Last Saturday on the set of College Gameday, the crew of broadcasters discussed football players opting out of bowl games and taking advantage of new transfer rules to find a new home. It's a polarizing topic in college football circles. Evidence shows an increase in both areas in recent years, and the discussion seemed to be a search for a root cause. As mentioned in a previous post, we work with incomplete information, but our minds generate stories to fill in the gap. Long-time College Gameday contributor Kirk Herbrstreit's story was essentially the following: "I think this era of player just doesn't love football."
It was a pretty bold statement, painted with the broadest of brushes. Herbstreit has since attempted to clarify his comments a bit. In fairness to him, commentators on national television are subject to viewers extrapolating anything they may say, context included or not. I'm guilty of using this sound byte as the basis of today's post, but I think it's a meaningful discussion.
Let me clarify. Whether student-athletes choose to opt-out of bowl games or transfer to another college is not all that important of a discussion in the grand scheme of life, but the stories we generate to understand why are essential.
The inference I drew from this conversation and others on the issue is this: kids these days don't have the resilience that many did "back then." The problem with Kirk's comments on resilience isn't that he doesn't have the authority to speak on the manner. Herbstreit is an excellent case study on perseverance and resiliency, going from a high-school All-American quarterback to riding the bench for much of his first four years at Ohio State. He details a lot of his struggles and the adversity he faced during his time in college in his book Out of the Pocket, a text I would highly recommend to anyone with a remote interest in sports. In short, Kirk had every reason to transfer, accept life as a backup or quit altogether. He stuck it out, stayed the course, and became team captain in his fifth season, and is now ESPN's face for college football. So, I can empathize with Herbstreit when he has difficulty understanding why "players these days" give up so easily. I worry, however, about the impact of the story we promote when we chalk resilience up to some innate characteristic that we have or don't. There is much more to it.
We often confuse struggle with a productive struggle in many aspects of life. We assume that just sticking it out proves resilience and is the only way of building it. We can be much more strategic about shaping the path and providing opportunities for resilience to be made. Andy Dufresne in the movie The Shawshank Redemption is the epitome of perseverance, but I bet if you ask him, he wouldn't have thought he needed to crawl through a mile of feces to prove it.
Education leaders face their own "transfer portal" dilemma as teachers face increasing amounts of adversity and are trying to decide whether to stick it out, "transfer" to another school, or quit and leave the profession.
It's prudent for leaders to clear the path and provide opportunities for their staff and students to build resilience in a safe environment.
The other prominent part of Kirk's comments that stick out involves questioning these players' love for the game. In education, we rely a lot on our passion for the work. We put up with some of the drawbacks of being in education because of our love of the game. We do it because we are passionate about our work, or so we say.
We've been told from a young age to follow our passion, but author Cal Newport says this is bad advice. In So Good They Can't Ignore You, Newport pens the narrative that passion in work is built, not found or followed. He outlines autonomy, mastery, and relationships as primary factors in people enjoying their work. It's no wonder that as educators leave the profession, a common theme is they've lost their passion. Based on the earlier premise that we should always follow our passion, when it's gone or lost, what other option is there but to try something else?
Leaders can not only help foster resilience in their staff but also help them re-ignite their passion by placing a priority on building self-efficacy.
Everyone wants to identify as a good person. In education, that involves identifying as a good teacher, principal, counselor, etc. We need to stop being so rigid in our thinking. In Coaching for Equity, Elena Aguilar talks about the benefit of identifying as a "goodish" person. It allows us room to improve while still maintaining our identity as good people. Adam Grant, author of several books, including Originals, Give and Take and Think Again, shared this thought recently on Twitter that connects well to the idea of being a "goodish" educator and building self-efficacy (see below).
The pandemic has challenged our identities in education by threatening our sense of mastery in our area of expertise. I remember commenting that I felt like a first-year teacher on the eve of virtual, synchronous learning. I previously relied heavily on two technologies in my math classroom: EXPO markers and whiteboards. Microsoft Teams and Zoom were foreign concepts, although I did appreciate the mute button. We didn't have those handy for in-person learning. Mute button, or no mute button, I felt my confidence had taken a hit.
Self-care gets a lot of the headlines, but it's self-efficacy that will move the needle for educators facing burnout. Adam Grant points out; it's not mutually exclusive to a desire for self-improvement. Going through the mud can help build self-efficacy, but it's best to have support.
Leaders can help staff and students build self-efficacy by providing opportunities to celebrate success, observe colleagues and share in their success, receive positive affirmations, and take time to self-reflect on thoughts and emotions (Cherry, 2020).
Building self-efficacy could look different from building to building and may look different from teacher to teacher. Communication will be key as leaders differentiate support, but figuring out what support looks like to each person doesn't have to be rocket science. As Gilbert (IA) Superintendent Christine Trujillo voiced on a recent episode of The Group Project Podcast, just ask (Smith, 26:40).
At the beginning of the year, a colleague shared the following thought from Kristin Anderson with the Brillance Project:
HOPE + Action = Fulfillment
Hope is a precursor for action. If you don't believe or have hope, you will not take action. Hope by itself is passive, not strong enough to bring about the desired outcome. Hope must be expressed through action if we are to experience true fulfillment.
If it is our hope for educators and students to persevere in these challenging times, then we need to combine it with the action of giving them opportunities to build self-efficacy and the grace to fail as they do. Kirk Herbstreit had the support and opportunities to develop his self-efficacy at his lowest point. Educators could use the same as they work to restore their own "love of the game."
References:
Aguilar, E. (2020). Coaching for Equity: Conversations That Change Practice. Jossey Bass.
How Self Efficacy Helps You Achieve Your Goals. (2020, July 22). Verywell Mind. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-efficacy-2795954
Herbsreit, K. (2021). Out of the Pocket: Football, Fatherhood, and College Gameday Saturdays. Atria Books.
Newport, C. (2012). So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work you Love. Business Plus.
Smith, J. (Host). (2021, December 16). #97: Gilbert (IA) Superintendent Christine Trujillo [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/97-gilbert-ia-superintendent-christine-trjuillo/id1508769326?i=1000545115150
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