Circle Of Courage Essay

Courage is defined as the ability to do something that frightens one. Building courage in students and enhancing their ability to face challenges of life is an important concept for teachers to understand. Students need to have all of the necessary tools that allow them to feel that they can be successful and that they can be and are important contributing members of society. These sort of tools can be developed in many different areas of life. This paper will focus on the ideas of building courage and acceptance within the educational system as well as in the therapeutic riding setting. The Circle of Courage is a key concept that can and should be used by educators in all areas of student development as well as within the realms of therapeutic riding and psychology.
The Circle of Courage was developed by the Native Americans and is a representative of the need for harmony and balance within human life. It is composed of four colors that symbolize different races in equal portions. There are four white points that stand for the developmental needs of children which are belonging, mastery, independence and generosity (Brown). The concepts that the circle represents are very basic to the needs of all people. The needs of belonging, mastery, independence and generosity are four core principles that are mostly developed in the younger stages of life but are also built upon later in life as well. Building strong foundations for children help them continue to develop their strengths which in turn help lead to a more successful and well purposed life.
Since being developed by the Native Americans it has been adapted by a series of people and organizations that use the Circle of Courage as a core developmental building block. There ar...

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...lot of ways that the Circle of Courage can be applied to a variety of formats and settings from classrooms, sports, counseling, the workplace and the barn. When working with people of all ages, but especially children and youth it is important to build upon their need for independence, belonging, mastery and generosity to help give them strong basic building blocks for success that will carry through to their later years. Having strong senses of all four concepts can help students avoid risky situations or poor behavior because they feel fulfilled and do not need to seek any stimulation from outside sources that may be negative in impact. The Circle of Courage when paired with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can lead to the most satisfactory life and would help children to be successful both academically, physically, socially and emotionally which is the ultimate goal.