How to develop a class full of ‘Persevering Pioneers.’
Over the last couple of weeks we have been thinking about how to create a class full of ‘Persevering Pioneers.’
One particular class we taught as job share partners, found tasks which necessitated perseverance particularly challenging. We noticed that any work that did not bring immediate success resulted in tears and an inability to know what to do!
Within our class we:
- Made it explicit that it was okay not to be able to do something the first time
- Rewarded children for keeping going when they found something difficult
- Increased the number of challenging activities
- Made sure that the challenges fed through all curriculum subjects
We found that this approach really improved the perseverance of our children in all areas of school life. If only we’d had Steps 2 Summit back then, as the topic of mountaineering lends itself perfectly to talk about the merits of perseverance!
With this in mind, we have written a lesson for every year group to encourage the skill of perseverance.
Every lesson:
- Introduces a mountaineer who has used the skill of perseverance
- Has an activity and accompanying resources to foster perseverance
- Gives children the opportunity to practise persevering in a range of different ways
- Gives children the opportunity to reflect on their success and think about how this might help them in the future
- Is unique to the year group mountain
So, freeing a penny from an ice cube? Solving a maths puzzle to get a land rover down Mount Elbrus? Campaigning for a cause close to their heart? All forms of perseverance are covered!
In teaching these lessons, your children will not only discover inspiring people from all backgrounds and cultures who have used perseverance to fulfil their dreams, but more importantly they might not cry next time you give them something hard to do!