Sports don't exist in a vacuum, and that is one reason we love them

I often think about "unified theory" philosophies for education and journalism teaching in particular. Some of that desire is likely due to simple boredom (Really? I am teaching THIS again?) and some is just a way to keep my head in the game, so to speak.

My interest in reviving (or perhaps establishing) sports reporting as the bedrock of student media journalism is what led me to begin analyzing those "17 reasons" last week and I recognize that no one benefits from my "x-ray analysis" of each of the 17 claims in that famous article. What advisers and students really need is a combination of permission to commit to a strategy plus some practical advice on best practices.

I have some hazy ideas for some focused workshop sessions and more fully explored lesson plans, and maybe this summer will provide some opportunities to get into those in depth.

But I wanted to wrap up my little series on those many reasons traditional classroom instruction and organization come up short with the very last item on the list, which may be the reason that is most insightful.

Reason #17. In football, a public performance is expected. 

Schoolwork is almost always performed somewhat privately, often for the teacher alone and occasionally for a classroom of peers. That leads to writing that focuses on an audience of one -- the teacher -- and that tends to reward caution and meeting expectations rather than being provocative or experimental.

When we find ways to make student work and skills more public, motivations to settle for poor performances or even "just good enough" performances are reduced.

That may be one reason sports are not for everyone, just as we might say about acting or playing in the band or debating. I suppose avoiding embarrassment might come across as quite negative, but that doesn't make it less powerful.

There is also the joy of surpassing expectations and engaging in something that is more compelling than earning an A in a science class or English 9 class based on test results and one person's evaluation of our efforts.

In sports, we keep score, which is a powerful assessment tool. But the allure of athletics never is limited to simply winning or losing and, in fact, being part of a losing team can be just as fulfilling as being on a state champion team. 

The big football game may bring together thousands of community members to cheer (and to critique from the stands). A sense of community is part of this, but there is also civic pride and the simple enjoyment of young people striving to do their best in the open arena.

Contrast that sort of expectation and pressure with a freshman taking a test over "Romeo and Juliet." Her parents may care, I suppose, but her performance has no effect on the wider community. In fact, we build school curriculum to reward individual effort much more than group efforts. Class rank and the tendency for educators to constantly be sorting students, even if they avoid the old-fashioned "grading on a curve," create individual competitions rather than supporting group achievements.

But being part of a giant democracy and world depends much more on larger groups of people sharing goals and strategies and hopes.

A football team that ends up with a 4-5 record may be mediocre by one measure, but the members of that team often benefit from the interactions, the challenges, the realizations that not everyone can win all the time, and so many more lessons. 

That is a lesson that we all need to be reminded of, and sports journalism is a great place to teach that lesson.