As I’ve mentioned before I plan on being a coach and of all of James Paul Gee’s Learning Principles I think the following three would be the most useful to my students: (1) Active, Critical Learning Principle, (6) “Psychosocial Moratorium” Principle, and (12) Practice Principle. The first one, Active, Critical Learning Principle, is important because to learn to do a sport the learner must be an active participant. I can watch all the video on shooting a basketball, read all the books, and watch all the games on TV, but until I get out and practice and learn the moves I am not going to be able to play the game. Similarly a child can watch a teacher add numbers, but until he experiences it for himself he has not learned the skill. So being an active participant is the learning process is very important. The second principle I chose was the “Psychosocial Moratorium” Principle. This one will be very important in my field because not everyone will be able to perform the skills at the beginning. I must build an atmosphere where the students can feel free to experiment, fail, and still keep trying without losing their self-confidence. Michael Jordan once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” This is true of students, if they are not willing to try new things and be confident that succeed or fail they can still learn then teachers are not doing their jobs. The third principle that I selected as being important was the Practice Principle. It is very important for an athlete to be able to do things automatically without having to think too much, so practice is imperative to being a successful athlete. As a coach I must show my athletes the importance of practice and teach them that to be successful they must practice correctly.
The activity that I would simulate is teaching children to shoot a free throw in basketball. First I would show them videos of some of the game’s best free throw shooters like Chris Mullen, Mark Price, and J.J. Reddick. I would then take them to the gym and break down the moves and let them practice each move individually. Last be not least I would have them practice, practice, and practice some more. I would have some competitive games that would keep practice interesting and try to not harp on the students who were having a hard time. I would teach the students that shooting free throws is very important, but not everyone has an easy time of it. I have the students encouraging each other and make the games based on teams and not individuals so that a student that is having a hard time would not necessarily lose. The more fun I could make practicing free throws the more successful my players would be.
I think Mr. Gee’s principles are very valid. In my educational psychology class I’ve learned that the most important thing in teaching a child is to make it interesting and to get their attention and hold it. If teachers use Mr. Gee’s principles and make learning enjoyable then I think they would be successful
References
Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R.M., & Crissmond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning with
technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill-Prentiss Hall.
Mallard, T., & Ahmed, S. (2008, March 19). Gee’s principles. Retrieved from
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