The first time the thought about the importance of teaching age (knowledge) appropriately occurred almost 20 years ago when our son Kirby first started to play YMCA basketball when he was about six. I told the kids to go have fun, showed them how to dribble, told them to run the court hard and what direction the basket was. “We want to score in that one, not this one,” I told them, pointing in the direction of our basket.
When the game was close, and the kids were having fun, I would tighten the screws a bit and tell Kirby and another kid who was fast and had a sense for the ball: “Go steal the ball and score.” Away they’d go, running like greyhounds, pestering the opponents and then whipping down the other end of the court. They had fun.
One day, as I walked off, I overheard a coach telling his team of 6-year-olds: “Run play 36. Joe, you stand here. Billy, you stand there. Sam, you throw it to the corner. Devonte, you cut to the side, then curl in. Now run that play.”
SERIOUSLY? You think a kid that age can understand that. I looked at the boys and they stood there sullenly, bored. Big surprise. They didn’t understand what needed to be done. They needed to learn how to dribble properly and the direction of the basket, that’s about it. Then cut them loose to learn as they played and enjoyed themselves.
It seems to me there’s often way too high expectations of what kids and even coworkers can be expected to absorb based on our personal learning curves. The successful teachers, coaches and leaders intuitively recognize this and dial their message to the audience. They seek to have their message understood, not to dictate some structure, play or process.
Over the past few months I’ve been having the following type of dialogue because it seems there are an increasing number of examples of non-age-appropriate teaching or coaching visible either through the news or from a friend or coworker I’ve noticed. People in positions of authority assume that kids (or coworkers) are able to absorb lessons that the other person is unprepared for.
They may not be mature enough to understand the lesson. If it’s an adult who is supposed to hear and understand the message, he or she may not have a specific level of technical competency to get the message. These attempts to teach or communicate fail because the person imparting the message does not share information in an age-appropriate (or technology-appropriate) way.
The message sails over the heads of the intended audience. Everyone is confused. No one is happy. And people wonder why things don’t get done they way they should or why kids don’t learn a lesson from a teacher or coach as quickly as you think they should.
At work, people can presume you know things when you don’t. Journalists are taught to write at a sixth grade level to ensure their stories engage the widest audience. People use jargon and acronyms to obfuscate rather than explain. There’s a presumption of knowledge when we shouldn’t presume that at all.
In a past job, I remember needing to get some information which required going from one file to access another, which led to another, then a drop down menu, then clicking on another file to finally reach the necessary folder, where you still had to identify the specific document. Two women helped me find this my first or second week on the job. I didn’t need to go there often, so 3-4 months later I needed to locate another file.
I asked for their help because I couldn’t remember all the steps. They looked at me like I was the stupidest person on the planet. Paraphrasing, it went something like this, “I already told you. I’m busy, so go find it yourself.” I located someone else to help and wrote all the steps down, but had to go through the process multiple times to internalize the learning.
If we want to understand each other and communicate effectively for learning, know your audience, understand their capabilities and approach them in an age-, language- and technology-appropriate way. You’ll have the most success that way.
When the game was close, and the kids were having fun, I would tighten the screws a bit and tell Kirby and another kid who was fast and had a sense for the ball: “Go steal the ball and score.” Away they’d go, running like greyhounds, pestering the opponents and then whipping down the other end of the court. They had fun.
One day, as I walked off, I overheard a coach telling his team of 6-year-olds: “Run play 36. Joe, you stand here. Billy, you stand there. Sam, you throw it to the corner. Devonte, you cut to the side, then curl in. Now run that play.”
SERIOUSLY? You think a kid that age can understand that. I looked at the boys and they stood there sullenly, bored. Big surprise. They didn’t understand what needed to be done. They needed to learn how to dribble properly and the direction of the basket, that’s about it. Then cut them loose to learn as they played and enjoyed themselves.
It seems to me there’s often way too high expectations of what kids and even coworkers can be expected to absorb based on our personal learning curves. The successful teachers, coaches and leaders intuitively recognize this and dial their message to the audience. They seek to have their message understood, not to dictate some structure, play or process.
Over the past few months I’ve been having the following type of dialogue because it seems there are an increasing number of examples of non-age-appropriate teaching or coaching visible either through the news or from a friend or coworker I’ve noticed. People in positions of authority assume that kids (or coworkers) are able to absorb lessons that the other person is unprepared for.
They may not be mature enough to understand the lesson. If it’s an adult who is supposed to hear and understand the message, he or she may not have a specific level of technical competency to get the message. These attempts to teach or communicate fail because the person imparting the message does not share information in an age-appropriate (or technology-appropriate) way.
The message sails over the heads of the intended audience. Everyone is confused. No one is happy. And people wonder why things don’t get done they way they should or why kids don’t learn a lesson from a teacher or coach as quickly as you think they should.
At work, people can presume you know things when you don’t. Journalists are taught to write at a sixth grade level to ensure their stories engage the widest audience. People use jargon and acronyms to obfuscate rather than explain. There’s a presumption of knowledge when we shouldn’t presume that at all.
In a past job, I remember needing to get some information which required going from one file to access another, which led to another, then a drop down menu, then clicking on another file to finally reach the necessary folder, where you still had to identify the specific document. Two women helped me find this my first or second week on the job. I didn’t need to go there often, so 3-4 months later I needed to locate another file.
I asked for their help because I couldn’t remember all the steps. They looked at me like I was the stupidest person on the planet. Paraphrasing, it went something like this, “I already told you. I’m busy, so go find it yourself.” I located someone else to help and wrote all the steps down, but had to go through the process multiple times to internalize the learning.
If we want to understand each other and communicate effectively for learning, know your audience, understand their capabilities and approach them in an age-, language- and technology-appropriate way. You’ll have the most success that way.