Death Education - an argument for death education presented by Kathy Kortes-Miller

Kathy Kortes-Miller from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay presented "Situating Death in Education". Kathy provides a strong argument for the question "Why include death education in the schools?"

Kathy kept the group spell bound and I think she had us all wanting MORE! I was proud to be Canadian just to listen to her. She articulated ideas that many of us are familiar with, but she added updates, included great quotes, thoughts and perspectives, and then touched on a few challenges. Her visual presentation was excellent, and the companion handout summarized the presentation.

Kathy articulated well the vehicle of education as a "force for change... the medium by which information is communicated and understanding enhanced.... Education directly influences attitudes and values and can assist in defining, strengthening or modifying them."

Kathy said, "We are not free to choose whether anyone will learn about death, though we have some choice about how they will learn." She suggests that death education specifically "will not prevent death as a normative life event but rather it will work to prevent some of the negative side effects of not understanding dying and death.... Perceiving death education as primary prevention allows for opportunities to begin engaging in the important discussions around the meaning of death and the quality of life which guide our living until we die."

Kathy also discussed another one of my passions - the need to provide better support to the PSWs who provide 80% of patient/resident care in long term care in Ontario!

Thanks and Great Work Kathy!

Kath

Conference: "Association for Death Education and Counseling" and the "International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society"

Our GREAT ONLINE FACILITATOR Jen Wortham enticed me to attend the ADEC and ICGBCS conference in Miami this past week. I am delighted that I followed her lead and attended!

The combined conference brought participants from around the globe. My greatest grief was in having to choose between several interesting and exciting workshops for each concurrent session, and the frustration of only being able to be in one place at a time.

For those who are not familiar with ADEC, it is the only group that I know of whose mission includes "Death Education". Postings for the next while will include reflections from the ADEC conference, links to resources/sources.

Makoto Takahashi - Leader in Death Education in Japan's ADEC

On Saturday morning I had the distinct honour of welcoming Makoto Takahashi and his family to our home! Makoto (Mac) is a leader in death education in Japan. He is very active in the Association of Death Education and Counselling (ADEC) in Japan.

Before he retired Mac taught at a very old prestigious private school that has educated many leaders. Mac taught students between 15 and 18 years old. He taught at least 800 students a year! Classes were one hour long, twice a week, and went for ten weeks. Approximately 20 hours of study. Students often came back to him in the years following the course when they experienced a death in their lives. Apparently there were 10-15 deaths of parents each year in this very large school. For those who would like more information on the curriculum, please feel free to email me and I can connect you with Mac.

As I listened to Mac talk, I thought that perhaps the owl who visited us the night before was simply a foreshadowing of the wisdom that Mac would bring the next morning!

Thanks Mac!