Teaching and Coaching Mission Statement

Since quarantine, I have been crafting my coaching mission statement to ensure my mission statement captures my coaching why. When I was considering my teaching philosophy, I believe my coaching mission statement is the same as my teaching philosophy because I believe coaches are educators. Thus, my coaching and teaching philosophy is: My mission is to holistically develop humans by creating a culture which emphasizes excellence in character development, academics, and movement while fostering their passions and helping them reach their potential. My mission statement is guided by the holistic development of the individual. My objective is to focus on the lived experience of the human, which is dependent on addressing not only athletic success on the track or academic success in the classroom, but every aspect of the individual. I believe if educators can emphasize the lived experience of their students, then the students will appreciate their own journey as they strive for their own personal excellence or Arete (Spivey, 2012).

            Society has a very limited view of success. Success generally is solely defined objectively; one is successful if one received an A in the class or won the race. When success is defined objectively, educators lose sight of what was the original purpose of sports and education. The original purpose of sports was not to win, the Ancient Greeks used athletic contests as an avenue to pursue one’s personal excellence or Arete (Spivey, 2012). The original purpose of school was not to secure a 4.0 GPA (grade point average), but to engage in what Gill (2000) describes as the epistemological dance between the Knower, the Knowing, and the Known. Gill (2000) discusses how society lacks awareness for the lived experience of the Knower which ultimately prevents their holistic development. For instance, not every individual’s improvement and growth will conform to society’s limited view of success because while only one human can win the race, many can still have a successful day. The educator ultimately needs to emphasize the lived experience of each individual to allow the individual to recognize and appreciate their own growth and development in their journey.

            To develop humans holistically by emphasizing the lived experience, the educator needs to encourage the individual to uncover their why or what Gill (2000) would have defined as the Known. Based on my own experiences, I believe many athletes and students are ushered into certain sports or educational paths based on objective success. When I first started running, I was objectively successful. I would not say that I started running because I loved the sport, I loved being good and winning individual awards for my success versus the participation trophies I received from soccer. My love and passion for the sport was fostered as my running career progressed. I soon came to love the sport and as a result, my why changed. I did not love the sport because I was objectively successful, I loved the sport because I felt like running was the closest activity humans had to flying under their own power. My why was intrinsically driven.

            However, throughout high school and college, my running was being fueled extrinsically, I was chasing objective measures of success. Since my purpose in running was not reflecting why running was meaningful to me, I experienced a lot of tension within running because I could never appreciate my own improvement. My coaches in high school and college never asked me to reflect on my why. The first time I truly reflected on my relationship with running was when I was 23 years old and in a master’s program at University of Idaho with Dr. Sharon Stoll. I finally recognized my why, running was my way to play. Once I understood why running was meaningful to me, I felt free. I was no longer constrained by the objective, but free to explore my playground. When I run from a place of play, I am objectively more successful than when my running is driven extrinsically. I wish a mentor had encouraged me to reflect on my running sooner because altering one’s Knowing process takes a long time. I find myself still reverting to defining running objectively and therefore not enjoying the process. Garrison (1997) emphasizes the importance of understanding one’s why, by exploring three questions: What is life? How should we live? What does life mean? In the process of answering said questions, the Knower must have the autonomy to find their own Known to ultimately experience growth and be free,

If we are ever to be free, if we are ever able to re-create ourselves, we must provide our own answers to these questions. Doing so involves an endless process of growth and becoming through the creation of meaning, eventually creating ourselves by reconstructing our habits of interpretation and conduct in social contexts. (Garrison, 1997, p. 140)

As an educator, I encourage both my athletes and students to ensure they reflect on their why, either why they began playing their sport or why they are choosing to pursue certain professions. By the Knower understanding their why, their Knowing process and resulting behavior becomes meaningful because ultimately, they understand why striving for the Known is significant to them.

            While the Knower is on their journey to uncover their why, the educator’s role is to show the Knower they care about them as an individual. Gill (2000) emphasizes the importance of learning about one’s students outside of the classroom. By an educator expressing care for an individual outside of the sport or classroom, one creates a “respect for persons” because the educator bridges the gap between “Jedi” and “Padawan” (Gill, 2000). The student or athlete will have an active role in their learning and development and will feel like an intricate part of the epistemological dance instead of being directed by an expert.

            Currently, “experts” or at least humans deemed “experts” by society’s standards (humans who have letters next to their name or certifications) do not engage with less experienced Knowers in the Knowing process. Society’s educational system is designed for the “experts” to determine the Known and inform others of the Known (Gill, 2000, p. 71). Thus, the educational system is creating an epistemological dance limited to a few dancers. When an educator creates an environment in which they are the “expert”, the athletes or students may not feel valued or cared for, especially when their ideas or experiences differ from the expectations of the “expert”. Even though I am a more experienced Knower, I recognize that my athletes, students, and I are all part of the epistemological dance, I will learn just as much from them as they will from me. I show my athletes and students I care about them by valuing their lived experience and perspective by asking them to share their thoughts and ideas. Garrison (1997) emphasizes the importance of cultivating shared experiences because, “…humanity is a participant in an unfinished universe rather than a spectator of a finished one” (p. 79).

            Ultimately, my role as an educator is to ensure the wellbeing of my athletes and students is the forefront of my concern. I aim to create shared experiences with my athletes and students in which their voices and experiences are valued. I try to provide them with opportunities to discover their why, by asking them to reflect on their process and why their sport or desired profession is meaningful to them. I also see them for who they are as a whole human versus just an athlete or student. My hope is when athletes or students graduate or the semester ends, our time together allowed them to learn more about themselves and hopefully we helped each other grow in the process.

References

Garrison, J. (1997). Dewey and eros. Teachers College Press.

Gill, J. (2000). Learning to learn: Toward a philosophy of education. Humanity Books.

Spivey, N. (2012). The Ancient Olympics. Oxford University Press Inc.