Learned Helplessness And The Role Of Forest School.

Today, I’m going to discuss the notion of learnt helplessness and the role of Forest School.

The Creation Of Helpless Children

Most parents don’t set out to create helpless children. It happens accidentally.
You zip your child’s coat because it’s faster. You clean their bedroom because it doesn’t get clean otherwise. You make their lunches because there’s less mess.

Over time, your child starts to rely on you to do almost everything for them.
Sound familiar?

Even things they are more than capable of doing themselves. You feel exhausted, burnt out and struggling for you time from fulfilling your child’s every demand, right?

Learned Helplessness

This whole idea of children not being to do things for themselves, even though they are capable is known as “Learned Helplessness.”

A child will naturally do this as a response to their environment. Simply if you do it all for them, why should they lift a finger?

Worryingly when a child learns this behaviour it can have a problematic effect on their mental and physical wellbeing both in the short and long term.

Now when a parent assumes or notices that their child is struggling with learned helplessness, they often tend to back off. Shut down. Pull back. Remove all supports as they suppose this is the way to solve the problem.

However, this can lead to a discouraged, frustrated and disconnected child.
Not exactly your goal, right?

The Power Of Forest School

Let’s consider this from a different perspective for a moment:

What if, instead of someone doing everything for your child or leaving them stranded, they became met where they are at by a childhood expert? Their unique developmental stage and abilities were taken into account. And, they were supported and encouraged as they took steps toward independence at their own pace?

Can you imagine that from your child’s perspective?
How encouraging, liberating and empowering right?

The Power of Forest School.

What Makes Forest School So Special In Combating Learned Helplessness?

At Forest School children are given space to develop and take on their own tasks, in their own time. There is the freedom of choice and the freedom to decided and what and how they are going to learn.

Children are not compared to one another but only to themselves and where they were last time they came. As I’ve mentioned again and again on here, children are met where they are at developmentally. That is one of the true values of Forest School.

What this all allows is the Forest School leader to actively build a strong relationship with your child, using questioning, observation and their expert understanding of child development to assist.

Not only this but all children are seen as competent, valued and unique and can offer different sets of skills to another child. Every child is encourage to help someone else, support where needed, make friends or share the burden of disagreements.

In these moments children feel supported, safe and empowered to take steps toward independence without having their hand held.

Small, Achievable Tasks.

This is not to say that at times children may require extra support as they struggle in a given play choice. Steps are put into place and with big tasks being separated into small achievable ones, before being compiled together to achieve success in an area that was once providing difficulty.

It may be as simple as a mindset pep talk or a a few guiding words. This proves a Forest School leaders level of trust, care, safety and connection for, and, to your child.

As much as they can, after using their expert knowledge to judge the situation, a Forest Leader will stand back and observe when a child begins to struggle with something, but is within their range. Why you may ask? Within each struggle comes growth and learning.

Both intra personal skills those from within such as confidence, self esteem, perseverance and inter personal skills, those concerning other people. Will they call on others to assist? Will they gain direction from others?

These are all life skills that will and are transferred to real life situation down the line and where better to lay the foundation for these but in childhood.

The Frustration, But Importance, Of Failure

This period can be frustrating for your child, I get that, but the urge to do it for them must be subdued or held back.

Your child is spoken with and helped to understand their feelings of frustration, identify ideas that may help and the formulation of a potential plan for action.

There may be times when a child, even after intervention will give in and this too is part of the learning process. This action will play heavy on their mind particularly if a friend is able or is showing they are doing something your child feels they cannot.

Your child’s belief and the truth of what they can achieve are two separate things. It takes these opportunities of failure, resilience and fortitude for them to realise what they are actually capable of and this is the the power of Forest School.

Such ideas and notions can be deployed at home if you feel your child is showing signs of Learned Helplessness.

Or even better why struggle to find the How in the massive amount of time you don’t have between your work, life and family when you’ve just found the who?

You’re Just One Session Away!