We are social beings. Our Motorcycle Rider Education “Tribe” exists because of shared values, ideas, vision, and understanding about what it means to ride, giving us freedom of mind, body, and soul. Our shared emotional, social, and physical experiences provide a common perspective to view life on two and three wheels but also the ability to share those ah-ha moments with others. Because we are social, we seek others who are similar, enhancing our self-esteem and maintaining our Tribe to enhance those feelings. The entire social transaction releases chemicals in our bodies, positively feeding the neurological function and physical aspects of well-being.
For those who seek success in our Tribe, there must be a genuine and authentic interest in working with others. It is only through community that we can learn to grow, gaining more information and questioning perceptions while modeling acceptable traits. Multiple and diverse knowledge bases allow accelerated learning to take place through exposure to new ideas or environments. It would be considered rare to ever reach mastery in our ecosystem as there is continual change, leading to more growth and new challenges. Understanding, integrating, and applying the multiple sources of our professional knowledge is essential to practice.
As individual tribe members, the integration of the underpinnings of our profession is a never-ending journey, requiring more than the simple memorization of one or two resources. We ask our students to consider listening to change how they think about riding topics, yet sometimes we find it too difficult to do the same ourselves. Our intellectual curiosity is necessary to form a complex understanding of motorcycle rider education as it applies to the student, learning, and teaching. It will always take more to improve; the work of training and educating riders is never finished.
Reflection should be a cornerstone of our development. Our interactions with others within our Tribe should be thoughtful and nurturing toward others in our social circle. There should be a synergistic form of collaboration, sharing of experiences, sharing of results, and sharing of successes and hardships. Our actions with students, peers, supervisors, and subordinates are transactional and a model of who we are as tribe members.
Our Tribe and craft have an internal compass that guides how we are perceived professionally. If the Tribe neglects to uphold a professional standard, the standard will be lowered. If ethical and moral lapses are not remedied, then the profession will be criticized appropriately. Our challenges will be solved through action and curiosity collectively. It is up to the Tribe to improve and remaining steadfast and professional while looking forward to the next learning opportunity. We are social beings, and the Tribe exists for good reason.
