A Life of Fear or Faith?

After receiving some interesting feedback regarding the “Porcupine  Effect” from my post last week, I thought it would be interesting to share some thoughts on how to handle this situation.  See graphic below:

The “porcupine effect” is triggered by fear.  A student can conger up all types of reasons to stimulate fear:  doubt they can accomplish the task, lack enough information because they didn’t take easier lessons serious, fear the time/energy it will take to meet an expectation, and etc.  The imagination is great at this and very apparent in many teens I observe.

Once they start down the path of fear the results become very predictable.  A student becomes very suspect of the activity, usually questioning the creditability of the activity and the professionalism of the teacher.  Their minds close to any alternatives until failure is justified (no fault of their own).

Intervention before failure starts with recognizing the trap.  I am coaching students to see that their choices can empower them to change the situation.

The first choice they must make to change the situation is to open their mind and embrace knowledge.  The more a student knows, acquired through learning or experience, the more confident they will become.  Confidence over time evolves into faith.  Faith in the process, faith in one’s skills and abilities,  faith in the teachers, faith in the school, faith in themselves.

To think, we control whether we live in fear or faith.  I think I have experienced both over the years, personally and professionally.  It all starts with a choice and knowledge.  Wow!  Powerful stuff!

P.S.  Please feel free to use or share the graphic above to teach your students how to recognize/avoid the trap and change their outcomes.