Wisdom and Its Place

Written by Dan Salzwedel

Wisdom can be operationally defined as a collection of experiences that are handed down with the intent of establishing a legacy that will be perpetuated through the ages. As has been said in numerous other forums, we teach value education. Our thrust is the socialization process and conventional wisdom affirms the value of that original purpose many times over. Examples include, but are not limited to the following statements of fact which were evidenced as reported from various pieces of research conducted in our state as well as other states and institutions.

Th~ GPA’~f~tude~ts’ for-the 13th consecutive year for those who participate far exceeds those of the non-participants. ‘Infact, it’s a 2.9 for the participants in interscholastic activities across the state of New Mexico as opposed to a 2.l for those who do not participate in anything.

· Over 96 of the dropouts in our state for the fourth consecutive year were not involved in any kind of interscholastic or performance activity.

• ‘Six of every seven students who were sent to or summoned by the principal at member institutions in our state because of discipline problems were non-participants.

· 95 of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were ex-high school athletes.

· Students who are involved in activities are much less likely to hold valueless their physical and emotional being and as a consequence are less likely to participate in drugs or something else that might be harmful to their personal beings.

· Students who are participants have a much higher rate of success in life; i.e., activities have a latent effect in terms of their true value, which is reflected in the importance placed on the experience the longer a student is away from high school. For example, in the value research conducted through the New Mexico Activities Association state events and on its web, it’s been found that over 90 of those who respond to those surveys from the perspective of those who are out of high school ten years or more substantially agree that their value selection was either originated, directed or affirmed significantly by a high school coach/advisor/sponsor. The number increases to over 92 for fifteen years and more away from the high school experiences and at 20-plus years, it’s a little over 93, which leads us to believe that activities playa more important role than we ever imagined, particularly on a long-term basis in terms of affirmation and establishment of values we practice as members of our society.

As a result ofthis and other pieces of research conducted throughout our nation, it’s clear that activities playa very important role in the development ofour society’s future

Conventional wisdom also suggests that learning in this particular arena for growth is somewhat nebulous at times in that we teach social values and not concrete facts, as one might find in the hard sciences. For example, it’s much easier to teach the formula for multiplying or appropriately placing rr r 2 into a formula than it is to deal with those abstract values inherently taught in the interscholastic educational process. Therein lie the problems we presently face with regard to the kind of teachers/coaches we employ as role models at times. If I teach a mathematical fact yet fail to understand or model myself as an educator in terms of attire, behavior (on and off duty), professionalism, personal

‘. habits.rete: we’vefound that-it has Iess.of an effect (although still significant). Further, if asa

~,,~: c ••• .: ~:”,coach!instFHctor, 0.ho, is teaching. the-work ethic yet won’t commit beyond what is minimally required, we’ve failed to model commitment as a value, Other examples include yet are not limited to demanding discipline, yet failing to conduct oneself in an appropriate manner. Being hygienically sensitive, yet reflecting something less than optimal in appearance in this area. Similar comparisons may be made with goal setting, ambition, persistence, perseverance, teamwork, courage, integrity, stick-to-itiveness, being able to handle adversity without whining, among others that are taught as part of this very valuable experience.

Also noteworthy is that we (interscholastic activities) are part of a system which touches every discipline in that we teach to all seven basics in education as was founded by the Greeks over 2,000 years ago. Those basics are reading, writing, arithmetic, creativity, rhythm, communication and physical education, all of which are impacted in one form or another as disciplines by the adhesive in our society: interscholastic activities. That’s why our product, value education, which is reflected and revealed by our ability to be sportsmanlike in various forms is exemplified by those examples we provide as adults and are further represented by those we teach in subsequent generations.

Learning to live by rules, which are analogous to laws in our society, being able to prioritize one’s life, understanding that competition is the essence of achievement and that to balance that principle of learning, clear understanding of perspective is needed to succeed in a competitive society. All are important prerequisites to our legacy and in handing down those pieces of wisdom from one generation to another. This is our system. To focus on superficial measures, as has been discussed in other forums, severely retards those subsequent generations from learning those values that are important in framing our future as a society. This author has made this statement in the past, and I believe it to be very true as a measure of our success in education as it relates to this particular area. While participating and competing teach character and values, it is often revealed in practice, however, during failure or defeat Wins and losses, failures and successes are all experiences. They all represent a part ofthe cadre or collection of experiences that make us better or worse, productive or not, depending upon how well we apply those values learned throughout the adventures contained in participation.

I was privy recently to an example of an interscholastic educator who truly understood his purpose as a role model, an experienced teacher. During a recent cross-country meet, unbeknownst to anyone else, one of his runners, affirmed by himself, that he had cut off an opponent in the back side of the course inadvertently, but appropriately reported the incident which led the other individual to finish higher and to have a minimum of two of his own participants in this particular meet. The coach or the player refused to be identified yet recognized the fact that this was their responsibility for teaching and/or affirming one of those lessons we talk about on a regular basis. He placed what was right and/or sportsmanlike ahead of the success of his own individual performer and subsequently the team. That is a true interscholastic educator and a marvelously successful coach. He simply did was he was supposed to do and insisted that that was his role and credit should not be achieved for doing something that was right. Unfortunately, these examples are fewer than we would like to have noticed, although many of our people do some extraordinary things in terms of representing what the mission of interscholastic education is all about.

This is also how we build on that leadership pool, which is an established goal by the Board of Directors to accomplish a larger group over a period of time in an effort to sustain this legacy or mission, as we’ve discussed. We set the template in so many ways, and we all have an active role within the value training process for generations to come. Even though we’ll teach in the disciplines much differently in the not-too-distant future, this assurance of importance is a direct reflection of that value education premise and its importance to society’s future.

What defines a great program in interscholastic activities? Again, because these are social values, it’s very difficult to measure in one form or another and as a consequence requires considerable effort on our part to do an appropriate job of tracking those successes we do achieve over a period of time. As the prior research and information attests, the true value doesn’t really reveal itself until much later after the experience has been completed. One could define a sound program in any athletic or activity by measuring the number oftimes students come back to its teacher, coach, adviser, sponsor, etc. affirming things that they learned positively (values as identified earlier). The status of that individual as a productive member of our society, the kind of effort they put into their particular position, avocation or profession, the ability to sustain a family and prioritize one’s life in an effective manner, which would include his foundation as well. The prior student’s self-concept and ability to stick with things are very measurable values taught as a part of the experience. which will evidence themselves over a penod of time. To acquiesce to barriers such as absence of funding or superficial measures such as wins and losses represents a surface approach. Our efforts as interscholastic educators pay handsome dividends for generations to come, most of which we’ll know very little about as a consequence. Yet, the rewards are tremendous to see a society blossom employing individuals who have a sense of purpose, commonality and a meaningful attachment to something greater than each of us is individually. Therefore possessing wisdom may very well mean that we require the vision to see the future as it is affected by present behavior. Leadership isn’t, until YOU display it