The Alarm Clock Test
What this weekly newsletter is all about: Analyzing, discussing, and prescribing best practices for families in both education and youth sports; Please follow, share, or comment. Thank you!
Newsletter content:
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Overview & book excerpts-->
If the answer to those questions is consistently "No", then an evaluation of where the young person's true passion may reside is recommended. Passion is necessary for ownership and consequently any level of mastery. The hours required are too numerous to be forced upon an unwilling participant.
Studies show how beneficial student ownership of some of their schooling can be for overall education, and lifelong learning. A 2014 Hanover Research report states:
“Student choice makes students active participants in their education, thereby increasing levels of engagement. Notably, researchers highlight the fact that such autonomy is generally associated with greater personal well-being and satisfaction in educational environments as well as in terms of academic performance.”
Crucial is that the young person is the one with the lion's share of passion for the activity. If the parent is "driving the bus" then it is only a matter of time before the young person self-sabotages in one way or another. Not only is that outcome damaging to the family budget, it can cause friction between the young person and their parents.
We have all been witness to the scene of a young person refusing to get on the ice, or go in the batting cage, or who shows up to the ___ (insert topic) camp with a look of dread on their face. Do we think that the young person is actually going to be able to perform well when they have zero desire to be there? Even worse is that the young person may come to acquire a negative association with learning, exercise, or competition, which can ultimately harm their long-term wellness and employment prospects.
Burnout is another common problem with youth sports and education when the student feels like they are being dictated to rather than collaborated with. Burnout is much less of a probability if we let the child dictate what activity they are participating in at certain times (within reason). Even if the child seems to be running every second of their day until they collapse in a heap at bedtime, they have likely varied up their movements and activities when bored. They are naturally programmed to avoid burnout on their own and will instinctively change the rules of the same game in order to keep it interesting and fresh.
Sports agent Shawn Hunwick states that mental burnout can be detrimental to the player’s long-term prospects if they are not learning to compete hard every single game.
“If kids are playing 6 tournaments in the summer, are they understanding what it is like to compete as hard as possible every game and tournament? Probably not if they are playing at a tournament in Toronto and then next weekend there is another one in Boston. At the younger ages the drive may be coming from parents and coaches more than the players.”
Parental figures are crucial to provide inputs and advice, but young people should be the ones really inciting the process, both in terms of energy and direction. So don't pack your player's bag. Worst case scenario they forget something and it is a learning moment. Best case they begin to dictate the journey and grow their self agency.
领英推荐
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Article of the week--> If your athlete is intrinsically motivated, they will be much more likely to propel the process. Enthusiasm, commitment, and consistency are directly correlated to what is incentivizing the young person.
"Along with longer participation periods, higher intrinsically motivated athletes will have a happier and healthier relationship with the sport, leading to more physical activity and increasing the likelihood of happiness in other aspects of their life."
"It is the far extreme side of extrinsic motivation that is problematic and can be dangerous to the athlete’s self-esteem. If a youth athlete defines their worth as a person in winning and winning alone, that creates an unhealthy relationship with sport and negates all of the previous positives listed."
"Focusing on the process rather than the outcome helps athletes find more value in the work done to get them there, falling in love with the process and intrinsic values as opposed to chasing a trophy or more extrinsic values."
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Video of the week-->
"Students that graduate today are going to have maybe up to 30 different jobs, and so what has really become essential is that students need to learn how to learn, adapt, and be creative."
I could not agree more. It can be difficult to put personalized learning into practice in the classroom and a holistic school setting, but when done well there is no question that student outcomes improve in a plethora of ways.
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Tweet of the week--> We need to work so hard at helping our young people find a way to enjoy education and their extra curricular activities. There is a clear link between that pursuit and achievement throughout life.
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Exercise of the week-->
See you next week!