Risk-taking is good for us. How education can help

In a viral ABC interview, Gina Chick, winner of Alone Australia 2023, echoed what research is increasingly telling us. Risk-taking is good for us, but Australian society is risk averse.

“We live in a culture that pathologies discomfort…whereas, we only grow when we’re uncomfortable…and so being able to have tools to be in that discomfort…that’s when we start to metabolise the edges of that fear…and then our world gets bigger…and we can find what the discomfort is teaching us” 

 

Risk is often associated with negativity, such as impulsive behaviours that lead to harm and danger. Yet deliberate and considered engagement with risk-taking, discomfort and uncertainty can contribute toward a healthy and fulfilled life.

 

Despite an increasing discussion on the benefits of risk-taking in recent years, research from Deakin University indicates that Australians are among the most risk averse in the developed world, surpassing New Zealand, the UK and Canada.

 

This research also identified a disconnect between what teachers and parents believe about risk-taking and what they allow to take place.

 

The restrictions placed on children and young people because of risk aversion may be contributing to an increase in childhood and teen anxiety. As Gina Chick suggests, risk aversion may be holding us back from growth and opportunity, both individually and as a society.

 

What can families and teachers do to help promote resilience and courage?

 

Understanding risk-taking

Risk is an inherent and unavoidable part of life. It is also complex and linked to a range of meanings. A simple way of understanding the complexity of risk is through the following phrases:

 

At risk – refers to the involuntary position of being ‘at risk of harm’. This phrase is used to describe when people are in vulnerable situations, usually outside of their control, that expose them to severe or long-lasting harm or danger.

 

Risk-taking – is a voluntary action where people choose to engage with elements or actions that involve the possibility of negative outcomes.

 

Many people think about risk-taking as purely negative, associated with reckless and impulsive behaviours. But risk-taking can also be positive. Terms used to describe positive forms of risk-taking include healthy, beneficial and beautiful risk-taking - or a term specifically for education settings: pedagogical risk-taking.

 

How do we define pedagogical risk-taking?

 

Deliberately courageous practices with uncertain and possibly negative outcomes, intended to achieve benefit(s) for an individual, group, or the environment.

 

Pedagogical risk-taking can be physical, social, emotional and/or cognitive. Pedagogical risk-taking is undertaken in educational contexts, with consideration given to possible benefits and negative outcomes. Possible benefits usually outweigh negative consequences and the possibility of severe or long-lasting negative effects is avoided. Benefits may be achieved through success, or through learnings associated with mistakes or failure.

 

Pedagogical risk-taking is something children, teachers and parents can do. It involves having the courage to step out of one’s comfort zone, embrace uncertainty, stand up for what one believes in, and learn through mistakes and failure – all of which contribute toward personal growth, learning, innovation, creativity, resilience and social justice.

 

By having a shared understanding of pedagogical risk-taking, families and teachers can promote a culture of risk-taking in education settings.

 

The current place of risk-taking in education settings

Although research supports the value of risk-taking in education for children, young people and teachers, there is currently limited inclusion of risk-taking in formal Australian education documents. The Early Years Learning Framework promotes risk-taking for young children, but the Victorian F-12 Curriculum is yet to include it. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers refer to practices that can require teachers to take risk, but are also yet to explicitly articulate the place of risk-taking in professional practice.

 

Despite this, early learning centres and schools are beginning to recognise the importance of explicitly articulating the value of risk-taking by including terms such as risk-taking, brave and courage in their values or philosophy. Teachers in these schools increasingly plan deliberate opportunities for children to engage with risk-taking, and engage in risk-taking themselves in their professional practice.

 

Promoting risk-taking 

Whether risk-taking is explicitly included in formal or centre documentation, teachers and families can promote risk-taking by talking about it and modelling it. By using the term risk-taking in a positive way and talking about risks taken, we explicitly acknowledge its place and value in educational settings. It is important to acknowledge and respect individual approaches to taking risks and encourage people to be both honest about how they feel and open to growth.

 

Children’s risk-taking can be promoted in a range of experiences, including physical outdoor play, interpersonal interactions and when learning something new. Children can take risks by testing their physical and academic capabilities, taking up opportunities to participate in unfamiliar activities and standing up for issues of injustice.

 

Teachers can promote risk-taking by modelling in their own professional practice. Teacher risk-taking can take a range of forms. It may be associated with new curriculum choices or innovations, interpersonal risk-taking by sharing ideas and beliefs or advocating for children and education in the wider community, or through the act of providing opportunities for children take risks, which can feel risky for teachers. Of course, these actions are not always risky, but they can put teachers outside of their comfort zone and require courage.

 

When teachers, families and children collaborate to promote and engage in pedagogical risk-taking, this can result in pedagogies of courage.

 

Pedagogies of courage

A pedagogy of courage recognises that risk-taking is inseparable from education and life and that explicitly acknowledging, enabling and celebrating risk-taking in education settings is good for individuals and society.

 

Pedagogies of courage use a variety of strategies to promote and support courageous actions, such as a shared understanding and language around risk-taking, open and honest communication, documents and resources to encourage risk-taking, a variety of ways to assess and negotiate risk-taking, and non-judgmental support to reflect on and navigate the positive and negative outcomes of risk-taking.

 

Courageous communities work together to promote learning, opportunity and a fulfilling life for all.This article was originally published on EduResearch Matters. Read the original article.