The same courage it takes to leave behind what's not for you any more, is the same courage that will help you find your way to what is. One of those inspiring thoughts that tends to pop up on your social media from time to time. Well, mine anyway! I suspect it was really alluding to love and personal relationships. But it got me thinking about education. ​Classically, I suppose, many people tend to think of education as an exercise in giving... sharing our knowledge, skills and experience with out students. Of course, no education system would be complete without that. And we do it really well, every single day. But education is, I would argue, much more than that. ​Learning progression is not linear. We plant a seed. Students grasp the initial idea. We revisit the idea and slowly, gradually develop it further. The line swerves and deviates. Learning is a journey. There are highs and lows along the way.  Misunderstandings. Errors. We stray off the path from time to time, and need signposts to help us find our way back. Whatever stage of the journey we are at, there is further to travel. The knowledge we teach is, necessarily, partial. Incomplete. And that's wonderful. It leaves the door open to new ideas - undiscovered possibilities. It creates the fertile ground from which industry and innovation will emerge in the future. Students, whether we recognise it or not (and it is sometimes hard to see it), have an inherent drive to learn. Honestly! Biggest. Best. Strongest. Fastest. It all requires some form of learning. Once we gift a student that initial seed, they want it to grow. As high as possible. As tall or strong as possible. As quickly as possible (if only so they reach the end of the task and can stop!) Ultimately, our students want the same as us: To feel accomplished, fulfilled, successful. And this drive is something to behold... something to nurture and treasure, indeed!​ But in their rush to the top, our students are prone to making errors and believing they are more grown than they are. After all, we don't know what we don't know. This is where those highs and lows, those swerves and deviations are formed.  ​Our role, as teachers, is of course to identify and gently correct any false starts and misunderstandings along the way. To guide our students back onto the right path. That is an inherent and inescapable part of our role.  We cannot teach unless we do so. And we do that diligently, skillfully and with the students' best interests at heart. Every day. ​But I invite you now to take a moment and think about a time when something didn't work out for you, or someone told you you were wrong: ​- What happened? - Where were you? Who else could have witnessed it? - How did it make you feel? Did it damage your pride? Were you hurt? Disappointed maybe? Perhaps even embarrassed or shamed? - What thoughts did you have? - How did you react? What did you say? Or do?  Did you manage the situation successfully? - What personal reserves did you draw upon? How easy or difficult was that? What helped you do that? What might have made it more difficult for you to 'reach inside' and draw on those reserves? Whatever your reflections, whether you feel you negotiated the situation successfully or not, let me congratulate you for being brave. For that is what you were. Brave. And your braveness has, I'm sure, enabled you to grow and develop your skills and knowledge. Next time you find yourself in a similar situation, you'll have more experience to draw from and, perhaps, a more developed plan of action. You are bigger, better, stronger now than you were before. And braveness, courage, is exactly what our students have to muster every time they receive corrective feedback. However well-intentioned. However sensitive. However well-delivered. Every time, they have to abandon and replace a belief, strategy or skill they thought they had mastered. Or they trusted and relied on previously. That requires courage. The courage to change. The courage to abandon existing beliefs and stray into new territory. The courage to change their thoughts, beliefs and actions. The courage to follow your lead. Often this takes place within the classroom, where peers may be able to see or hear (or even just suspect/ guess!)... and that brings with it social risks, alongside the academic ones. So it is onerous upon us all to nurture and support pupils to be brave. To foster an environment that makes it safe to take risks in their learning without fear of the consequences... from staff, but also peers. But how can we do that? Well, I'm sure you're already doing lots of great things towards that. But why not head over to the Knowledge Zone to see if there is anything else you can add to your toolkit of strategies? In there you'll find hints and tips for supporting emotional well-being in class - the core foundations that courage needs to flourish.