Zones of Comfort, Risk and Danger for Youth Engagement

When we work in groups, when we make our work and ideas public, when we explore challenging issues, it is most helpful to be aware of our affective reactions in order to manage for optimum learning. Learning takes place in the risk zone. When we are in the comfort zone, we are usually not growing but at ease doing what we already know. In the danger zone we are just trying to survive with no room for taking in further information or thinking. In the risk zone, we may be somewhat uncomfortable, unfamiliar. This goes along with the biological principle of organisms always moving to balance - in our efforts to return to balance, homeostasis, we grow. We don't always want to be in risk and we can't always avoid the danger zone but we don't want to get stuck in anyone. Comfort we won't grow a lot. Always being in risk would be exhausting. Consider that some of your students might spend most of their time in school or at home in the danger zone before using this activity. Have you established a safety for them to think about this?