The (Ideal) Role of Adults During Development
- Jan
- 02
- Posted by Dr. Kwame M. Brown
- Posted in child development, Education, Youth fitness, Youth Sports
- 7
I decided to post this because I believe that out of fear we believe we should control children. I believed this once myself. Now, before you “tough love” parents get your panties all up in a bunch, let me first clarify as a non-parent, but someone who has worked with many, many children and has discussed child development at length with hundreds of parents. I believe in consequences. I just don’t believe in helicpoter parents (or coaches or teachers).
Fact: It is patently impossible to control another human beings every movement, given that we all have free will.
Fact: Children are ill-equipped, especially during the younger years, but all the way through adolescence, to fully consider the implications of their actions. Notice I didn’t say that they were un-equipped, just ill-equipped.
Now, how do we reconcile these two statements? Well, we can just realize that every human’s path is his or her own, and that our role as coaches, teachers, parents is simply to guide and to provide lessons / information about possible consequences for different choices.
Now, from my world, I can tell you what I have grown into doing with the kids I work with (I did not always approach things like this, judging from early video of some of my programs):
I get them in to my gym / room / field and immediately create a sense of play and discovery, by just putting those kinds of thoughts into my own head (for those of you that still think play is frivolous, read my other posts!).
Then, we begin to “explore”. In my realm of physical fitness, we may explore pushups or squatting, or pulling, in different situations.
I ask them questions about how the movements feel, and how they think they could be more effective. Depending on how robust the answers are, I may give a little more or a little less guidance. Kids that don’t seem to be getting it, sometimes I pair up with kids who are a little further along. We make it clear that I am the coach and therefore final authority, but I want them as much as possible to find things on their own.
When they find the “right” pattern (this just means the safest, most efficient pattern, really): I let them know, and we talk about how it felt for them. I then make sure they know that they still need to continue to repeat it the same way many times before it’s “solid”. Then they know that the repetition isn’t busy work, but a necessary part or their development. Their “challenge” is to not waver in their commitment to efficiency of movement during that repetition. This make repetition fun.
When I see a mistake once, I leave it alone and see if they correct on their own. If it continues to be repeated, I remind them of a better choice. If it still continues to repeat, I discuss with them how I can better do my job.
Notice I say “if it is repeated”. The mistake is a mistake. It has it’s own identity, and so does the child. The two need not be confused.
I also try to realize that children do not work for me. I work for them (as a group, not individually, silly!). Part of my responsibility as the employee of all children is to sometimes direct them, and sometimes sit back to let them find their own path toward what success means for them.
This is, as my friend Brian Grasso (who I will never get tired of hearing speak) always says: “The Art of Coaching”
Parents, teachers, and coaches should always employ this art. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t consequences for actions. In fact, I have kicked a fair number of kids out of class, and have had a fair number of kids sit out during my years as a coacheducatortrainer (I’m never sure what my title should be). The key is to make sure that you are really dealing with a disruptive behavior problem as opposed to just a kid who annoys you.
Imagine if this approach were incorporated more into education?
Imagine if this approach were used more in creating a love for movement in our children (to avoid the so-called youth obesity epidemic)?
I can say that this approach is probably the right one, not because I invented it (I surely did not), but because I have used other approaches, and have grown into this approach. But, as a humble man, I must (as we all must) consider the possibility that I am an idiot or simply misinformed. What do you think?
Contact Details
-
Copyright 2012 by Dr. Kwame M. Brown and Move Theory
Kwame, you’re absolutely right about this. In fact, that exploratory period, the ability to make “mistakes” and self-correct, is essential to learning things. However, you have to be given the chance to self-correct. Many times I see people (teachers/parents/whatever) let their students screw up, wait for them to get it right, then jump in – too soon!
The myth of control is a dominant one in human interactions. When you sit down to investigate what you really have control over, you find out that it’s a very small list indeed!
Too true. And it is that myth of control that has created a whole host of problems within this grand experiment we call humanity. Some of those issues are beyond this blog to be sure, but this attitude certainly has implications for education and schooling (yes I use those two words separately as well – see Einstein on education). I believe (based on mutiple streams of data)that one of the root causes here is our belief that we know exactly what kids will need 20 years from now, so we concentrate on the information (i.e. facts). This produces a very control oriented environment (we will tell you this and you will tell it back the same way). Well we can certainly see the folly of that in the number of professionals who are largely incapable of considering fresh new ways of doing things. It is only the “talented” that seem to have this capability. I think that this should be a basic capability of the human. But we stifle, stifle, stifle, until only a few stubborn weeds can break through the conrete that is our educational system.
We must start to find ways to practically apply this information, though. Can we do this? Yes, but it MUST be done by committee. And it must be done with a focus on trying new things. But we have set things up so much around the inability to fail, that we experience in government paralysis by analysis.
The new president gives me hope with his seemingly uncanny ability to raise the level of dialogue (though many still cling to the lower rungs of that ladder). I have some definite ideas here, but what do others think? I’m curious.
I think that your mention of “fear” as a source of the desire to control is profound. I have traced virtually all of my negative interactions with my own kids to a fear of x or y or z. So many things work better when you can let go of those fears. Politics, anyone?
BTW, did you post a notice of this blog to your Facebook? If so, I missed it somehow.
I’m new to this blog, but am very intereted in this topic about children, fear, movement & control. As a kid who learned dirrently in the classroom it was clearly an obstacle.
When I speak about control, I mean to define this as the teachers controls mechanism to learning and mistakes in learning in the traditional classroom. What do I define as the traditional classroom??? Rows of seats, no movement, and industry type factory learning environmnet. As compared to the Montesorri method of classroom design and philosohy.
I’m not saying one is better than the other, but what works for me is the active learning perspective. As a fitness professional, I see movement & play as key to learning in sports, fitness, stress reduction in the classroom and life.
When doing home work with my son before we sit down and get to the assignment, we move/play for at least 20 minutes. This might include: walking, running, traversing a home made rock wall or running through a homemade obstacle course outside. Any movement before we sit down and start homework at a high enough intensity works.
What is that level of exercise itnesity that produces thought?? I do not think there is one answwer to this question, but movement is the key. Studies have shown that key proteins are released when we exercise that make new connection or strenghten exsiting connections. I see this with athletes I train and with children before they sitdown to learn. This is not my research, but research by developmental moleculer biologists and some leading clinical psychiatrists who study these this topic.
Why not do this in our schools?? ( this is another topic ) I’m not saying their should be no control, but movement in the classroom especially for boys is important. There is the physical control of having rules and regulations in the classroom for safety, operations , etc, but I’m talking more about outside the box teaching and learning that includes exercise and movement to improved grades and self confidence and self esteem with chidren. Control of the mind. If we move and if there are no other impediments to learning, our brain fires, builds and stenghtens in a much more efficient manor. This idea of plasticity and the field of neurogenisis is now coming to the fore front.
I couldn’t agree more with this comment. Movement in general is so scarce these days that anything would help. Maybe parents could organize impromptu “happenings” in the classroom where all of the students got up and bear-crawled or danced around for five minutes every hour.
It was nice to see your blog.Just Keep Writing!
______________________________
Don’t pay for your electricity any longer…
Instead, the power company will pay YOU!
Excellent post and comments! I’ve not been a fan for most of my life of the protocol of the typical classroom setting. The ways schools typically do things is part and parcel of a mass-produced system of “education”. Once you stamp out a process for all, it breaks down the quality for the individual.
On a political level, I do not believe that the NEA is in it for the personal and educational enrichment of children. This is yet another byproduct of a system that’s too big for its britches and very politically entrenched.
Movement and learning go hand in hand. It makes me wonder what education must have felt like before education was standardized, back in the day when kids learned from parents, private schools or tutors and moved on to apprentice work.
Great food for thought, Kwame!
-Liz