Each year, the cricket district we’re part of runs an end-of-season one day tournament called North v South. It involves players in Year 6, 7 and 8 - 12 players for each side at each year level - and anyone who’s played the season is welcome to put their name down to play.
The day is fantastic. Kids arrive, there’s a briefing and then they meet their coach for the day. The coaches range from old hands to academy players, so there’s real know-how there.
Warm-ups ensue. The teams start to gel. Excitement builds.
The grounds are immaculate. Gazebos surround the boundaries.
There are two games for each year level, 30 overs apiece; so, a lot of cricket in one day. And there’s pride on the line - it’s definitely competitive, and it matters who wins. Because the environment is right, this is fine.
It’s that lovely mix between inclusive and aspirational.
The kids all rise to the occasion. After all, they’ve chosen to be there. But, and this is important, the adults have taken that choice seriously and created a context that is a step above typical season games.
It’s kinda like playing for ‘real’.
When a wicket is taken, the spectators erupt into applause.
When a boundary is hit, the spectators cheer and shout encouragement.
When a batter retires after facing the maximum number of deliveries allowed, they get to walk off to an ovation and raise their bat. Their team gives them a guard of honour as they cross the boundary.
Imagine how that feels for the kids :)
Typically in education, when it comes to celebrating learning we focus on what a kid can do.
This day does that - it celebrates the fact that these kids can play cricket. Some of them can play it very well.
But this day goes further. It fires their imaginations, and in doing so the kids get to feel, taste, experience, see and savour what it’s like to be a ‘real’ cricketer.
In other words, they get to act as if they are a real cricket player for the day.
And so, the day celebrates who these kids might become, not just what they can do.
What chances for kids to act as if what they’re doing is ‘real’ exist in your context?
I’ve written before about the power of the as if state:
The point Confucius was making in his discussion of ancestor worship was that participation in the fantasy, not whether it was actually true and worked, was what mattered because of the power it had to transform those who participated.
My hunch is that a fair few of the kids involved in the North v South day were transformed in some way, and it was participation in the fantasy that did it.
Here’s where my thinking is at.
Inclusion is great - the more opportunities there are for kids to get involved in things without there being artificial barriers the better - but it needs to be coupled with aspiration. It’s aspiration that creates the path to mastery and purpose, which are fundamental human needs.
Without aspiration, what we have are ‘opportunities to do’ that aren’t clearly linked to a vision for why they’re worth doing.
Or …
Inclusion helps kids develop their skills so they can play cricket.
Aspiration helps kids dream of becoming a cricketer.
While related, they’re not quite the same things.
Are there links here to literacy? To maths? To science?
For example. Have we been so focused (obsessed) on teaching reading to as many kids as possible that we’ve neglected to think deeply about the conditions and contexts that lead to kids becoming readers?