12 PLC in Pri nt | M ay 2 0 2 0
Hop, Step, FLY! ‘Look at me!’ cried the young child from the top of the tree. As a parent hearing this cry, you quickly assess the risks and respond. We have all heard stories where the child climbs up but then can’t get down, or worse falls and hurts themselves. But is it so bad? Do we ‘keep tabs’ on our children too much in their formative years? Should we be letting them climb and fall? What is our role in developing ‘risk taking’? We live in a culture that often protects children from risk, but is that always healthy or helpful? Or should we actually be looking at what we mean by ‘taking risks’, especially in learning and then think carefully about how that applies to our young children and adolescents.
STEP
How does Risk Taking benefit children? Taking risks helps to develop children’s confidence socially, emotionally and physically. We should start to distinguish between calculated risks and ‘risky behaviour’ which is more dangerous. Our young children need us to question them, provide clear guidelines and provide an environment where they can experiment HOP and develop their ability to take risks. I’m The Merriam – Webster dictionary sure we can all remember a time in our defines risk taking ‘as the act or fact of childhood where we took a risk and the doing something that involves danger or exhilaration we felt. Children should learn risk in order to achieve a goal’ while the how to self-regulate. “Have I climbed high Collins dictionary states ‘the practice of enough in this tree?” or “Should I do a taking action which might have undesirable back flip from this bar?” Allowing children consequences.’ appropriate independence sends the The ACECQA (Australian Children’s message that “I trust you.” Education and Care Quality Association) As teachers and parents, we need to emphatically states, ‘It is important that foster challenge, creativity and play which educators are critically reflecting on takes us out of our comfort zone. That is true the potential benefits of taking risks for risk taking. We should ask ourselves, ‘What children’s agency, learning and wellbeing. is the worst thing that could happen?’ and Are these risks appropriate to scaffold skills ‘What is the best thing that could happen?’ and development? Are children getting As adults we often base our answer or the opportunity to assess risk and make decision on our own fears. Sometimes this decisions about what is an appropriate risk? limits our children’s experiences. Set up Tim Gill, one of the UK’s leading the learning experience so that the risks thinkers on childhood, visited Australia are small, sequential and calculated. For recently to present his views on ‘rewilding example, we don’t just put our child onto a children’ and ‘creating play connect’. In his 2-wheel bike and expect them to ride. There Risk and Resilience Article for Reflections is a progression. First, they sit and push magazine, Tim outlines the importance of along with their legs, then there may be a assessing what children are learning from tricycle or 2-wheel bike with training wheels. their experiences, identifying the risks and It is only after the child has mastered each weighing up the benefits for children’s phase of these skills that they move onto development and learning. He believes that the next level of challenge to master. All the most children are capable of assessing while you, as a parent, are watching and and managing risk, and this can be seen monitoring, calculating the risk. in their competence and confidence when attempting a risky activity.’
COVID 19 Distance Learning and Risk Taking. All students at PLC have experienced Distance Learning for the first time this term. It has been a sharp learning curve and it has provided many challenges but also many new learning opportunities. Risk taking behaviour online can bring its own dangers and so the role of the parent and teacher is imperative for this leaning experience to be a positive one. The staff at PLC have embraced distance learning but it has involved significant risk taking on their behalf. Not only have they had to learn new technological skills but the way they teach has been completely changed. Staff have been asked to take risks in order to achieve a goal. Throughout the distance learning environment, they have modelled risk taking to their students in a way that could not have been done in face-to-face in the classroom.
FLY! Next time you hear the cry from the top of tree “Look at me” you might consider those two questions: ‘What is the worst thing that could happen?’ and ‘What is the best thing that could happen?’ Then think about teaching them what to look for in a good tree to climb. Set up an environment where risk taking is safe and part of learning. Prue Petsinis Deputy Head of Junior School
