A Values Approach to Smash Play

  Associate Professor Barrie Gordon
  He pukenga akonga koiri
  Health and Physical Education Faculty
  Te Herenga Waka
  Victoria University of Wellington
  New Zealand



Download PDF  of ' A Values Approach to Smash Play'

For many years sport has been seen as an ideal way to teach life skills or to develop what is often described as ‘good character’. Most sporting bodies vision statements will identify ‘positive child development’ or something similar, as an important outcome of participation in their sport. This is based upon the underlying philosophy that sport creates good people. New Zealand Cricket have gone a step further and have brought values and social development to the forefront of their approach through Smash Play.

Smash Play places an emphasis on values and culture, striving towards “Playing the Kiwi Way” by building better people. NZC understand that to achieve this it requires a full commitment to the goal and a careful plan to achieve it. As a result, they have introduced a philosophy, programme, resource and coaching structure, with carefully developed games and activities, that will achieve this outcome.

NZC should be commended for their vision and for the positive impact this programme will have on participants, their whānau and the wider community.

I would also like to thank NZC for the opportunity to contribute to the development of the values aspect for the Smash Play programme. It has been professionally rewarding and extremely enjoyable.

NZC believes that cricket offers a significant opportunity for New Zealanders to develop important life skills and values, alongside enhanced skill development.

Smash Play junior-tamariki incorporates the teaching and understanding of values alongside the core approach of being physically active and developing and acquiring cricket related skills. Education around values is additive, and not replacing sport-related learning.

NZC want to ensure that values are brought to life during game play, and that coaches, activators and whānau live these alongside the children. To do this effectively, the following were selected as “in action” game values:

 

By living this approach, the cricket community will advance care for self and others, based upon a simple integrated process aligned to social and personal responsibility development.

With the approach integrated into Smash Play junior-tamariki, everyone can be successful. Many coaches are parents and will be living a values approach with their children on a day-to-day basis already. The games resources have been carefully prepared to make it easy for anyone to combine games, skill development AND values.

How do you do it?
Firstly, it is important that you demonstrate the values in your behaviour and in the way you interact with children. Children quickly identify if you operate in a ‘do as I say not as I do’ way. When there are inconsistencies, the chances are that the children won’t consider the values important and taking them on board is substantially reduced.

The Games
The games in Smash Play junior-tamariki have been carefully designed to help integrate a values approach into play. You will notice that the games presented in the resources:

• Identify appropriate values that can be emphasised for each game.

• Have a clear and simple coaching structure to help integrate the teaching and learning of values into their cricket sessions.
 

Coaching Structure for Values
1. Focus on Values: Include a simple statement to the children identifying the value(s) you want to focus on in the session or for the game.
2. Active learning: The games are designed in a way that gives children opportunities to align their play to the key value selected.
3. Team / Group Discussion: At the end of play gather the children together to talk about what happened, include a discussion/question around the value you are focusing on. Use this time to discuss what went well, any problems that arose and to look for ideas from the children around how to improve the value play.
4. Personal reflection: A short time for children to reflect on their own behaviours and how they offered support during the session.
 

Underlying Principles
NZC’s approach to bringing values to life is built upon academic models which have been proven as effective in a range of settings, and which follow the established underlying principles:
• Children need to know what the values mean – there needs to be a shared understanding of the words used.
• The values should be a focus of, and present in, the game and play.
• Children need to have the opportunity to talk and think about the values in relation to how they are acted in play. The importance of providing time to reflect on behaviours can’t be under-estimated.
- Children need to know that these values are also important outside of their games – in their lives at school and at home.
- If values are to be transferred into other areas this needs to be discussed with children from the start.

These are principles that underpin any programme that successfully uses sports to teach values, and NZC are proud to begin this journey with Smash Play junior-tamariki.