SHOWCASE
INTRODUCTION
This selection of work attempts to highlight two mainstays I have encountered on my educational path through coursework: accountability and support. I chose a concentration in sport coaching and leadership in my program and will display some examples that represent support as a theme. There is a cornerstone to all effective coaching and I believe it begins with athlete support. Without support, athletes and coaches will not fulfill optimal goals in programs or as individuals. Classes outside Kinesiology have exposed a severe need for accountability in education across multiple settings. People in power have to be given oversight to ensure fair and democratic practices are followed. The abuse of those in control has had a lasting effect on our education. These two themes have influenced the sampled work included in this page. I see my dual roles of teaching and coaching clearly through each theme. I am tasked with supporting my athletes while maintaining accountability of myself and my school. I present this work with a goal to achieve these qualities for my students and peers.
ACCOUNTABILITY
ACCOUNTABILITY IN QUALITY EDUCATION
This paper attempts to discuss the gaps seen in the established systems for school accountability. Primarily evaluated through quantitative measures, education systems are failing to provide an authentic look at quality education. The objective was to review education systems that provide a focus towards a democratic education and determine why it is successful. This supports an ongoing change in school accountability to focus on student success. I continue to see the need to improve my own accountability.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER PROGRAM
The argument to provide alternative options for education in urban settings has been challenged by the KIPP model. This analysis describes the ownership and character-focused approach towards achievement in school. A goal in the Knowledge is Power Program is to develop life skills for each student as they enter a 21st century world. Accountability is shifted to students, parents, and teachers to combine in support of academic and character achievement. I see this model as authentic and equitable for students and will apply the three-tiered system to future instruction.
MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
This review pursues a belief in deeply held foundations of race, culture, and identity. For assimilation to take place, the active obstruction of one’s culture is necessary. The book, Red Pedagogy, begins to explain the loss of culture through systematic education and Stuart Hall exposes the limitations people have to representation through societal standards of normalcy. The loss of culture, or the transition to accepting a dominant one, is a highlight for multicultural education to be present in dominant societies. An idea continues in dominating cultures because the truth has been eliminated from existence. I have taken these two outcomes of cultural loss and perceived reality to focus on identifying held beliefs by multiple cultures in a classroom. It becomes a responsibility to seek the foundations lost due to accountability never being present.
DIVERSITY EDUCATION
A review of systems incorporating multiple cultural perspectives in the educational setting is the focus of this work. The Class, a French film centered on a school community of students and teachers who lack the awareness of their own faults and biases towards one another. The film is a practice in marginalizing non-dominant cultures and generalizing stereotypes. The paper attempted to review the errors in deficit model approaches to understanding. An argument could be made the French community presented in the film has transferable qualities to various school communities in the United States. Accountability is shown to be unequal even in a modern education community. One can appreciate the continued need for oversight in our modern school systems and the similarity this analysis shows to public education in the United States.
SUPPORT
ATHLETE MONITORING
The design for this project was to bring validity to athlete monitoring through the development of my own program geared for each individual athlete to improve performance and results. The focus quickly became a continual role of support for each athlete and recognizing the specific differences for each individual. The project elicited some expected results in performance while uncovering relationships between variables I did not predict. The evaluation of the project in its entirety has shown the need for coach support of every athlete.
MENTAL SKILLS
My intention for this project was establishing a goal-setting formula with a current athlete to improve performance in training and competitions. The focus was isolated to an athlete determined to be at-risk for lacking the basic and necessary skills to develop clear and achievable goals. I was pushed by the athlete to keep my support consistent through our meetings and eventual feedback. The goal for both coach and athlete was to conclude our sequence with appropriate tools to support positive growth in performance. The negative effect on athletes without capabilities to goal set is far greater than athletes with even basic skills for goal-setting. Support will help both athletes but have a greater initial impact on the lower athletes. Support can become the determinant in growth if coaches are not providing it effectively.
FOUNDATIONS OF COACHING
Fundamental elements for success in any athlete will include motivation and confidence. The applied research summary here has taken a look into various features that support these two pillars of success. I quickly discovered motivation has directional factors and internal/external location plays a significant role in athlete development. Confidence plays directly into achievement for a majority of athletes and this research supported reliance upon self-confidence. The takeaway for me was the essential support needed in order for athletes to develop these traits towards success.
SKILL DEVELOPMENT
An argument persisting in my research and book analysis for skill development in athletes is presented here. The book, The Sports Gene, reveals the balance that is needed between genetics and learned behavior for excellence to be accomplished in sports. The research and book provide a look at some essential tools to effectively develop skills in athletes. Self-evaluation was revealed to be paramount for success, as was focused engagement within the task. The resulting information only continue to support a belief in a responsibility for coaches to act as a constant supporter in the capacity with which support is needed, and not desired. Regardless of skill being pre-wired or environmental, both benefit from the focused support of a coach. Skills will not fully be achieved, genetically or through learning, if coach support is not provided. This support can assist in the balance needed to maintain maximal development.