I’ve interviewed Professor Tanya Byron several times over
the years and she talks more sense about children and teenagers than anyone I‘ve
met. And the fact that she told me not to worry when my children refused point-blank to have anything to do with star charts was a bonus.
Tanya has been a clinical psychologist for 23
years and earlier this month I spoke to her about a keynote speech she’s giving
to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust conference in December. Once
again, her words struck a chord as she talked about her concern that today’s youngsters lack emotional intelligence and
emotional resilience. A lot of them, she said, are afraid of failure, afraid to take
risks and afraid to think for themselves.
“Children are
being raised in captivity,” she told me. “When was the last time you saw a kid out
enjoying themselves on their bike?
“Children are
not really encouraged, supported or taught how to assess, take and manage risk
and I think it is developmentally catastrophic for them.
“Risk taking
is seen as a very dangerous thing and to be avoided at all costs.
“We live in a
litigious, risk-averse culture where paranoia is rife and we have an education
system that is so built around targets and testing that teachers and
headteachers are constrained from being innovative.
“But risk
taking is important because it helps children to accept, understand and embrace
failure. The times when you fail are often the most powerful learning
experiences one can ever have.
“When I talk
to successful people and ask them about their most cherished memories in terms
of how they got to be where they are, it’s usually built around times when they
messed up. But boy did that really teach them something. It got them to expand
their thinking and their learning and inspired them to push on in the most
impressive way.”
Wise words in my opinion. What do you think?
You can read the
whole interview in this week’s SecEd magazine.
