By Jennifer Johnson
We all remember showing up to Phys. Ed. class with a mix of trepidation and excitement. It was a place to stretch ourselves, both literally and figuratively, share sides of ourself that may not show up in the classroom, interact with others, and have fun. Health and Physical Education (HPE) is a critical arena where students’ self-awareness, attitude toward themselves, and their ability to be part of a team are formed and shaped. Unlike the classroom, HPE offers feedback on how our actions – and our way of being – contribute to performance, teamwork, leadership, success, and failure – all in real-time.
Integrating Social Emotional Leadership programming into HPE enhances students’ development of essential life skills. Through the language of Captain and Poet, students gain a deeper understanding of their inner drivers and strengths and are empowered with self-awareness and self-leadership skills that go beyond physical education to support their success academically, socially, and personally.
Who are the Captain and Poet?
Our inner Captain is the part of us that takes charge, makes decisions, tries new things, gains confidence through experience, perseveres, rises to challenges, and takes us out of our comfort zone to become the next best version of ourselves. Our inner Poet gives us access to everything that makes us human – our emotions, capacity for empathy, our imagination and creativity, what is in our heart – our values, dreams and aspirations, our moral compass, and even our intuition and gut feelings.
When the Captain and Poet are in balance and partnership, we show up as our best selves. The Captain is there to nudge the Poet to be more self-expressed, to share our gifts, and to have the emotional courage to go after our dreams. The Poet is there to guide and inspire the Captain’s actions from a place of inner knowing and to factor in the other Poets around them.
Too much Captain can lead to “bossiness” or a lack of teamwork while too little Captain can hold us back from reaching our full potential. Too much Poet results in us swimming in thoughts and emotions while too little Poet can leave our passions, insights, and talents on the bench.
How do they show up in HPE?
The Captain and Poet show up individually as well as in combination in HPE activities and games for understanding (TGfU). The Captain is the focus on skill development, decision-making (like whether to pass), drive, persistence, ambition, and execution. The Poet is the vision, the values by which we play, the creativity, and the glue of team dynamics. We can also see the magic of the combined Captain and Poet at a team level:
“The Poet shows up in the creativity and the playfulness and the positive energy that flows through individuals and the team when they are connected. It’s super contagious. The Captain is the organizing, the executive functioning of making decisions, leaning back on our training and the reps that we do to find your advantage, the strategy of your physique in the moment.”
Mike Anderson, Principal and U17 Basketball Coach
From self-awareness to self-leadership
Once students have a greater understanding of themselves and how their Captain and Poet are showing up (or not) in different situations, they are empowered with self-leadership – or the bandwidth to respond instead of just react. Providing language for our ways of doing (the Captain) and being (the Poet) enhances metacognition which gives students greater ownership over how they are showing up. They can begin to ask themselves:
- What unique traits and orientation to the game can I contribute to my team?
- What do I want to achieve here individually and as a team?
- Who do I want to become through this exercise or class?
Self-leadership then becomes the foundation of leadership abilities. When students suggest that the Captain is the leader, it offers a teachable moment: ask students to list the qualities of a great leader and quickly, they begin to see that effective leaders embody a balanced combination of Captain and Poet traits demonstrating that everyone has the potential to lead in their own authentic way.
Through the lens of the Provincial Curriculum
Captains & Poets also aligns to the Ontario HPE Curriculum Grades 1-8 (2019) providing various entry points for coaching and self-coaching.
Identification & Management of Emotions
The Poet provides ready access to complex emotions. We can encourage self-reflection:
- What does your Poet need right now?
- What can your Captain do to help?
Stress Management and Coping
We can acknowledge the impact of hardship on the Poet and then engage the Captain to take action and build resilience:
- What does my Poet want for my team right now?
- What steps can my Captain take to move forward in a positive way?
Positive Motivation and Perseverance
The Poet serves as the “why” behind our actions motivating the Captain and fueling our perseverance and development. Together, they foster a growth mindset and promote positive self-talk:
- I can’t hit the ball with the racquet…YET.
- My Poet’s dream is to make that shot. What is one small change I can make to my serve or shot that will make me more successful?
Critical and Creative Thinking
The creativity of the Poet combines with the executive functioning of the Captain, together embodying the art and science of sport. For example, if a dodge and weave around a larger opponent fails, students can reflect on improvements:
- My Poet can imagine the best approach and visualize it until it feels real.
- My Captain can draw on my Poet’s instincts to execute in the moment.
Healthy Relationships
Understanding ourselves enhances our ability to understand others, fostering social awareness and greater openness to collaborating with others. For example, Rashid’s reflective Poet and decisive Captain can assists with developing strategy from game to game; Mackenzie’s observant Poet and focused Captain can execute on a game-changing play; Matthew’s values-oriented Poet and positive Captain keeps everyone motivated and promotes sportsmanship in tough moments.
The most effective teams are made up of individuals who balance their own Captains and Poets and then combine them strategically with those of their teammates.
We can also ask collectively:
- If our team isn’t as aligned as it could be, “What traits could we build on in each player?
- On a scale of 1-10, how much did our Poets trust each other in that match? What are our Captains going to do about that in the next one?
Self-Awareness and Sense of Identity
Embracing the things that differentiate us (that are likely a clue to our gifts) teaches students to value diversity and how it contributes to success.
- What Captain and Poet traits are needed most right now for us to succeed?
- What untapped leadership potential are we leaving on the bench?
A new language for coaching and development
When educators understand a student’s unique inner drivers, they can tailor their feedback to the Captain and Poet in front of them:
- I admire your Poet’s passion for winning. Let’s slow your Captain down to remember the drills we did and collaborate more with your teammates.
- I saw your Poet’s intuition show up there. What held your Captain back from acting on it?
- How do you think your teammate’s Poet felt when you didn’t pass the ball? How does connecting our Poets in these situations make us a stronger team?
- Where was your Captain and/or Poet at during that play on a scale of 1-10? What would take you 1-2 points higher? What would a 10 look like?
By coaching directly to the Captain and Poet, students can access these parts of themselves in powerful ways to perform at higher levels and show up as their best selves. This translates to the educators in the room as well. Understanding your own unique Captain and Poet helps define your authentic coaching style and provides a repertoire of traits to draw on as you model and pivot your Captain and Poet in line with the needs of the players and the situation in front of you.
A 360° approach
Coaching youth to be effective athletes, teammates, and people is at the heart of HPE programming. It follows that introducing the Captain and Poet presents a unique opportunity to implement SEL school-wide as a result. Leveraging a shared language promotes student development on the court as well as in the classroom – which has the promise of greater impact on student well-being and success. For example, we can encourage a student to harness their persevering Captain that shows up on the soccer field when they are tackling a tough math problem.
Social Emotional Leadership is more crucial than ever as young people are being asked to tap into their inner resources in a dynamic world. When we integrate SEL into HPE, setting standards for high performance comes not at the expense of a positive culture but in tandem with it. HPE provides a unique opportunity to teach youth to recognize and draw on their innate resources to develop important life skills like collaboration, problem-solving, and resilience. By taking a 360°approach to the child – and school programming – we can demonstrate to them that they have everything they need inside of them to thrive, on and off the court. And ultimately, we can coach them to coach themselves.
If you are interested in learning more about SEL in HPE or your Authentic Coach Within, please go to https://captainsandpoets.com/champions/ or sign up for a one-on-one Discovery Session of your authentic coaching style: https://captainsandpoets.com/coaching-discovery-session/
This article was originally published in the CIS Summer Newsletter.