The Transfer of Courage

A highlight moment for me during our recent primary schools visits was an impromptu Questions and Answers session.

We had just finished an activity in the school hall and had about 10 minutes left until lunch break, so we sat together in a large class-sized circle and the students were asked if they had any questions about their secondary schools.

Many questions were aired, some trivial, others with significant depth. I noticed two things as we gathered in this circle. Firstly, there was something quite powerful about being on the same level as the young people whilst answering their questions. Normally we would do this part of the day in a classroom and the team would be positioned like a panel of experts, but there was a profound sense of togetherness all sitting together on the school hall floor.

The second thing I noticed was that rather than being able to address the questions from a “getting the answer technically right” stance, it felt like I was more able to encourage them. I love taking the word “encourage” apart because that is exactly what I could see taking place with the students. Encourage comes from the French word “Coeur” which means “Heart”. So to encourage means to put “Heart” in to somebody else. We have an old fashioned phrase “Take Heart” which encapsulates this.

The young people seemed grateful for this encounter and thanked me at the end as well as giving much positive feedback from the day.