What is Have a Go Spaghettio!?

Have a Go Spaghettio! is a pedagogy which provides the early childhood educator a way of delivering ideas and principles of psychotherapy to the young constructivist mind.

Albert Ellis said a long time ago that the future of psychotherapy is in the school system so that’s Have a Go Spaghettio!’s mission, to help young people learn habits of thinking that will hold them in good stead.

clap your hands

touch the sky

give it a try

banana pie!

Who is Abert Ellis? He’s the creator of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy which provides the ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance counselling/teaching paradigm. It is the underpinning theory of the Have a Go Spaghettio! approach to social, emotional, behavioural well-being.

General Semantics also informs the Have a Go Spaghettio! approach, which posits that ‘the word is not the person’ it intends to define. A personal failing or the opinion of others do not determine the persons entire worth.

What is a good self? Is there such a thing? If so, then logically, there is a bad self, and this may be a belief under construction in the child’s mind. Good self, bad self, smart self-believing is that we can ‘be’ the label provided to us by others because that’s what they tell us we are!

Have a Go Spaghettio! teaches children that the ‘self’ we talk about is far too complex to determine whether it’s a good one or a bad one. We can be judged on our errors, but to be believe we are our errors is an error in itself.

In essence Have a Go Spaghettio! relays the following to young constructivist learners:

They make beliefs from information provided to them. They process information to make meanings about their ‘selves,’ others and the way the world works.

Give it a try banana pie!

The Have a Go Spaghettio! chart presents six competencies/traits/qualities/capabilities that Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy and General Semantics theories say are helpful to the individual as they are based on attitudes/philosophies/ outlooks/habits of thinking and believing that are rational, evidence based. Each colour coded competency incorporates the following elements which are taught to young constructivists:

1.      Thinking is something we do, and we make sense of information received in our interactions with others and environments.

2.      Our beliefs can be helpful (Brain Friend - BF/Success Helper -SH) or unhelpful (Brain Bully (BB)/Success Stopper- SS).

3.      BB thinking makes BB feelings and BB behaviour.

4.      BF thinking makes BF feelings and BF behaviour.

This is what each colour represents

1.      Blue SH means we can develop the capacity to meet challenges with an attitude of ‘I’ll try my best.’ This involves having a sense of control in determining outcomes, and understanding that if they don’t meet their goals, they can reset them or accept that it may be too hard an ask at this time. This behaviour is driven by ‘I can influence outcomes in my favour’ thinking, internal locus of control rather than SS thinking of ‘if I do ok its luck.’ This capability helps to also develop frustration tolerance, to maintain emotional and behavioural control especially when challenged. ‘Give it a try banana pie!’ thinking.

2.      Yellow SH means we cooperate with others and respect them. This is driven by what Albert Ellis calls Unconditional Other Acceptance thinking. This helps us understand that everyone’s worthwhile even if they make mistakes or do things we don’t accept or like. This way of thinking helps us to work and play with others successfully. It doesn’t mean we have to be friends with everyone e.g., we can choose to dislike things about someone without damning them in a global way. ‘I can cooperate. G’day mate!’ thinking.

3.      Purple SH capability represents the ability to manage emotions and behaviours using strategies that keep the person in a state of relative calm. Part of the ‘keep calm’ toolkit is the ability to rate the severity of a situation in the context of all possible problems that may arise. Is this problem the worst thing that can happen? Can I handle this? This develops a SH belief rule of ‘I don’t expect to always get my way. Sometimes life’s unfair.’ ‘I keep Coolio at schoolio!’ thinking.

4.      Green SH thinking considers what things do children require to help them achieve what they want to do. This trains children in thinking ahead in simple ways. E.g., what will I use to write my story? E.g., Remembering to clean their teeth reflects this competency. It’s about learning to set reasonable goals and being prepared. ‘I’m read with my teddy’ thinking!

5.      Red SH helper believing is applying the principle of unconditional self-acceptance to one’s self, all the time, but especially when challenged. This belief is based on the logic that a particular quality or characteristic abstracted from all the things that constitute the ‘self’ cannot define us totally. Hence, we cannot ‘be’ bad, good, smart etc. so accepting the label from another that you e.g., ‘are’ dumb will not be accepted. ‘I’m worthwhile crocodile’ thinking.

6.      Orange SH thinking incorporates Yellow and Red SH’s. It accepts unconditionally that the self and others are of worth and cannot be their successes and failures nor the labels that people might ascribe them. It is a combination of unconditional self-acceptance and unconditional other acceptance. I call this unconditional ‘us’ acceptance. ‘Everyone’s OK Hey! Hey! Thinking.’

All of these Have a Go Spaghettio! SH capabilities combine to assist the educator and counsellor to help young children become acquainted with their thinking nature. It provides a common language and conceptual understanding that delivers the message that the map is not the territory; the word is not the person or the thing it represents.

Give it a try banana pie!