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Out of 5.8 billion people in the world, the majority of them are

certainly not believers in Buddhism. We cant argue with them, tell them

they should be believers. No! Impossible! And, realistically speaking, if the

majority of humanity remain nonbelievers, it doesnt matter. No problem!

The problem is that the majority have lost, or ignore, the deeper human

values- compassion, a sense of responsibility. That is our big concern.

Stated by The Dalai Lama (Iyer, 1997, para. 27). These values are what mold

an individual throughout their life. Influencing the things, they say and the

actions of the individual when people are watching or not. There are three

specific values, I will instill in both physical education and coaching. Self-

discipline, Perseverance, and compassion are the three values, that I believe

will help any individual person have a positive life. First self-discipline I define

as, an individuals ability level to remain focused on a task/goal while

resisting distraction. Any individual must reach a certain level of self-

discipline or making excuses and taking the easy road will become a norm.

The second value perseverance, I define as an individuals ability to face

adversity remain calm and find a way over, around, or through to keep

moving forward. Life is one intense ride and you must be ready to fail a few

times or have life throw a curve ball in the plans to keep going. Lastly,

possibly the most important value is compassion. I define compassion as an

individuals ability to see the perspective of others and the feelings they may

be having due to a given circumstance. Understanding that just because

something is funny to one group of people doesnt mean it cant affect

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another person differently. I believe with these three values the individuals I

teach and coach will have a more positive and productive life due to their

own decisions.

The three values I choose are with the intent to help the individuals I

teach and coach tools, I believe will better help them succeed in life. These

are also values that were instilled in myself at a young age by both external

and internal sources. Of course, the external sources of laws, rules, or

policies have helped structure these values. That is the very basic level of

the source from which the values of self-discipline, perseverance, and

compassion reside within myself. For a five year span my brother Josh and I

played Pop Warner football for coach Bill Gombeiski. Coach Gombeiski was a

father of one of the kids on the team a fire fighter and retired United States

Marine Corps drill instructor. Now that I have experienced his football

practice and time on Parris Island for Marine Corps basic training in 2008, he

ran football practice very similar. He was a no non-sense coach it was his

way or the high way and he would turn cherry red when yelling at us. Every

moment of every practice or game staying self-disciplined and how to do

that in given situations. My mother and father demonstrated the

perseverance I try to model daily. My parents got pregnant with me the year

my mother graduated high school. My dad decided going to school in North

Dakota on baseball scholarship was too much of a risk to lose my mom. They

struggled with financial my whole life and my dad had to drive truck and was

gone a ton. Through it all and moving ten times living with family sometimes
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just getting by they always did their best for us. Im currently 26 years old I

couldnt imagine having a child and my parents were 8 years younger when I

came along. They were faced with situations at every corner and stuck

together and kept pushing. As for compassion the most beautiful women I

know with the biggest hearts in the world are my Grandma and Nana. One is

a white-haired saint that is quiet as a mouse and gives hugs that brighten

every day. The other a firecracker that is involved in everything and lets it be

known and cares so much she gets lost in it. No matter what us kids did

when we were young and even know these two ladies are always there with

open hearts and arms. My life experiences are truly what have influenced my

value structure and I hope I can help introduce these same values when I am

teaching and coaching.

All five of the value orientations are respectable approaches to a

successful program that is truly associated with student or player learning. I

believe Ecological Integration is a very progressive way of looking at

education and could improve the world for future generations. Ecological

Integration includes the celebration of self or self-actualization extending

beyond that to a holistic view on the world. First lets look at it just at the

teacher level a bad morning leads to a bad lesson causing students to be off

task. The student who got picked on the comes to class causing problems

and teacher takes home the frustration with student yelling at their family.

Teachers of this model must look at every event effecting the next and

balance the environment, individual, and subject matter with in the

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curriculum. As a physical educator or coach a wide range of skills, sports,

and fitness activities while being relevant to the individuals settings.

In the physical education setting I will be interacting with a wide

variety of students with different experiences, beliefs, backgrounds, and

interests. Implementing the three values of self-discipline, perseverance, and

compassion keeping in mind the ecological integration value orientation.

Students will be involved in their learning process understanding the interest

of the students will help direct the content with in the curriculum. Having a

wide variety of sport and activities for students participate gives them

choices building self-discipline, also opening opportunity to increase

challenges on the students since they choose activities building their

perseverance. Since we are trying to look at everything holistically talking to

students about the effects of different activities outside the arenas. For

example, how Jackie Robinson and Baseball shined a new light on African-

American athletes, how some games became Olympic sports, or how a

violent game like Rugby has been modified to Touch Rugby to being enjoyed

by all ages and genders. Information like this will result in students looking at

the big picture and increasing their compassion for others. One other thing

teachers need to be aware of with his value orientation is to understand how

to balance teaching strategies to learning styles. We are trying to teach how

everything interacts but if we fail to incorporate this balance the content will

not resonant with the highest possibility of students.

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Coaching under these three values and the ecological integration is

very different from that of physical education class for two simple reasons.

The players have chosen to participate in the given sport and there is a

common goal to win games. Teams dont just work together from day one

that takes self-discipline and compassion. Players must have the internal

drive to show up for practice and games giving their absolute best involving

themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. When they see, other

teammates struggling they help pick them up. Players demonstrating both

are usually captains and are the life line between coach and team. Making

sure I push players to limits they didnt think they could obtain in a variety of

ways that relate back to the on-field experience will help players connect to

the team goals. Encouraging players to hold one another accountable for

actions. Demonstrating how they affect the team helps players understand

the bigger picture and where they fit into it. To be that very best team and

form a winning tradition players must be able to persevere when confronted

with adversity. Preparing players for different situations in practice is the best

way to prepare team for the real situation. Simulating situations in a variety

of ways at practice reduces the anxiety in real situation helping team stay

focused and level headed. Realizing the holistic view as a coach. I still must

realize players can be pushed too hard and must still individualize my

coaching to all my players.

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Reference

Iyer, P. (1997, December 22). THE GOD IN EXILE. A VISIT WITH THE LEADER

OF TIBET, THE SUBJECT OF A NEW MOVIE, BUT A STAR WITHOUT A

STAGE. Time, 150(26).