Coffee with Dave

One of our desires at PACE is to connect TCK education consultants with one another. We asked several of PACE’s Master Consultants to answer a few questions related to consulting and the advice that they would give consultants who are new to their role.

Our next article in this series features Dr. David Brooks, who is semi-retired, works regularly with Interaction International, and travels overseas with SEND International. He has been a TCK education consultant for 21 years, and as a teacher and administrator for 30 years. He has lived and served in Taiwan, Europe, former Soviet countries in Europe, Asia, and Central Asia. In his free time, he enjoys watching Seattle sports, working outside with his yard, flowers, and maintenance, and fishing. He also enjoys reading on his Kindle.

Here are his answers to our questions. Enjoy!

In what roles do you serve, related to education consulting or not?

As a semi-retired consultant, I work with Interaction International as an education conference presenter and consultant. I also perform some administrative duties for Interaction. In my role with Interaction I also do consulting with missions, most commonly with SEND International.

What’s the most important thing that a new consultant can do to build trust with families? 

Even in limited time setting consultations, take time to find about where people live, where they are headed, what will be, or is, their ministry assignment. Ask about the children in terms of how would the parents describe each child. Find out what they are doing or have done that has been successful in the education of their children. Find out any significant learning needs or difficult educational or life situations they have had to confront. As this conversation develops, let people know if you have or do not have experience with their situation. A story, or two at the most, that lets people know you can identify practically with who they are can be very helpful in establishing trust.

What does a typical day look like for you?

As a retiree, I don’t think I have a “typical day” as it relates to educational consulting. This is because most of my consulting is centered around events such as conferences, or seminars. On those days, I tend to be very busy with multiple situations being dealt with at the same time. By God’s grace I manage to keep them all straight and provide useful assistance. With this said, I find that using the internet between consulting times to find information that requires the people with whom I am consulting to follow up on their own is helpful. It brings them into the process and gets them going toward building independent skills and information sources.

What are one or two of your favorite go-to websites that you consult when helping families?

For homeschooling resources, I think the best site is A²Z Homeschool – http://a2zhomeschool.com/.

For e-books, I think a good site is The Reading Room – https://www.thereadingroom.com/.

What word of advice would you offer to an education consultant who is just starting out?

Some general comments:

• You don’t know everything, but you know more than you think you know.

• You won’t have the answer to every question or situation, but you can help direct people to other people and resources who may have answer(s).

• Listen a lot before you suggest – always try to give more than one alternative – try to draw the people being consulted into the process of knowledgeably helping themselves.

• Understand that the Father has you speaking to this family at this time for a reason and that you are part of the reason – trust Him to give you wisdom in what you say and an awareness of your demeanor and attitudes in working with the family.

Thank you, Dave!

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