At 10:57 AM 2/12/98 +0000, Peter Smagorinsky wrote:
>There's a certain type of coach (Bob
>Knight of Indiana is perhaps the best known) who takes a militaristic
>approach to coaching. And while widely reviled, they often develop
>extremely intense, lifelong emotional relationships with their players,
>usually a consequence of the demanding and at times brutal efforts of the
>coach to challenge the players to reach a higher level of performance,
>which they ultimately appreciate even if they loathe them at the time they
>happen. I think that we need to take into account the full range of
>teaching approaches, even if they contradict our beliefs about what's best
>and even if some practices are quite different from our own.
Peter, thanks for your thought provoking example. I think it returns us
back to our discussion of best practices and values. I don't know may be
it is American pragmatism or something else but this is what I constantly
encounter here in US with strong conviction that BAD is ineffective while
GOOD is effective. And vice versa, if something is successful, it is good.
For me it is a very strange assumption. For me, BAD is not acceptable
because it is BAD and not because it may be ineffective for some desired
goals.
Some students may appreciate a coach who inflicted pain upon them later
when they enjoy their success. For me, it is entirely their own business
unless they had choice and freedom during this experience. However, I have
a problem with that if they were forced and coerced in it (even if they
later appreciate the gains of this coercion).
What do you think?
Eugene
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Eugene Matusov
Willard Hall Educational Bldg., Room 206G
Department of Educational Studies
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716-2920
Phone: (302) 831-1266
Fax: (302) 831-4445
e-mail: ematusov who-is-at udel.edu
http://www.ematusov.com
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