Texas A&M Commerce Men’s
Basketball
My research was conducted on the men’s basketball team
of Texas A&M University Commerce. The team recently won the Lone Star
Conference Tournament and entered the NCAA Division II playoffs. This is why I
wanted to find out more about their literacy. I visited the field site
frequently in order to get all the information needed for this research. I wanted
to understand the team’s literacy because every group and individual has its
own literacy.
Literacy is all around us. The
question concerning it is what literacy really is. One definition given by John
Szwed is that literacy is “the capacity to read and write” (Adkins 1) which
nowadays plays a big role in earning a living, achieving personal enlightenment
and enjoyment as well as maintaining a stable and democratic society and in
history helped in the rise of civilization. It also means to have competence or
knowledge in a defined area which does not have to be a tied to reading and
writing words but can also be something else. In the team’s case that is
Basketball. They know all about the sport and live it, even in their free time.
He adds that literacy is a necessity in education and modernity. As it is said, “The idea of knowledge and
competence is often part of our lives about literacy. What you are competent in
is what you are literate in.”. This describes perfectly what is considered as
literacy.
In order to understand the
literacy of and culture of certain different groups of people surrounding us,
you have to conduct research within them. Not only do you have to talk to the group
of people but you also have to study all their behavior and the way they
interact. A research like this is called ethnographic research and is conducted
by so-called ethnographers.
The research papers coming
from this are called ethnography. Ethnography is one of the two things that
make up culture. The study is the written down version that sums up the
fieldwork the researchers did. This getting to know the basketball team and
their ways is called fieldwork (Sunstein, Chiseri-Strater 4).
The fieldwork that I did on
the team consisted of observing and describing life, behaviors and language of
the certain group of people for the last two month. The ethnographic
researchers do that fieldwork in an attempt to understand cultures and by
observing learn the patterns of the others. This also helps them to understand
their own cultures better as they see how other groups work. Ethnography helps
people who did not conduct the research understand the cultures. Many people
like anthropologists, linguistics, sociologists, folklorists and a lot of other
groups use the ethnographer’s techniques to conduct their own researches in
their fields of study (Sunstein, Chiseri-Strater 3,4).
As I have said I did my
research within the cultural group of the men’s basketball team of the Texas
A&M University Commerce. In order to conduct this ethnographic research I studied
the literacy of the team. To conduct the research I attended practices and also
attended games to observe the ways that the men’s basketball team communicates
with each other, the way they behave with each other and how they interact with
one another. This is considered their literacy. While observing the men’s team,
I looked for a variety of communication starting from verbal all the way to
non-verbal such as signs they show each other. By observing the Texas A&M
University Commerce men’s Basketball team and their very own ways of
communication and interaction, I did field working.
While doing this fieldwork that is linked to
ethnographic research, I the researcher observed and described the way the
players are in connection with each other. I focused on their behavior with one
another, their coach, their life with basketball and finally, the language they
communicate in. In order to collect this data and get accurate information and
a better understanding of their communication I did not only go there once, but
several times over a collected time period.
I have also done an interview with one of the
players, which played a big role in what I found out because he helped me see
hoe the communication fits in the game and practice time.
The study will take place here at Texas
A&M University in the field house, where all the action takes place - the
basketball court! The field house is a very important location to observe the
language within the team because the sport takes place especially on the court.
By choosing to observe and collect data in the field house I could accurately
gather information on the men’s basketball team because they’ll be in their
natural habitat.
For doing research you always have to have
rules to follow because it is a sensitive matter as one has to conduct it while
making sure that one does not offend any of the objects or people researched
and not offending one’s audience. There are two core principles that are meant
to help you with this. Firstly, you have to have the principle of “no harm”
(beneficence) and secondly “do no harm” (non-malfeasance).
As a community of student athletes, the members of the
Men’s Basketball team serve the larger society by promoting the sport of
basketball. In order to embrace this sport, we require freedom of inquiry.
However, this freedom carries with it the responsibilities of professional
conduct. We intend this statement to embody reasonable norms for ethical
conduct in teaching and learning as well as in scholarship. The statement's
governing premises are as follows:
1. The responsibility for protecting free inquiry lies
first with athletic staff, who may be called on to speak out against the
unethical behavior or defend the academic and athletic freedom of students at
any rank. In addition, athletic staff members have ethical obligations to
Student Athletes, colleagues, and staff members; to their institutions, their
local communities, the profession at large, and society.
2. Our integrity as staff and student-athletes requires the responsible use of
evidence in developing arguments and fairness in hearing and reading the arguments
of both colleagues and Student Athletes.
3. As a community valuing free inquiry, we must be able to rely on the
integrity and the good judgment of our members. For this reason, we should not
- exploit or
discriminate against others on grounds such as race, ethnicity, national
origin, religious creed, age, gender, sexual preference, or disability
- sexually
harass Student Athletes , colleagues, or staff members
- use language
that is prejudicial or gratuitously derogatory
- make
capricious or arbitrary decisions affecting working conditions,
professional status, or academic freedom
- misuse
confidential information
- plagiarize
the work of others
- Practice
deceit or fraud on the academic community or the public
4. Free inquiry respects variety in the modes and
objects of investigation, whether traditional or innovative. We should defend
athletic practices against unfounded attacks from within or outside our
community.
5. Our teaching and inquiry must respect our own cultures and the cultures we
study.
6. Judgments of whether a line of inquiry is ultimately useful to Student
Athletes, colleagues, or society should not be used to limit the freedom of
scholars to pursue their research.
When researching any topic it is vital that one
respects all parties that are involved in the research. These parties include
the participants, the observers, and the readers. It is important to protect
the reputation and status of the people or objects being observed. While
respecting the privacy of the participants the researcher also needs to take
care to acquire valid unbiased data. When there is a bias the data will then be
corrupted and cannot be used. A bias is also a single for discrimination and
malpractice.
Code of Conduct
1. Athletic Staff should represent to their Student
Athletes the values of free inquiry.
2. At the outset of each course, Athletic Staff should provide Student Athletes
with a statement on approaches to the course materials, on the goals of the
course, and on the standards by which Student Athletes will be evaluated.
3. Athletic Staff should offer constructive and timely evaluation of Student
Athletes ' work and specify the times and places when Athletic Staff are
available to consult with Student Athletes.
4. Athlete-student collaboration entails the same obligation as other kinds of
research. Athletic Staff and Student Athletes should acknowledge appropriately
any intellectual indebtedness.
5. Athletic Staff whose research in any way includes Student Athletes as
subjects must make clear the obligations, rewards, and consequences of
participation.
6. Athletic Staff, in devising requirements for written work and oral
discussion, have an ethical responsibility to respect both Student Athletes '
privacy and their emotional and intellectual dignity.
7. Athletic Staff should keep confidential what they know about Student
Athletes ' academic standing, personal lives, and political or religious views
and should not exploit such personal knowledge.
8. Athletic Staff must provide unbiased, professional evaluation of Student
Athletes seeking admission to graduate study or applying for financial support.
9. Athletic Staff should provide direction to Student Athletes, especially
graduate Student Athletes; should respect their scholarly interests; and should
not exploit them for personal or professional ends. Athletic Staff should not
expect Student Athletes, graduate or otherwise, to perform unremunerated or
unaccredited teaching, research, or personal duties.
10. Athletic Staff working with teaching assistants have a special
responsibility to provide them with adequate preparation, continuing guidance,
and informed evaluation.
11. Athletic Staff must weigh the academic performance of each student on its
merits.
12. In overseeing and responding to the work of graduate Student Athletes,
whether they are in courses or at the thesis or dissertation stage, advisers
should periodically inform them of their standing in the program.
13. Before graduate Student Athletes begin searching for jobs, advisers and Athletic
Staff should provide them with adequate and timely counseling and should be
prepared to write honest and constructive letters of recommendation. Advisers
or Athletic Staff who doubt their ability to evaluate a student fairly should
decline the task of furnishing such a letter.
Informed Consent Form
You have been asked to
participate in an ethnographic study to be conducted on the men’s basketball
team. This is done for the English 1302 class of Professor Frank Alexander’s at
Texas A&M University-Commerce. The study is completely voluntarily and you
may choose to give as much or as little information as you want to. Any
information given will be used to write an essay at the end of the course in
order to complete a study of literacy across several different sub-cultures.
All information given will be treated completely confidential between the
participant and the researcher until the final work is completed at which point
the participant may request to view this final study before it is released in order
to ensure all ethical guidelines discussed were not violated.
By signing this document I understand Rebecca Mueller
has permission to release any information I divulge during any part of my
participation in this research project. I understand all guidelines and if at
any point I choose NOT to participate in this study I may contact Rebecca
Mueller at rmueller1@leomail.tamuc.edu/ (903)-335-8793.
____________________________________________________________________
Signature
___________________________________________________________________
Printed Name
____________________
Date
This form is very important for
the use of the information that I have gathered from things I learned while
watching the team. It allows me to use the information that I got in my
research paper and blog.
In addition to visiting the
field site, practicing and interviewing on of the players, I looked at pictures
of the team and analyzed what they show. Each of the six pictures has a
explanation explaining the picture and what is on it.
This is a group picture of the basketball team.
Displayed are all the players of the team in yellow jerseys as well as the
coaching staff and the trainers that are assigned to the basketball team,
displayed in blue. The jerseys they are wearing show the word ‘lions’ which is
the name of the sports teams of this university. All these elements need to
work together to make the team work.
This is the basketball court in the field house
at Texas A&M University Commerce. It is where all the action happens,
including practice and the home games. You win or lose on this court and through
practice you determine which one it is. This is where the bonding of the team
happens and where plays are decided. The players practice literacy here.
These are the proof of what the university's
men's basketball team has achieved. They have done a lot in the team the
basketball team has been part of the athletic department. They represent the
university very good, especially recently through their win of the Lone Star
conference tournament. All this is work done through literacy practices like
information sheets given out by the coach and through meetings held.
The coach of the basketball team plays a very
important role in the team. He watches over them and helps them get better in
what they do. He also defines the literacy used in the game as teaches the
players what they need to play. Through him they learn how to behave, how to
play and how to interact with each other and the opponent. They have to learn
all this in order to be successful on the court during the games.
This is what everything is about, an important
part of the sport. The basketball is what it revolves around. You have to play
this literacy object good to win the game. In order to do this the players have
to learn about it in practice and in interacting with their coach an their
teammates.
The relationship between the players and how
they interact between each other plays the most important role in the game and
practice. This is what everything is build upon. They may tease each other but
this helps them build their connection. If this connection is not established,
it will not work out for them playing together in the game. They need to be
able to rely on each other and to be selfless in some situations to bring the
team forward.
Through
watching games and practices and interviewing one of the players I found out
that the players and coaches have certain language and terms that help them
communicate. Through using these terms they can interact more easily and quick
which is an important factor while playing, especially for understanding each other’s play calls and certain
defense/offence terms. This literacy is used between teammates whereas they
also have specific terms for talking with the coach and him talking with them.
Without these terms and hand signs the
communication would take more time than they have in a game. By shortening a
sentence into one term that everybody understands it gives the players time to
react to the other team and get the basketball to score points and make the
game go smoothly. While interviewing one of the players I also found out that
their communication is hard sometimes because they do not agree on what they
want to do next. This makes it hard to communicate even though the specific
terms that make up part of their literacy in the sport usually makes it easier
for them and faster.
With getting all this information I
found out that the basketball uses literacy a lot. They use it to make and
important factor of the game go faster, their communication. Without it the
team wouldn’t work as smoothly as it does nowadays. All people on the team,
players and coaches have to be literate in the sport as well as in the specific
teams the Commerce team has.
Works cited
Adkins, Tabetha. Ethnographic
Inquiries In Writing. Southlake, Texas: Fontainehead, 2010. Print.
Sunstein, Bonnie Stone and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater. FieldWorking: Reading and Writing. 4th
Edition. Boston, MA: Belforn/St. Martin’s. 2012. Print.
"Statement of Professional
Ethics." Read the Statement Online. Modern Language Association,
2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
TAMUC. "Texas
A&M University-Commerce Marketing Communications Photography." Flickr.
Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
Annotated Bibliography
Bade, Tim. "Could College Basketball Be The
Answer To Literacy In Second And Third World Countries?" Rant Sports.
N.p., 27 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
While focusing on
the literacy they talk about helping Senegal with the sport of basketball. With
doing this they are trying to find new ways of teaching the country and
especial kids in the country literacy. Through doing a fun thing like
basketball the approach should be easier with little kids.
Harvin, Al. "Slam Dunk: NBA
Dispatches Its Stars To Be Role Models For Literacy." Black Issues Book Review 7.5 (2005): 27-29. Literary Reference Center. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
The article gives
the information that a lot of active and non-active basketball players spending
time with children. They are reading books to them in order to teach them more
about literacy. This is very important for the children in their learning
process.
Kertes, Tom. "Learning
Literacy Through Basketball Heroes." Cover Story. N.p., Oct.
2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
This article talks
about how we should approach kids with basketball heroes in order to teach them
literacy. They go to them and talk to them about the sport of basketball as
well as literacy on the court as well as off the court. This should be more
helpful than sending non-athletes.
Sullivan, Philip J., Tammy
Whitaker-Campbell, and Mike MacKay. "Physical Literacy In Coaching
Education Materials: A Case Study Of Canada Basketball." Physical & Health Education Journal 76.1
(2010): 32-35. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 14
Apr. 2015.
This
article talks about the literacy in the teaching of the sport of basketball. It
focuses on teaching in long-term athletic development. It gives you a step to
step explanation of how the process is to be performed. It gives you a lot of
examples for what you can do to teach the students.
TEAM,
AFL. "Ontario Basketball Partners with Active for Life to Promote Physical
Literacy." AFL. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 15.
This article talks
about teaching physical literacy through playing basketball. This company is
very focused on helping kids develop physical literacy. They do not only teach
them through basketball but also through different sports.
