Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The secret in education lies in respecting the student.” Thinking about that as a self-evident truth is a great way to jump into our coaching practice for 2016. Most of us (especially those who also teach and coach football) are familiar with the work of Bloom, his colleagues, and followers. Based on their work and because of them I would propose another, perhaps self-evident truth that may encourage us to “do better” with our players this calendar year and most especially on the field this fall. That is, it is incumbent upon us to realize into our actions that the highest form of learning is the level where our players are SYNTHESIZING what they know in milliseconds and CREATING.
This means the very production that we ask for (PERFORMANCE towards WINNING), the proverbial “MAKE A PLAY!” in each particular moment of truth in a football game is actually only a direct reflection of how good or bad our teaching progression has affected the learner. Or, perhaps if we remember Maslow, allowing our players the freedom to feel and PLAY in a more SELF-ACTUALIZED realm actually means BETTER PLAYERS who MAKE MORE PLAYS. Of course, the HOW is the key, and in football, unlike with classroom subjects, LEARNING has to translate into DOING.
Therefore the challenge for 2016 is: for EVERYTHING that we teach our football players we must make sure that we are RESPECTING where their knowledge-level is at that point and tailoring our methods (drills, meetings, film, etc.) accordingly with an understanding that unless they walk on the field as CONFIDENT CREATORS, we cannot expect CHAMPIONSHIP-LEVEL play and performance.
Here is the most recent and accepted version of Bloom’s Learning Taxonomy from the HIGHEST to LOWEST:
Create
Evaluate
Analyze
Apply
Understand
Remember
The version transcribed above, which was updated in 2001, changes the words from nouns to verbs (“Knowledge” becomes “Remember”, etc.) and makes the clear distinction that it is in fact the ability to CREATE (SYNTHESIS on the old taxonomy) that occurs after EVALUATION. I suggest that most of us fall short in our practice (I know I do all the time) and usually stop short at APPLY because that APPLICATION of what they know through the sport is the simplest thing that we can see and measure (on-field/real-time coaching AND/OR film evaluation). However, when we take a step back I believe that perhaps the next level we should install above CREATE would be PLAY including every connotation that the word possesses.