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Is sportsmanship
something to be taught, or expected?
The simple answer is "yes"
and "yes." Is it something
that you can devise an individual, effective
lesson for? I don't really think so.
This (sportsmanship and good character)
is something so pervasive, both within
our curriculum and throughout our society
as a whole, that I don't really think
we can teach isolated "sportsmanship
lessons." Some counselors may disagree
with me. However, my point is unless
something like this is both visible
and expected on a daily basis, a lesson
here and there to teach good character
or sportsmanship will be ineffective.
A lot of this goes back to the atmosphere
and expectations you set up in your
classroom. If you expect students to
behave in a certain way and enforce
it consistently, they will. If you constantly
look for and reinforce this type of
behavior, your students will do it.
Using a specific example, our elementary
age students learn sportsmanship and
develop good character with us all the
time. We all use low organized games
to teach a myriad of objectives, from
locomotor movements to pathways, to
dodging and fleeing, and more. We can
(and should) use these activities to
teach sportsmanship and good character
as well.
Start your class by asking, "What
kind of person would you like to invite
to your house to play?" By phrasing
it this way, you immediately put the
kids in a frame of reference that they
are familiar with. They all have experience
playing at friends' houses. You will
probably get answers like "are
nice," or "that play fair,"
or "they share." Your next
step is to put their words into sharper
focus. "What does 'play fair' look
like?" Or, "What does someone
do when they are nice?" After your
students answer these questions you
will have specific things to look for
during the game activities. You basically
have just created a rubric for your
class.
Now the objective of the class activity
has changed. No longer are your kids
worried about not being tagged, for
example. They are now focused on how
others are reacting to situations in
the game. Now everyone is focused on
looking for behavior that would make
them say, "I would like to invite
that person to my house to play."
Basically, you have put your students
in a position to want to display their
best behavior while participating in
the activity. When I was coaching I
told my players (and I use this with
my own teenage children), "It’s
not what happens to you that matters,
it's how you react to it that matters."
You are now using this statement and
applying it to your student's learning.
During breaks in the action, you can
easily go over what you and they observed.
Simply asking, "Who did you see
doing something that would make you
want to invite them to your house?"
You will now start to get answers like:
"I saw Billy get caught and he
turned into a snake right away. He didn't
complain about getting caught at all."
You simply follow this up with a comment
like: "Would you want to invite
someone to your house that tries to
get away with things? Of course not,
you would want to play with someone
that plays by the rules. Nice job Billy!"
If your activity has a line that they
cannot cross, you might hear comments
like: "I saw Molly cross the line,
and when she came back in-bounds she
made herself caught right away. She
didn't try to sneak away." Once
again you can follow that one up with:
"I saw that too! She didn't look
around to see if anyone else saw her.
She knew what to do and did it without
being told."
By doing this, you are sending the
message that this type of behavior is
not only what you expect in your class,
but it is also to their advantage to
behave this way. Your primary aged elementary
students won't understand all of those
big words about sportsmanship, but they
will understand that if I act this way
my friends will want to invite me to
their house to play. You have succeeded
in taking sportsmanship and good character
and placing it in a context that is
"real world" to your kids!
You can also do this with injuries
in your class. You know as well as I
that there are times when someone falls
down and is hurt. Many times, the game
continues for a second, and they could
get hurt again while on the ground.
Well, just take your "inviting
to someone's house" theme and use
it again. Ask them that if they were
playing at a friends house (or if they
had friends to their house) and someone
got hurt, would they like it if someone
went to help them, or not. Invariably,
they will say that they would like for
someone to help them and ask them if
they were alright.
When an injury does occur, watch to
see if someone goes out of their way
to help the injured student. When this
happens, ask them how it made them feel.
My guess is they will say that, though
it didn't make the physical pain go
away it probably helped the emotional
pain disappear! This again, makes this
a "teachable moment." Before
long, if someone gets hurt, they could
be swamped with fellow students wanting
to see if they are alright. I guess
in a way this is a good problem to have!
It is far easier to tone things back
a bit, than it would be to initially
inspire them to feel compassion for
their fellow student. They can still
show compassion for the injured classmate
at the end of class by asking them if
they are alright.
The bottom line is that you want to
teach sportsmanship and good character.
I think trying to do this as a "stand
alone" item is difficult at best.
When you do it in the context of what
you already do, and present it in a
way that is "real world" to
your kids, you will be more successful.
Now, what about handling day-to-day
behavior in your classes? We all have
kids in our classes that are the "behavior
problems." They may be this way
for many reasons, with one being partly
they have learned they can do so while
at home. They can't understand why they
can't possibly act the same way (act
out, push others, be loud, and be self-centered…)
while with you. The first step with
these kids may be teaching them they
have to learn there are two sets of
rules: those at home and those with
you in the gym. Your job is to make
the rules you have at school so desirable
that they eventually reach your behavioral
expectations, and maybe even carry it
over to outside of school as well!
They must observe that you have a set
of firm expectations. They'll see that
you don't explode and "fly off
the handle" when someone misbehaves.
You will, though, enforce what is expected.
You are firm but fair. The kids also
see that you are interested in "catching
them doing something right." You
are not always interested in finding
someone doing something wrong. You create
an environment where desirable behavior
(sportsmanship and good character) is
not only expected, it is modeled, looked
for, and reinforced. Your students now
come to realize that they can be successful
in your class, and beyond, by choosing
to act this way (with good sportsmanship
and good character).
For example, when someone misbehaves
and has to sit out (time out), don't
just leave them there for a set time
period and then let them come back in.
We are not judges that only impose sentences
and hope that their time in "jail"
will make them realize they need to
change their behavior with no intervention
on our part. We are educators in the
business of getting our kids to learn
and improve from inevitable mistakes.
After they are sitting out for a moment,
go to them and ask: "Why did you
force me to sit you out?" Phrasing
it this way puts the onus on the kid's
behavior, not on your decision to take
them out of the activity.
You are emphasizing the kid's behavior
and its ramifications. The student can
only answer by stating what they did.
Your follow up is along the lines of:
"Am I able to let that go unnoticed?"
The student's answer can only be "no."
Your next response now is: "Well,
you understand then why you have to
be out." The student can only answer
"yes." If they balk and try
to redirect the conversation to someone
else ("They did it to me first,"
"Joey did the same thing and you
didn't do anything to him…"),
don't let them go there. Simply remind
them that you are talking about what
they did in response to a situation,
not what someone else did.
Because we are educators and are in
the business of having our kids learn
and improve from their mistakes, we
then offer them the opportunity to re-enter
the class by saying: "When you
can tell me what you won't do again,
I will be able to let you back in. If
you can't do this, you will have to
remain out. Do you understand?"
This exchange puts the student in a
position to make a conscious choice
regarding their behavior. They must
physically get up, find you in the gym,
and tell you what they will not do anymore.
They are, in essence, making a decision
to visibly be more accountable for their
behavior. If their behavior changes
for the better then “all is right
with the world,” and the class
goes on. If not, they have “broken
their word” to you.
Basically, they have lied to you about
their behavior choice just to re-join
the activity. This now opens up an entire
new conversation about promises and
keeping one's word to others. This puts
them in a position to realize that they
did in fact lie to you. This is a pretty
strong statement, but in these instances
it is a true one. Immediately, your
elementary student realizes that they
have let you down, and you really expect
them to show these traits (sportsmanship
and good character) all the time, not
just when it is convenient for them.
It is also important to let this particular
student realize they will be positively
noticed by you the minute they do something
right. This could be something along
the lines of sportsmanship and good
character, or along the lines of hard
work paying off in success with a particular
skill. They need to see that while you
will strictly enforce your expectations
with all students, you will also "be
all over a kid" who does something
right. That can be something as simple
as immediately noticing someone who
settles right down and is ready for
the next directions; it could also be
telling someone you have noticed their
hard work in class, and see their improved
skills as a result of their choice to
work hard at something. Remember, we
are in the business of catching them
doing something right!
All in all, sportsmanship and good
character cannot, in my humble opinion,
be taught in a few specially designed
lessons. They need to be themes that
run through everything you do and teach
every day you go out there.
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