Philosophy of Education:

(James E. Zull, 2006)

It is not a foreign idea to suggest that more is better.  Brains operate much in the same way that the body does physically.  Zull refers to the concept “use it or lose it” that was given by Draganski and others in 2004.  If the brain remains inactive it will fail to grow and mature.  Zull states, “experiments have shown that increased signaling by the cortical neurons generates the growth of more branches, which increases the density of cellular material and enhances their ability to connect with other neurons-to form more synapses” (Zull, 4).  Much like physical exercise, the brain will become out of shape if it is rarely pushed to explore, learn, and think.  However, when it does it increases in strength, energy, and skill.

At the job:

After a summer away from campus some players will show up in shape or out of shape.  The body reacts in the same manner that the brain does.  Without continual exercise, the body will become “soft” and lazy.  Zull’s article relates to athletics in much the same way that he speaks of activity of the brain.  Many athletes expect to use raw talent, though if that talent is never pushed, it becomes stale and not useful in the manner that it has the potential to be used.

 

Critical Pedagogy:

(Peter McLaren, 2003)

It is important to understand that there is relationship between action and outcome in any given circumstance regarding education.  Peter McLaren points out, “The individual, a social actor, both creates and is created by the social universe of which he/she is a part.  Neither the individual nor society is given priority in analysis; the two are inextricably interwoven, so that reference to one must by implication mean reference to the other” (69).  When educators discuss critical pedagogy in any area of education they must understand cause and effect and look at all angles in order to fully understand the large picture.  A student may not learn a given concept based on a previous experience that is directly related to current learning material.

 

At the job:

Currently, I have a player who is riding the line of being kicked off the team.  She was benched on Friday, and responded in a disrespectful and negative way to both the team and staff.  After speaking with her, she acknowledges that her actions were inappropriate yet they were directly related to past experiences she may have had with a previous team and coach.  In the past, she was allowed to act in such a manner with no consequences, yet in her new environment she is failing to adjust to current expectations.  Her past experience and culture directly relates to her current behavior and action.  As a coach, I need to get to the bottom of why she is acting in such a way and also evaluate the best approach to help teach her how to fix her behavior.  There are more than two relationships in this situation:  past experience, past culture, current experience, current action, current culture, other members of team, coaching expectations, intimidation, class (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior).  When evaluating the situation one has to realize that this situation is not just simply a “player acting out”.  There are other actions inextricably related to the current situation.  As in education, a teacher must realize that many other components come into play during learning:  dominant culture, subordinate culture, and subculture, power relations.  As in my team, many other factors come into play (literally):  does the student come from a dominant culture, does the student face outside challenges, etc.

Critical Technology:

(Michael Apple, 2003)

In education there are cultural and economic inequalities that undoubtedly exist and Michael Apple points out that technology is, more than likely, widening that gap.  The argument that technology is taking away jobs may be relevant to education, but it also argues that there is an increased need for technological skill in society today.  The great debate holds that skill may be gained but it will also be lost in other areas.  Apple argues that, “we will witness the creation of enhanced jobs for a relative minority and deskilled and boring work for the majority (446).

 

At the Job:

I had never thought about this in the way that technology is dividing athletic teams at the colleges by the “haves and have nots”.  I have been fortunate to receive every possible item I could want or need with regard to my hockey program.  The first thing I asked for over a year ago when I was hired was a “video editing system”.  My boss said, “yes”.  So, I received a $7,000 system that has a computer hooked up to a video camera and includes software that edits games during play.  I have a manager that sits a the computer while a game is being played and codes games by hitting keys on the computer to break it up.  I can keep track of any event/play I want.  If I want to keep track of the lines, I code a button for it and all she has to do is hit the button when the desired action occurs.  By the end of the game, I do not have to go searching for anything and can just pop up a specific action within that game.  Where this is related to society and the points that Michael Apple bring is that I have yet to play a team at my level that has the same program.  Most of my colleagues that I have spoken with reply that they do not have the “means” to purchase a program.  How does it give us unfair advantage?  In between periods I can bring the computer down to the locker room, hook it up to the t.v. and show them a play that may have happened that we need to fix for the next period.  It is all very quick and definitely gives us a learning/preparation advantage over other teams.

Education in its present practice:

There are two primary reasons education technologies are not exemplary in their present practice.  First, technology is often seen as a stand-alone topic rather than a curricular thread that runs through all academic areas.  In other words, schools often defer use of teaching of technology to the "computer science" courses.  Second, and the other extreme of the first reason, is that technology used for technology sake deprives students of the core basic academics.  Too much technology use that is not integrated into the subject are, e.g., world history, keeps kids busy but not learning much about world history.

The move to exemplary practice is integrating the use of and teaching of technology across the curriculum.  It is not an add-on topic, but it is a part of the daily teaching and learning process.  To avoid the extreme of too much technology for technology sake is to write strong curriculum maps that clearly identify the desired learning outcomes in every class with effective assessment strategies.  The well written maps and good use of maps to drive the teaching will prevent the written curriculum from diverging from the learned curriculum.