PIEs 2.0 - a language of services?
The formulation of what the core features of a PIE are, that we now use throughout this site, is usually called PIEs 2.0. We have used the metaphor of software up-dates, as we are all pretty familiar with these.
In truth, though, we should probably be calling this version PIEs 2.2, or 2.3, because there have been a few small modifications of the language since PIEs 2.0 was first unveiled; and not all the documentations has been adjusted ( apologies, but it's a lot of work...) .
So, for example, what we here call the 'spaces of opportunity' was first described as 'spaces of interaction'. That's a quite accurate term, and it does at least echo the issue of the importance of the relationships. But it was 'a bit sociological'.
What matters here is what the staff member tries to do; and what service user gets out of it. So in the end, we changed that wording to reflect the purpose - creating or taking opportunities. This is one example of constantly trying to get both the issues and the tone right.
PIEs 2.0 (sic) is more comprehensive that PIEs 1 was; it covers a lot more ground. But that carries the risk of making the language initially more general, and more abstract. It is the language of professional staff, managers, psychologists, etc.
The only way we have found so far to resolve this is to encourage those who use this framework to translate such abstract language into what it means to them in context. The words for 'spaces' that we work with that you might use, in practice, in an outreach service might be quite different from those in a day centre, and hostel, a hospital ward. The language for 'psychological awareness' that best addresses the lived experience of users of a women's refuge would not be the same as that used for a youth homelessness project, or unit for asylum seekers.
This may not be a major problem. We can all interpret. But there are times when the awkwardness matters more. When we wish to see an approach to assessment that service users can be party to, as we certainly do for example with the Pizazz and the PIE Abacus, then it becomes more important to be using a language that services users find natural to them, and not too foreign, clinical or specialist.
So we are working on that now. Currently we have various groups looking to see how far we can produce a simpler language, that we can use perhaps in specific areas. For an update on this developing work, see PIEs 1,2 - and 3? HERE
Preamble: the expanded scope and overall purpose of PIEs 2.0
The key features of the revised version are then outlined and explored in turn:
- Psychological awareness HERE
- Staff Training and Support HERE
- Learning and Enquiry HERE
- Spaces of Opportunity HERE
- The Three Rs HERE
For more on the development of these areas, see
The cycles of practice-based learning HERE
Pizazz: A new and more customisable working framework for PIEs HERE
Pizazz, and the PIE Abacus: the work we now have to do ourselves: HERE
Other useful background reading/viewing
Is the PIE evolving? HERE
Memes: a cautionary tale HERE
Is the PIE just about homelessness? HERE
Psychologically informed environments and the enabling environments initiative HERE
In search on the enabling environment HERE
Creating a Psychologically Informed Environment - assessment and Implementation HERE
A very brief introduction to the key elements of a PIE HERE
A very brief history of PIE HERE
A VERY brief future of PIE HERE
Development in dialogue HERE (soon)