Thoughts & Reflections
Consider jotting down a few notes, perhaps in a journal or notebook.
Last week, we developed our awareness of threat and it's role in tanking motivation and engagement.
Here are some thoughts and questions to consider:
Nate participated in a learning pod once a week and the students in the pod were in a passion project block. Each child would choose an area of interest, research it and share what they had learned with the other kids in the group. When it started to get close to Nate's time to present, he became more and more anxious. He was interested in lots of things, but when time came to pick a research area, he shut down and stated that he didn't want to do it. Nate's mom wasn't sure how best to support him. Should she pick the focus area for him? Should she try to get him out of it? Should she pressure him to do it? None of the choices seemed like good ones.
Nate is experiencing presenting as a high threat activity. For some kids the fear of presenting or sharing in front of other kids, after learning about a topic, is overwhelming. For others, they just think it's fun. Threat feels different for each person and different activities hold threat depending on the person and on the environment.
Here are a few suggestions to lower threat:
1. When a child isn't wanting to engage, investigate. Figure out what holds the threat and name it. Talk about what's scary, what feels uncomfortable and why it might feel that way.
2. Remember that we engage willingly. Little learning happens when we are pressured to participate.
3. Reduce the threat. In Nate's situation, the environment might be restructured so that Nate was only chatting with one or two friends, instead of a more formalized presentation. Chatting with one person is far less stressful than voicing one's ideas in front of a whole group.
4. Partner with your child. In Nate's situation, a parent could be a partner in the presentation. You could research together, practice together, add fun and interactive elements and then present together.
5. Build self-agency. In another iteration the parent could be in the assistant role while the child directs the parent in what to do or say during the sharing time. In this role, the child gets to be in charge and the parent is the one following the child's directions.
You know your child best, but when kids refuse, there's a good reason. Find the reason and then adapt accordingly. Lower the threat so that participation and engagement can step in.
Happy Boldschooling!
Feel free to review last week's recording where we looked at finding focus.
https://www.boldschoolers.com/blog/threat
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