Educational Leadership - December 2009/January 2010

on. I think she will remember moments like these, as I do, and know that she has the potential to try something that she might not immediately be good at. When we take the time to develop a strong sense of community and safety in our classes, we help make such moments possible.

Leaving a few minutes at the end of class to debrief sports activities can further strengthen the norm of exploring possibilities and encourage students to approach novel experiences with confidence instead of fear. One of the tools that I often use for such debriefing is called Captain, Crew, and Passenger. We take turns going around

fool of myself playing games that sometimes involve clucking like a chicken or howling like a wolf. However, I also perform on the flying trapeze, and my nervousness before shows can bring me almost to tears. Having this experience of walking the line between stretching myself and full-out panic has made me more sensitive to the way students experience my class, and I make sure to share my own stories like this throughout the year.

We don’t all need to fly through the air or jump out of airplanes to demonstrate our willingness to take risks—we can be silly, sing in public, laugh at ourselves, and simply let our students

“Risk-taking is the major tool that
adolescents use to shape their identities.”

the circle, saying what role we most often took on during the previous activity—captain, meaning any kind of leadership role; crew, working or helping the group to succeed; or passenger, just listening and going along for the ride.

The message I aim to send is that there is no value judgment on these roles—we certainly couldn’t be successful with 26 captains! Then, I ask the students in my classes to think about taking on different roles in future games. If they are most comfortable being a captain, I ask them to “try just listening next time. Let someone else take over. It might be hard, but it’s worth trying.” In the same way, I encourage habitual passengers to speak up and try out a more active role.

Finally, as educators we need to model healthy risk-taking for students. I’m relatively comfortable teaching in front of large groups, answering detailed questions about sexuality, and making a

see us try out new lessons we aren’t sure will work. Kids know when we let ourselves be vulnerable, and although it’s almost guaranteed that they won’t congratulate us at that moment, they will remember—and they will be more likely to let themselves be vulnerable in the future.

approach in many schools, where the goals of physical education are more often structured around increasing student fitness, building skills in specific sports, or simply allowing students to burn off excess energy. But adolescents in the throes of emerging identity urgently need opportunities for healthy risk-taking.

Before self- and peer-assigned labels like “jock” or “geek” become entrenched in adolescents’ emerging sense of identity, we should challenge their notions of what they can and cannot do. Students should be learning not only how to build their repertoire of physical skills, but also how to interact with their peers in a playful way and how to practice safe ways to fulfill their developmentally appropriate need to take risks. As physical educators, we can cultivate an atmosphere in which students push themselves to new limits, both physically and emotionally, while feeling supported by their classmates and teachers. EL

Providing Safe Places
to Take Risks

Most of us have never mastered anything without practice. By providing spaces in school where teens can develop and nurture a sense of creativity, where they can be playful and innovative with their learning, and where we reassure them that it’s OK to be less than perfect, we are offering them a chance to practice risk-taking.

Reenvisioning physical education class as a place where educators can scaffold activities to provide appropriate levels of physical, social, and emotional challenge to students may be a new

References

Lightfoot, C. (1997). The culture of adolescent risk-taking. New York: Guilford.

Nakkula, M., & Toshalis, E. (2006). Understanding youth: Adolescent development for educators. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.

Panicucci, J. (2007). Achieving fitness: An adventure activity guide, middle school to adult. Beverly, MA: Project Adventure.

Panicucci, J., with Constable, N., Hunt, L, Kohut, A., & Rheingold, A. (2002–2003). Adventure curricula for physical education series. Beverly, MA: Project Adventure.