In education, we are always reminded to separate "the behaviour from the person". The cards enabled us to do this quite easily, without allocating blame or value judgements. He could clearly identify that his total behaviour was chosen and that he would like to have been in more effective control. I'll keep posting my experience in working with young people and these cards as I try them out in a range of situations.

You can find the cards here, on Ivan's website or here, at Innovative Resources.

W: What did I want?
I wanted to see if we could use the Cars 'R' Us set to look at planning to take more effective control in the future.
D: What did I do?
Talked about total behaviours using images of the cars within a D. Barnes Boffey "Reinventing Yourself" framework.
E: Did it work?
Yes, very well. The cards made conversation smooth. It seemed less like a counselling session and more like a guided discussion.
P: What learning can I take away from this for the future?
The cards are easy to use and provide good visual cues for the people I'm working with, especially teenagers.