방과후 활동_경쟁적 아이자본

http://newspeppermint.com/2013/11/13/%EB%B0%A9%EA%B3%BC%ED%9B%84-%ED%99%9C%EB%8F%99%EC%9D%B4-%EC%96%B4%EB%96%BB%EA%B2%8C-%EA%B5%90%EC%9C%A1-%EB%B6%88%ED%8F%89%EB%93%B1%EC%9D%84-%EB%8D%94-%EC%8B%AC%ED%99%94%EC%8B%9C%ED%82%A4%EB%82%98/

좋은 내용

결국 교육을 통해 어떤 가치를 배울 수 있느냐를 쉽게 설명해 두었다. 

관계속에서 살아가고 한정된 자원을 두고 경쟁해야 하는 사회구조속에서 아래 내용을 일꺠우는 것은 중요

1. 이기는 것의 중요성(The Importance of Winning)

인터뷰 과정에서 자식이 축구 교실에 참여하고 있는 부모는 제게 말했습니다. “저는 우리 아들이 축구에서 배운 경쟁의 가치를 자라면서 다른 종류의 운동을 하거나 학교를 지원하거나 혹은 직업을 찾을 때도 적용했으면 해요.” 이러한 활동에 참여하면서 경쟁하고 이기는 것의 의미를 배운 어린이들은 경쟁적인 학교 시스템이나 노동 시장에 더 잘 준비하는 경향이 있습니다.

This is essential in acquiring Competitive Kid Capital. One soccer parent told me, “I think it’s important for [my son] to understand that [being competitive] is not going to just apply here, it’s going to apply for the rest of his life. It’s going to apply when he keeps growing up and he’s playing sports, when he’s competing for school admissions, for a job, for the next whatever.” Such an attitude prepares children for winner-take-all settings like the school system and lucrative labor markets.

2. 지는 것으로부터 배우는 것 (Learning from Loss)

경쟁에서 지는 것으로부터 어린이들은 끈기와 집중력을 배웁니다. 어린이들은 다음 경기에서 이기기 위해서 어떻게 해야 할지를 배웁니다. 부모들은 말합니다. “살면서 항상 이길수는 없어요. 삶은 이기는것과 지는것의 끊임없는 부침이에요. 저는 우리 아들에게 항상 이길수는 없다는 것을 가르쳐주고 싶어요. 하지만 경쟁에서 진다는 것을 경험하면 인생에서 승리자가 되기 위해서 어떤 삶을 살아야 하는지를 더 잘 배울 수 있죠.”

Learning from loss involves perseverance and focus; kids are taught how to bounce back from a loss and win the next time. One mom explained, “The winning and losing is phenomenal. I wish it was something that I learned because life is really bumpy. You’re not going to win all the time and you have to be able to reach inside and come back.” Often kids have to lose in order to learn what it takes to win—and appreciate success. One father summarized how he tried to raise a son to be a winner in life: “This is what I’m trying to get him to see: that he’s not going to always win. And then from a competitive point of view, with him it’s like I want him to see that life is, in certain circumstances, about winning and losing. And do you want to be a winner or do you want to be a loser? You want to be a winner! There’s a certain lifestyle that you have to lead to be a winner, and it requires this, this, this and this. And if you do this, this, this and this, more than likely you’ll have a successful outcome.”

3. 시간 관리 (Time Management)

주어진 시간 안에서 어떻게 성공할것인가를 배우는 것 역시 매우 중요한 능력입니다. 게임이나 토너먼트 모두 시간 제한이 있습니다. 또 스포츠 경기 스케쥴도 매우 빡빡합니다. 어린이들은 자신의 시간을 어떻게 관리해야하는지를 배워야 합니다. 시간 관리는 나중에 바쁜 컨설턴트가 되거나 CEO가 되었을 때 매우 중요한 기술이기도 합니다.

Learning how to succeed given time limits is also a critical skill. Games, tournaments, and routines all have time limits. Furthermore, the competition schedule is also demanding, cramming many events into a weekend or short week. On top of that, children need to learn how to manage their own schedules, something they might have to do someday as busy consultants and CEOs. One eight-year-old boy revealed how busy his young life is when he told me what soccer teaches him: “Dodging everything—like when we have to catch a train, and there are only a few more minutes, we have to run and dodge everyone. So, soccer teaches that [skill].”

4. 적응력(Adaptability)

방과후 과외 활동은 어린이들에게 적응력을 요구하는 환경에서 어떻게 행동하고 경쟁해야 하는지를 가르칩니다. 경쟁적인 어린이들, 특히 경기에서 이기는 어린이들은 경기장이 시끄럽거나 산만하거나 춥거나 덥거나, 크거나 작거나에 관계없이 이기는 방법을 배웁니다. 아들이 체스를 배우는 한 엄마는 다음과 같이 말합니다. “주변 환경이 어떻든간에 집중할 수 있는 능력을 배워야 해요. 제가 로스쿨에 들어가기위해 LSAT을 볼때나 대학원 입학 시험인 GRE를 볼 때 비슷한 능력이 요구되었어요. 주변 환경에 무관하게 집중하는 능력은 단순히 체스 경기에만 필요한게 아니에요.”

The fourth ingredient in the Competitive Kid Capital recipe is teaching children how to perform and compete in environments that require adaptation. Competitors, and especially winners, learn how to adapt to loud, distracting, cold, hot, large, or small settings where they compete. The following quote from a mom of a fourth-grader links the competitive environment of chess tournaments to performing well on standardized tests: “It’s that ability to keep your concentration focused, while there’s stuff going on around you…I mean to see those large tournaments, in the convention centers, I know it is hard. I did that to take the bar exam, and the LSAT I took for law school, and GREs. You do that in a large setting, but some people are thrown by that, just by being in such a setting. Well that’s a skill, and it’s a skill and it’s an ability to transfer that skill. It’s not just a chess skill. It’s a coping-with-your-environment skill.”

5. 압박속에서도 우아함을 지키기 (Grace Under Pressure)

방과후 체육 활동에서 어린이들의 행동이나 성과는 전혀 만나본적 없는 많은 관중들에 의해 공적인 장소에서 진행됩니다. 아이가 댄스를 배우는 엄마는 다음과 같이 말합니다. “다른 사람들 앞에서 춤을 추고 공연을 한다는 것은 아이에게 자신의 자세에 대한 인식과 자신감을 심어주죠. 나중에 아이가 커서 입사 면접을 본다고 생각해보세요. 처음 보는 사람들 앞에서도 우리 아이는 발레 트레이닝을 받았기 때문에 허리를 꼿꼿이 펴고 자신감 있는 자세로 앉아 있을 수 있을거에요. 당신이 알지 못하는 수백명의 사람 앞에서 춤 공연을 해야 한다는 사실은 아이에게 자신감을 가르치죠.”

Finally, in this pressure-filled competitive environment children’s performances are judged and assessed in a very public setting by strangers. One dance mom explained this fifth skill in the following way: “I think it definitely teaches you awareness of your body and gives you a definite different stance and confidence that you wouldn’t have…When she has to go to a job interview, she’s going to stand up straight because she’s got ballet training; she’s not going to hunch and she’s going to have her chin up and have a more confident appearance. The fact that it is not easy to get up on a stage and perform in front of hundreds or thousands of people, strangers, and to know that you’re being judged besides, definitely gives you a level of self-confidence that can be taken to other areas so again if she has to be judged by a teacher or when she’s applying for a job she’ll have more of that confidence, which helps you focus.”

오늘날 대부분의 경쟁적인 방과후 활동은 대부분이 부모가 따로 돈을 내고 배워야 하는 것입니다. 따라서 부모 소득에 따라서 이러한 활동에 참여하는 학생들이 달라집니다. 방과후 활동은 단순히 레크레이션이 아니라 미국에서 불평등이 심화되는 이유 중 하나입니다. (The Atlantic)

The parents I met understand that missing a goal on the soccer field when you are eight won’t directly determine your future. But the resiliency you learn by coming back to play again likely will translate into other advantages later in life. The vast majority of today’s competitive afterschool programs are pay-to-play, which means the development of Competitive Kid Capital is differentially distributed by income. The goal made or missed at eight years old might not matter, but the skills acquired by engaging in competition do matter to elite schools and employers—emphasizing the real connection between the achievement gap and this accepted system of kid credentialing. Afterschool activities are not just about recreation, they are another way that not everyone in the United States is playing to win on a level field.