The Importance of People Column Editor: Harold Benjamin Contributor: Harold J

The Importance of People Column Editor: Harold Benjamin Contributor: Harold J. Cart

The braincolt entered in this month's race, according to its owner, Colonel Call of the Air Staff and Command School, "it'fis sired by Saber-Tooth Curriculum a nd mothered by Woods School." Whether any military substitutes for tequila served as an analgesic during delivery, however, is not a proper topic for civilian editorial comment. As the most dramatic if not the most creatively taught branch of American college, study thunders to its annual climax, this baffling parable cannot be dismissed lightly by praising it with faint damns. Either it conveys a profoundly disturbing truth to all of us who teach the solid academic subjects, or else it is a new and dastardly attack on what this editor holds most dear in the tradition of scholarly instruction. Harold Benjamin

Die or Do for Old P. U. ONCE UPON A TIME, at a small col by changed in this country into our lege called Polytechnic University, the game of football. He told of the fresh football coach left suddenly just as the man-sophomore "scrimmages" begin season began. A history teacher, who ning at Yale in 1840. He reminded the had played football in his college days, students of a very important event; that was selected to serve as coach. The is, the first inter-collegiate football game squad consisted of about fifty men, all played by Princeton and Rutgers on of whom had previously played football November 6, 1869. He told them the cither in college or high school. The history of the game from the period of history teacher had never coached but \Valter Camp and Pudge Heffelfingcr, was a very successful teacher. He knew down through the days of Jim Thorpe, that he was successful because he had Red Grange, the Four Horsemen of been told by others that he was. He Notre Dame, Davis and Blanchard, and knew it, too, because many of his for up to the time of Doak Walker, "Choo- mer students had become historians, Choo" Justice and Dick Ka/maier. He writers and teachers of history. He de explained how the game changed cided that the process of coaching foot through the years and why these ball was fundamentally no different changes took place. He described the from teaching history. He had been rules of the game; in fact, he had the very successful in his history classes by students memorize the rules. He had lecturing to students. He decided, there them memorize the names of all the fore, to teach football by lecturing. men who made the "All-America" teams He told the squad about the origin in the past 10 years. He had them of football in classical antiquity. He memorize the "All-Timc-All-America." described a game played by the Greeks. They called it Episkuros, he said, and Group Dynamics the students repeated after him in uni The new coach reali/ed that he must son, "Epislturns." He related the evo give special attention to special needs, lution of the game into soccer and so he divided the squad into small English Rugby. He described how Rug- groups on the basis of the positions NOVEMBER 1952 119 they played. For example, he told the made the highest marks. Before the :nds about the skills of such famous game he gave the team an inspiring players as Frank Hinkey, Brick Muller, pep-talk of the Knute Rockne type and Benny Oosterbaan, Don Hutson, Larry sent them out to do or die for old P. U. Kelley, Gaynell Tinsley, and Art Wei- What was the result? Well, the 1951 nar. He inspired the quarterbacks by game between Alabama and Delta State stories of the signal-calling of Walt Eck- was close compared to this one. (If you ersall, Frank Carideo, Angelo Bertelli, don©t recall that contest, Alabama beat Johnny Lujack, and Arnold Tucker. Delta State 89 to 0.) He did similar jobs for the tackles, the The results of the first game upsei centers, the guards, the fullbacks, and the coach so much that he almost lost the halfbacks. He singled out his punt- faith in his ability to teach. However, _TS and described some of the great he was an intelligent man; he did a kicking of Carideo, Chickerneo, Olson little reflective thinking. He recalled and Justice. He inspired his passers some of the things he had been taught with tales of the great feats of Sammy in teachers college and some of the Baugh, Marshall Goldberg, Cecil Isbell, things discussed by professors of the and Johnny Lujack. He had some little School of Education during faculty fellows on the squad so he encouraged meetings. He remembered that learn them with stories of Cotton Warburton, ing is an active process. He needed Davy O©Brien, Alby Booth, Eddie Le- more student participation. He decided Baron, and other 150-poiinders who that the difficulty was that he was using made good in the big-time. the wrong method. His solution was to The coach even made some conces create more student activity by using sions to the more modern teaching aids. discussion techniques. He showed many movies and slow-mo The next week the students discussed tion shots of great plays of games of their plays, and the rules of the game. recent years. He diagrammed and de The coach gave them problem situa scribed these plays in detail. tions and had them figure out the an He did not have much trouble with swers. He had the players do outside that great bugaboo of the teacher, mo reading on how the great players did tivation. H is students were intensely in it and come in and report to the group. terested in their subject. Of course, he They analyzed some of the great upset did have minor difficulty with some of victories of football history and found the more experienced players. They out what plays and tactics were used. thought they should go out on the field They planned strategy for hypothetical and practice. But he refused to let that games. They even groped after group- bother him; no student could tell him dynamics solutions of their morale how to teach. problems. Evaluation Application The day before the first game he gave To heighten learning, the coach had the students a test, a very up-to-date, the students write themes. They wrote objective, short-answer kind of test, nat on such topics as the advantages of the urally. He had the answer sheets scored T-formation over the single-wing, the on an IBM machine and selected for strengths and weaknesses of the double the starting line-up the eleven men who wing, the differences between the wing- NOVEMBER 1952 / 121 T and the split-T offense, when and how to use the rolling block, the merits In Arithmetic of the 5-3-2-1 defense, how to elude a defensive back, and where the 7-dia- MATERIALS mond defense should be used. The coach showed the squad more films and aid living and learning they discussed them. The football class experiences off all children hummed with activity. Here was cic ative teaching at its zenith. The next game came around. The CLOCK coach was confident that his players now knew football. To his chagrin, the Makes time-telling interesting team was massacred again. understandable. Children can see and make the hands go in The coach became a bit desperate. relationship to each other by Somehow he was failing in his task of visible gears. Attractively designed to show teaching. However, minute, 5 minute and hour intervals. his course of action seemed clear. He had to get still more activity into his instruction. COUNTING METER He even began to behove that perhaps there was Colorful, mov something t< this learning-by-doing able dials oper ated manually philosophy. show how tens The next kv-eek he had the squad go and hundreds are built from out on the practice field. The centers units. A prac centered the ball, the passers passed, the ^ tical aid in teaching deci ends caught passes, and the kickers mals and reading of commonly used meters. kicked. He had all of the players block and tackle. He lined up teams and hail NUMBER-ITE them practice their plays and their ball handling. He even had the teams scrim mage against one another. 5 6 7 8 9 10 Of course, the students lost their nex; A new approach to learning numbers from 1 to game. However, it was not such a com 10. Boards fit together only when the number plete rout. The P. U. players begar sequence is accurate. Removable colored pegs to look and act like a team. They were help children to see and match symbols and groupings. considerably more definite in their at tions. They even scored a touchdown CLOWN Apparently the coach had finally founc at least the beginnings of the correc BEAN BAG GAME method. For counting and learning combinations in arithmetic, Obviously this story is ridiculous : this large 2©x3© attractively designed, well built game can There is no Polytechnic Universitv be used to develop other skills. -Harold J. Catt, Lt. Col. USAF, Chief

Fil* folder catalog on request Academic Instructor Division, Ai: THE JUDY COMPANY Command and Staff School, Maxwel _ 310 N. 2nd SI., V**. CO Air Force Base, Alabama. MINNEAPOLIS 1, MINN.

122 EDUCATIONAL LEADERS^