Bringing the
Past Forward - A Retiree’s Nightmare
By Anders Poulsen
Part I: Beginnings
Can you imagine looking at 30 years of files, papers packed in loose-leaf
binders, filling the shelves of ISPA’s Central Office as well as at home, and
wondering if I will live long enough to go through it all to determine what
should be archived? They were all, when received, evaluated as important for a
Central Office and of benefit for the association. Now and again it was my
intention to begin going over all those papers, determine what is important for
the history of ISPA and send them to Betts Rivét as official archival material
to be stored in the library at the University of Memphis. Busy working days
postponed these good intentions and only occasionally when a binder grew so big
that not even one new (and important) sheet could go into it, this binder had to
be examined and a number of older papers plucked out ending up in the
wastebasket.
ISPA has filled pretty much of my life over these many years. Also my memory has
been dominated with the natural "filing in my head" of ISPA information but, as
you might expect, growing in age many of these memories have ended up in the
"old age wastebasket." However, now being freed from daily responsibilities, I
found myself ready to take on the challenge of reading, sorting, and examining
what is needed for future historical importance for ISPA. It seemed overwhelming
and, indeed, a retiree’s nightmare. Finally I began by starting with the oldest
material first. In many a case, I do not know what to keep because some of it
may already be in the possession of Betts or Tom Fagan. For that reason Betts
and I have agreed that I would make a rough sorting of the material and what I
find worth keeping I will send to her for a final decision and thereafter
archiving. It has proven to be very time consuming to read every letter, every
document. Having worked a day or two with this, I realized that I had, in hand,
fundamentally important information related to the origin of ISPA and, in fact,
I was one of the few people involved at ISPA’s beginning and still active now. I
felt strongly that some of this information should be shared with the readers of
WGR. This I will try to do in coming issues with bits and pieces in which I was
involved and which, I hope, will contribute to the understanding of the decade
of ISPA, the years from 1974 to 1984, the period up to the tragic death of Cal
Catterall in the train accident in France.
How it all began
On March 11, 1974, I received a newsletter called the World Go Round (Vol. 2,
No. 1) edited by a Dr. Calvin Catterall, a
man fully unknown to me. It was issued by an International School Psychology
Committee (ISPC) which was described as
‘a joint committee of Division 16 of the American Psychological Association and
the National Association of School Psychologists’. The newsletter told that ISPC
had two co-chairpersons, Dr. Catterall and Frances Mullen, and it went
on to report about plans for an international colloquium for School
Psychologists to be held some place in Europe during
1975. Dr. Catterall requested people to contact him if they were interested and
willing to take leadership responsibilities in this. Several years earlier I had
held a UNESCO post in Thailand and had, in several other ways, been traveling
with professional purposes but this WGR was my first contact with an
international group with the same profession as my own. It raised such an
interest in me that I, the same day as I received the newsletter, forwarded a
reply to Dr. Catterall. My letter
began with "I wonder how you found me", a question that was never really
answered. After introducing myself, informing him
that I was the elected President of the Danish Association of School
Psychologists (or chairman as we say), I continued by
saying that "Your idea of an International Colloquium of
School Psychology is very fascinating. Is Denmark too small a
place for that?" After giving more information about the
Danish association the letter ended saying, "Please do write if
you think we have something to contribute." Soon I received
Dr. Catterall’s reply. It was a long letter, rich in words which I
soon found was a characteristic of his. He wrote to ask me to
serve on the international planning group for this coming
colloquium.
I accepted, with pleasure, for this was to be the very first
international colloquium for school psychologists. A number of
letters crossed the Atlantic in the ensuing months and it was
decided that the site of the first colloquium should be Munich,
a place easy to reach, and with reduction in hotel rates
available. I had received a small Danish grant to be used
for a study
visit to New York during the fall of 1974. This made it possible
for me to accept an invitation to attend the Executive Board
meeting of NASP to be held in Chicago in October where I also
were to meet with Cal Catterall and Frances Mullen in person. I
must admit that as I landed at O’Hare airport in Chicago, I felt
something important was just ahead of me.
Cal and Frances were at the O’Hare Inn where the NASP
meeting was held. Our first talk was held over an awful chicken
curry dinner. The NASP meeting was chaired by President Jean
Leppaluoto. I was introduced as a member of the planning
committee for the next year’s colloquium and I addressed the
Board with a greeting from the Danish association. Later in the
evening I met with a few members of the planning committee
to discuss early stages of the colloquium plans. As the
following months went by, plans developed well and Cal,
supported by Frances, did an outstanding job working out
details from a distance. They both possessed a warm, sincere
sense of international cooperation, listening to and respecting
other cultures as they designed this first colloquium.
The Munich Colloquium ( 22-26 July, 1975) The colloquium
theme was "School Psychology in Changing Societies."
Program booklets were made and distributed during the
winter, all adorned with a logo designed by Cal’s daughter,
Karen. That logo is still the one representing our association
today. Also they were very impressive as to the content of the
program to be offered in Munich. The actual program presented
at the colloquium was almost up to the promised standard, but
cancellations or changes did not pose a problem because Cal
possessed a very special ability to establish an
atmosphere of acceptance. He could, elegantly, reorganize
a session so that the 200 participants felt valued and
given ample opportunity for international interaction
about various aspects of the colloquium theme. An
interesting note: more than ten of those present in
Munich have attended most of our colloquia ever since.
Two have served ISPA one way or another until this day
and Bayard Bartley is one of them. The program booklet
announced an evening session from 8
to 10 titled: The Future Of International Communication in
School Psychology. Added was that it was ‘an invitational
meeting for the presidents of National Psychology groups, the
Colloquium Planning Committee, and members of the
International School Psychology Committee. The aim of the
meeting was that the invited persons should try to formulate
some thoughts about how this first attempt for international
cooperation could continue. These thoughts were to be brought
up for discussion and a possible decision in a plenary session
on the last morning of the colloquium.
Only very few of the above mentioned types of leaders were
attending the colloquium, for which reason it was suggested to
extend the invitation to a broader audience and meet in a
nearby Bierstube which evolved into a good social evening
with an exchange of opinions and ideas which became the basis
of proposals that were presented the last day. I believe that Cal
originally had hoped that steps could be taken to establish a real
membership organization. This was understandable since, to
continue ISPC, funds were badly needed. Until then, Cal and
his family not only did all the work but also paid for printing
and mailing. Personally, I felt sure (as did others) that it was
not a mature time to establish a formalized organization. Cal
accepted this. I was asked to chair this plenary session on the
last day. My files show that I presented the following
proposals:
The planning group found it important to establish ways to
continue some type of international cooperation but found it too
early to try to establish a real membership organization with
elected board and all that follows this. It was
found that some sort of structure was needed if it should
be realistic to keep a cooperation running and possibly making
steps for further development and a minimum amount of
money was also required.
Goals or aims for this cooperation should be discussed and
decided upon for the work to be done within the nearest 2-3
years, but which?
Should a continuation of the WGR be one of these goals?
To be published 4-5 times annually? If yes, how to provide
funds for this?
Should a new international colloquium be one of the goals to
aim for?
Would it be of importance to have published one or more
books about school psychology in various countries, a project
Cal Catterall already worked on?
Generally and without much discussion it was met with
warm approval that the WGR should continue, that a new
colloquium was considered important, and that books about
school psychology would be most relevant for promotion of
international cooperation and improvement of school
psychology worldwide. The discussion about financing was the
most difficult part.
The group suggested that national associations should be
asked to pay 10/15/20 cents per member to this international
cooperation. Would that be realistic?
Furthermore, each person receiving the WGR should be
asked to pay for it. Three or four dollars annually was
suggested. Those who did not pay would be deleted from the
mailing list. Would that be realistic?
No minutes exist from that meeting but I do remember a
long discussion and much doubt being expressed as to the
realistic nature of the plans. It came up that the publishing of
the books might bring a profit that would help keep the project
running. At least, if we wanted to go on, we had to believe that
money would come in some way or another!
The final part that was discussed was a mechanism for
steering the committee and keeping it of such simple nature that
it would cost nothing yet efficient enough to take care of the
initial projects. To this purpose the planning group suggested
that:
• ‘An executive group of 5 should be established and this
body should be named "The International School Psychology
Committee." Two of the members were obviously to be
Frances Mullen and Calvin Catterall, (which I gave ground
for saying)
without their willingness to continue to put their effort and
their heart into this international project, nothing whatsoever
will be done and the goals not attained.’ This was
accepted along with the suggestion that the group
responsible for the day’s agenda be empowered to find three
people for this committee who would be fairly representative of
larger professional groups in major geographical areas outside
the United States. Finally it was proposed that:
• ‘The International School Psychology Committee should
establish a larger Associate Committee consisting of
members of the group involved in the planning of this first
colloquium, and others who still wanted to be involved
internationally, as well as one representative from each of
the various national associations of school psychologists
wanting to be involved in this project.’
The decisions made during this final session of the first
colloquium were basic, but important steps in the later
development of the International School Psychology
Association (ISPA). They were small hesitant attempts and
proved, in various ways, not to be very realistic. For instance,
I am not sure that very much more money was paid than what
the Danish association allocated (2 DKK per member = 30
cents per member).
Right after the colloquium, I was asked to be a member of
this new International School Psychology Committee. It took
some time to find the two last members, but after long
considerations and much exchange of thoughts Odette L van
Kolck from Brazil and Avner Ziv from Israel also joined the
committee in November.
Part II:
July 1975 - August 1977
In Munich I had accepted the
invitation from Cal Catterall to become a member of the new International School
Psychology Committee (ISPC). That was in July. Already early August I learned
from a letter that Cal expected me to carry out the following duties:
* Organize the work of ISPC,
* Suggest who to appoint as other members of ISPC, and
* Take responsibility for the next colloquium to be held in 1977 and to find in
which Scandinavian country it could be best arranged.
In fast succession, all during August, four more letters came from Cal. Their
content included:
* A news release about the Munich colloquium,
* Guidelines for choosing members of the ISPC,
* Organizational Guidelines to keep ISPC momentum going, and
* A tentative timeline for the 2nd international colloquium on school psychology
listing 19 items/steps and the months each should be finalized.
Needless-to-say, my breath was taken away because Cal expected me to carry out
all of the tasks. Little did he know that I already had more than enough to do.
I was the leader of the School Psychological Counseling in my area and wanted
here to do a job deserving professional respect among school children, parents,
and teachers as well as by my employer, the municipal authorities. I was also
deeply involved in official and semi-official associations related to the
function of our society which were time consuming. But most demanding was my 6
year chairmanship of the Danish School Psychologists Association. This post
brought along requests for my participating in and contributing to many types of
sessions, meetings, conferences throughout the country, and also I was asked to
be a member of several official Government boards and Commissions. All of this
were unpaid work to be done after normal working-hours.
I replied to Cal's five letters before the end of August. This letter crossed in
the mail with one more letter from Cal. (now, altogether six since we met in
Munich). The main content in this letter from him was "I have been waiting for
your answer for the last week and a half. I do not know what would happen to the
Steering Committee if you are not able to accept. We need you desperately."
I perhaps should have felt flattered at being seen as important but, instead, I
was a bit fearful. I could foresee some problems if Cal, who seemed to spend
most of his time on ISPC, could not accept or understand that I had major
obligations elsewhere. In my reply to him, I assured him that he could rely on
me to do what I accepted to do keeping in mind my other responsibilities. As the
fine, warm hearted man he was, he immediately gave me a positive reply.
Generally, we had an uncomplicated, cooperative relationship and I deeply
respected his dynamic and visionary leadership. I also believe that he respected
my help shaping and defining the direction of ISPC in those early years of
1975-6 as well as keeping plans close to the world of reality.
In 1975 Cal was preparing the first volume of the series of books about
International Perspectives on School Psychology. It was published in 1976.
Subsequently, Volume 2 was published in 1977.
In planning for the 2nd ISPC Colloquium, I suggested that Helsingør, Denmark, be
the site for this colloquium. Early in 1976, the Local Organizing Committee
(LOC) was well on its way in planning for the 1977 colloquium. Even though
Helsingør was two hours traveling time away from the airport in Copenhagen, it
had all the facilities and attractions beneficial for our colloquium. It is a
town with the Hamlet castle .Kronborg., and a new, modern Conference Centre had
enough accommodations for the participants which could be supplemented, if
necessary, with nearby camping huts, youth hostels, and even local teachers and
colleagues opening their homes for us. All the municipalities around Helsingør
had well staffed School Psychological Counseling Offices willing to support the
LOC is various ways. But one major problem existed. The conference site was
owned and run by the United Danish Trade Unions. It was much in demand and
required that we sign a contract one year prior to the colloquium. We had to
guarantee to rent the whole Centre which included full payment of all 175 rooms
and full board for the same number of participants. Cancellation would be
accepted no later than 3 months before the colloquium. If later, we would be
obliged to pay 90% of the total sum (an amount of money higher than the value of
my private home). ISPC had no buffer-sum available. However, realizing the
personal risk in signing the contract, I did so on June 2, 1976, with my wife'[s
approval. More about this later.
A torrent of letters passed between Cal and me, his more frequent and longer
than mine. Fax and email did not exist so communication took time and we needed
to meet in person to talk over a number of issues. The XXI International
Congress of Psychology gave us this opportunity in July 1976 in Paris.
Concurrently in Paris, Frances Mullen coordinated and organized the 34th Annual
Convention of the International Council of Psychologists and Cal arranged to be
there with a Traveling Seminar. I was invited to participate in a seminar on
international psychology so with the financial support from my association and
the Danish Ministry of Education, I was able to go to Paris and meet Frances and
Cal. Staying at a humble side-street hotel where all sorts of perceptible human
activities went on all night, I found my experience filled with joyful
contrasts: Speaking in a Sorbonne classroom, meeting with Frances and Cal for a
light meal at a little café (a favorite hangout for both Lenin and
Hemingway), and finally an evening banquet in the luxury Hotel Concorde La
Fayette, were the high lights of my Paris experience.
During our discussions of colloquium items and general ISPC matters, Frances
hinted that because of an overload of duties she may need to leave ISPC. She did
so formally during the fall and Professor Gaston Gauthier of Quebec, Canada,
accepted to replace her. Upon returning to Denmark, the flow of letters about
the planning of the colloquium between Cal and me continued and our local
planning progressed. The First Circular, colloquium information, and the
registration form were distributed on time. Cal's travel agent planned three
Traveling Seminars.
A plan was devised whereby Americans could register to attend the colloquium
with Cal or with the travel agent or with us in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, we
did not foresee the confusion and how difficult it was for us to keep a general
overview of the registration process. We mailed announcements of the colloquium
directly to every school psychologist in all 5 Nordic countries. We were
supported by the Danish Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Education with both
addresses and directly forwarding our material via their own channels especially
to the East European Countries. To educational institutions in the Soviet Union,
we made special letters of invitation in Russian. All of the publicity did not
seem to help much because by May 1, 1977 we, in Denmark, only has 10 registered
participants and Cal reported 50 "reservations, but some of them just
inquiries." Since the dollar was low, we wondered if that was influencing
registration from USA.
At this point our signed contract with the colloquium site was causing us great
concern. We had 15 days to make a decision to cancel or be bound to pay 90% of
the total sum for 175 people. In fact, I was the one to have the final word on
this because it was my home that we were gambling with. In a letter we told Cal
that the LOC would call him on May 11th and he, by then, had to know how many,
in total, had registered for the colloquium with him. But on that day, there was
no reassurance from Cal except "they are coming in pretty fast now." The
situation was becoming critical. But I had the feeling that the administration
of the conference site was not too happy if we cancelled because it perhaps
could be difficult to get another group to contract the facility at this late
date. I proposed and they agreed to set a new deadline date of June 15th and,
further, they agreed to 153 full paying participants rather than 175. But even
this lower figure could be a problem since the dollar continued to drop in
value, which in itself undermined our budget. It was increasingly more expensive
for American to travel abroad.
An appeal was sent out to all Danish school psychologists, explaining the
situation and asking as many as possible to participate in our colloquium
through the financial assistance of their own office budget. By early June we
had a total of 109 people registered, but phone calls from Danish colleagues as
a result of our letter- appeal gave us the absolute, unquestionable backing we
needed from our colleagues. We decided not to cancel and luckily so because we
ended up with 250 participants at the colloquium coming from 30 different
countries. We will never forget that May in 1977 when panic was just around the
corner. It taught me a lesson to strive for ISPC to establish a large enough
buffer-sum to survive a necessary cancellation of a colloquium. This we first
really took steps to realize after the Chernobyl disaster threatened our
colloquium in the summer of 1986.
The Second School Psychology Colloquium, August 14-19, 1977, Elsinor, Denmark
The theme was "Child Rearing and Educational Practices: Interaction on
Personality Development." Cal pulled off a remarkable feat by putting together a
well organized program from a distance and bringing with him nicely designed
program booklets. The colloquium was successful, documented in a very favorable
way from our .Evaluation Questionnaire. that participants were asked to
complete. We instigated the .Small Interaction Groups for all Participants.
which has continued to be a valued characteristic at our colloquia ever since.
Our very successful social programs included the popular study visits to schools
and institutions, an evening in the old Carmelite Abbey where a local Amateur
Theatre Group presented 'Shakespeare Vignettes,' and a special children's
program every day. Worthy of mentioning here is that the secretarial staff,
reception and information desk personnel, as well as the shuttle service drivers
were all volunteers which did not burden the colloquium budget at all. They were
offered to us by their employers, the municipal school systems in the area where
they were employed.
Financially, we were supported by a grant from the Danish Ministry of Education
that covered pre-colloquium costs for printing and mailing and, further, a
special grant large enough to invited a South African colleague to attend the
colloquium as well as a special post colloquium study tour in our country.
Settling the financial side of the colloquium was not easy because of three
accounts (The Traveling Seminars, Call Catterall and the LOC). This led to the
future decision that a very clear budget is needed and that money control must
be in one place only. In spite of the fears of potential problems we made enough
money to pay Cal for Vol. 1 and 2 of .Psychology in the Schools. which we gave
to all participants. Also we were able to advance $2000 as a loan for costs
of printing and mailing to the group planning the next colloquium in England (an
amount that this group unfortunately lost for reasons never explained or
understood). By the very end, we were able to transfer the small amount of $1500 to the work of ISPC, administered by Cal Catterall. Not much after all that
work, but other types of results were probably worth more than money, such as:
The Danish Association of School Psychologists had proved its ability to handle
such a task, which gave some benefits externally. Of some importance it was also
that Professor Robert Vallet, after a post colloquium study tour we arranged for
him, was interviewed by a newspaper which appeared under the headline "Danish
School Psychology Is The World's Most Advanced." Also the professional
cooperation inside the Scandinavian countries flourished as a result of the
colloquium AND it made ISPC and its work international known, and increased the
aspirations for the future, which are documented in notes from internal
committee meetings held during the colloquium under the heading: .Deliberations
of the International School Psychology Steering Committee, August 1977. Members
in attendance at all sessions were: Cal Catterall, Gaston Gauthier, Avner Ziv,
and Anders Poulsen along with others who were invited when special items were
discussed.
Highlighted items are as follows:
• A strong group of British participants (Klaus Wedell, Jack Wright, Maurice
Chazan, Seamus Hegarty, and the Honorary Secretary for the Division of
Educational Psychologists of the British Psychological Society, Ken Cornwall)
suggested the University of York in England as the site for the 1979 colloquium.
Ken Cornwall offered to be the Convener if the two British associations, in
joint sponsorship, would agree.
• Possible times and places for subsequent colloquia were discussed with a
decision to move to an every year plan. It was felt that the colloquia should
remain in Central Europe for the foreseeable future with the exception of Israel
which Avner Ziv suggested to be the host in a nearer future.
• The concept of Regional Meetings held at places where it was not yet practical
to hold a colloquium, was discussed and accepted. Also planning Traveling
Seminars and/or Study Travel Groups to such places were to be considered.
• A Task Force had been urging ISPC to start a journal entitled »International
School Psychology Journal«. Although ISPC agreed on the desirability of a
journal, we were not in a financial position to start now. The Task Force would
continue to work on this (Ludwig Lowenstein, UK).
• The desirability of a relationship with the United Nations was discussed.
Gaston Gauthier and Avner Ziv should explore possibilities and bring up more
concrete plans and suggestions, especially considering the International Year of
the Child in 1979.
• To increase the level of ISPC activity by building up broader contacts in
various parts of the world, special assignments were accepted by committee
members along with Anna-Lisa Melldén, Sweden. All would report their activities
to Cal.
• Finances were discussed by representatives of present and up-coming colloquia
and the Journal Task Force. ISPC was functioning on very limited funds. It
should be the aim of all colloquia to produce some money for general operational
expenses. It was revealed for the first time that Cal, when funds were
available, received $100 a month as an honorarium. Avner Ziv suggested that this
amount be increased to support Cal, who invested so much time in ISPC, as it
would be unlucky for ISPC if he had to find other paid work, consequently,
limiting his involvement in the development of ISPC. As soon as the financial
status of the colloquium was known, Cal agreed to bring this question back to
the committee by mail.
• A discussion about receiving any type of payment for doing work for ISPC
revealed major cultural differences. How would this influence attitudes in the
years ahead, what repercussions could be foreseen. North and West Europeans in
those days expected such activities to be made by socially involved people, who
volunteer their free time trying to move the world somewhat in the direction of
their dedication, and not receiving any type of pay for this, but having
refunded only their direct expenses.
• The formalization of ISPC was also an important item for discussion. As a
first step, it was agreed to accept the offer from Werner Epp, USA, to begin to
look into a Constitution and possibly even a Charter under the UN. It was no
time to rest on the credit obtained during this colloquium. What developed
hereafter will be reported in Part III...
Part III
In
the June issue of WGR I focused on what happened in 1975, when I became a member
of the International School Psychology Committee and thereafter in the article
mentioned the activities up to the 1977 colloquium in Elsinor and finally gave a
survey of what the Steering Committee at its sessions during this colloquium
considered most important to have implemented in a nearer future. Right after
the colloquium we probably all needed a period to restore to new activities. Cal
Catterall admitted this as he introduced a letter to me, dated September
6th,1977 as follows: “I do not know about you, but I am having trouble getting
back into the saddle again. I have been home for about two weeks and have only
done a few of the things that needed to be done when I got home.” These words
were followed by five pages giving evidence that he was very well .back into the
saddle. Mentioning what he in fact already had been doing (which was far more
than most of us would ever manage in the same time span):
•
Made an agreement with Peter Burzinsky to serve as a “production manager” of
WGR in cooperation with the advanced printing facilities at Vincennes University
in Indiana (which proved to be very positive for WGR and ISPC during its period
of functioning).
•
Already had forwarded to the British a long organizational letter as a support
to their initial planning for the next colloquium.
•
Pre-planned the coming summer’s Traveling Seminar But most of the five pages
dealt with finances, a continuation of the discussions by the Steering Committee
in Elsinor. Cal did not like to discuss money. At the
time, he had no regular job, thus no regular income. Support for ISPC
came from various US sources such as the California School Psychology
Association (CASP), American Psychological Association (APA) and mainly from the
National Association of School Psychology (NASP). Very few people paid for the
WGR which Cal generously distributed (about 1000 copies worldwide). He used his
own funds to publish the volumes of “Psychology in the Schools in
International Perspective.” But as the optimist he was by nature, and as he
believed so much in the importance of ISPC, he always tried to find ways to
raise funds. When he did not succeed, he paid out of his own pocket. We urged
him to discuss this because the Steering Committee felt strongly that we could
not let him go on doing this. We knew that a solution to this would not be found
as long as we were a loosely structured Committee with no formal financial
accounting system in place. Finding a solution became even more difficult when
the continuity of the work in the Committee was broken when Gaston Gauthier vacated
his seat and was replaced by Dr. Blanca M. De Alvarez from Mexico.
New
initiatives: The International Year of the Child (1979)
The
period between the Elsinor colloquium in 1977 and York in 1979 was, in reality,
the Crown of Achievements for Cal. The Liaison network was tremendously
expanded by Cal in co-operation with Anna-Lisa Mellden from Sweden but it
brought on some operational function problems.
However,
the core of this period was the International Year of the Child (IYC). It was
roughly touched on in Elsinor but nobody imagined how successful it would be for
Cal, personally, and for ISPC. Looking back it is unbelievable how Cal
had already started setting up the ISPC.s agenda for the IYC in the October 1977
issue of the WGR. By June 1978 he published a draft of “The International
School Psychology Committee's Declaration of the Psychological Rights of the
Child”. He named ten tentative ‘Psychological Rights’ along with a
well-structured four phase plan indicating how these .rights. could be discussed
worldwide.
Cal
was an untiring, creative visionary. He succeeded in mobilizing a large number
of people worldwide and set the agenda for discussions in wide educational and
school psychological groups in many counties. He obtained visible and lasting
results, not the least of which were the many successful Traveling Seminars. Not
only did he bring the .rights. to the knowledge of colleagues in many countries
but also to political and administrative circles as well. After a final
polishing of these .rights., they were approved by the participants of the York
colloquium in July 1979. Cal was the drive behind all of this! He was the only
one who had the insight and imaginative power to formulate these psychological
rights using ideas set forth by the UN in the 1959 document “Declaration of
the Rights of the Child.” AND, it is worth noting that, as was characteristic
of Cal, the 1979 document was published under the name of the ISP Steering
Committee, so we all were given the credit that he and he alone really deserved.
I
do find it fair to mention one special IYC initiative even though it is from my
own country. The Danish Association of School Psychologists made a major
contribution to the success of the whole campaign by publishing 20,000 copies of
a well designed booklet of the ten psychological rights, each illustrated with a
photograph. We added a one page text for each of the ten rights explaining and
illustrating the content of each. This booklet was distributed free to most
schools, libraries, practitioners in Denmark as well as colleagues in
neighboring countries where it was well received and widely quoted. The Swedes
and the Germans succeeded in having made reprints in their own languages.
Furthermore, the Danish association published a special issue of the journal Skolepsykologi
in which Danish cultural and political leaders wrote articles about the ten
psychological rights and their importance.
During
the York colloquium a Task Force under the direction of Stuart Hart finalized
the ISP Psychological Rights of the Child which was presented to a plenary
session the last day of the colloquium. In the 1979 October issue of the WGR,
Cal reported, As was anticipated, the Declaration
of the Psychological Rights of the Child was adopted by the majority of the
participants at the closing session of the York colloquium. What had not been
anticipated, however, was the rather strong opposition to the idea of making
such a declaration at all. Although, like all rights statements, it is
admittedly somewhat idealistic and various countries are at different levels of
readiness to work on these rights and for most people who had been working on
the wording of the declaration we had experienced a ‘who can be against
them?’ reaction. After mentioning some of the reservations, he continued
by saying that the majority signed in support of the Declaration. And so,
although there were different reactions to the process, we have
now passed the major milestone of having adopted the first international
Declaration of the Psychological Rights of the Child. If this has to be more
than an exercise in futility, the task before us is to find a variety of ways
and the manpower to help move this process beyond where it is now to where it
should be, a guiding force, helping to improve the quality of life for the world's
children.
Good
documentation and follow up related to the whole process around the IYC can be
found in the WGRs from 1977-1979. In my opinion, this was the most successful,
effective and memorable task that Cal did for children and for International
School Psychology. But the opposition disappointed him immensely. Cal also was
let down when some participants raised the question about the loose structure of
ISPC and possible consequences. It was meant as a serious concern. Everything
would fall apart if something should happen to Cal 'on the way back over the
ocean' (as expressed by some). There was skepticism related to the funding of
the work done.
"Where
are the needed funds coming from and how are they spent?" It was difficult
for some to understand how Cal could afford to use so much time, as his level of
activity for ISPC indicated, without getting money from somewhere. From whom and
why? However, the ISP Steering Committee was still in agreement that the
‘movement’ was not yet mature enough for establishing a formal association
which, naturally, would require membership and official treasuring which was
what the critics were asking for. It was decided that Cal, who had taken care of
everything related to money, would make a formal annual accounting of money
received and spent. This would then be published in the WGR.
Unforeseen
was that in less than a year thereafter, the Steering Committee was, indeed,
confronted with the need to reconsider the structure of the ISPC. But first, a
few words about:
The
3rd International Colloquium, University of York, July 7-12, 1979 which had
the theme: Psychology for Children - Today and Tomorrow. Ken
Cornwall was the competent convener and worked together with a strong group
of British School Psychologists along with the backing of two associations
representing the British School Psychologists. A total of 300 participants came
to York, the largest group being British, many Americans, and 30 countries being
represented. In my experience, the British are good conference hosts so most
participants felt that social and cultural offers were fine and well arranged
and that the professional program was interesting. Personally, I found the
setting at the university campus excellent and the city of York was unique as an
outer frame to the experience.
The
colloquium was seen as valuable for the British and, certainly, for the
development of ideas and thinking connected to school psychology in various
parts of the world. A major contribution was Volume 3 of Cal's books about
“Psychology in the Schools in International Perspective.” His second part of
the “History of the Movement” such as 'factors affecting the development'
and the' four levels of development' were core questions in several sessions
during the colloquium. Not everyone agreed with his deliberations but they
stimulated discussions and brought forward ideas for the future.
Finally
to be mentioned a sad fact. Many months after the colloquium the British Local
Organizing Committee (LOC) informed me that they were unable to refund the loan
of $2000 given to them by ISPC to cover the initial basic costs for printing and
mailing. The reason for this was never properly explained. We can only speculate
that poor financial planning or some internal friction which surfaced after the
colloquium might have been the cause. From that we tried to learn for the
future, but not always have we been successful.
The
4th Colloquium, Jerusalem, Israel, June 29 to July 3, 1980
At
the end of 1979, the planning of the colloquium in Israel was well on its way.
Sweden seemed ready for 1981 and other countries were explored for years
thereafter. Cal planned a Traveling Seminar bringing a large group from USA to
Jerusalem. I tried to arrange a Scandinavian group to go but the interest was
not there. I also had to inform Cal that I was unable to attend because of my
own financial reasons. I was somewhat surprised that I did not receive the usual
quantity of mail from Cal and especially startled that he never commented on the
fact that I could not attend the colloquium. I sensed something was not as it
should be. Phone calls then, for me, were an expensive luxury and only used when
urgent. I felt now was the time to call him and I did so several times. No
response. Now I felt somehow I ought to attend the colloquium and, luckily, with
the help of the Ministry of Education and the Danish Association, I was able to
find the basic $700 needed for travel and registration. I forwarded a note to
Cal about this.
It
was a fortunate circumstance that I was able to book my travel and register for
the colloquium because it was on June 23, 1980 that Cal.s wife called to inform
me that Cal was seriously ill with Meningitis. She asked me, on behalf of Cal,
to take over his duties and responsibilities at the colloquium. Of course I said
yes, not knowing what that implied before I arrived in Jerusalem. Uriel Last,
the convener, was helpful by giving me a list of my main duties. Among these
were:
• Give the Welcome Address to participants at the opening activity,
• Speak at the concluding session,
• Head a number of sessions during the colloquium, and
• Prepare a 'Thank You' at a reception at the home of a psychologist being The
First Lady of Israel, Mrs. Ofira Navon,
married to Yitzhak Navon, the country's President from 1978-83.
Those
were busy days and evenings, trying to prepare myself to represent ISPC
reasonably well. The colloquium was held under the auspices of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem with participation of three more universities and, of
course, the Division of Educational and School Psychology of the Israel
Psychological Association.
The
theme of the colloquium was Psychology and
Changing Education
and the high quality professional program was very well organized. The
social and cultural programs did not give many opportunities to meet colleagues
partly because of the 500 participants, 450 were Israeli and were present mostly
only during the professional sessions. The remaining 80 (60 from USA and 20 from
other countries) were spread out in various hotels all over the city. Traveling
to and from the colloquium site, Mount Scopus, was somewhat problematic,
especially in the evenings.
Calvin
Catterall serious ill. What now?
In
Jerusalem I received a letter from Gretchen, Cal's wife, with more details. The
meningitis was diagnosed in May but, even before that, family and friends
noticed some signs indicating that Cal was not quite himself. Doctors were not
optimistic and a full recovery, if ever, would take time. At the
colloquium, one of Cal's duties was to head a meeting of the ISP Liaison Network
but now it was my responsibility. The following eight people were present at the
meeting on June 30th: Avner Ziv (from Israel and on the ISP Steering
Committee), Peter Burzinsky (from USA and Co-Editor of the WGR), Ludwig
Lowenstein (from England and Editor of the journal School Psychology
International, SPI, which will be discussed later in detail), Jean-Claude
Guillemard (from
France who had already at the York colloquium involved himself in ISP activities
and, I might add, has served ISPA on various important and demanding posts to
the present day), Bob Germain, (from USA, liaison from Missouri), Michael
Schnur (on the colloquium LOC and member of the Israel Psychological
Association), Elizabeth Guillion (from USA who had the latest news from
Gretchen Catterall). A person from South Africa was there also whom I had not
previously met.
The
meeting centered around the sad fact of Cal’s illness and our hopes for his
recovery all of which led to a discussion of the future of ISP. In fact, we were
now in a situation for which we had been criticized - loose structure of ISPC
and what if something happened to Cal? Those weaknesses were now clearly
manifested, however, the present forum of eight could not make any decisions. It
was the duty of the whole Steering Committee. Fortunately, this little dedicated
group of ISP people was willing to debate the situation, bring up suggestions
for what was necessary to be done
and how this could possibly be implemented. The following ideas came up during
the meeting:
•
Probably necessary to postpone the planned 1981 colloquium in Stockholm to 1982,
•
Find ways to continue with 1) the International Network, 2) planning for future
colloquia, 3) SPI Journal, and 4) World Go Round.
•
Would Peter Burzinsky keep on with the WGR? If so, practical issues should be
investigated. Are any articles ready? Is there money for printing and mailing?
•
It would be necessary to find a person willing and capable to function, for some
period of time, as the head of the Steering Committee.
I
was asked to take the lead in this process and accepted to approach the whole
Steering Committee and inform widely within ISP about the present situation and
return to this group with a status report by the end of August.
I was back home from Jerusalem on July 5th and the next day I immediately began writing letters to inform the extensive ISP constituents of the situation.
Part IV
Part three of the early history of ISPA, published in the September issue of the WGR, reported about the period covering the colloquia in York (1979) and Jerusalem (1980) and informed you of the serious illness that befell Calvin Catterall in the spring of 1980. How would his recovery develop and how would it influence his work for the ISPC? Nobody could know when we met in Jerusalem but the predictions were not too good. Fortunately it seemed at the beginning to turn out better than expected. Already in his letter of July 18th he reported, »……my memory functions seem to be about average……. I am currently somewhat weak and temporarily a little confused at times but I feel that I can take of some of the ISPC work that I have had to give up over the past few weeks…..hope I will be able to carry the thought content….«
Sadly, he probably had been too optimistic as very few letters followed from him during the fall and they, indirectly, told that he was not back on track. The impression was that he continued to feel tired and short of energy. That was confirmed also in communication from US members who had met him. Yet he outwardly tried to prove that he was well by mentioning a number of initiatives to be implemented. The major one was in a December 1980 letter.
»The big news is that I have decided that it is time to formalize the organization. The idea was suggested to me by someone who was at Israel…..« Years later, considering how this evolved, the following thought came to my mind: Was that decision his signaling that now he felt well and back to his usual standard OR could it be that, subconsciously, he felt that it was high time to realize his dream? Whatever, the reason, Cal began a period of a high level of activity. He presented a draft of a constitution, based on already existing US associations’ constitutions. People who were close to him then say that he probably composed the constitution without help from others. This constitution was published in the May 1981 WGR and a vote was asked for from the readers along with a vote to indicate whether or not to establish a more formal association. That WGR also indicated that the International Liaison Panel had already approved both issues.
In the August 1981 WGR he announced that the constitution was now »formally accepted by the majority of those who voted……and that our new association can be established during the Stockholm colloquium in the summer of 1982«. Even though he did not communicate very much with me during this constitutional process, I had the impression that he was now back to his former, almost hectic, level of activity and full of initiatives and ideas, as usual. For example, he arranged a traveling seminar to China in June 1981 and worked successfully with the Psychological Rights of the Child and kept in touch with Stuart Hart’s newly established Center for the Study of Children’s Rights in Indianapolis, Indiana. During the fall of 1981, Cal made a European Trip. He visited Sweden for discussions about the 1982 colloquium. He stayed in my home for a few days during which first and foremost two items were discussed:
He, on his side, still trying to convince me to run for the first president of ISPA as in his previous letters. I, on my side, reminding him of his many promises to supply ISPC with an audited survey of its financial status. From Copenhagen he went on to Wurzburg, Germany to meet Bernhard Meissner (BM). He spent several days there and from Bernhard’s reporting from then I am here to mention, that Cal at a conference arranged by BM gave an interesting keynote titled »The Development of School Psychology and its Perspectives from an International Aspect.« Further Cal during his stay tried to convince BM to run for being elected as the treasurer in the association to be formalized during the Stockholm colloquium. BM argued that he had no idea of how to handle financial affairs of an organization, but Cal held out a prospect that he himself as the Executive Secretary of the new association would handle all the daily financial matters. BM finally accepted to run, also because he felt a real personal need for professional international contacts being one out of a total of only about 15 school psychologists at the time working in the whole of Bavaria.
Also Italy and England he visited and met members for discussions about coming events and initiatives. . I was informed that the material for a ballot for the election of officers was ready by December 1981 and would be distributed with an issue of WGR in late 1981 or early 1982. But no WGR came and no communication from Cal either. I should have been aware that something was not as it should be but I had just taken a new job and was, in fact, responsible for running my old job as well as my new one. My hands were more than full. Since I had tried, in vain, to speak to Cal about the financial accounting of ISPC, I had a foreboding feeling that the account was empty and that he had drained his own personal bank account as well. At last a WGR came in late April 1982 and had the ballot material enclosed. Later I learned that its production and mailing was made possible by The Brain-Wave Technologies Corporation Ltd., Montreal as pay for an order form for the "Mangina diagnostic tool of visual perception« printed in this issue of WGR."
Late April was almost too late to carry out the election process but somehow Cal succeeded because by July 25th letters were mailed to the people who had been elected. These were: Anders Poulsen as President; Herbert Bischoff (Anchorage, Alaska) as President-Elect; Bernhard Meissner (Wurzburg, Germany) as Treasurer; and Ludwig Lowenstein (UK) as Secretary. These people were elected to the job of putting together a viable organization called the International School Psychology Association (ISPA). The circumstances surrounding its beginning were somewhat shaky, to say the least, but more about that in the next installment.
Part V
In the previous section, I explained the circumstances surrounding the late election of officers as the formation of ISPA began to take shape. When I received the letter from Cal about the election results, he also told that his traveling seminar plans had fallen through but he managed to find money enough for his air ticket to Sweden for the summer colloquium. Furthermore, he made a surprising and unexpected remark saying that he moved out of his home and was now living alone at a new address. This message was alarming and signaled that he was now facing personal problems which, perhaps, could be understood as after-effects of his meningitis in 1980. A few days after this letter we were to meet in Stockholm. When Cal arrived at the airport, his personal situation was such that the immigration authorities would not let him leave the airport. I was called to come there to possibly help. I met him quite ill at ease and depressed but he claimed that no medical was needed, only rest. The next day he was better and we, once again, had to admire his willpower. As a result of his year-long dedicated work, it was very important for him to be present during the forming of the foundation of the International School Psychology Association in spite of his health and money problems.
No minutes or personal notes are in my possession from this founding session that took place on Wednesday, August 4th, 1982, but fortunately Bernhard Meissner (BM) has some handwritten notes from this meeting. The colloquium attendees were invited to participate. According to Bernhard, 37 were present, and let me add that 12 of these are still ISPA members and all of them have for longer periods been actively involved in leading ISPA functions. From the elected Executive Committee (EC) only myself as President and Bernhard Meissner, Treasurer, were present. Cal had beforehand stressed that he would make it easy for the EC by continuing all of his functions as usual but now under the title of Executive Director. But what now? Would he be able to function? And we had a totally broken economy! Also Bernhard’s notes (which will go into the ISPA archive) clearly shows that he had very mixed feelings about the future. As President I seriously worried about what I had engaged myself in. What is left in my mind about this founding meeting and about the business meetings during the following days is that I felt scared, helpless, and completely uncertain about ISPA’s future. I expressed my feelings in a letter to Anna-Lisa Mellden after the adoption of ISPA by saying, “I will fight for the survival of ISPA but, if I have to accept that it is to die, I will do my best to leave behind that it passed away in a decent manner.”
The Fifth International School Psychology Colloquium, August 1-6, 1982, Stockholm
It was held at the University of Stockholm and the theme was “Children - the Mirror of Society.” The location was very good and it was well organized by the LOC, chaired by Anna-Lisa Mellden, who later took her good turn on the EC of ISPA. The approximately 200 participants, made up, for once, of very few Americans, met a large, well organized and qualified professional program. It was held in an epoch when nuclear weapons was a worldwide issue. This led to an important decision to form a task force to prepare an anti-nuclear resolution. That gave much reason for discussion of the pros and cons regarding that issue. The resolution was signed by more than half of the participants and published in the November, 1982 WGR. The LOC also succeeded in organizing an excellent social program, among which was an invitation by the City of Stockholm for a buffet dinner at Stadshuset, the famous City Hall, where the Nobel Prize Celebrations are held. Here in this beautiful hall, I gave my first official speech as President of ISPA. That was something very special for me and THAT I have not forgotten. This colloquium was very successful and also was favored by exceptionally fine weather for Stockholm.
The First Steps of the New Association
With no money and Cal, as disabled as he was, as our Executive Director, the EC realized that we had a difficult period ahead of us. We had no way of fully knowing about Cal's personal situation except from results of his work. With the deepest respect for Cal's personal integrity we did try to have him do the basic jobs for the association that he himself had outlined as his duties, not the least was keeping a membership list and the dues status updated. However, most urgently, he was to make a report of the financial status of ISPA. We could not move forward until we had these facts. This we did not receive from him. In December 1982 a WGR came, which seemed to prove his ability to function organized and structured, and happy was I for this signal of progress in his situation, but after Cal passed away we received information saying that my interpretation had been false1. Besides reporting about the Stockholm colloquium and the founding of the association, it also informed about an interesting and rather time consuming task in which he had been involved during the fall. That was a report about his successful cooperation with the newly established Center for the Study of the Psychological Rights of the Child, at Indiana University, Indianapolis, initiated and under the leadership of Stuart Hart. With the support of a large grant, Stuart was planning a convention on the Psychological Abuse of the Child: In the Home, School, and Community, to be held in August 1983. Stuart had already in Stockholm generously invited ISPA to be a co-sponsor and offered to add $10 US to the conference fee as a financial support to ISPA. Additionally, he would organize home stay for ISPA members from abroad. I do see all of this as Stuart's tribute to Cal personally for all he previously has done in relation to the Rights of the Child and, also, as a support to stabilizing ISPA.
During the early months of 1983, the EC members received unclear signals from Cal and had the impression that his personal situation was very poor. This was confirmed by some ISPA members who had visited him. We also received requests from members who were troubled by not receiving any response to their membership fee payment. Many times during the winter, I sent letters to Cal in which I requested him to reply to matters related to the basic financial questions he had promised to handle. The whole situation was so sad and I did my best to be firm in a polite and respectful manner. But it seemed that he did not understand how serious the situation was for ISPA and also for himself. I felt that he possibly was unable to act in an organized and structured way, being caught in a world of positive ideas and plans for the further development of ISPA but not realizing his own disability in carrying these out. The EC felt obliged to have the total state of affairs of the association cleared up, and in June, I, again, requested Cal to supply a full survey of finances and provide other basic information to be given to members in an annual report at the Delegates meeting that would be held in Indianapolis in August 1983. This meeting would take place prior to the “International Conference on the Psychological Abuse of Children and Youth.”
When that day came, Cal had not prepared any of the material that was expected. The next days were difficult and unpleasant for everyone there. In short, the participating members demanded that Cal no longer should handle ISPA finances which the EC could only support. As a result, that brought up a number of subjects that had to be dealt with in order to implement this. Busy days followed. The members present really proved their dedication to the survival of ISPA by doing the following basic jobs sorely needed:
•
Preparing a membership list showing the dues status . everyone present spent
many hours helping to try to make such a list by copying Cal's handwritten index
cards which was an almost impossible task;
• A committee worked on needed amendments to the constitution in order to meet
a now changed role of the Executive Secretary. From now on the elected treasurer
would handle all daily financial functions including the recording of membership
fees and keeping a membership list;
• In relation to the above, a bank account was needed in USA which Stuart Hart
was very helpful in establishing;
• A membership form had to be designed.
During those days of intense discussions many things came up that everyone felt were crucial to ISPA's survival. I have thought long and hard about what to, and what not to deal with in reporting about this period of the early history of ISPA. Some may find that I have been too detailed in my attempt to give an overall understanding of the situation this new and vulnerable association faced. However, what I have reported here, I have found needed in order to be just and fair to all involved.
The Child and Youth Abuse Conference in Indianapolis was considered ISPA's 6th International School Psychology Colloquium. Of the 200 participants, most were Americans, of which 25 were ISPA members and of those 25 very few non-Americans. Because of our essential internal ISPA strategy discussions, few ISPA members took part in the conference sessions. However, Stuart found it generally successful and promising for further work.