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active education ISSUE 33, FEB/MAR 2012 www.activeeducation.com.au
Empowering The Inner Hero: Why Positive Role Models Are So Important
$8.95 (inc GST) ISSUE 33, FEB/MAR 2012 ISSN 1836-9758
Empowering The Inner Hero: Why Positive Role Models Are So Important
By Dr Paula Barrett and Jacqueline Bermingham
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earning is an ongoing, lifelong process through which teachers and educators have the power to shape and transform their students’ outlooks on life. By being open to new opportunities and challenges, from childhood through to our senior years, people will continue to acquire new skills throughout their entire life; quenching the yearning that comes from within. Whatever skills people seek to learn and acquire, whether it be simple or complex, powerful role models enhance and facilitate this education by exerting great influence over what and how people learn. The anonymous quote, “Role models inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more,” sums this theory up eloquently. Role models are commonly likened to mentors, heroes, leaders and charismatic individuals and, put simply, are seen to possess a set of characteristics and personal attributes that make them stand out from the crowd. Such virtues include kindness, empathy towards all living creatures, persistence, courage, altruism, compassion, dedication and creativity. Role models typically possess three valuable attributes. Firstly, they have the ability to motivate and inspire others. Secondly, they are unique and positive people from whom others can learn. Thirdly, they possess values and beliefs that promote empathy and wellbeing in all living creatures. While positive role modelling exists to further society, the power of self-destructive behavioural modelling cannot be ignored. Such negative role models exist within all sectors and societies, independent of racial or socioeconomic backgrounds. Research shows, for example, that chronic unemployment is an inter-generational trend. The same applies to other challenging patterns such as alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, interactions with the criminal justice system and unstable attachment patterns. There are many examples in history – modern and ancient – of the destructive power of negative role models; where wars were initiated, stereotypes entrenched and atrocities committed. Sadly, in modern society, the popular media often produces and perpetuates racist, sexist and ageist role models. The implications of such negative role modelling can have an extremely adverse and long-term influence on people, which then marginalises those everyday individuals who are indeed worthy of our children’s praise and admiration. Fortunately, we have the power to freely choose strong, powerful and positive role models in our lives and, by doing so, encourage and teach students to follow suit. This article focusses on this power of choice, and stresses the importance of having various positive role models throughout the entirety of one’s life. Some role models may teach us about specific skills (such as gardening, cooking, handy house work, cleaning, manners, social etiquette, sporting activities and so on), while other role models provide us with examples of positive attitudes and outlooks on life (such as empathy and caring for animals and the environment, caring for the wellbeing of children and the elderly, making positive contributions to our local community and responding to challenges in a resilient manner, just to name a few). It is important to remember that the power of positive role modelling extends from everyday skills to general life approaches and mindsets. One of the most important parts of childhood, and a lesson learnt throughout adulthood, is the development and consolidation of an identity. As we shape our behaviours and values throughout life, it is role models who we look to for guidance because they display the certain skills or attributes that we wish to emulate. Sometimes we foresee certain possibilities in our own lives from the inspiration of our chosen role models: the possibility to make a difference, the possibility to change the status quo or the possibility to pursue a challenging career. More often than not, children learn from their family members, peers and teachers, who are identifiable due to their inspirational, knowledgeable and influential pull. We can all recall someone special who has had a powerful influence on our life choices, the way we think and behave, and the various skills we have acquired. Perhaps the most powerful role active education
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models in our society are those elders who exemplify the skills that they have acquired over their lifetime; embodying the positive mindset of being able to face and overcome life’s many challenges and stressors. In ancient societies, learning through elders was one of the most powerful forms of learning. Sadly, the western world has begun to undervalue the power of elders as deeply knowledgeable role models in family and community life, despite their years of accumulated knowledge, experiences and proven resilience. We must encourage children of all ages to interact with their elders on a regular basis by inviting them into the school environment as volunteers and mentors, which essentially forms a much more empathy-driven and stronger society that has supportive community networks across all age groups. By only interacting with the elderly in nursing homes and retirement villages, we are ostracising them and preventing the younger generation from learning from them and choosing them as their role models. The media exerts a strong influence
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over the role models it promotes to both children and adults through music, movies and video games, but unfortunately these role models tend to be very stereotypical. Despite changes in social attitudes as to what is considered gender appropriate, it seems that social practices are changing at a much slower pace. This can be tested against your own anecdotal evidence by considering, for example, how many men (as opposed to women) you know who leave their careers to raise children. How many men do you know who are responsible for the cooking, cleaning and washing in their households? This is not to detract from the role of parenting or domestic duties (which extends well beyond regular office hours), it simply suggests that children learn from that which is around them and, if we are to truly embrace a universal approach to gender equality, we must be the change we wish to see. On a different but equally alarming note, the media’s promotion of certain cultural figures over and above (and in place of) other cultural role models perpetuates a degree of racism. Recent studies have
found that Asian and Latino children commonly choose Caucasians as role models as opposed to those of their own cultural heritage. Interestingly, further research suggests that those children who name role models from within their own family and their own culture, and in varied occupations such as artists, dancers and academics, tend to have higher levels of self-esteem and selfefficacy. This means that those who have the courage of challenging the status quo, electing their role models based on attributes as opposed to notoriety, tend to grow into more confident and assured individuals. In addition, this promotes a strong sense of community within themselves, as well as a strong sense of identity and belonging to their cultural milieu. This has important implications for educators who need to encourage their students to be proud of their culture and background, and to choose positive role models from their own families rather than the stereotypical, mass media imposed heroes. Educators must capitalise on children’s need for guidance and expose them to a greater variety of role models. By doing so, they can
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validate their children’s race and gender as worthy of representation, and provide children with an appreciation of themselves and the diversity in others. Furthermore, they need to ensure that elderly people are represented in all forms of media as having their own intrinsic beauty, kindness and wisdom, of which society is proud to recognise and wants to be associated with. Role modelling involves leading by example, adopting positive behaviours and encouraging others to believe in and stand up for what is right. Of course, great role models including Mother Theresa, Mary MacKillop, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi are extremely inspirational and worthy of being incorporated into everyone’s education as benefactors of humankind. The influence and direction these role models can have on the day-to-day lives of people is second to none. However, when people are in direct and frequent contact with their role models, such as family members, peers and teachers, the guidance provided is often much more holistic. Seeing firsthand how a given ‘hero’ feels, behaves and develops, in light of a trying situation, encourages individuals to renegotiate their responses when they find themselves in a similar position. An interesting mentoring and role modelling project called Chance (UK, 1995) started as a crime prevention initiative for 11-year-olds identified by their schools as displaying severe behavioural difficulties.
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Under this scheme, over a hundred children every year are offered a positive peer mentor for a 12-month period. This initiative has not only changed the behaviour of the individuals involved but also transformed their lives, with multiple positive outcomes having been reported both at school and at home. During 2003, the project broadened its scope to offer the parents of the children involved their own adult mentor – a positive parenting mentor (the Parent Plus project). Mentoring parents in their own homes has helped numerous families overcome life challenges and adopt realistic and effective parenting styles. Both projects have had enormous success, and they both continue to grow in the UK. Friends also play a large role in the development and makeup of who we are. Friends, just like other role models, support and coach each other through difficult times and give each other honest and constructive feedback. In addition, positive friendships bring out the best in people and, when they keep learning new skills throughout their lives, it inspires their friends to do the same. We ought to all strive to establish positive, mutual and constructive friendships with those who challenge us to be all that we can be, and children should understand why, for this reason, strong and positive friendships are so important to their growth and development. Children and adults alike can learn to
become role models by modelling their skills (which might involve breaking down their skills into small steps), coaching and providing feedback, recognising and rewarding achievements and growing as the skill sets improve to encourage independence. Finally, there are several points identified for successful role modelling: • Engage in self-reflection • Develop a clear view through discussion and agreement • Encouraging a variety of role models in the family or organisation and remembering that different people have different skills • Always communicating expectations • Walking the talk and always trying to be positive, healthy and open to learning yourself • Developing empathy, compassion and kindness towards all living creatures It is critical that educators and teachers do not underestimate the power role models wield, or the many different reasons that individuals can be selected to influence those around them. One positive role model alone can touch the lives of so many others and, in that way, make a powerful long-term difference in society’s thinking, attitudes and behaviour. Below are some ideas how teachers can help their students connect with positive role models:
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Family Scrapbook Ask children to make a family scrapbook by interviewing their parents, grandparents and wider family members and asking questions about their fond childhood experiences as well as their adulthood memories. Ask the students to ask their family members who they consider their heroes to be, and who they have looked to for help in challenging times. Ask the students to present the ‘findings’ in class and perhaps invite the family member they interviewed to attend. Make sure children are open to both female and male family members from all generations. Encourage Them To Look Up To Local Heroes Ask children to research local heroes, such as Young Australians Of The Year, and encourage them to take their time looking through each award recipients’ profile so that they can learn exactly what each award winner has accomplished. Help students understand that these individuals do not seek instantaneous or personal gratification or acknowledgement, but rather genuinely seek to help others and the community in a certain way. Teachers and schools should make it their business to contact these local heroes and invite them to speak about their work at special assemblies at the school. Students must understand that heroes come from diverse fields of work, including animal and environment care, literature, science, art, photography, medicine, research, social
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justice and sport. Remember that sporting heroes are not just those who compete in popular sports such as cricket and football, but also rock-climbers, bike riders, kayakers and snowboarders. Inviting an assortment of individuals from these varied fields into the school to connect with students actively promotes individuality and allows students the opportunity to resonate personally with a particular hero. Invite local heroes to write a ‘tip’ sheet that can either be emailed or sent to parents; encouraging participation in their field of community work as well as details about how the whole family can get involved. By being exposed to a wide range of role models, students are more likely to find one or two who they can really relate to and connect with and, for that reason, they will take the opportunity to really get to know that person and learn about the work that they do and the reason that they do it. The more that children understand and know about their role model, the more they will come to appreciate what this person stands for and, by knowing this, they too will begin to understand what they stand for, the type of person they want to become, what they want to achieve in their own life, and the types of things they would like to do for their own community. The advantages of exposing children to positive, fascinating and inspiring role models are infinite, and there is a much bigger pool of role models than just the traditional sporting heroes
seen on the television screen. Role models are all around us, and often we just need to pause for a moment to really appreciate all of the wonderful things that so many inspiring people do for the communities we live in. For a full list of references, please email editorial@australianmediagroup.com. Dr Paula Barrett is one of the world’s leading psychologists in the area of prevention and treatment of childhood anxiety and depressive disorders. She is currently a Professor at the University of Queensland’s School of Education, has written more than 160 articles in peerreviewed journals and her research is highly cited internationally. Dr. Barrett is also the director of the innovative research-based Brisbane clinic, Pathways Health and Research Centre. For more information,visit www.pathwayshrc.com.au. Jacqueline Bermingham has worked in the field of developmental psychology and law for the last four years at the University of Queensland. Her areas of research include the study of fast-food advertising to children and the legislative implications surrounding it; addressing school curriculums to better respond to the needs of children with autism-spectrum disorders, and the laws relating to mental health and the involuntary treatment of patients.
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