The Gentle Teaching Philosophy is based on the work of Dr. John McGee. The core principles are based on a psychology of human interdependence. It asks care givers and care providers to look at themselves and their spirit of gentleness in order to find ways to express warmth and unconditional valuing towards those who are the most disenfranchised from family and community life. It views the care giver role as critical and requires a deep commitment to personal, organizational and social change. We believe establishing a deep sense of community and companionship with those we serve to be the foundation to meaningful lives.

Macomb Oakland Regional Center, Inc. (MORC) began its own cultural change towards gentleness in 1987 when two internal leaders attended a practicum in Omaha, Nebraska conducted by Dr. John McGee.  These two returned with a dedication to changing the culture of MORC. We have since trained over a 1000 individuals in the Gentle Teaching Practicum, trained over 25,000 care givers in the principles of gentleness, eliminated the training process for physical intervention, joined an international community on creating cultures of gentleness worldwide, and built partnerships with services providers in the Macomb and Oakland areas to deepen the regions culture of gentleness.

What we have learned over the last 23 years is that being kind is not enough. We must invest in training at all levels, develop a supportive relationship with our services providers, have commitment from the top down, develop a cadre of qualified and deeply skilled mentors, develop a plan for change and reexamine the  plan often to ensure that we continue to meet our goals. 

The Center looks forward to working with you as you begin to develop your own organizational plan towards a Culture of Gentleness.