THE LEARNING PIT Overview For a young person to develop, challenge is the greatest way to improve their knowledge. Research has shown that where the challenge is just beyond a young person’s current capacity but not out of reach, the greatest improvements can be made. Young people have been identified as having a comfort zone, where the level of difficulty, challenge, and frustration vary considerably. Successful learning can be influenced by a coach’s or parent’s ability to sustain a young person’s enthusiasm by setting appropriate challenge. Discussing the learning pit with a young person is a great way of explaining that challenge is a good thing. It takes them out of their comfort zone, into the courage zone, through the mistake-making zone, and into the learning zone. Discuss challenge and set specific scenarios that let them understand the learning process, that mistakes are inevitable and with dedication they will improve. The image of the Learning Pit can be printed for discussion or you can draw your own version with a young person using examples that you’ve experienced and plot where you were in each zone. Rate this tool! Give us your feedback.

THE LEARNING PIT COMFORT ZONE COURAGE ZONE MISTAKE MAKING ZONE IMPROVEMENT ZONE SUCCESS ZONE THE LEARNING PIT