posted 10th April 2024
So, as an educationalist, it is of the utmost importance to ensure that individuals have an understanding of the underpinning knowledge that goes into developing any lexicon. Lexicon is important in any branch of knowledge as the student has to find the information relatable and palatable in order to truly excel in the environment of learning.
So, what do I mean by a 'loaded classroom'? And how does unloading a loaded classroom impact the success of the student? Well, it is important to explain this as it helps to develop an understanding of why TIDI Sports Academy is moving in the direction it is for next season.
So, let's start with a proposition. There are variables that impact the progression of an individuals learning, they can manifest at any given point, as a result of actions within the environment that cause particular reactions to the moment.
As a PhD student, I spent a lot of time researching and being very inquisitive with regard to the processes of learning. Learning is a social experience in most situations, especially for anyone in a form of educational institute. This aside, the environment for learning sets the premise for successes to be achieved. Without alluding to cultural capital and other social sciences or psychological reasoning intrusively, I will try to be as rudimental as possible. With this in mind, I will propose that every learner enters an environment 'loaded'.
Well, what does this mean? I refer to the aforementioned, I am an educationalist and have spent a number of years in a classroom. With what I have learned over the years, including me as an individual within the learning environment, there are hundreds of variables that impact the success of a lesson, most of which are psychological based off of perceptions, experiences and interactions. Every individual enters a learning environment with at least 3 variables that could impact the success of overall learning.
So, what variables? I propose that an individual can introduce at least 3 variables into a learning environment, a minimum of one from the following category; psychological/ behaviour, emotional/social and cognition/ aptitude. Each factor works hand in hand and impacts the other. At some point I will go into further detail with regard to this. However, here is an example from 2 points of view;
1: The teacher; the teacher has had an awful start to the day. The unexpected bill has turned up in yesterday's post. There was traffic on the way to school and the car engine light came on. The teacher arrives late and knows that it is going to impact their day as the Headteacher is on their case.
Teacher walks into the classroom and the class I taking long to settle down. Frustration kicks in and the teacher doesn't deliver their key points, but, to add, lil Timmy is in the classroom and he is known to ask a lot of questions and not get the key learning points of the lesson. Out of frustration, the teacher has crossed words with lil Timmy and sends him out of the classroom.
2. Lil Timmy is a student who loves to go to school, but finds it hard to take on new information. Timmy gets frustrated as he wants to learn, but, because he wants to understand what he is learning, he asks a lot of questions. Timmy likes his friendship group and often interacts in low level disruption, however, always competes his work. The teacher introduces a new concept which Timmy wants to engage in, so, asks questions. Timmy continues to ask questions and the teacher explains the concept to Timmy, but he doesn't understand. Timmy starts to talk to a friend and the teacher sends him out of the class.
So, in both cases, both teacher and student have external influences that impact the learning environment. With this, the result is in both parties not getting the best out of the lesson. A short surmise.
Now, please understand, this example is one of many, and, also can impact any learning environment.
With this in mind, football is a learning environment, the teacher is replaced with a coach. The environment should be set to allow for learning and also, the best possible outcome for the students. The players.
The coach, will without fail turn up to a session with variables that could impact the environment and learning experiences of the players. As well as this, players will also load the environment with variables that will impact the success of the sessions.
It is of the utmost importance that a coach does not load their learning environment with any outside influences in order to ensure that the player can benefit from the all but limited time they have to teach. Remember, a coach is a teacher. With this in mind, a coach has to ensure to that participants have an environment where they can meet not only the objectives of the session, but also FA standards (4 corners model). This is VITAL as by ensuring that the FA models are embedded meets all the psychological, physical, technical and social requirements in order to meet FA standards for coaching. Just like in any educational institution, there is a pedagogy.
With regard to what I do. I ensure that we embody the FA standards in our practices and we only introduce coaches who fit the needs of our learning environment. By unloading the classroom of the playing field, we work hard to ensure that the experiences our players have are explorative and fun. We only ask that when parents and players turn up to any session or fixture, they unload any variables. If they can't. We have support in place, a Child Welfare Officer, a Safeguarding officer and coaches that are all trained in these fields. The FA also have many supporting mechanisms that you can find on our website. However, just talking helps, no matter how big or small the variable, at TIDI we make time for players, parents and our coaches.
In summary, developing an understanding of individuals in an environment and managing variables is not an easy thing to do, ongoing personal growth and development is needed. I will revisit this in the near future. But, hope that this information sheds light on why we do, what we do.