By:-Ms. Fatema Agarkar, Educationist and Founder of Agarkar Centre of Excellence.
Nordic countries, following the decision of governments down under, have rolled back their policies on device usage for young adults – phones in schools, prolonged access, replacing tablets with pencil and paper in classrooms, and extending the eligibility age for social media access. The decision comes after overwhelming statistical evidence indicating the negative impact of excessive usage. The lack of governance and balance has created challenges, with young people often unable to adapt to personal and professional life due to the misuse of their time, energy, and opportunities for physical development.
So while, as a nation, we worry about the geopolitical situations arising in the Middle East and Europe, the economic implications on everyday living, job market openings for young graduates, and technological advances that are replacing innovations within a matter of months, the world can no longer claim certainty in trends. Change is constant, and the rate of change is explosive. Therefore, the skill sets required to survive and adapt need to be beyond knowledge alone.
So what are these skill sets? And importantly, why does nurturing them right from the early years become critical?
Cognitive flexibility and nurturing intelligence that tolerates uncertainty, for me as an educator, become paramount. As I researched more into how to introduce children to this aspect, it became evident that not everyone is born with it innately. Therefore, “teaching” this intangible, in many ways, has to be about real-life experiences, case studies, exposure, and planning.
If this thought can be factored in right from the time educators design their frameworks for learning in the early years, the head start allows children to learn at their own pace and through the experience of making mistakes.
Sports, for me, is that platform to introduce cognitive flexibility, resilience, respect, discipline, time management, maturity, tolerance, and patience, apart from technical skills, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking.
Take, for example, the simple nursery rhyme, Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Let’s replace that with Old MacDonald and his wife, Mrs MacDonald, having a sports field, and on that field children are running, jumping (track and field, hurdles, long jump), throwing and picking (shot put, javelin, discus), kicking and hitting (football, throwball, badminton). By repositioning the farm to a field in the narrative right from an early age, the child registers the importance of physical development.
Language development is also seamless and natural, becoming enhanced as new vocabulary is introduced -opposites, phonic sounds associated with different sports, action words, and learning about different sports themselves. Numeracy comes into effect through shapes, textures, estimation, sizes, counting, adding, and subtracting (number of players, what happens when someone gets out, how many are left, and so on).
So sports, apart from physical development, is also about learning language, science, and math. It is sensory in nature, teaches stamina and fitness, builds the right dopamine for children, and associates play with fun as they learn.
When the foundation focuses on the holistic development of the mind, body, and soul, children automatically regulate their emotions, eat better, and sleep better, creating a cycle of healthy routines without the drama often associated with constant nagging. From an early age, its importance is established, and its value becomes associated with an everyday occurrence, just as natural as showering, eating, and sleeping. Physical fitness then becomes a lifestyle-associated skill rather than something children who do not enjoy are forced to take on.
One of the associated challenges India faces today is diabetes, with young people increasingly at risk of obesity. Processed foods have become such an integral part of our existence that, to safeguard against this, an alternative must be seamlessly woven into childhood – play and sports.
So educators and parents must work hand in hand to ensure that classrooms become fields and homes follow through to make learning integrated. Children, instead of only watching cartoons, can sit with their families and watch tennis, the FIFA World Cup, or the IPL unfold, creating more conversations around winning and losing, and how teams bounce back from setbacks.
Remember I spoke about “intangible” aspects? Well, sports, for me, is therefore an exposure platform not only for technical skills but also for life skills.
Not everyone exposed to sports may develop excellence like a Vaibhav Sooryavanshi or a Sachin Tendulkar, but surely the lifestyle memory will help all children become fitter, stronger, and therefore healthier.
For educators, the opportunity to create discussions around learning concepts such as math, science, and language is exponential. So why not use the inherent power that sports presents to help children gain their natural advantage?
Advantage Sports. Game, Set, Match!