Conceptualising risk-taking in educational settings for enabling pedagogies of courage

Abstract

Despite education discourses promoting risk-taking as a positive character trait, Australia has been identified as one of the most risk-averse countries in the developed world. This begs the question, why are Australians so risk averse? One reason may be a lack of common language and understanding about risk-taking, and an absence of risk-taking culture, in Australian educational settings. In this article, I continue an ongoing conversation about risk and risk-taking in educational contexts. I explore use of these terms in general education discourse and formal Australian education documents, revealing some positive inclusions and concerning silences. To help address the silences, I introduce the terms pedagogical risk-taking and pedagogies of courage. I propose these terms and their associated accounts as a framework for helping build a culture of risk-taking in educational settings – a shift that will help more Australian's embrace risk-taking for the benefit of individuals, the environment and society.