We often hear that coaching equals teaching. The great coaches are great teachers. But what is teaching? How do we know when teaching, real teaching, is taking place? I believe that learning is far more important than how much "teaching" is taking place. As John Wooden used to say, "you haven't taught until they have learned". Therefore, what is learning? How do we define it? How do we know learning has taken place? This reflection brings us to the importance of assessment. Great teachers are not only great crafters of the environment to induce learning, but they are also great at building and directing assessments.
***One point of clarification before we begin. I will be referring to players or students as "learners". This is important and powerful for a couple of reasons. One, it shifts our mindset towards that environment we want to create. Just simply by viewing our players or students as learners first helps us keep focused on the task at hand. It also puts the point of view on them as well. It’s not about my teaching, but their learning. It makes the learner more central and as a consequence, places me, the teacher, in a more servant role. Finally, this also helps us pick and choose our activities, drills, questions, feedback strategies. If learning isn't at the center of what we are doing, then why are we doing it? OK, time-in.***
So, how do we assess learning? There's two distinct, and stark, differences in the way we can approach assessment: finding out what our learners DO know, or what they don't know. Which one of these are we more interested in? Personally, I want to know what they have learned and not spend our time playing "gotcha" with things they don't know. What they don't know doesn't really help us. It doesn't win us games. It doesn't move us forward. You could argue a certain baseline can be created by starting here, but the enrichment of beginning with where we are, what we know, is powerful and empowering. The greatest motivator is previous success. When we can show and stack wins, however small, we are creating momentum. The more wins, the more momentum, the more motivation, the more progress, learning, and therefore growth that occurs.
One of the phrases I like to use is "let's get it wrong, to get it right". What I mean by this is if I ask a question in class and the first person that raises their hand gets it right, that's great, for them. But I only know that they at the very least guessed correctly, and have no clue if anyone in the room knows the answer as well. However, if that first person gets it wrong, well now we are on to something as a group. We now get to dive deeper into what was missed, why, get other opinions, and eventually arrive at the answer together. Once we do I have a much better understanding of the process that just took place plus, everyone in the room has now demonstrated (or at least had the chance) their level of understanding. They have been involved and immersed in the process the entire time. Remember, the goal is for them to show what they know, take specific contextual information and connect it across broad ideas, concepts, and themes; not guess correctly or recall acute, limited facts.
The issues with this approach? There are a few from both the learner and the teacher’s perspectives. What learner wants to be wrong? Especially voluntarily? This is a hurdle to overcome indeed, however, it's a necessary one and another reason why the #HumanComponent is foundational to everything we do. We must create the environment of "Safe Uncertainty" that allows this to take place. The comfort of knowing they can try, take risks, make mistakes or errors and not only survive and be ok, but thrive is extremely freeing and empowering. They are not only responsible for their growth, but that of everyone else's in the room. Their first attempt, to put themselves out there, is the catalyst for all the learning and progress that is about to take place. We celebrate this, and celebrate it mightily. None of the learning that takes place for others can occur without this bravery. We love them for this, and we make sure they know it. Doing so will not only show them it's possible but eventually they will grow bolder and more confident and seek that role within the group. We are helping them discover their voices, we are helping them support and celebrate each other, we are showing them what self-authorship and ownership feels like. We are now winning.
From the teacher’s point of view this process is riddled with what seems like lack of control, it’s messy, it’s a longer, more winding and turbulent road. We don’t exactly know where we will be next or how long it will take us and by giving an equitable stake for each learner it will pull us in several different directions at once. We must also have the skills and strengths to build relationships with each learner and master how those relationships fit in with each other. Once again, The #HumanComponent is fundamental to this approach and therefore requires someone with the emotional intelligence and discipline to pull this off. This, quite frankly, scares a lot of coaches off. It’s a ton of work to allow the students the chance to do more of the work. Many coaches are terrified of the notion of uncertainty, just as our learners are. But for both groups, these are skill sets that can be improved with time and deliberate practice, this is the good news!
So now we must ask, what do we ask? How do we tap into that knowledge base and assess not only where we are, but where we go next? Here are a few more things I am interested in after my "teaching" is complete and it's time to assess: Can our learners make connections across broader themes within our system or program? Can they speak the technical language and details in a simplified way? It's one thing to know our language and use it, but it's another to do it as succinctly as possible. If they can get to this point, not only have they learned it but they then can begin the process of teaching others as well. Once again, we are creating momentum, individually and collectively. We are creating leaders, followers, teachers, learners, we are establishing our climate, our learning environment, and are well on our way to creating the culture that sustains.
By beginning with the end in mind, reverse engineering the process instead of our typical traditional pathway, we allow THEM to create. We get out of their way. We guide them. The process is theirs. They own it, they try, they learn, they improve, and eventually they perform. The knowledge gained along this journey is simply a byproduct of the deep, rich embodiment of the environment we created for them. This is our role as their teacher with the ultimate goal of transferring that ability to teach on to them where they can then teach themselves. Their ability to reflect, raise awareness, and create clarity and alignment in their own journeys is perhaps the most fulfilling thing we can do for a learner. The ironic thing is the less we do, the more we really do, but this still requires more of us than we typically do with traditional methods. The truth is the work is greatly frontloaded and our job is to transfer the responsibility to the learner over time therefore making our job “easier” as we go. Which then frees us up to start the process all over again for the next group of learners. This is extremely powerful in and of itself to keep our minds and bodies fresh to continue doing this very important work. The exponential generational change we seek to achieve can not be done through worn out, run down, disgruntled career teachers who are counting down to the end of the day, week, year, or career. We also need fresh, motivated, and engaged learners who are active owners over their own learning experiences.
Is this easy? No. Is what we are currently doing in more traditional ways easy? Not even close. So if both pathways are difficult why not take the one with the greater payoff in the end? The answer to that question is the only easy thing about this.
#StayEssential
