Encouragement in Education: Nudging Beyond the Comfort Zone

Kristijan Musek Lešnik
Nov 15, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Nov 26, 2025

Encouragement is the spark that turns potential into growth. To grow beyond the familiar, children need encouragement and clear boundaries. Let's look at how caring limits and brave invitations help them step beyond comfort and discover what they can do.

“Curiosity powers early exploration, but real growth asks for more: encouragement.”

The third essential on the ladder of growth is encouragement.

Children are natural explorers. Curiosity drives them to test, experiment, and discover — mostly wherever something feels exciting, engaging, or meaningful. To reach beyond familiar interests, they need something extra: encouragement.(And to keep exploration safe, they also need boundaries.)

The Power of Encouragement in Learning and Growth

From kindergarten to university, we remember the few teachers who encouraged our curiosity, challenged our thinking, and helped us see more in ourselves than we had seen before.

Children can summon remarkable energy when something captures their interest. Outside that zone, they become efficient “energy savers.” They invest effort where they find joy, wonder, and connection. To help them grow beyond what already fascinates them, they need our invitation to step into new — sometimes uncomfortable — spaces where learning and self-discovery happen.

Why Children Need Both Boundaries and Encouragement

Young people don’t yet grasp the full complexity of the world or the challenges of living in community — that’s why they need boundaries. They also don’t yet see the full reach of their own potential — that’s why they need encouragement.

Adults can see both sides. We understand what the world will expect of them, so at times we must set limits. We also notice their hidden talents and possibilities, so it becomes our responsibility to help those gifts unfold.

Only when a child is gently nudged beyond the comfort zone can they discover just how capable they really are.

Helping Children Step Beyond the Comfort Zone

We encourage children not to make life harder, but to help them become their best selves. We do this because:

we understand the demands life will bring and want to equip them with skills and resilience, and
we see potential — often before they do — and want to help it grow.

Many children achieve less than they could simply because no one stood beside them with belief and timely encouragement.

Practical ways to encourage well

Set small, specific challenges just beyond current ability.
Name effort, strategies, and progress (“You kept trying different ways until it worked”).
Normalize discomfort as part of learning.
Scaffold the hard parts, then gradually step back.
Debrief setbacks: What helped? What will we try next?

Encouragement vs. Approval

True encouragement isn’t constant praise or easy approval. It’s belief plus guidance — believing a child can stretch, learn, and overcome, and walking with them as they do.

Our purpose as teachers is not to be liked; it is to prepare young people for life — to help them develop strengths, skills, and confidence. When we do this with respect, fairness, and care, children will not only grow — they will also love and respect us in return.

Encouragement language (quick swap)

Instead of: “You’re so smart.” -Try: “You figured out a tough step.”
Instead of: “Perfect!” -Try: “That revision made it clearer.”
Instead of: “Don’t worry about mistakes.” -Try: “Mistakes show what we can try next.”

Reflection

Encouragement is the spark that turns potential into growth — the quiet voice that says, “You can do more than you think.” When we believe in children, and help them believe in themselves, we give them the courage to explore beyond what is comfortable and the confidence to reach what once felt impossible.