| MARCH MADNESS © 1998 Joe Murray March Madness is the catchy name given to describe one of the greatest events in all of sports -- the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Thirty-two games will be played this Thursday and Friday. A total of sixty-three games will be played over the next three weeks until a national champion is decided on the basketball court and not some poll of public opinion. During this same time, the NCAA women will have their duplicate tournament, and every state will be holding high school boys and girls basketball tournaments to determine the best in their respective state and level of competition. There will be seemingly impossible last-second, game-winning shots. Also, there will be teams that, prior to taking the floor, seem to have no chance of beating their opponent. However, by the time the final horn sounds, some of these Cinderella teams will have come away with the win in what will be called a major upset or even a miracle. The spirit of teamwork and competition is a marvelous mirror of American competition that creates great wealth in the market place each day. The competitive nature of sports, combined with the hard work, discipline and teamwork necessary for success, are great lessons to prepare students for the reality of the world once they leave school. Only a handful of the student athletes will ever become professional athletes and make the fortune that comes with it. However, the experience learned during a game and during the hours of practice will always be an asset. Learning the constant striving for excellence that it takes to be a winner in a competitive world is a vital lesson that everyone needs to learn. Unfortunately, the athletic department is too often the only place in our education system where excellence and discipline is demanded. Many educators in the classroom consider competition to be obscene. The result is students are not expected to do their best. The curriculum and pedagogy are designed for the average students in the better schools and the below average in the poor schools. If we really want our schools to produce excellent results in education, the shutters need to be shut in order to block out the leveling winds blown through our schools. I know that to some of you the idea of applying the competitive principles of March Madness to academics in the classroom might have you boiling mad by now, and some are saying I have gone mad in March. However, my opinion is based on my own experience as a student and might make sense to some of you. When I entered the third grade, my classroom was a combination of both the 3rd and 4th grades. My teacher realized that I was a bright student and very competitive. She pushed me to excel and soon I was doing the work of the 4th graders and found out I was ahead of most of them. I was in the 5th grade the next year. In the 6th through 8th grades, I switched to a new school. This school was a multi-grade 1-8th lab school run by a college in order to help in train teachers. My program of study at this school was individualized. I studied the normal topics, but I was allowed to learn at my own pace. I wasn’t held back by slower students and usually had something new to do to keep me busy and advancing. They did give me incentives to work hard by offering free time, if I completed my work accurately and ahead of schedule. The result was that I was ahead of most of my peers that had gone to my old school, when I graduated from 8th grade. The drawback was that it took me a couple of years to readjust to the traditional methods of learning, when I went to high school. When everything went back to the "same assignment done at the same pace" method, I was bored and became a goof-off who was often disruptive in class. I still got decent grades, but they weren’t top grades like I should have gotten and would have as a Junior and Senior. It was just part of growing up, and I should have been more responsible. However, I still feel that the learning methods that pushed me and allowed me to advance at my own faster pace were the better teaching methods and would be more effective, if applied on a wide scale. This method doesn’t just work for fast learners. I had a neighbor that could barely read and was having all kinds of difficulties in the regular school setting. My parents suggested trying my school. In the new environment, where he was judged on his individual achievement rather than slowing the rest of the class (waiting for him), he showed great improvement. I wish I could say he became a brain surgeon, but I can’t. He did become an average student, graduate from high school, and become a good, solid hard-working citizen. It would take a lot of change in the mind-set of educators and would be more work. However, our schools would be better if individualism and competitive motivation became the guiding force. High standards of performance should be set. Advancing from one grade to the next shouldn’t be a function of the calendar. The passing of a grade should mean that a student has acquired a minimum standard of knowledge in all areas of study. The student should be able to prove this by passing a test. In addition, the student should be able to demonstrate the ability to apply that knowledge to real life situations before moving to the next level. As soon as a student reaches these goals, they should advance to the next level. For some, this could be done in a short period of time. Others will take longer. The faster learners will remain motivated and will achieve more. The slower learners will have mastered the information. Eventually, their high school diploma will be a true certification of what they know, not what they are supposed to know. Is there a method to my madness?
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