Getting It: A Quantification of Long-Term Outcomes

Abstract

The above extract is an account from Michael Simkins of his experience as a RADA student trying to learn expressive movement by conveying the sensation of beads of mercury travelling up and down various limbs. Success in doing so seemed to elude him until, almost unconsciously, and through his own perseverance and the guidance of his tutor, he eventually got it and it was an awakening experience. This is a nice example of both succeeding in something that is difficult and elusive, which then opens up other possibilities, and the combination of one’s own motivation supported by tutored assistance. There is something of this intangible quality and combination of effort that resonates with the TC residents’ experiences. It also accords with Roland Woodward’s experience in trying to explain the possibilities and potential of the TC and what it can achieve to the prison organisation that houses it. He writes:

I have lost count of how often I have inwardly thought “oh no, I’ve got to explain this all over again. Don’t they ever learn”? It is at this point that I recall the counsel of one of the first group therapist I worked with in a TC. Whilst complaining in frustration about the fact that people took so long to “get it” he calmly said “Its good practice for raising children. You just have to keep saying the same thing until they understand it.

(Woodward, 2007)

“You’ve got it, Stephen … you’ve nearly got it, Emma … yes, Neville, you’ve definitely got it …” I never seemed to get it. It’s the story of my life. I’m trying so hard to get it I’m in danger of contracting mercury poisoning. It doesn’t seem to matter how hard I try: I become so desperate that I eventually take to faking … Then eventually, one lesson, just when I am least expecting to, I hear her say the words I’m aching to hear: That’s it Michael, you’ve got it.

Michael Simkins’ autobiography “What’s My Motivation?” (2003 pp. 40–41)