{"id":1069,"date":"2016-10-22T17:02:13","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T21:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/?p=1069"},"modified":"2016-12-13T09:29:17","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T14:29:17","slug":"sports-and-clubs-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/2016\/10\/22\/sports-and-clubs-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports and Clubs and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

My research group chose to focus on the way in which\u00a0extra curricular activities impact all aspects of the Croft\u00a0School’s educational experience, including academics, social structure, as well at the culture of the extra curricular activities themselves. \u00a0Through this research, I have come across various perspectives on the purpose and significance of incorporating extra curricular activities into schools.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Previous studies have looked at the effect of involvement in extracurricular activities on adolescents’\u00a0positive youth development. \u00a0Typically, these studies look at adolescents’ self worth evaluation and self concept. \u00a0Generally, there is a positive relationship between involvement in extra curricula’s and a students general self worth and concept (Blomfield & Barber, 2011). \u00a0A study focusing that focused on whether or not this phenomenon has different effects in schools with a low socioeconomic status\u00a0found that there was a greater positive relationship between extra curricular activities and the positive effects on an adolescents development among schools with children from a predominantly\u00a0low socioeconomic status household (Blomfield & Barber, 2011). \u00a0This finding emphasizes\u00a0the importance of providing students with activities, clubs, and sports outside of the classroom in order to promote they development in a positive way.<\/p>\n

\"Positive<\/a><\/p>\n

A different\u00a0study focused on the ways in which extra curricular activities enhance a persons human capital, which, in this article, was used to essentially refer to a persons ability to succeed in and graduate from \u00a0the various levels of schooling. \u00a0(So many forms of capital, so little time). \u00a0Assuming the premise that extra curricular activities allow students to develop important skills outside of the classroom is true, these researchers found that involvement in these extra curricular activities correlates to a “1.5 to 2 percent improvement in test scores and a 5 percent improvement in Bachelors degree attainment” (Lipscomb, 2007).<\/p>\n

\"Human<\/a><\/p>\n

I then looked at\u00a0the HMC, which stands for “the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference,” which the Croft\u00a0school is apart of. \u00a0From what I gather off of their website,the HMC is an association that supports independent\u00a0institutions. Through supporting these institutions the HMC\u00a0is also able to instill its\u00a0values and opinions on the academic process. \u00a0It’s like another step in the process of being, and maintaining your status as, elite. \u00a0If you click on over to the page where the extra curricular opportunities are discussed (it can be found as a link stemming from the “why a HMC School?”) you will find the organizations\u00a0proud declaration that HMC schools, “provide unrivaled co-curricular opportunities enabling children to develop a wide range of talents, skills and abilities” (HMC website). \u00a0So, the HMC\u00a0also believes that these activities outside of the classroom enhance one’s potential for success academically and potentially in life in general, as the website\u00a0claims that “exceptional co-curricular programmes ensures that HMC independent schools are successful and outstanding” (HMC Website). \u00a0The programs provided are described \u00a0as “exceptional” and “unrivaled”, as if to suggest that the students success in and out of school will transitively be “exceptional” and “unraveled”. \u00a0The HMC’s site also\u00a0mentions the potential for students to develop into professional athletes, even Olympic medalists through their programs and facilities. \u00a0Differing from that first article I read, in which these sports and clubs were for the purpose of positively supporting an adolescents development, the HMC school would like to put that on steroids in order to foster the eliteness of their clubs and sports.<\/p>\n

\"Road<\/a><\/p>\n

I figured if I want to potentially analyze a Croft\u00a0students involvement in extra curricular sports or activities, it would only be fair to do so on myself as well. \u00a0I like to keep things fair. \u00a0So, my primary involvement in extra curricular activities, at Colby and also in middle and high school, is\u00a0sports. Specifically, I run track (read: cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track cause its never ending fun) for Colby, as I did for my high school. \u00a0In thinking about the ways in which track supported my development\u00a0(thinking back to high school here when I believe\u00a0most of my maturing took place) I do think that sports, I am referencing track specifically, allowed me to develop positively, specifically as it increased my self confidence, ability to manage stress, and work collaboratively with a team or authority figure (i.e. my coach) with one goal in mind. \u00a0As silly as it may seem,\u00a0relentless\u00a0training to merely chop off some seconds on the time it takes me run around an oval provided me with confidence in my ability to achieve. \u00a0In this way, and others, I do see the importance of extra curricular activities as an important factor in a school’s success. \u00a0Looking at the way in which it boosts my potential human capital, I think the only benefits are from the skills acquired through my participation. \u00a0Colby College has beautiful facilities and a wonderful coaching staff, and yet we do not emphasize the perfecting of sports, rather the effort and hard work of sports. \u00a0As a Division 3 school, the focus simply cannot be on being the best. We are not. I am not. How does Colby instill its institutional values, then, into the athletics department?\u00a0 I think that, at Colby, the benefits that come with extra curricular sports and clubs come from the community of that particular activity, and the pride in working towards something you choose in addition to academics. \u00a0In this way, I can see how Colby’s values are reinforced through athletics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n

\n
Blomfield, C.J. & Barber, B.L. J Youth Adolescence (2011) 40: 582. doi:10.1007\/s10964-010-9563-0<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
Lipscomb, S. (2007, August). Secondary school extracurricular involvement and academic achievement: A fixed effects approach.\u00a0Economics of Education Review,<\/i>\u00a026<\/i>(4), 463-474. http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.econedurev.2006.02.006<\/dd>\n
<\/dd>\n
http:\/\/www.hmc.org.uk\/about-hmc\/why-choose-a-hmc-school\/co-curricular-opportunities\/<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n\n
\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My research group chose to focus on the way in which\u00a0extra curricular activities impact all aspects of the Croft\u00a0School’s educational experience, including academics, social structure, as well at the culture of the extra curricular activities themselves. \u00a0Through this research, I have come across various perspectives on the purpose and significance of incorporating extra curricular activities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6459,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1590,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions\/1590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}