Being a good coach
Wait, what? A Coach? A second grader should be taught how to be a good coach? What a silly concept!? Actually, I don't think so at all. After all, what is a coach? Someone who teaches. Someone who helps others succeed. Someone who cheers on others and helps keep their spirits high in times of difficulty. How are these not qualities that we want to teach and instill in our children?
The Dragon Slayers Academy puts children in positions where they must help teach others skills that they have mastered. They must work as a team to accomplish goals. In RPG's, failure is inevitable. Helping your fellow adventurers deal with failure...and perhaps more importantly, learn from failure is one of the hallmarks of a great coach..and teammate.
We consider challenging students to be good coaches as part of our core concepts. We do this in several ways, but most importantly, we put them in positions where they must work together. Their success is not only determined by the outcome of the "adventure", but more often, in how they accomplish (or even fail) the mission. The instructors are very clear up front about what success is. More often than not, success, isn't defined by the "successful" completion of their mission. This often includes what we have identified as a good coach.
To surmise - What is a good coach?
- A Teacher
- Someone how helps others succeed
- A Cheer Leader
- Helps keep spirits high in difficult situations
- Champion of Team work
Hopefully players of the Dragon Slayers Academy pick up some of these skills along the way!