By Dr. Donald L. Green, 7 March 2022
As we begin the Third Year of weekly get-togethers for the RiderCoach community, it is hard not to reflect on all the territory we have covered and more importantly the effect each individual of the community provides to the group. We are better together.
We are social beings. Our Motorcycle Rider Education “Tribe” exists because of shared values, ideas, vision, and understanding about what it means to ride. It gives 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 meaningful 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. Perhaps the four riding subtasks of Physical, Social, Mental, and Physical have been embodied in our spirit and guide us when we are together.
For those who seek success within 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 internal perceptions while modeling traits amenable to all. Multiple and diverse knowledge bases allow accelerated learning to take place by being exposed willingly to new ideas or environments. It would be considered rare to ever reach mastery in our ecosystem as there is continual change, leading us to improvement, more growth, and new challenges. Understanding, integrating, and applying the multiple sources for our professional knowledge is essential to practice.
As individual tribe members, the integration of the curricular underpinnings into our profession is a never-ending journey, requiring more than the simple memorization of just one or two resources. Seeking all the supporting information possible, life-long learning has a special place in our hearts and souls. We ask our students to consider what we expose them to as a catalyst for change about how they view riding topics, yet sometimes we find it almost impossible to do the same for ourselves. Our earnest intellectual curiosity is necessary to form a more 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. A wide depth and breadth are achievable and necessary.
Self-Reflection remains a cornerstone of our individual development. Our interactions with others within the Tribe should be thoughtful and nurturing toward others in the wider social circle. There is also a need for the 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 can guide 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 remain steadfast and professional while looking forward to the next learning opportunity. We are social beings, and the Tribe exists for good reason. We will continue to gather and share, together, as tribes do.
