HOME SESSIONS ABOUT US CONTACT US
LEARNING
“Learning is what you do when you don't know what to do”
– Guy Claxton, Professor of Learning Sciences
Learning is different from teaching. Learning does not require lectures, lengthy demonstrations, complicated instructions etc. Learning requires exposure, praise and time. Learning can be enticed and elicited through questioning, through good/quick demonstrations and suggestions – but the main teacher should be the game/activity itself.
Football in 20 years time will be very different from the game today. The game will grow and change in ways we cannot imagine, just as it has done in the past 20 years. Which players will lead this growth and change? If we teach children only what we know, then we limit them to our own level of learning. We want our children to be better than us, to lead the game of the future – so allow them the freedom to develop their own style and skills (rather than just doing what you tell them or show them).
"The more experience the player gets at playing, the more they learn to read the clues, cues and triggers that constantly present themselves in the game and the more they will develop those lightning-quick assessing, predicting and adapting skills which will help them to move at the right speed, in the right direction and arrive at wherever they need to be, at the right time."
- Paul Holder, FA National Player Development Coach, 12-16
At MoF we believe that learning happens when children are faced with tricky situations that they need to find answers to. It might be how to defend during a 1v1 or how to keep the ball during a 2v2 etc. We believe that children need to experience as many of these situations as possible in order to maximize their learning. No two football situations are ever exactly the same, rather there are lots of similar situations that repeat themselves over and over. Players don’t need a prescribed answer to a situation or activity. They need the skills, confidence and creativity to find their own answers.