Courage is an important trait to embody in our Education system, for both Educators and Students. As one of the Seven Grandfather Teachings, it is a trait that enables all other aspects of good character, including Humility, Inclusiveness, Cooperation, and Respect. It also encompasses the ability to be imperfect, and the ability to contribute to the greater good of all, which is important in our Education System.
Courage is something that Educators and students use every day within our Schools. It takes real courage to demonstrate the following:
- good character
- contribute to the common good
- feel confident in caring for others
- express oneself creativity
- display closeness toward others
- to cooperate with others,
- to develop commitments
- imperfection
- recognition of strengths and weaknesses
- to use any personal strengths that situation may be required to move forward!
Effective Leadership is needed for our Educators and Students alike, in order to help discover the personal ways that everyone can demonstrate courage in their lives. How courage is displayed from staff and students is in fact a direct reflection of personal feelings of significance, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Everyone will display Courage in different ways.
When individuals are convinced of their self-worth, their Courage will be displayed through their body language, and that in turn also convinces others of one’s self-worth, and therefore helps to reinforce the positive reactions of others. This promotes healthy, positive, and realistic attitudes of ones strengths and weaknesses. Healthy individuals have the courage to contribute positively to the greater good of all, and have the courage to be imperfect!
How Courage can be Developed through effective Leadership:
- Help staff and students to set personal boundaries! Allow others to display the courage to recognize their own personal self-worth and help manage how this is displayed and presented in various situations!
- Allow individuals to face what is wrong! Help others to feel it, recognize the dynamics, and reconstruct the self in relation to the problems, change interpersonal reactions of others, or even end maladaptive relationships for more positive ones.
- Give staff and students the freedom to explore and test new ideas in safe ways! As leaders and role models, we are often in a significant role in the lives of children, and we can demonstrate respect to them, and teach them how to respect, and be respected from others.
- Find new ways to make intervention and change strategies more motivating or meaningful to the individual, in order to gain a higher degree of compliance to intervention or change strategy!
The better that leaders and educators can harness effective strategies to promote ‘Courage, the better the outcomes in developing the whole student, and ensuring that everyone feels significant in their personal roles within the entire school community.
D. McCallum
© Deborah McCallum and Big Ideas in Education, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Deborah McCallum and Big Ideas in Education with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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