Courage

Web Resources Related to Courage that Parents and Teachers Can View/Discuss with their Older Children.

(For best results, Google the bolded words for each article or video)

Principles of Extraordinary Math Teaching– High School math teacher, Dan Finkel, delivers a humorous and truly inspiring TedxTalk.  I placed this TedxTalk here because one portion of Finkel’s talk is about teaching courage in math class, but I could have placed it in several other categories as well.  Finkel argues for a different approach to teaching math to students- one that involves exciting exploration, discovery, creativity and courage.

PBS KidsTalk Link on Courage- This is a PBS Kids Talk video featuring young children talking about courage and bravery.  It is a good video to share with your children for them to hear how other children define courage and bravery.

How to Build Your Courage-Leadership Expert, Cindy Solomon has spent considerable time studying courage and asks how the courage muscle can be built with small everyday actions.  She concludes that courage is not about being fearless but rather about developing the ability to feel fear and not allow it to paralyze you.  Cindy’s research shows that all of us have the ability to be courageous, that courage can be contagious, and that exercising the courage muscle will make it stronger.

The Beautiful Balance Between Courage and Fear– Cara E. Yar Khan shares her inspiring story of being diagnosed with a rare genetic disease that deteriorates muscles and dealing with the Courage to continue challenging her dreams.  Her conclusion: Life is just a lesson in finding the balance between fear and bravery.

The Power of Vulnerability– With close to 60 million views, this is one of the most watched TedTalks of all time.  In it, Brene Brown shares her research on human connection, on shame, on the courage to be imperfect, and on vulnerability.  She weaves an engaging story of her research into the ways that we learn to embrace connectivity and the challenges that get in our way.  She warns us against numbing emotions like shame, fear, and disappointment because in doing so, we also numb joy, happiness, and gratitude.

How to Help Your Child Develop Courage– Dr. Tali Shenfield offers advice to parents in this article on ways to help your children develop courage.

You Don’t Actually Know What Your Future Self Wants– Journalist Shankar Vendanstam argues that the person we will become thirty years from now is unknowable and it is a conceit to believe any different.  Accordingly, he has three recommendations for preparing yourself for your own future:  Stay curious; be humble; and be brave.

Teach Girls Bravery, Not Perfection -Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, tells her story of bravery and cautions that we are raising girls to be perfect and boys to be brave.  From a young age, girls are socialized to be cautious where boys are socialized to be risk takers.  Boys who struggle with a challenge struggle with the problem.  Girls who struggle with a challenge struggle with themselves.  Reshma challenges her audience to act now by encouraging girls to embrace imperfection and to view challenge with courage.

A Life Lesson from a Volunteer Firefighter-This is a short, but powerful talk by volunteer firefighter, Mark Bezos.  His message is that one does not often get a chance to save a life, but that every day, one gets a chance to affect a life.   As Bezos explains, “In both my vocation at Robin Hood and my avocation as a volunteer firefighter, I am witness to acts of generosity and kindness on a monumental scale, but I’m also witness to acts of grace and courage on an individual basis. And you know what I’ve learned? They all matter.”

Do you know another self- help book, children’s book, article, TedTalk, or video that focuses on courage? Let us know with a one or two sentence summary sent to author@johnzurn.com.