Abstract
In this article we examine discourses, conceptualisations and practices of positive risk-taking for or by children and adults with learning disabilities. We identify tensions and contradictions in positive risk-taking discourses that are unhelpful for clarifying for practitioners how positive risk-taking might be implemented. We suggest a conceptual framework that incorporates creativity and resilience and use this to offer examples from special and inclusive education (Intensive Interaction and Learning without Limits) that illustrate how positive risk-taking can be found in education practices. We conclude by arguing that conceptual frameworks such as the one proposed, when linked to supportive frameworks and guiding principles that emphasise professional judgement, offer one way to problematise and challenge current risk-averse practices in education, health and social care settings.
Highlights
The focus of this article is positive risk-taking, the practice of those who are supporting children and adults with learning disabilities to take risks or who take positive risks themselves which impact on the lives of children and adults with learning disabilities
Arguing that policy discourses are far too vague about what exactly is meant by creative and innovative risk-taking practices and ignore the factors that might influence the development of these practices, we have developed a conceptual framework for thinking about the development of future positive risk-taking practices (Seale and Nind 2010) which focuses on creativity and resilience
Where Stanford talks of vision, we focus on creativity; where Stanford talks of courage we focus on resilience
Summary
The focus of this article is positive risk-taking, the practice of those who are supporting children and adults with learning disabilities to take risks or who take positive risks themselves which impact on the lives of children and adults with learning disabilities. We give examples of these tensions at the macro institutional level and the micro individual level and we go on to argue that conceptual frameworks can play a vital role in guiding practice by linking positive risk-taking talk to practice and informing professional judgement. We use this framework, incorporating creativity and resilience, as a stimulus to identify examples of implicit positive risk-taking within special and inclusive education. Pressures relating to school performativity and perceived risk of educational failure shape approaches to risk
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