Visit by Robert "Bob" Kantar, Educational Consultant
November 16-17, 2010
Far too often, I am humbled by a school visit process in which a consultant, responsible for the placement of a struggling youth, must try to hear, observe and evaluate a particular school to quote "recommend it to a client" or even write a review for a wider audience.
Do we know the student we represent well enough to recommend a placement? What is our rationale for selecting this particular placement over others? For me, equally important, and in some ways more challenging, how do I assure myself that the recommendation will meet the needs of the child, assure the safety of the child and do no harm? It is an awesome responsibility, in many respects the same as that of a parent who rightfully is concerned about their decision to send their child to a program. I have no visions of grandeur or crystal ball which will guarantee anyone that my thoughts are objective, accurate and sound. The child will be sent to a place that I may recommend by a decision of the parents or guardians and neither of us will be present day in and day out to see what happens to their child. A school's state of being is a living process which is constantly in flux and can well be affected by such conditions as the Nation's Economy and personnel changes. No one person that I have met has been able to guarantee me all the knowledge I would need of both the child and the school so that I can provide more than my best advice. After almost 46 years as a consultant and literally hundreds of school visits from colleges to boarding schools to treatment centers across the United States, I still find the task of placement a difficult and very personal challenge. There are no automatic solutions, no boiler plate explanations for each child is, thank God, unique.
Do we know the student we represent well enough to recommend a placement? What is our rationale for selecting this particular placement over others? For me, equally important, and in some ways more challenging, how do I assure myself that the recommendation will meet the needs of the child, assure the safety of the child and do no harm? It is an awesome responsibility, in many respects the same as that of a parent who rightfully is concerned about their decision to send their child to a program. I have no visions of grandeur or crystal ball which will guarantee anyone that my thoughts are objective, accurate and sound. The child will be sent to a place that I may recommend by a decision of the parents or guardians and neither of us will be present day in and day out to see what happens to their child. A school's state of being is a living process which is constantly in flux and can well be affected by such conditions as the Nation's Economy and personnel changes. No one person that I have met has been able to guarantee me all the knowledge I would need of both the child and the school so that I can provide more than my best advice. After almost 46 years as a consultant and literally hundreds of school visits from colleges to boarding schools to treatment centers across the United States, I still find the task of placement a difficult and very personal challenge. There are no automatic solutions, no boiler plate explanations for each child is, thank God, unique.
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