by Kathleen Sabo
At a time when budgets are tight and expenses are skimmed, recreation is one of the first items to be cutback or discontinued. What is the purpose of recreation? Is it just an extra-curricular activity for the wealthy? Or is it a vital resource worth preserving? Should enrichment activities be optional or do we require them?
A common goal for both education and recreation is to enhance the lives of people of all ages. Through recreation individuals can find the motivation to lead a productive life. Enrichment activities can help students generate patterns for creative proficiency, build good character, initiate an engaged mode for learning, and find purpose in life. Are enrichment activities an expenditure that can be opted out of or are they a mandatory initiative based on the overall benefit for the individuals and the advantages they provide for the public?
Our educational system focuses on developing knowledge, skills, and creative talents but what about the more fundamental dimension of educating students to grow their empathy, spirituality, and desire to be good. One of my goals for providing enrichment activities is to balance the emphasis of professional abilities along with good character traits that uplift moral standards of influence and responsibility. The core work of John Dewey (an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer) was centered on the educational experience, the long-term results of learning, and positive youth development. Instead of addressing the inadequacies in students, it’s often effective to promote positive psychology.
Rather than just book learning a particular lesson, students should learn from the entire situation and through doing something in the right way. When students work on projects, they learn to work with others, to utilize the knowledge they have, and to seek answers to questions. In order to do this, they need to develop confidence, consideration, humility, and respect just to name a few character traits. According to Wojcikiewicz and Mural (2010) going out and experiencing something like sailing or boating can teach good character as well as the qualities of cooperation, setting goals, overcoming fear, thinking about the whole purpose, and considering the situation others.
The achievement goal theory is one of the popular approaches to understand what motivates a person. It refers to how students respond or react to an experience and how they achieve goals. There are two significant goal types: task-involved and ego-involved. The task-involved goal focuses on getting better at something through training and incremental mastery learning. Ego-involved goals strive to be better than others. According to Ping, McBride & Bruene, (2006), task-involved goals, compared to ego-involved goals, have a better chance to be aligned with adaptive motivational patterns including such practices as working hard, choosing harder learning tasks, and believing that accomplishments are a result of the effort invested into scholarship. Xiang, McBride & Bruene, (2006), studied the motivational changes of fourth-grade students over a period of one year as the students participated in a running program. They found that when the participants started with task value beliefs toward the running program in the fall, they tended to use more cognitive and regulatory strategies for their English lessons later in the spring of that year. It is clear that enrichment activities can be a vehicle to teach the attitudes and habits required to do well in other subjects and other areas of life.
I strive to encourage students to build their motivation from inside their heart and soul. If students learn to motivate themselves, discipline their minds, work hard, create/implement their study plans, and seek help when needed, they will be well equipped not only for the challenges in college but for success in future endeavors. Two essential aspects of motivation are the viewpoints about how good one is and how much value one sees in the activity. When individuals feel they can do something well, they invest more effort, energy, and time into their tasks. In the same way, when people feel the activity brings value to them they will persist beyond distraction, difficulties, or obstacles. Individuals generally find value through the interest, importance, usefulness, and enjoyment the activity offers. The challenge for educators is not only to grasp their student’s attention but to see them take initiative.
The reality is that if a student is only given information, very little of that knowledge remains with the student. Even though it takes more effort and investment, my goal is to guide students to become engaged in their learning so they will not only enjoy it more but they will retain the knowledge longer. Instead of presenting lessons to a group of children who happen to be the same age, my goal is to provide individualized online instruction with instant personalized feedback. Furthermore, I would encourage each student to create their own personal success plan and guide them to think, dream, and succeed through such activities as: identifying their interests, developing those interests into talents, associating them with role models, and assisting them in making meaningful, attainable goals and plans. The result of these steps is for students to create a roadmap of project and career ideas based on their ambitions and expression styles. Lin, W., Myers, D., & Yanes, M. (2010), created a student-centered model using technology in their physical education program. The students were able to review their motions through the instant visual feedback of it. This allowed them to see what they were doing and decide, with the help of the instructor, how to do it better. This put the students into an engaged mode of learning. Even though this required more time and creative energy from the teachers, the students benefited greatly from it. If each student is able to be an instigator, rather than merely a participant, then motivation, interest, and progress with multiply naturally.
Most educators and business professionals agree that when people have an internal purpose they are more apt to find fulfillment in life. Alongside of an internal purpose, people need to feel their life is meaningful. Often times people who are able to be away in nature or escape the daily routines by doing some other enrichment activity, can look at their life more objectively. Positive attitudes are a key ingredient for fulfillment. Heintzman, P. (2010) wrote an article about outdoor recreation and spirituality. He explained that the components of spiritual well-being include an awareness of purpose, wholeness in life, and concern/commitment for something greater than the self. He stressed the importance of being one with nature, beauty, and others. The results of this type of spiritual well-being are trust, honesty, integrity, altruism, compassion, and service. Heintzman found a significant positive connection between spiritual well-being and how often that person participated in outdoor activity. Even if the impact of nature experiences is temporary, it can promote a purpose and meaning in life. Having a spiritual well-being can increase a people’s concern for something greater than themselves and can help a person strengthen their beliefs, principles, ethics, and values. My goal for myself, and those I love, is to have a life filled with passion and fulfillment.
One of the many benefits of enrichment activities is the lasting affects it influences toward a person’s motivation, character, attitude, and purpose. This is why I am investing my energies not only for academic excellence but toward wholesome enrichment activities. In the end, it’s not the price, time, or opportunity of the activities that counts but it’s the lasting benefit that such enrichment provides. My goal as a parent, educator, and caring citizen is to provide the means that challenge an individual to find their passion and use their abilities for the sake of others. Beyond the activity itself, personal achievements and reflection are essential to developing confidence, analytical ability, and tools for a meaningful life. In conclusion, enrichment activities and recreation are not just a convenient pursuit, but they are an invaluable endeavor that should be accessible to all and something that everyone should strive to participate in as much as possible.
References
At a time when budgets are tight and expenses are skimmed, recreation is one of the first items to be cutback or discontinued. What is the purpose of recreation? Is it just an extra-curricular activity for the wealthy? Or is it a vital resource worth preserving? Should enrichment activities be optional or do we require them?
A common goal for both education and recreation is to enhance the lives of people of all ages. Through recreation individuals can find the motivation to lead a productive life. Enrichment activities can help students generate patterns for creative proficiency, build good character, initiate an engaged mode for learning, and find purpose in life. Are enrichment activities an expenditure that can be opted out of or are they a mandatory initiative based on the overall benefit for the individuals and the advantages they provide for the public?
Our educational system focuses on developing knowledge, skills, and creative talents but what about the more fundamental dimension of educating students to grow their empathy, spirituality, and desire to be good. One of my goals for providing enrichment activities is to balance the emphasis of professional abilities along with good character traits that uplift moral standards of influence and responsibility. The core work of John Dewey (an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer) was centered on the educational experience, the long-term results of learning, and positive youth development. Instead of addressing the inadequacies in students, it’s often effective to promote positive psychology.
Rather than just book learning a particular lesson, students should learn from the entire situation and through doing something in the right way. When students work on projects, they learn to work with others, to utilize the knowledge they have, and to seek answers to questions. In order to do this, they need to develop confidence, consideration, humility, and respect just to name a few character traits. According to Wojcikiewicz and Mural (2010) going out and experiencing something like sailing or boating can teach good character as well as the qualities of cooperation, setting goals, overcoming fear, thinking about the whole purpose, and considering the situation others.
The achievement goal theory is one of the popular approaches to understand what motivates a person. It refers to how students respond or react to an experience and how they achieve goals. There are two significant goal types: task-involved and ego-involved. The task-involved goal focuses on getting better at something through training and incremental mastery learning. Ego-involved goals strive to be better than others. According to Ping, McBride & Bruene, (2006), task-involved goals, compared to ego-involved goals, have a better chance to be aligned with adaptive motivational patterns including such practices as working hard, choosing harder learning tasks, and believing that accomplishments are a result of the effort invested into scholarship. Xiang, McBride & Bruene, (2006), studied the motivational changes of fourth-grade students over a period of one year as the students participated in a running program. They found that when the participants started with task value beliefs toward the running program in the fall, they tended to use more cognitive and regulatory strategies for their English lessons later in the spring of that year. It is clear that enrichment activities can be a vehicle to teach the attitudes and habits required to do well in other subjects and other areas of life.
I strive to encourage students to build their motivation from inside their heart and soul. If students learn to motivate themselves, discipline their minds, work hard, create/implement their study plans, and seek help when needed, they will be well equipped not only for the challenges in college but for success in future endeavors. Two essential aspects of motivation are the viewpoints about how good one is and how much value one sees in the activity. When individuals feel they can do something well, they invest more effort, energy, and time into their tasks. In the same way, when people feel the activity brings value to them they will persist beyond distraction, difficulties, or obstacles. Individuals generally find value through the interest, importance, usefulness, and enjoyment the activity offers. The challenge for educators is not only to grasp their student’s attention but to see them take initiative.
The reality is that if a student is only given information, very little of that knowledge remains with the student. Even though it takes more effort and investment, my goal is to guide students to become engaged in their learning so they will not only enjoy it more but they will retain the knowledge longer. Instead of presenting lessons to a group of children who happen to be the same age, my goal is to provide individualized online instruction with instant personalized feedback. Furthermore, I would encourage each student to create their own personal success plan and guide them to think, dream, and succeed through such activities as: identifying their interests, developing those interests into talents, associating them with role models, and assisting them in making meaningful, attainable goals and plans. The result of these steps is for students to create a roadmap of project and career ideas based on their ambitions and expression styles. Lin, W., Myers, D., & Yanes, M. (2010), created a student-centered model using technology in their physical education program. The students were able to review their motions through the instant visual feedback of it. This allowed them to see what they were doing and decide, with the help of the instructor, how to do it better. This put the students into an engaged mode of learning. Even though this required more time and creative energy from the teachers, the students benefited greatly from it. If each student is able to be an instigator, rather than merely a participant, then motivation, interest, and progress with multiply naturally.
Most educators and business professionals agree that when people have an internal purpose they are more apt to find fulfillment in life. Alongside of an internal purpose, people need to feel their life is meaningful. Often times people who are able to be away in nature or escape the daily routines by doing some other enrichment activity, can look at their life more objectively. Positive attitudes are a key ingredient for fulfillment. Heintzman, P. (2010) wrote an article about outdoor recreation and spirituality. He explained that the components of spiritual well-being include an awareness of purpose, wholeness in life, and concern/commitment for something greater than the self. He stressed the importance of being one with nature, beauty, and others. The results of this type of spiritual well-being are trust, honesty, integrity, altruism, compassion, and service. Heintzman found a significant positive connection between spiritual well-being and how often that person participated in outdoor activity. Even if the impact of nature experiences is temporary, it can promote a purpose and meaning in life. Having a spiritual well-being can increase a people’s concern for something greater than themselves and can help a person strengthen their beliefs, principles, ethics, and values. My goal for myself, and those I love, is to have a life filled with passion and fulfillment.
One of the many benefits of enrichment activities is the lasting affects it influences toward a person’s motivation, character, attitude, and purpose. This is why I am investing my energies not only for academic excellence but toward wholesome enrichment activities. In the end, it’s not the price, time, or opportunity of the activities that counts but it’s the lasting benefit that such enrichment provides. My goal as a parent, educator, and caring citizen is to provide the means that challenge an individual to find their passion and use their abilities for the sake of others. Beyond the activity itself, personal achievements and reflection are essential to developing confidence, analytical ability, and tools for a meaningful life. In conclusion, enrichment activities and recreation are not just a convenient pursuit, but they are an invaluable endeavor that should be accessible to all and something that everyone should strive to participate in as much as possible.
References
Heintzman, P. (2010, Jan/Feb). Nature-Based Recreation and Spirituality: A Complex Relationship. Leisure Sciences, 32(1), 72-89.
Lin, W., Myers, D., & Yanes, M. (2010, Dec). Creating Student-Centered Learning Experience through the Assistance of High-End Technology in Physical Education: A Case Study. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 37(4), 352-356.
Wojcikiewicz, S. & Mural, Z. A. (2010). A Deweyian framework for youth development in experiential education: Perspectives from sail training and sailing instruction. Journal of Experiential Education, 33(2), 105-119.
Xiang, P., McBride, R. E., & Bruene, A. (2006, June). Fourth-grade students’ motivational changes in an elementary physical education running program. Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, 77(2), 195-207.
Kathleen Sabo and her husband Ray home schooled their four children for more than fifteen years. Their family has made it a habit to participate in service projects and character education programs locally, nationwide, and internationally including Mexico, Uruguay, Israel/Palestine, Russia, Korea, and the Pacific Islands. Homeschooling afforded them the opportunity to adopt the island country of Micronesia where their family visited while their children were growing up and where they lived among the people for two to six months at a time. Kathleen Sabo is the creator of Uplifting Education, a balanced approach to online learning.
Kathleen coordinates and encourages the Uplifting Education enrollments (www.upliftingeducation.net <http://www.upliftingeducation.net>) and provides a forum with free resources at www.upliftingeducation.net/community <http://www.upliftingeducation.net/community
Kathleen coordinates and encourages the Uplifting Education enrollments (www.upliftingeducation.net <http://www.upliftingeducation.net>) and provides a forum with free resources at www.upliftingeducation.net/community <http://www.upliftingeducation.net/community
