This time I have asked one of my students in my summer online class on Special Populations in Gifted Education to contribute her perspective on gifted boys. Her name is Jennifer McElroy, and she stated in introducing herself to the class, "My goal is to be able to change my view in relation to stereotypes of special populations and to view these students as individuals. Each student deserves equitable treatment and by taking this class I hope to gain the skills to help the student reveal themselves as individuals to the school and to their community."
As one of her assignments, she chose to study issues surrounding the education of gifted boys and here is what she wrote on the topic:
The reason that I chose to study gifted boys is based upon personal interest. My son’s pediatrician and educators have recommended he be tested by the Spark’s program at the University of Alabama, Birmingham for both Asberger’s and giftedness. Therefore, to be supportive of my son and to educate myself on a diagnosis which may be in his future, I chose to study the gifted male. I must say that I was surprised at what I learned.
As a female, I have always felt that being smart and pretty portrayed to everyone that I was a woman of my own means who understood who I was and needed no one else to validate me. Based upon the video and the articles assigned to us, gifted males have an inward desire to maintain a positive, “cool” social image at whatever cost. Unfortunately, the cost is usually academics and the pursuit of the gifted male to be accepted socially into society is causing gifted males to underachieve academically.
I believe that the videos and articles given to us for research present separate issues. In Dr. Warren Farrell’s video clip “The Boy Crisis” (8:59 minutes) we can see the impact of the Woman’s movement upon male education and how, in order for gifted males to avoid an academic “feminine identity”, they began to do poorly in school in an effort to assert their male identify.
In the article “Managing His Image: The Challenge Facing the Gifted Male” by Thomas P. Hebert, Hebert discusses how male efforts to maintain their masculine identity result in their sacrificing of their own gifted potential which consequently leads to underachievement. Educators must now look at ways they can reverse this underachievement while helping the gifted male to maintain his identity as both male and as gifted.
The article “Mentors for Gifted Underachieving Males: Developing Potential and Realizing Promise” by Thomas P. Hebert and F. Richard Olenchak (see references at the bottom of the post) offers a solution to reversal of the underachieving male through a mentor/ protégé relationship.
The video presentation entitled “The Boy Crisis”, which is a video clip of a seminar hosted by Dr. Warren Farrell, briefly discusses the woman’s movement in the late 1960’s and the effects it had on the education of males. Dr. Farrell has been studying gender issues since the 1960’s. His first book, The Liberated Man, was published from a woman’s and feminists’ perspective. According to his biography located on his website, he began to notice the fact that males were being misrepresented and he began to write about the reasons behind the decline of the male in academia. In the video, Dr. Farrell begins by giving a brief sociological background surrounding the sociological impact of the women’s movement on males. He states that in the 1960’s, women were considered minorities in college and were receiving minority scholarships. By 1978, males had actually become a minority in college, but the scholarships were still going to females. Although he does not go into further detail, it is easy to deduct from this information that male attendance in college began to decline due to the lack of scholarships available. Therefore, gifted males, whose family could not afford college tuition, were forced to give up a college future due to a lack of funding. At this point, fewer males were going to school, therefore fathers were unable to afford to send their sons to school, and the cycle began… and the boy crises continues.
Dr. Farrell also states that from 1980-2001, there was an increase of 71% of boys who said that they did not like school. Dr. Farrell says that this is due to some schools getting rid of recess time. He specifically mentions schools disallowing dodge ball to be played if recess is allowed at school. Even though he did not come out and directly say it, I feel like he believes that schools are feminizing their programs and the product is feminized males. I have always heard a lot of commentary about the removal of dodge ball from schools and the fear some parents believe that these type of actions taken by schools are causing males to become “sissies”. In “Should Dodge Ball be Allowed in Schools?” by Chris D’Angelo, he states as follows:
The sad thing is, our overprotective society has started banning the sport in schools across the country. They feel it's too dangerous, and that it encourages bullies to pick on weaker students. I however, see the game differently. In Dodgeball, anyone can be the hero on any day, in any game. Your position does not dictate your playtime or importance.
In the article “Managing His Image: The Challenge Facing the Gifted Male” Hebert discusses what I believe to be the product of feminization of schools: gifted male identity crises which leads to underachievement. The article discusses masculine mystique which is a value system that is “…compromised of a set of beliefs that defines what our society regards as masculine. A feature of this belief is that vulnerability, weakness, and academic success in school are signs of feminism to be avoided at all costs.” (n.d.). We can ascertain from the information that gifted males are sacrificing their gifted abilities so that they will be able to maintain their masculine image. The article also reads that if academic success is not accepted in the male’s social culture, then the gifted male will sacrifice his academics to be accepted by his peers. The product of this sacrifice is underachievement.
So how do we reverse underachievement? Hebert suggests that educators can form support groups where gifted males meet with similar peers to discuss how to balance giftedness and the ability to maintain both their male and social identity. Hubert also recommends that gifted males read biographies of other gifted men who have faced similar situations and research how these men were able to reverse the process of underachievement.
A more in depth study of reversal of underachievement is discussed in the article “Mentors for Gifted Underachieving Males: Developing Potential and Realizing Promise” by Thomas P. Hebert and F. Richard Olenchak (See reference below). The article focused on the results of a study which was conducted in order to examine the lives of three gifted young men and to understand how a significant adult engaged each subject in a relationship that ultimately reversed underachievement via a mentor/ protégé relationship.
The criteria for the study subjects were: 1. subjects were male, 2. recognized and referred during his public schools years for gifted characteristics, and 3. currently underachieving academically as reflected by a preponderance of grades of C or lower. The core results of the study were the influence of a significant adult on a young person. Three subcategories were 1. reinforced the importance of the mentor’s open minded and non judgmental characteristics, 2. mentor’s consistent and personalized social/emotional support and advocacy, and 3. mentors strength and interest-based strategies for intervention to reverse underachievement.
The statement I most connected with in the article was actually an implication, not a direct result of the study. One of the things I have learned in this class is that parental support of gifted children is essential to successful attainment of identity and full academic potential. The authors state that, “The case reinforces the notion that parents are often so overwhelmed with their own circumstances that they are unable to provide such opportunities.” This statement reinforces what I feel that I have learned throughout this class. Parents, rather over worked or simply not interested in the furtherment of education, are not able to provide their gifted children with experiences that a mentor could provide. Therefore, in communities where male leadership is scarce, mentorship is a necessary and effective tool to the prevention of underachievement in males.
Now that we have seen how gifted males struggle with identity can lead to underachievement, we need to look at how gender affects underachievement. In the article “Gender and Genius” by Barbara Kerr, Kerr discusses how prescribed gender roles limit the career choices of gifted boys and girls. Instead of focusing on the career choices, I am going to focus on two factors: 1. Factors that destroy giftedness in each gender, and 2. Periods at which each gender is at the highest potential of underachievment.
A danger for gifted boys is what Kerr refers to as “kindergarten red-shirting”. This practice refers to the act of the parents delaying their sons entry into kindergarten so that he can grow in mass and therefore be bigger than the others children in his class and better in sports. The danger in this practice is that parents are putting their sons in schools past their point of learning readiness and late arrival in school coupled with a parent’s focus on athletics over academics is almost certain to cause a gifted male to underachieve.
The most prevalent time for male underachievement is late primary through the high school years. The reason for this goes back to our early discussion of how gifted males struggle with their identity as both gifted and as a male. Males feel that they must sacrifice high academics for a masculine, athletic image. They fear that embracing academic giftedness would make them look weak, feminine or fear the possibility of being labeled a nerd.
The danger for gifted girls concerns the area of early reading development. Girls, having earlier reading readiness than boys, can be denied the ability to develop early reading abilities due to schools beginning reading instruction at the time when boys are ready. Most girls are ready to read a year earlier than boys so the schools miss the period at which girls are at the peak of readiness to begin to learn how to read.
Gifted girls' highest period of underachievement is during her college years and young adulthood. During this time, the gifted female becomes more concerned with the interests of her boyfriend or husband and she is willing to abandon her interest in order to support his. Therefore, the gifted female accepts her role as submissive, supporting female and sacrifices her own academic future.
In conclusion, the downfall of gifted boys is their struggle with their male identity. The articles have discussed many ways to help reverse underachievement in males. Since I am not yet a teacher, I am not aware of any support programs that my local school has to support gifted males. However, if I were a teacher, and were asked to provide some type of support group or program to assist gifted males, I would suggest the following ways. Since programs are adjusted to support age and maturity level, I will focus on the age I hope to teach one day, ages 15-18.
PREVENTION
The best way to avoid underachievement is to prevent it. Therefore, a system of checks and balances might help gifted males from falling into the traps of underachievement.
1st step: Each student must write individual goals.
2nd step: Students are placed into groups based upon goals and common interest.
3rd step: A leader is chosen from the group. The leader monitors and follows up with each team member with the progress of their goals. If the student leader becomes concerned that someone in their group is not meeting their goals, they plan mediation between the student, the student leader, and the teacher.
If it is discovered in mediation that a student is starting to underachieve, the student would no longer be allowed to work with the group until all issues are resolved. However, it would be the responsibility of the teacher to help the gifted male in every way.
1st: Approach- Approach the student and see if they are going through a difficult time in their life that is keeping them from obtaining their goals.
2nd: Counsel- If the student is going through a personal situation, recommend counseling.
3rd: Differentiate- Allow a differentiation in the student’s program until their personal conflict is resolved. For instance, if the student feels that working with others would be beneficial, allow them to go back to their original group on a part time bases.
4th: Respect- Never give up on a student! No matter how long it takes, keep modifying their curriculum, keep up with counseling, keep providing services such as mentorship, etc… until the student is once again able to reach their full potential.
REFERENCES:
Hebert, T., & Olenchak, R. (2000). Mentors for gifted underachieving males: Developing potential and realizing promise. Gifted Child Quarterly, 44(3).
Showing posts with label gifted education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gifted education. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Second lesson we can learn from sports: Training and developing skills,
The first part of this series developed ideas around starting early and broadly in sports training. The second part deals with training and skills acquisition, and the development of expertise. From the ten rules we initially set, the ones we will address in this post are:
(1) A strategy of training as many students as possible in basic skills of the sport.
(4) Training occurs in stages beginning with basic skills, to specific competition skills, to expert performance skills.
(5) No one is excluded in early stages through aptitude or skills tests, but everyone has the opportunity to learn basic skills.
(6) Training is not limited to sport specific skills, but also includes character and psychological training.
(10) Skill levels, interest, and task commitment become more important as athletes get older and develop into expert or elite athletes.
One model that discusses the acquisition of skills under direction of an instructor, is the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Five Stage Model of Skill Acquisition. Dreyfus and Dreyfus published their book describing this model in 1980: A Five-stage Model of the Mental Activities Involved in Directed Skill Acquisition. http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA084551&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf.
The five stages are: novice, advanced beginner, competence, proficiency, expert. In very short, what distinguish these stages are two things: how a person interacts with the rules of the task, and the volume of task features a person can handle.
A novice has to have the task broken into small, context-free features by the instructor and can recognize these features, because the instructor describes them (even demonstrates). For example, a child learning to play basketball, has to learn ball handling skills out of the context of the game itself. Also, the novice needs to have the instructor make the rules of the task explicit and judges his own performance by his adherence to the rules.
An advance beginner learns more features and examples of those features, and are able to recognize features not given by the instructor but that fits with the experience. This person knows performance rules, knows non-situational features, and recognizes situational aspects. He still judges his performance by edherence to rules. Performance is slow, uncoordinated, and laborious. In our basketball example: the young player can start to learn certain moves and features of the game, can run some drills, but still cannot play a game.
In competence, the features and aspects of the task become overwhelming. The learner starts creating hierarchical organizing categories to make decisions. The decisions have to do with reaching goals - the learner selects a plan, perspective, or goal and then selects features and
aspects most important to that goal, perspective, or plan. Choices between many options becomes important and creates uncertainty and necessity. Where Novice and Advanced Beginners are not concerned with results, just rule adherence, the competent performer is concerned with results – there is an emotional connection and responsibility for results. With experience competent performers start distinguishing between features and aspects that works in a given situation, and remembers the senses of opportunity, risk, expectations, threat. These memories (based in experience) become basis for proficiency. Our young basketball player can play games now, but still need a lot of coaching and makes many mistakes.
In proficiency the learner recognizes a situation as similar or different from previously experienced situations and can come up with an appropriate plan without conscious planning. The proficient learner sometimes experiences breakdowns in “seeing” due to in sufficient experience that lessens as experience and situational understanding increase. Our basketball player can now play games and only occasionally will make a mistake.
The expert understands, acts, and learns from results without any conscious awareness of the process because his database of classes of similar situations that require similar actions becomes immense. What is important about an expert is that her actions and choices relevant to the tasks happen with no conscious thought and no reference to the original rules - it is entirely internalized.
It seems to me that young sportsmen and women learn skills in their chosen sport in much the same way. The crucial understanding for us is that at any point along the acquisition of skills, a person may decide to participate at that skill level and progress no further. Progress along the continuum of skill acquisition occurs entirely voluntarily and due to effort and application and time spent in pursuing proficiency. As acquisition progresses, the effort required increases and task commitment becomes more and more important. It also seems to me that fewer and fewer people gain the higher levels of skill acquisition.
In the next post we will relate this information to learning in school.
I welcome comments to this blog. To make a comment, click on the envelope below marked "Comments."
(1) A strategy of training as many students as possible in basic skills of the sport.
(4) Training occurs in stages beginning with basic skills, to specific competition skills, to expert performance skills.
(5) No one is excluded in early stages through aptitude or skills tests, but everyone has the opportunity to learn basic skills.
(6) Training is not limited to sport specific skills, but also includes character and psychological training.
(10) Skill levels, interest, and task commitment become more important as athletes get older and develop into expert or elite athletes.
One model that discusses the acquisition of skills under direction of an instructor, is the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Five Stage Model of Skill Acquisition. Dreyfus and Dreyfus published their book describing this model in 1980: A Five-stage Model of the Mental Activities Involved in Directed Skill Acquisition. http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA084551&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf.
The five stages are: novice, advanced beginner, competence, proficiency, expert. In very short, what distinguish these stages are two things: how a person interacts with the rules of the task, and the volume of task features a person can handle.
A novice has to have the task broken into small, context-free features by the instructor and can recognize these features, because the instructor describes them (even demonstrates). For example, a child learning to play basketball, has to learn ball handling skills out of the context of the game itself. Also, the novice needs to have the instructor make the rules of the task explicit and judges his own performance by his adherence to the rules.
An advance beginner learns more features and examples of those features, and are able to recognize features not given by the instructor but that fits with the experience. This person knows performance rules, knows non-situational features, and recognizes situational aspects. He still judges his performance by edherence to rules. Performance is slow, uncoordinated, and laborious. In our basketball example: the young player can start to learn certain moves and features of the game, can run some drills, but still cannot play a game.
In competence, the features and aspects of the task become overwhelming. The learner starts creating hierarchical organizing categories to make decisions. The decisions have to do with reaching goals - the learner selects a plan, perspective, or goal and then selects features and
aspects most important to that goal, perspective, or plan. Choices between many options becomes important and creates uncertainty and necessity. Where Novice and Advanced Beginners are not concerned with results, just rule adherence, the competent performer is concerned with results – there is an emotional connection and responsibility for results. With experience competent performers start distinguishing between features and aspects that works in a given situation, and remembers the senses of opportunity, risk, expectations, threat. These memories (based in experience) become basis for proficiency. Our young basketball player can play games now, but still need a lot of coaching and makes many mistakes.
In proficiency the learner recognizes a situation as similar or different from previously experienced situations and can come up with an appropriate plan without conscious planning. The proficient learner sometimes experiences breakdowns in “seeing” due to in sufficient experience that lessens as experience and situational understanding increase. Our basketball player can now play games and only occasionally will make a mistake.
The expert understands, acts, and learns from results without any conscious awareness of the process because his database of classes of similar situations that require similar actions becomes immense. What is important about an expert is that her actions and choices relevant to the tasks happen with no conscious thought and no reference to the original rules - it is entirely internalized.
It seems to me that young sportsmen and women learn skills in their chosen sport in much the same way. The crucial understanding for us is that at any point along the acquisition of skills, a person may decide to participate at that skill level and progress no further. Progress along the continuum of skill acquisition occurs entirely voluntarily and due to effort and application and time spent in pursuing proficiency. As acquisition progresses, the effort required increases and task commitment becomes more and more important. It also seems to me that fewer and fewer people gain the higher levels of skill acquisition.
In the next post we will relate this information to learning in school.
I welcome comments to this blog. To make a comment, click on the envelope below marked "Comments."
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
First lesson in talent development from sports: Start young with everyone
This first discussion combines several of the ten strategies listed in the previous blog posting:
(1) A strategy of training as many students as possible in basic skills of the sport.
(2) Start young with opportunities to learn the sport and participate.
(3) Access to sports is open to everyone who may wish to participate.
(5) No one is excluded in early stages through aptitude or skills tests, but everyone has the opportunity to learn basic skills.
(7) In early stages no one is excluded if they do not display the predispositional characteristics, so that they have the opportunity to possibly develop those characteristics.
These 5 strategies have one common philosophical basis: make opportunity available to as broad a population as possible and give everyone who shows interest basic training. Then see what pops up.
Dr. Ralph Richards of the Western Australia Institute for Sports delivered a paper at a convention in 1999 in which he outlined the identification and talent development of swimming athletes (www.wasa.asn.au/html/coaching/rtf/tid-ascta.rtf). “The best form of Talent Identification and Development,” says Richards, “is mass participation. The best way to identify talent is to have large numbers of young children exposed to quality learn-to-swim programs and then to keep them in the sport during the age-group years.”
This happens in most all sports. Opportunities to participate is open to all who wish to participate, and everyone gets quality instruction in the rules and philosophy of the game, as well as opportunity to practice and play. My brother Ben lives in South Africa and used to coach boys' rugby at his son's school. I watched him once working with a team of 6-7 year olds in a game. He was on the field with his boys, directing them, giving them guidance and advice as they played their little hearts out. Once he had to physically turn a little boy around who was well on his way to the opposing team's end zone. I watched him pat the little guy on the backside and say - Go the other way, tiger! The other team's coach was doing the same things. At that stage it wasn't so much about winning, as about learning and enjoying!
Many of those little boys continued playing rugby for their elementary school, and some played for their secondary school. One or two even went on to play for their university or town rugby club. They all love rugby, though, and are informed (and very vocal) fans and spectators.
What is striking is that none of those little guys are told - you can't play because you are not good enough. How ludicrous would that be? How do we know which ones are going to develop into fine players and which ones will drop out of the team after one season?
Contrast this with talent development in schools. We don't give any particular attention to the bright kids until second grade (and then only in those states that identify gifted kids at that age). Then we test them for intellectual ability, and we set an arbitrary cutoff score and the ones who make it are crowned as "gifted" and the ones who don't make the cut, very often never again have the opportunity to try out for the "gifted team."
No wonder we miss a lot of talented students who could have gained immensely from enriched curriculum and instruction! No wonder the dropout rate amongst high ability high schoolers is increasing steadily - kids are bored with school and take their GED and go on to college.
So Rule #1 in Catharine de Wet's School of Dreams: Every single child in my School of Dreams gets enriched curriculum and instruction. Any child who shows interest in a topic can pursue that topic. We won't ever use test scores to admit a child or exclude a child from any subject or course we teach. Their performance, and continued interest, will determine whether they go on to more advanced courses in that subject or domain.
Impossible to do, you say? Only if we continue to organize schools based on age and lockstep curriculum. Who says all 6 year olds have to enter school and learn to count and learn their letters and their colors? Who says a 6 year old who already knows those things should not be in a different class with kids who have commensurate abilities? Who says we cannot schedule classes in different subject at the same time for all grades so that a third grader can attend a reading class with fifth graders who read at the same level? Or a fourth grader who struggles with mathematical concepts can attend a math class with third graders? Who says?
You may answer, "Everybody!"
WHY?
(1) A strategy of training as many students as possible in basic skills of the sport.
(2) Start young with opportunities to learn the sport and participate.
(3) Access to sports is open to everyone who may wish to participate.
(5) No one is excluded in early stages through aptitude or skills tests, but everyone has the opportunity to learn basic skills.
(7) In early stages no one is excluded if they do not display the predispositional characteristics, so that they have the opportunity to possibly develop those characteristics.
These 5 strategies have one common philosophical basis: make opportunity available to as broad a population as possible and give everyone who shows interest basic training. Then see what pops up.
Dr. Ralph Richards of the Western Australia Institute for Sports delivered a paper at a convention in 1999 in which he outlined the identification and talent development of swimming athletes (www.wasa.asn.au/html/coaching/rtf/tid-ascta.rtf). “The best form of Talent Identification and Development,” says Richards, “is mass participation. The best way to identify talent is to have large numbers of young children exposed to quality learn-to-swim programs and then to keep them in the sport during the age-group years.”
This happens in most all sports. Opportunities to participate is open to all who wish to participate, and everyone gets quality instruction in the rules and philosophy of the game, as well as opportunity to practice and play. My brother Ben lives in South Africa and used to coach boys' rugby at his son's school. I watched him once working with a team of 6-7 year olds in a game. He was on the field with his boys, directing them, giving them guidance and advice as they played their little hearts out. Once he had to physically turn a little boy around who was well on his way to the opposing team's end zone. I watched him pat the little guy on the backside and say - Go the other way, tiger! The other team's coach was doing the same things. At that stage it wasn't so much about winning, as about learning and enjoying!
Many of those little boys continued playing rugby for their elementary school, and some played for their secondary school. One or two even went on to play for their university or town rugby club. They all love rugby, though, and are informed (and very vocal) fans and spectators.
What is striking is that none of those little guys are told - you can't play because you are not good enough. How ludicrous would that be? How do we know which ones are going to develop into fine players and which ones will drop out of the team after one season?
Contrast this with talent development in schools. We don't give any particular attention to the bright kids until second grade (and then only in those states that identify gifted kids at that age). Then we test them for intellectual ability, and we set an arbitrary cutoff score and the ones who make it are crowned as "gifted" and the ones who don't make the cut, very often never again have the opportunity to try out for the "gifted team."
No wonder we miss a lot of talented students who could have gained immensely from enriched curriculum and instruction! No wonder the dropout rate amongst high ability high schoolers is increasing steadily - kids are bored with school and take their GED and go on to college.
So Rule #1 in Catharine de Wet's School of Dreams: Every single child in my School of Dreams gets enriched curriculum and instruction. Any child who shows interest in a topic can pursue that topic. We won't ever use test scores to admit a child or exclude a child from any subject or course we teach. Their performance, and continued interest, will determine whether they go on to more advanced courses in that subject or domain.
Impossible to do, you say? Only if we continue to organize schools based on age and lockstep curriculum. Who says all 6 year olds have to enter school and learn to count and learn their letters and their colors? Who says a 6 year old who already knows those things should not be in a different class with kids who have commensurate abilities? Who says we cannot schedule classes in different subject at the same time for all grades so that a third grader can attend a reading class with fifth graders who read at the same level? Or a fourth grader who struggles with mathematical concepts can attend a math class with third graders? Who says?
You may answer, "Everybody!"
WHY?
Monday, January 07, 2008
Lessons for Gifted Education Learned from Sports
Living in Alabama, and working across the street from the Bryant-Denny Football Stadium in Tuscaloosa has had its inevitable effect on me. I have developed a deep interest in college football courtesy of Paul Finebaum (local sports radio host) and Coach Saban, and not excluding the fine young gentlemen who actually do the work on the field.
This has made me reflect on how differently sports coaches approach talent development from gifted educators. For the next several weeks I will be discussing this issue, since I sincerely believe we can learn valuable lessons from sports.
In short, we can learn the following 10 strategies from sports;
(1) A strategy of training as many students as possible in basic skills of the sport.
(2) Start young with opportunities to learn the sport and participate.
(3) Access to sports is open to everyone who may wish to participate.
(4) Training occurs in stages beginning with basic skills, to specific competition skills, to expert performance skills.
(5) No one is excluded in early stages through aptitude or skills tests, but everyone has the opportunity to learn basic skills.
(6) Training is not limited to sport specific skills, but also includes character and psychological training.
(7) In early stages no one is excluded if they do not display the predispositional characteristics, so that they have the opportunity to possibly develop those characteristics.
(8) There are opportunities to be involved in a sport beyond active athletic performance.
(9) There are opportunities to be involved in a sport socially or recreationally.
(10) Skill levels, interest, and task commitment become more important as athletes get older and develop into expert or elite athletes.
If you stick with me through the next few weeks, we will discuss one or two of each of these strategies each time.
This has made me reflect on how differently sports coaches approach talent development from gifted educators. For the next several weeks I will be discussing this issue, since I sincerely believe we can learn valuable lessons from sports.
In short, we can learn the following 10 strategies from sports;
(1) A strategy of training as many students as possible in basic skills of the sport.
(2) Start young with opportunities to learn the sport and participate.
(3) Access to sports is open to everyone who may wish to participate.
(4) Training occurs in stages beginning with basic skills, to specific competition skills, to expert performance skills.
(5) No one is excluded in early stages through aptitude or skills tests, but everyone has the opportunity to learn basic skills.
(6) Training is not limited to sport specific skills, but also includes character and psychological training.
(7) In early stages no one is excluded if they do not display the predispositional characteristics, so that they have the opportunity to possibly develop those characteristics.
(8) There are opportunities to be involved in a sport beyond active athletic performance.
(9) There are opportunities to be involved in a sport socially or recreationally.
(10) Skill levels, interest, and task commitment become more important as athletes get older and develop into expert or elite athletes.
If you stick with me through the next few weeks, we will discuss one or two of each of these strategies each time.
Monday, December 31, 2007
The Joys of Mindmapping
One of the best thinking tools I have discovered is called by different names by different people - concept webbing or mindmapping. Basically, it is a way of thinking throught the related ideas and issues to a specific concept, and showing relationships.
It can be used to take notes, to study, to solve problems, and many other uses. It is particularly useful for visual learners. For me the benefit of using concept webs or mind maps over using bullet points or traditional note taking methods, is that it is easier to show relationships that are not linear. The way we as educators often present information through powerpoints and outlines, creates the illusion in students that the world is linear and all information occurs in a linear fashion. We know that it is not true. The world of knowlegde consists of many interrelated topics and concepts, and mind mapping allows us to show the non linear nature of information.
Mind mapping was popularized by Tony Buzan. You can see a 5 minute videoclip of Mr. Buzan talking about his process here:
You can see more of Mr. Buzan's process on his website: http://www.imindmap.com/.
There are other options available. Wikipedia has a very good description of the concept at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map, and a list of software at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mind_Mapping_software
Teachers are probably familiar with Inspiration and Kidspiration software (http://www.inspiration.com/)
A mind mapping tool I really like to use, is cmap developed by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). It is available for free download to people who work in educational institutions from http://cmap.ihmc.us/.
Try using this method of thinking through topics and issues.
It can be used to take notes, to study, to solve problems, and many other uses. It is particularly useful for visual learners. For me the benefit of using concept webs or mind maps over using bullet points or traditional note taking methods, is that it is easier to show relationships that are not linear. The way we as educators often present information through powerpoints and outlines, creates the illusion in students that the world is linear and all information occurs in a linear fashion. We know that it is not true. The world of knowlegde consists of many interrelated topics and concepts, and mind mapping allows us to show the non linear nature of information.
Mind mapping was popularized by Tony Buzan. You can see a 5 minute videoclip of Mr. Buzan talking about his process here:
You can see more of Mr. Buzan's process on his website: http://www.imindmap.com/.
There are other options available. Wikipedia has a very good description of the concept at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map, and a list of software at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mind_Mapping_software
Teachers are probably familiar with Inspiration and Kidspiration software (http://www.inspiration.com/)
A mind mapping tool I really like to use, is cmap developed by the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). It is available for free download to people who work in educational institutions from http://cmap.ihmc.us/.
Try using this method of thinking through topics and issues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
