LEARMNG POOL: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY

Colette Peters

Faculty of Education

Submitted in partial fulnllment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Education

Faculty of Graduate Studies

The University of Western Ontario

London, Ontario

August, 1999

0 Colette Peters 1999

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Abstract

This thesis uses nanative inquiry methodology to investigate the learning

experiences of tbree champion pool piayers. The research question is "How do people

leam pool?", with a focus on those attaining the highest leveb of performance. Concepts

from various fields of research (including expert acquisition, sports psychology, and

Lave arid Wengef s legitimate penpherd participation) are drawn on to create an

interpetive fFamework with which to analyse the interviews. Three major themes are

identi fied : Players Sharing Knowledge: An Expert Sub-culture, Solo-Iearning and

Practice, and The Mental Game: Expertise in Cornpetition. Narrative methods used

include both modes identified by Folkinghome (1995): the more traditional "analysis of

narratives" and "narrative analysis." The culmination of the "narrative analysis" category

is the composition of a short story intendeci to synthesize the research findings imo a form

accessible to a wider audience. This research reveals the three playen to be active

learners who use cognitive strategies that are similar to those adopted by advanced chess

players to improve pedormance. The hdings contained in this thesis are applicable for

al1 researchers interesteci in how people leam ( i and out of the school system, in pool,

and in sport).

1 wouid f i s t Iike to thank the players, who Save generously of their time to make

this research a reality: 1 learned a great deal f?om es& of you.

The input of m y supervisor, Dr. Aniko Varpalotai and advisory cornmittee, Dr.

Perry Klein, was important to the completion of this thesis, and much appreciated.

Thanks to Wendy Saby of Media Production for aü kinds of cornputer-related and

other support.

Findy, to James: Thanks for believiag in me and helping m e make my drearns

corne tme!

List of Appendices

Appendix 1 Interview Questions .......................................................................... 1 1 6

Appendix Il Letter o f Information .............................................................................. -122

Appendix III Glossary of Pool-Related Terms ............................................................. -123

Appendix IV Ethics Approvai ... .... ................................................................................ -126

Works Cited ..................................................... .,. ........................................................ -127

134 ...................................................................................................................................

vii

Just Play: Part One

AM stood nervously in the doorway of the "Rack 'Em" pool hall. Why had she

even corne here? This certainly wasn't in the job description of a student teacher: "Visits

student who skips class in pool hall?" Nope. And yet, here she was, feeling selfkonscious

in her "teacher clothes," a second-hand blazer she and her Mom had picked out together

at the Goodwill store. Why not go in and check it out? At least she'd been able to fhd out

where Jarnie was. His fiend had been reluctant to te& ta say the least, until she puUed

out her best teacher glare. He would remain nameless, she had promised.

Why she here, anyways? Perhaps to satisfL her own sense of curiosity about

her student. Jamie reminded her a bit of herseif in high school: she had always been on

the outside, an awkward observer of things, and she saw this in him, too. Although he did

not seem to be weli-liked by her supervising teacher, Am could see that Jamie had talent

as a writer, talent that was not reflected in his current grade in the course. She thought of

Jarnie's bright eyes, so often lifted to the ceiiing at the injustice of each new assignment.

"1 guess I'm here to see i f 1 cm heip," she thought, "which, 1 won't do much of if 1 just

stand here, so here 1 go."

It wasn't that the pool hall was a scary place - well, she had heard stories - but as

she wound down the long staircase, it was more nat knowing what she was going to fhd.

A den of iniquity? Hardy. She tumed the corner. Her eyes had not adjusted to the

darkness, as it seemed not a ray of sunlight reached down here. Row upon row of tables

filled the huge raom, lights shining onto the empty greens. It wasn't hard to locate Jamie,

on the only busy table in the fiont row.

2

She waiked around to the bar area, where she could watch out of the way. Jamie

was playing some older man, and it Cidn't look like it was just for fûn. Both of them were

concentrating intensely. She scanneci the table, just one solid, one stripe, and the eight

ball rernaining on the table. Jamie shot for the soiid, and it was down, then went for the

eight baii but missed. The other man shot, but Ann thought he shot the wrong ball, the

eight bal4 and then he sunk the stripe. Ann was wnîùsed. This must be some new game.

Jamie racked the balls in a diamond shape. Yes, this definitely was different than

what she had played before. The other man broke the baiis with a sound like a cannon!

Suddenly, he was smiling, and Jamie stood up to shake his hand. The game was over.

Ann saw Jamie hand the man something, and realized that it was a five do1Iar biii. Jamie

walked up to the bar shaking his head, and that was when he recognized her.

"Miss, uh -" he faltered.

"Miss Sheridan, but you can just cal1 me A m outside of school."

"What are you doing here?"

" 1 guess 1 could ask the same of you, I'm here on my spare, which is right after Our

English class, which you missed again." A m tried to Iook disapproviag in a teacherly sort

of way.

Jamie just shrugged. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"1 don't name my sources, it's bad for businass." She motioned back to the table. "So what

happened just now?"

Jamie rolled his eyes in that now familiar gesture. "1 lost: that guy's the best in the city. 1

almost had him, and then he gets that nine on the break. As if he needs that luck.. .there

3

goes my lunch money."

Suddeniy Jamie seemed to be feeling a lot better. "Say, Miss Sheridan, since you're here,

how about a game?"

Chapter One: Introduction

The invitation

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce you to some passionate leamers. They

are researchers, who share their findings regularly with peers in their chosen field. In

order to rise to their current level of performance, each of them has dedicated

approximately twenty years of praaice and study. Thousands of hours have been spent

gaining the skills which they strive to maintain, and improve. Their knowledge spms

physics, sport, and psychology. Their laboratory does not reside in a local university,

however, but in the local pool hall.

Understandably, perhaps the local pool hall would not at first impression appear

to be an active educational site. The stereotypes of such a place may be al1 that you have

ri& now: a dingy, dark smoke-filled room in which money is lost and won by hustlers,

such as "Fast Eddy" Felson, and kids skipping high school. Over the course of this thesis,

I wiil be seeking to replace that with a different image. An image of a place where players

striving for expert performance are supported by a sub-culture in which learning is

valued. In fact, a place where, as we shall see, cften with little formal instruction, pool

players use practice strategies similar to those of advanced chess players.

You are invited into this world, to hear pool players dedicated to excellence

disniss their learning.

The Ouestion

My research question is simple: How do pn)ple learn pool? My interest in this

question cornes out of a passionate interest in the sport which intensified at about the

same time 1 began my Master's degree in Education here at U. W.O.. As 1 became

immersed in the pool h d , stubbordy determined ta improve my game, 1 eventually came

upon the core of dedicated players which 1 would define as the leaming-positive

subculture. 1 became fascinated that when playing one of these players, they would

always have a suggestion about another shot to try, or a tip on technique, or even a tip on

the mental game. Before 1 knew these players, 1 hadn't been leanüng much at dl. Now,

playing them, it was as if 1 had stumbled into a loosely structured learning CO-op. What

these players offered was not a school but on an informai basis, 1 was being offered

knowledge as quickly as 1 could absorb it-

1 became fascinated with excellence in the sport of pool and decided to learn what

players who achieved high levels of success in cornpetitive play would Say about their

learning experiences. And so, 1 i n t e ~ e w e d a two-the Men's World Amateur Senior

Eiçht-bal1 champion, the Canadian Women's Nine-bal1 champion, also a former world

amateur snooker champion, and the three-tirne, reigning Women's World Nine-bail

champion. How did they leam pool? From my own experiences, 1 had drafted a long Iist

of interview questions to receive answers on many different aspects of learning,

technique, mental game issues, coaching and much more. The interviews provided a

wealth of information on how these players leamed pool how they seek to maintain their

performance, and how they face tough cornpetition. Each of the i n t e ~ e w s was

6

interpreted for each respondent as the story of "How 1 leamed to play pool." 1 agree with

Carter (1993), who argues that a story is "a theory of something. What we tell and how

we tell it is a revelation of what we believe" (p. 9). Thus, through the i n t e ~ e w s I

collected the theov of "How 1 learned to play pool" fiom each of the respondents. What

follows is an examination of what readings were available and usefùl to illuminate these

stories.

An Intemretive Framework

With Little or no established literature on the learning of pocket billiards

emanating fiom academic study, my cboices for interpretive literature were wide open.

What 1 chose, which is admittedly one choice of many, was to draw primarily fiom one

established field in cognitive psychology: expert acquisition. The reason that this field

immediately appealed to me is that one of the questions of interest to these researchers is:

What do people attainiag the highest levels of performances in different domains (Le.,

chess, music, swirnming) have in common? By reading research such as this, 1 was able

to compare what other experts, for example in chess, were doing to improve performance

with what 1 knew the pool players were doing.

In tbis way, 1 explored to what extent pool expertise is similar to these other forms

of expertise, but only to the extent that the use of this literature illuminates the learning of

pool. Thus, this research is not an exhaustive study of expert acquisition in pool, but a

study of how three expert pool players leamed pool, enhanced by many concepts arising

out of the expert acquisition iïterature. This study is similady, although to a lesser extent,

7

enhanced by the concept of "legitimate peripheral F articipation," as introduced by Lave

and Wenger (1 991) to explore the "social character*' of learning. Thus, readings in the

interpretive fiamework were chosen because they containeci concepts with important

implications for the learning of pool,

The development of my interpretive fiamework was fùelled by the mutual

interaction of the readings and the interviews. 1 had begun reading about expert

acquisition long before the i n t e ~ e w s started, and thus, the interview questions were

inspired by concepts fiom the fieId. Howwer, after the interviews, the themes that stood

out so strongly caiied for a re-vision of what expert acquisition research could help

illuminate. 1 continueci reading, seeking concepts and studies that could fùrther

understanding of the themes, and then returned to the interviews once more. The result is

an integrated interpretive framework that draws on dEerent iiiuminating concepts for

each theme identiiied fiom the interviews. The mutual interaction o c c u ~ g in this

research could continue beyond this thesis, as my findings offer unique insights into the

sport of pool that could contribute to the research in these other fields.

Methodolom: A Narrative Inauiq

A narrative inquiry was chosen as the approach to this research. Through the

course of each interview, 1 wanted to collect the many-faceted story fiom each

participant, of "How 1 learned pool." My questions provided a fiamework whicb would

more readily allow for comparison across the three lndividual expenences. (The degree to

which this was satisfactory and successfid will be explored fÙrther in *y methodological

chapter.) In addition, my expenence as a scholar of literature made me more appreciative

of a research approach which took as its fùndamental beiief the importance of story in Our

lives. As Lea and West (1995) observe, "A changing story is the prerequisite of a

changing self" (p. 1 84).

To embody a narrative approach, 1 employed vzried tactics in this thesis. The first

was the inclusion of autobiography, which brings my own subjectivity to the forefront in

rny research. Maurice Punch (1994) observes that in qualitative inquiry, the researcher is

"his or her own research instrument" ($34). By hcluding my own experiences alongside

those of my respondents, I self-consciously draw attention to this dynamic in my narrative

inquiry. Another was my choice of a moment in each interview to represent the player as

a learner and cornpetitor. The moment 1 chose was inteationally symbolic, and

represented the "joumey" of the atidete to their current level: the purpose of this exercise

was to crystaiiîze the spirit of their story as 1 perceived it. Finally, 1 decided to create a

narrative as part of my research findings. The story, cdled "Just Play," is my attempt to

synthesize the spirit of the four interviews, viewed in the light of expert acquisition. Thus,

pieces, moments, thoughts, and feelings elicited by the three interviews are brought

together in a creative narrative which seeks to explore the knowledge gained in the thesis

in a mode which is not a traditionally acadernic mode of communication.

A~piicability

To summarize issues raised in regards to my interpretive fiamework and

methodology, 1 believe this thesis makes an important contribution to knowledge because

9

it explores a reaim of learning that has to date been given Little, or no attention. Thus, the

findings themselves make a unique contribution to knowledge. In addition, researchers in

expert acquisition have caiied for a more complete picture of expertise (Bereiter and

Scardarnalia, 1993), which my narrative methodology has provided through qualitative

interviews witb the expert pool players. Similarly, withh the re!aim of narrative inqujg

there have been calls for more inquiry into learning, as opposed to the more popular

subject of teaching, or teachers' stories (Jalongo, 1995): my thesis also adds to

knowledge fiom this perspective . F W y , my synthesis of research hdings into the form

of a short story will hopefully inspire thought and discussion on the LiMts and

possibilities of the "narrative" in narrative inquiry. 1 have learned so much fiom the

players who shared their story with me, and I hope the revelation of the 1earn.g culture

of the pool hall wiii open others' eyes as mine have been opened.

Structure

This thesis is organized into five chapters, which are interspersed with

instdlrnents of my short story "Just Play." The first chapter is this introductory chapter,

which is followed by the second installment of the short story "Just Play." Each brief

instailment of the story, about three pages long, will appear in between the chapters until

it is completed before the conclusion, Chapter Five.

Chapter Two introduces the important concepts for my interpretive framework,

and prepares the reader for its use in the founh chapter. 1 begio by reviewing some of the

readings in various areas that 1 conducted before i d e n m g the most productive

10

framework for myself. In this way, 1 provide a rationaie for the reading choices h t were

made to infonn the thesis and familiarize the reader with the research itself. Readings

used to create the interpretive fiarnework are not reviewed individuaiiy. but organized

around the key concepts that will be used in the interpretive fiarnework (an example is

the term "deiiberate practice," which is defined and iliuminated via various studies to lay

the foundation for interpreting the practice of the players.) Thus, Chapter Two begins the

movement towards understanding the pool player and pool hall beyond the stereotypes

by providing the fiarnework through which we wili view the words of the players.

The third chapter is concemed with methodology. 1 begin by explaining the

rationale behind my choice of methodology. Then, as narrative inqujl rnay or may not

be famiiiar to the reader, 1 define what a narrative is for the purposes of my research. The

remainder of this chapter then explores the way in which this thesis represents a narrative

inquhy, and the extent to which 1 achieved my goals for this aspect of the thesis.

The fourth chapter presents my findings regarding the learning of pool,

interwoven with my own autobiographical experiences. This chapter is diMded into three

separate themes, which arose fiom my readings of the interviews. The first theme is:

"Players Shariig Knowledge: An Expert Sub-Culture." This theme explores the

experiences al1 players described of learning fiom other players, and discusses to what

extent such sharing is representative of processes and learnùig cultures found in the

expertise Literature. The second theme is "Solo-Learning and Practice." In this section I

confirm that the players use s i d u processes when learnix~g alone, and explore in detail

how their practice habits reflect the process of expertise. Finally, the third theme is "The

I l

Mental Game: Expertise in Cornpetition." This last theme explores an area of the game

which is more dificult to define, but fascinating to hear these top players discuss. Woven

throughout the discussion of each theme are key concepts introduced in my interpretive

framework. I use these concepts to address the players' learning expenences at a greater

depth, and compare and contrast their experiences to those of experts in other domains.

The players are often quoted at length to allow the reader a more in-depth opportunity to

not only leam fiom their experiences, but characterize them more tùiiy as separate

individuals.

Chapter Five is the conclusion. Here, first, 1 review the findings. Then, 1 wiii

siiggest how the story, "Just Play" tunctions as a synthesis of the findings, with reference

to the three identified themes. Finally, I look beyond this thesis, considering fùture

potentiai contributions of my researcb, or further study beyond it.

Just Play: Part Two

Jamie's eyes twinkied with a rnischievous glint.

"You have played pool before, haven't you?" he sded.

Ann squared her shoulders.

"Of course 1 have. My boyfhend and 1 play when we go out oometimes. Actuaily, he says

I'm pretty good."

J d e was now grinning fiom ear to ear.

"Okay, then name your game."

Anne was uxmre. "Weil, stnpes and solids, but that wasn't what you were playing was

it?"

"No, that was nine baii." Jamie motioned Ann over to the wail where she could pick out a

cue. Jamie watched ber as she chose one and roiied it on the table, checking to see if it

was straight, as she had been shown to do.

"Eight ball it is," Jamie announceci as he racked the b d s up. "Do you play that you put

the cue ball behind the lhe if you sewer?"

"Yes" answered Ann, as if to irnply, "What else would you do?"

"Just making sure," Jamie moved to the other side of the table and paused.

"So, Miss Sheridan, what are we going to play for?"

"Play for?" she echoed blankly, when suddenly a thought struck her. "1 know! We'U play

for your attendance. Wyou lose, you have to go to al1 your English classes."

"1 don? know, that's a pretty serious ba . What about if 1 win?" Jamie asked, bis grin

growing wider.

"1 dont know .... how about 1'11 treat you to lunch?" AM smiled.

"You have a deai, as long as it's attendance for tbis week, not the semester."

Ann sighed. "Well, 1 suppose that would have been too much to hope for. Okay."

Jarnie pulled a penny out of his pocket. "So, flip for break?"

Ann shook her head, "No, you go ahead." She was f d n g generous.

Jamie nodded, and broke the balls, a154 üke a cannon. One stripe went d o m Jamie

turned to her.

"Okay, Miss Sheridan, u4 AM. I have a deai for you ... To show my goodwill, 1 offer to

remove not one, not two not three, but five of your b d s fiom the table, right now."

AM scanned the table. If she was going to be stripes, as he seemed to be indicating, that

would mean she would only have one bail lefi on the table!

"Go for it, Jamie, 1 only hope you wont regret it !" Ann enthuseci, already imagining Jamie

at his desk in class for the week, ready to improve nis mark-..

Jamie picked up five striped balls, and dropped each into a pocket 4 t h a drarnatic

flourish.

"Okay, here goes nothing." he muttered as he began shooting.

AM waited expectanly for her turn at the table, to sink her bal1 and the eight bail to win,

but it never came. He never missed. He sunk each of the solids thoughtfiilly and

methodically, pausing only slightiy to motion to the corner pocket into which the eight

bal1 quickly followed.

Ann stood up to shake his band, as she had seen Jamie do before.

"1 think 1 should have watcbed "The Hustler" on late night TV last month when I had the

chance! I think you reaiiy got me here."

She reached for her purse to pay him, feeling a bit sheepish about her naivete, and why

she was there. So far the kid had won five bucks off her, and she wasn't any closer to

improving his educational opportwiities. She felt Wre a dope.

Jamie shook his head as she rummaged for her wdet. "No, that's okay, Miss Sheridan,

that's okay. Consider that your first tiee lesson."

A m groaned. "Lesson! what did 1 leam?"

Jamie laughed, "That's the next part! 1 thugfit teachers were supposed to be more

patient." He racked the balls again and quickly broke them. "Look at the table, do you

think it's easier to sink bah with the fùmïture - with the other balls on there, or harder?"

Ann groaned again. She hadnt even thought of that in her zeal to get the upper hand.

"Tell you what, Jamie, 1 will treat you to lunch if you wili give me some reai lessons, ody

no more tncks, ~lease!"

They both laughed, "Deal." They shook on it, and knn felt a Little bit more hopefbi.

"Listen, I've got to get back to schooî, and 1 won't have this spare free again, so how about

after school, urn not today, uh, tomorrow, tomorrow Aer schoo!, for my first "reai"

lesson?" Ann felt enthusiastic.

t' Sounds good to me: l'il be here, anyways. " Jamie nodded.

Ann smiled, and left five dollars on the table, "For whatever greasy food you sharks eat."

She laughed, and headed back to school.

Chapter Two: Interpretive Framework

Introduction

In this chapter 1 review the readings which I chose to contribute to my narrative

inquiry on the leaming of pool at the expert level. The first issue which arose was that

there were few readings at ali on the topic in the academic forum. Thus, this is not a

comprehensive review of s p d c a l l y related readings, but a review of readings which

enriched my interpretation of the narratives 1 collected. 1 begin with the section "What

Literature, and Why?" which explains the early searches in my research for related

literature. Next, 1 introduce the field of expert acquisition and highhght its usetiiiness for

application to expert pool learnhg. 1 then examine an article fiom expert acquisition by

Abemethy et al. (1994) which explores "Visual-Perceptual and Cognitive DifEerences

Between Expert, Intermediate, and Novice Snooker Players-" A book about Canadian

Olympic athletes caiied Psyched: hner Views of Winning, which was recommended to

me by one of the players is reviewed for applicable concepts. Finaily, 1 investigate the

potential contributions of Lave and Wenger's concept of legitimate peripheral

participation. In my conclusion, 1 will give an overdl view of how the readings have

contributed to my interpretive framework.

What Literature. and Wb?

When 1 began thïs study, the first natural step wzs to do a search for related

materials in our library, both for books, and for articles on educational databases. 1 knew

that resources would be few, so started searching for any materials containhg the key

16

words of billiards, pool, or snooker. These searches turned up a modest number of

resources, which I foliowed up. References in educational journais tumed out to be

spzse, and when "billiards" was mentioned, it only tunied up in a superficial manner,

such as the topic for a math question, or other marginally related leaming experience. (for

example, Bertz (1 997) and Pkacher (1 99 1)). One book, Hus~lers, Bea& und Ohers

(Polsky, 1967) did uideed focus on pool players, but fiom the perspective of a "sociology

of deviame" (p. 13). Polsky's study focussed on pool players who garnble deceptively to

make a living. W e intaesting, there was linle mention of how these players learned

their skiiis. Certainly, many players, including myself; gambie in pool haiis for the cost

of the table tirne or a bit more, howwer, 1 wmted to focus exclusively on the players'

approach to learning, and did not question them about gambling habits.

Through word of mouth, I was able to obtain another sociological resource on

pool players, an unpublished study by Alice Rim, who currently plays on the Wornen's

Professional Billiards Association tour. Ms. Rim generously sent me her study, entitled

"The Social World of Pool: A Qualitative Study." Similar to Polsky's (1967) study, Ms.

Rim focussed more on the gambling culture in the pool hall, and other various roles

inhabited by players in the pool hall culture. Although she quotes one "highiy skilled"

player as saying "1 watch [other players] to see if they do the same thing 1 would do in

that situation" (p. l3), the focus of her study was not to elaborate on the sigdicance of

this dynamic. Rh's snidy proved i n t e r e m and judging by my personal expenences,

very apt, but unfortunately, too distantly related to use as a resource for this midy.

17

Given the paucity of resources available of an academic nature on learning pool, 1

was forced to choose other supports for my interpretation process. The field of expert

acquisition has provided many fnut£iil concepts to support my research. This is a

productive co~ect ion because 1 consciously chose to focus on pool players who had been

striving towards expert performance for a signifiant amount of the . To demonstrate the

contributions of expert acquisition to my research, I will be reviewing one book in detail,

Surpassing Ourseives by Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993). This book, written by some of

the top scholars in this fiefd, is current and provides a synthesis of expertise that works

partimiarly well for pool players. 1 view the pool players as experts, and am interested in

the "process of expertise" they practiced to leam the sport, and continue leamllig. The

book Psyched: Inner Yiews of Wiming (Orlick and Partington, 1986) provides edited

intewiews with other world class athletes (and thus, experts) to ruminate over. Finaliy, 1

draw on the work of Lave and Wenger and the concept of "legitimate peripheral

participation" to shed some light on the learning culture of the pool hall and CO-operative

learning between pool ptayers. While no one reading is directly on target, each area can

illuminate different aspects of the acquisition of expert skill in pool.

The resources I selected to become part of my interpretive fiamework may not

have pool leamhg as their subject, but they are effective in illuminating pool learning as

it was discussed by my three respondents. Other resources and literatures could have

been seiected, but I feei the ones I have chosen are most effective to keep my focus where

1 want it: on the leamhg of pool at an expert level. One of my goals was to look at this

pool leaming in a generalitrrble way and expert acquisition provided the meam to achieve

18

this goal. Whiie many of my findings may be of interest to those involved in spon, as a

teacher 1 wanted to locate the leaming of the pool players in a wider realm, ultimately

because I hope to reflect some of these findings back to our educational system.

Emert Acauisition

What defines an expert? When the average citizen observes the pedormance of a

world ciass expert, whether they be a tennis player, musician, chess player, or pool player,

one ofien hears comments about the "incredible talent" that mua be possessed to perfom

such feats. This may be the popular view of expertise, but psychologists who have been

rnethodicaily researching expertise have corne to different conclusions. An excellent

example is that of the chess master, long revered as a superior thinlcer and reasoner. When

research attempted to locate the expertise of chess players, it turned out not to be the

romantic, global s W that has been supposed (ie. a superior inteliect). Instead, the

"superior knowledge" of the chess rnaster remaïm located within the game. Researchers

Ericsson and Charness (1 994) observe: "Chess players'. . . superior memory for bief

presentation of representative stimuli tiom cheir domains cornpared with that of novices

is elirninated when the elements of the same stimuli are presented in a randomly arranged

format (Chase & Simon, 1 973; see Ericsson & Smith, 1 99 1 a for a review)" (p. 73 0).

Study has since demonstrated that "the performance of elite chess players on standard

tests of spatial ability is not reliably dflerent fiom control subjects (Do11 & Mayr, 1 987 as

cited in Ericsson and Charness, 1994, p.730). Thus, the question must be asked again:

What defines an expert?

19

Research in expert acquisition has not only been successfbl in excluding certain

factors as defining experts (ie. a generaüzed ability that tramcends their field, or superior

spatial ability) but it bas aiso beea successful in atnrmiag what it is that does define

experts. To follow the example of chess througb, we bave seen above that expert chess

playen remember patterns of pieces from actual games better than beginners, but when

the pieces are arrangeci randomly, the experts perfom no better than begînners. This is

the cmx of what research has demonstrateci: the experts demonstrate the "ability to

perceive meanin- patterns and relations between chas pieces" (Ericsson and Charness,

1994, p.735). The sheer volume of patterns they have been exposed to and thought about

has led to "qualitative, not simply quantitative, differences in memory performance for a

specific type of presented information." (Ericsson and Charness, 1994, p. 73 5). Thus,

chess players, like experts in other fields, have a vast amount of strategic "data" to draw

on when faced with decisions on where to move that next piece.

In my readings in the field, this is where the co~ectioas to pool leaniiog became

more apparent. Like the chess players, expert pool players also need to have a vast source

of data to access regarding the patterns they see, and shots they attempt to effect on the

table. As discussed in the literatufe, pool players seeking expert performance mua also

"undergo a very long period of active Iearning, during which they refine and improve

their skill, ideally under the supervision of a teacher or coach" (Ericsson and Charness,

1994, p. 737). What is most strïking, however, is that even the way chess players strive

for expert performance is simiiar to how pool players attempt the same:

Advanced chess players spend as many as four hours a day studyiog published

games between interaational chess masters (Forbes, 1992). The effective component of this type of study is predicting the chess master's next move without lookiag ahead. Ifthe prediction is wrong, the advanced player examines the chess position more deepiy to i d e n t . the reasons for the chess master's move. (Ericsson and Chamess, 1994, p. 739)

This is, in fact, the same process 1 was witnessing amongst senous players in the local

pool hail! Players would watch others competing, and narrate their shot choices and

strategy to each other, learning together as they wmpared approaches. The potentd for a

common "process" of expertise is compeiiing.

Pool is diEerent than chas because players must also use motor skills to effect

their shot choices, rather than simply moving the baü (chess piece) to the position desired

for play. As Aiiard and Starkes (1991) observe in "Motor-skill experts in sports and other

domains" : "For the expert, the knowing and doing elements that already exkt c m be

combined as required. This position leads to the view that motor skills and cognitive

skiils are quite different aspects of human performance" @. 148). Pool is an interesthg

case, as it is a strategic pattern play game, simïiar to chess, and also requires se@-paced

motor skiiis. As 1 am not a kinesiologist, my focus is more on the cognitive domains of

these players and their learning.

To describe the undertakings of aspiring experts to improve their performance,

Encsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Romer coined the term "deliberate practice" (Ericsson and

Charness, 1994, p. 738). As Ericsson and Chimess obsewe, the study of the aspintg

chess masters has many qualities of deiiberate practice, except for the involvement of a

qualified tacher. One of the interests of my research is to determine to what extent the

expert pool players would be describing their 1-g of pool and currem practice

21

sessions in a way that concurred with the concept of deliberate practice, which should

demand "full concentration, which is effortfùl" (Ericsson and Charness, 1994, p.738). 1

agree with "Chase and Simon (1973) who acbowledge that 'practice is the major

independent variable in the aquisition of skili' (p.279)" (Ericsson and Chamess, 1994, p.

729). My research revds that expert pool players taik about how they learn and practice

their skills, with Iearning practices paralie1 to those of the world's chess masters.

Shea and Paul (1994) in "Capturing Expertise in Sports" argue that wbile expert

acquisition research has been successfid in "providing exciting knowledge conceming the

acquisition of high levels of ski11 in sport" (p. 334), there is still "sport-specific" work to

be done. Pool may, in fact, be an ideal fùture sport of study, due to the fact that the motor

skiil aspect is self-paced, and would allow for discussion with researchers in between

shots. Even the study of deliberate practice could be enhanced by M e r study af pool,

as Shea and Paul (1994) observe that "the actual components of deliberate practice for

any skiil may be embedded in the domain of that skill" (p. 333). Thus, one of the

challenges of current research is searching for the cornmonaihies in expert acquisition

between drastically diarent reaims without losing the specificity that would allow those

in a certain sport to gain tiom the knowledge.

The importance of deliberate practice in achieving excellence is undeniable.

Chamess, Krampe, and Mayr (1 994) in their study on Sispan chess skiil aquisition, did

find that "high-level peflormance is a hct ion of a very high iavestment in deliberate

practice alone" (p. 77). For chess players, where many do not have lessons fiom others,

Chamess, Krampe, and Mayr poda ted t b t "feedback fiom tournament results" (p. 78)

22

was replacing the more traditional input of a coach or teacher, such as in music. This is

quite similar to pool, in which formai instruction is less common. However, deliberate

practice alone camot a champion make. A faScinat ing study by Starkes et al. ( 1 994)

highlights this through the example of Moe Norïnan, who, whiie a very accomplished

"ball-striker" (this is his own term) is not a successflll golfer. Norman used deliberate

practice to gain his skiiis, hitting 4000 pranice balls a week. While there are many

theories to explain Norman's lack of success, including tendency to lose composure,

Starkes et ai conclude that "deliberate practice is often not enough to ensure success:

There are factors of character, of luck, of the environment, and of avoiding injury that

inevitabIy affect the outcome of competitions" (p. 105). In chapter Four 1 offer some

insight into how deliberate practice habits might interact with "character," or as 1 cal1 it

"The Mental Game: Expertise in Cornpetition." Certainiy expert acquisition research has

provided a very fiuitfiil h e w o r k with which to understand the leaming of the three

pool champions 1 intenriewed.

Exvert Acauisition in Snooker

Having introduced the field of expert acquisition, 1 would now like to tum to one

of the only curent articles on pool learning. The article by Abemethy, Neai, and Koning

(1 994) explored three significant areas of cornparison between expert (ranked in the top

30 of Australia), intermediate (club players), and novice (randomly selected university

students) snooker players in Australia. Althougb played on dinerent tables (the larger 6 x

12 foot) and using différent balls and scoring, 1 am a~suming that the similarity of

snooker to pool as a cue sport make these snooker findings transferrable to pool. The

main reason that 1 believe the translation of the results is viable is the fact that al1 three of

the expert-novice cornparisons tested skiils common to the two sports. The first area of

comparison was in the visual realm The question being asked was "1s the expertise of top

players somehow related to superior visual performance?" The study answered with an

unequivocal no: "No signifiant expert-novice differences were apparent on standard

optometric tests of acuity, ocular muscle balance, colour vision, and depth perception"

(p. 185). Thus, the many tests nin by the researchers could find no identifiable form of

superiority in vision held by expert snooker players.

The second area of comparison was a pattern recognition test. The players were

shown slides of a snooker table depicting "structured game situations in which the normal

colours were present, structured game situations in which al1 the balls were of a uniform

(red) colour, and unstructureci situations in which bails of different colour were present"

(p. 194). The researchers wanted to see if experts would out-perform the others in dl

slides, or just some. The findings were consistent with previous studies in that

an expert advantage was apparent only when the stimulus materials depicted a spatiai arrangement of the balis on the table typical of a normal game situation and used bails of correct colour to spece designated locations on the table. No - expert advantage was apparent under display conditions where either the spatial configuration of the balls was randomized or ail the baiis were of uniform coiour. (p. 199)

This is significant in that it CO- that the expertise of the expert is located solidly in

what they are good at: it is not a ski11 that tramfers out into unrelatecl or unfamiiiar

situations.

The third area of cornparison between the snooker players was a test in which they

viewed a videotape of top world players in a match, and then were asked to "think aloud"

about key moments in the match which were then presented in siide format. In this

evaluation, the experts

M e r fiom novices in ternis of the depth rather than the breadth of their planning. Experts, when faced with shot-selection decisions, examine no more options than novices, but those options that they do pursue are foilowed through to a greater extent.. ..The -ter depth of forward planning evident in the experts is consistent with earlier chess studies. (p.205)

Thus, Abernethy et al's research does make some interesting claims as to where the

expertise resides in these experts. The question rer;.ains, however, as to how this research

could contribute to my own learning about pool expertise?

In fact, Abernethy et ai's research contributes a great deal to my perspective as 1

have interviewed respondents and interpreted my hdings. Certainly, 1 am not focussed

on identifjing elements of physical superiority, such as vision, as research has codhned

this is not a h i t f ù l area for investigation. What this snooker research has helped do is

focus my inquiry, in that 1 am more informed about what it is these experts "know":

Expert snooker players dEer fiom novices not in their general visual skiils but rather in their ability to rapidly encode, recall, and recognize stnictured perceptual information, to accurately evaluate and discriminate the relative strength and weakness of difFerent game situations, and to plan prospectively (p. 208)

In a rather common sense way, experts simply have more experience to draw on when

faced with a decision on a shot. My research is focussed on how these experts gained this

experience, how they tak about it, and how they continue to add to it.

Now, Abemethy et al.'s research foaissed c n what expert pool players had

learned, and although tbey were talking "out loud" about their sbot decisions, this talk

was used to generate quantitative data. Such expert-novice comparisons have their

limitations, and my research is intended to address some of these limitations. As Bereiter

and Scardamalia (1 99 1 ) observe:

cornparisons of experts and novices give us a static picnire. They show what experts know and do at a given moment, but they show nothing about how experts got to where they are or how they maintain their expertise. The presumptive ansver is "tbrough practïce," but the research doesn't reaJly tell us that or give us any basis for inferring whether more is involved. (p. 34)

By talking with expert pool players about how they learned pool (acquired their expertise)

and xnaintain it (through practice) 1 hope to contribute to knowledge in expert acquisition

in a new way. What is crucial to note here is that it is not my intention, nor would it be

possible to, eclipse current research such as the article in question with a narrative

approach. Both, are, in fact, necessary to complete the picture of the learning and practice

involved in creaîing a champion.

Expert Acauisition: surpa.rsin~ - &rse/ves

The book Surpassing Ourseives (1 993) b y Bereiter and Scardamaiia provides a

fresh perspective on the study of expertise that has profound connections to how my

respondents learned, and are continuing to learn the sport of pool. By far the most usefil

insight that Bereiter and Scardamalia offer is a profound shift regardhg the very concept

of experàse. Accordhg to these researchers, expertise is not a state of being, something

that is obtained, but rather, expertise is a process and a way of approaching learning:

Working at the edge of wmpetence is risky and M g , but it yields two great

benefits. It results in superior ammplishments: More being ventured, more is sometimes gained. And it leads to fiirther growth as cornpetence advances. New or redesigned skiiis are acquird, beyond those developed through n o d processes of learning. Moreover, the new skills are not simply added iike new books to a library. They combine with the old skiiis to form super-skills, which make it possible to progress toward still more complex problems calling for still more complex skills, and so on. That, in essence, is the process of expertise. 0- 98)

By viewing expertise as a process my respondents practice rather than something they

simply "have," 1 gain a great deal. 1 c m look for how my respondents conceptualize their

ongoing 1ea-g process, and see if it compares to the expertise process Bereiter and

Scardamalia offer. What is also exciting about this perspective is that it dows

conceptually for the commonalities 1 see between what the chess players and the pool

players are doing: they are striving, and engaging in the process of expertise in two

To fùrther understanding of the expertise process, Bereiter and Scardamalia break

it down into two parts, reinvestment and progressive problem solving. One of the reasons

that Bereiter and Scardamaiia have identifid expertise in this way is that research in the

area has revealed that there are "expert like students" in diverse fields such as music and

medicine, who outperform their pers and "resemble the experts not so müzh in what they

are able to accompiish but in what they are trying to do and in how they approach

challenging problems" (p. 155). Here, the concepts of reinvestment and progressive

problem solving attempt to m e r explain how these non-experts could be thinking and

acting Like experts:

Reinvestment and progressive problem sol~mg are not separate prccesses. They are two aspects of the same process, which is what we are calliag the process of

expertise. Reinvestment is the motivational aspect. It is not just willingness to exert effort.. . .Reinvestment involves both conserving resources, so as to have something to reinvest, and putthg those resources back into the acùvity itself rather than dissipating them or directhg them elsewhere. Progressive problem solWig is the cognitive aspect of the process of expertise. It is generally not enough just to try to do better. What was leamed last t h e must somehow be translated into a better articulation of the goal or problem so that the next effort wiii be better conceived. (p.82)

These are hitfid concepts, in that they apply quite directly to pool leaming. In my

framing of my questions, and even in the interpretation of the data, I look for the process

of expertise.

A final applicable concept appearing in Bereiter and Scardarnaiia's book is the

second-order environment (p.24). A second-order environment is one in which the

process of expertise is valued, and individuals, regardiess of their task, seek to improve

efficiency, or constantly strive for new learning. In direct contrast to this would be the

first-order environment, an example ofwhich would be a stagnant workplace

environment in which, once the basic task is leamed, the goal is to maintain the status

quo, and no new knowledge is desired. Whiie Bereiter and Scardamalia often tdk about

the second-order environment as a "workplace, association, [or] govenunent service"

(p.244), 1 see the potential in viewing the pool hall as a second-order environment. Now,

it is important to ernphasiie that this is not the pool hall of the recreational player, but the

pool hall culture that is built around expert players, and those striving towards expertise.

This is the "pool hall" as peopfed by the players such as those I inte~ewed. In my

respondents' descriptions of their learning expenences Mth other players, 1 wiil be

exploring the potential to consider the pool hall as a fûnctioning "expert subculture"

28

(p. 120).

FinaUy, Bereiter and Scardamalia touch on one aspect of expertise in sport which 1

found rather unexpected: expenise in playing under champiouship pressure, an expenise

which they place under the headiag of "self-regulatory kwwledge" (p.60). To illustrate

their perspective, the authors describe the practice in major league baseball teams in the

ninning for a championship to trade off taiented younger players for a veteran, well past bis prime, who sports a championship ring or two. The game during championship rounds is no dinerent form the game during the regular season. It requires nothing dinerent in the way of basebail skiii and knowledge. What is different is the pressure, where every game is crucial and any lapse may be fatal. Knowing how to manage oneselfin this situation is evidently thought by many managers to count enough to balance against quite a bit of excelience in regular performance. (p. 60)

Certainly in my i n t e ~ e w s , 1 was seeking, and rezeived insights fiom al1 players on how a

less experienced player gains this kind of knowledge.

Psvched: ïnner Views of Winning

1 now move to Orlick and Partington's book Psfched: Inner Views of Winning

(1 986). This specific book was included in the interpretive fiamework because it was

recommended by one of the players, Allison Fisher. As Psyched had resonated strongiy

for this particular player, 1 waated to see if concepts fiom this book would be helpfùl in

illuminating the other two i n t e ~ e w s as well. From a narrative perspective, 1 also had an

interest in seeing if concepts fiom the book, which 1 read after the interview with Allison

Fisher, would appear in her interview. As weii, the mental game in high level

competition is obviously the area in which 1 as a player have no expenence, and 1 was

29

interested in a resource that might assist in my aaalysis of the third theme. P&ed was

ideal for this purpose, as it incfuded excerpts from many interviews with top athletes.

While 1 am certain that a kinesiology student, for example, might have drawn

substantially fkom the literature in sports psychology, that was not my area of expertise,

and would have resulted in a different focus. Thus, the choice of this one particular book

was conscious, and met multiple goals for the thesis.

To continue, Orlick and Partington are sport psychologists who have done

consulting work with many top Canadian athletes. Psyched is a fascinating glimpse into

the minds of Olympic champions. For a year-and-a-halfaAer the 1984 Olympic games,

Or lick and Partington traveiied the country in te~ewing seventy- five top Canadian

athletes, and receiving one hundred and sixty-five written responses to their interview

questions. The book attempts, and 1 believe, achieves its goal to "give you a complete

understanding of the mental approaches utiiized by a representative sample of Canada's

greatest athietes" (p.2). With previous research in mind regarding expertise, this book was

rich in insights fiom the stones of the athietes themselves as to how they achieved their

extraordinary results.

By considering the athletes in P w e d as experts in their own ri@, 1 could read it

with a view to exposing their expert processes. Psyçhed has no theoretical underpinning

to support my readings, but 1 felt it was iliuminating, particularly in the stage before my

final interpretation to have other perspdves on the "mental game" that might inspire

fùrther collaborative questions for my respondents. An excellent exarnple of this is the

story of Sue Holloway, a silver medaiist in the pairs kayak. In descnbing a post race

analysis in the fonn of an evaiuation sheet filleci out by the athlete, she observes

ifyou don't get sometbhg positive out of a negative experience then you may as well not have gone out at all. You should analyse the bad orles more carefuliy because quite obviously something went wrong and we want to avoid that. Perhaps we veterans got more out of the evaluations than the younger athletes. @-79)

Certainly HoUoway is describing both the process of expertise, and also her perception

that the more experienced "veterans" of the team were more involved in the processing of

their performance for improvement. While none of the athletes in the book were actually

pool players, 1 felt that 1 w d d gain M e r insights into aspects of cornpetition that right

now lies outside my experience. With Psyched, 1 gained fùrther insights that helped me

interpret my data regarding the mental challenges faced by the players.

Lave and Wenger: Situated Learninq

The final contribution 1 will be examining in t e m of related literature is the work

of Lave and Wenger (1 99 1 ), in Situated Learnzng: Legiiimafe Peripherai Parîicipaiion.

Initially, 1 had planned to focus more on the way the culture of the pool hall contributed

to learning. What became apparent through the interview process, however, was that the

interview data was more focussed on individual rather than group learning processes. Co-

operation certainly featured highly in players' discussions of their leamhg experiences,

but even players with formai coaches did not describe in detail the mode1 of

apprenticeship which Lave and Wenger create and discuss. Still, the sociaüculturd focus

of "Situated Leaming" bas been usefiil in exploring the CO-operative leaming processes of

the players. Lave and Wenger highlight in the number of studies reviewed the importance

of the Iearning environment, and the interaction of peers:

There is anecdotal evidence (Butler personal communication; Hass n-d.) that where the circulation of lrwwledge among p e r s and near-peers is possible, it spreads exceedingly rapidly and effectively. The central grounds on which forms of education that m e r fkom schooling are wndemoed are that changing the person is not the centrai motive of the enterprise in which learning takes place.. .The effectiveness of the ciradation of information among peen suggests, to the contrary, that engaging in practia, rather than being its object, may well be a condition for the effectiveness of learning. (p.93)

The significance of this for the pool hall, and the individual players is that much of pool

learning appears to take place between p e r s on an informal basis. Having this

perspective fiom Lave and Wenger helped draw attention to this dynamic in the

transcripts.

What is also âuitfid about Lave and Wenger's perspective is that it incorporates

social and cultural forces into learning. As W.F. Hanks' forward to their book observes,

Lave and Wenger' s focus is on "the processes of CO-participation, not in the heads of

individuds" (Lave and Wenger, 1991, p. 13).The informal sharing of knowledge between

players could be wnsidered part of coparticipation, especialiy due to the fact that

formalized instruction is less cornmon. Lave and Wenger's perspective affords a lem

through which to view the learning which occurs between players striving for expertise,

learning which more traditionai modeis may miss.

Conclusion

The varied readings 1 have undertaken dl contribute in various ways to the

32

formation of the interpretive fhmework for my thesis. My intention tiom the start was

not to draw on iiterature fiom expert acquisition in a way that would stulw or rigidifl

my questions and findings, but enrich them Thus, the readings wiil e ~ c h my

interpretation of the data, but in the end, 1 do not desire to wnclude that 1 have "proven"

the theones of Lave and Wenger, or of Bereiter and Scardamalia. In fact, in the end, I

hope to aliow my respondents to speak for themselves, and if the readings d o w me to

hear them more clearly, and idente intereshg connections throughout, then 1 have been

successful. In this chapter, the reader has been introduced to expert acquisition to support

the interpretation of the fiadlligs in chapter four. The interpretive fiamework is

composed of key concepts explored fiom the literature, such as the process of expertise,

deliberate practice, and legitimate peripheral participation. In the fourth chapter this

interpretive framework will be applied in a unique way to each of the three themes 1 have

identified.

Just Play: Part Three

Ia class on Thursday, as Jarnie actually was in class, he gave her a thumbs up sign

when she questioned "Rack 'Em?" to him on his way out of the class. As she walked the

short distance to the pool hall &er school, she wondered about herself as a teacher,

thinking, 'Tm exhausteci, over-worked, 1 have hours of planning to do for tomonow's

classes, and I'm on my way to a pool hall to 'try and make a Merence.' 1 just hope this

kid isn't laughing at me. Maybe 1 just think that someone paying some attention wïil help.

What better way to do that than on bis twf?" She realized she was trying to convince

herse& and hoped that she was right.

Now, a feeling of anticipation Wed her as she walked down the staircase into the

"pool dungeon. " Just as he said, Jamie was there, and greeted her fiom the same fiont

table they had played on. "Hi, Miss Sheridan? She grabbed a coffke at the bar, and

watched him f%sh playing. She must remember to ask him about that game. ..

"Okay, are you ready?" Jamie was motioning to the table.

"Of course, so where do we start?" She grabbed a cue as Jamie gathered the balls fiom the

pockets.

"Well, 1 don't really know, I've never had my owa student before. 1 mean, youfre

always talkùig about shots, and stuq but it's not like "I'm the teacher, you're the student ! "

It's more like, what 1 show one guy one day, he might show me something the next.

Anyway, 1 thought I'd get you to shoot some baüs in, just suaight, like this, ..." he placed a

bal1 on the spot, and the cue bali about a foot behind it, h e d up straight to the corner

pocket. "And see how you do."

34

That was easy, so Ann iined up and shot a nurnber of the balls in, just as he had set them

up. Some of them went in, but she was a little nervous, &er al!.

"Okay, one thing with your bridge, your hand has got to be solid, or the cue is going to

wobble d l around. Try this ..." Jamie showed ber how to move her thumb up to cradle the

cue more securely.

"Hey, that's mat" Ann enthused. Jamie gathered the balls up out of that pocket and rolled

them back to her.

"This tirne, shoot and pay attention to everythmg. " Jamie instnicted.

"Okay," Ann concentrated. She tried to fix her hand like he had showed her, and shot.

The ball went in.

"So what happened?"

Ann was triumphant. "The baii went in." She smiled.

Jarnie continued. "Where did it go in?"

Ann felt less sure of herself "In the pocket?"

He laughed, "Uh, yeah, at least we agree on that. What about, where in the pocket did it

go? Lefi, Rght, in the heart?"

Ann didn't have a due. "1 dont know. Why would that matter?"

Jamie grimed. "I'il show you. Here, ..." he held out her hand for the cue she was holding

and went to shoot the bal just as she had. AM watched as the ball went right into the

middle of the pocket.

"That, you cm see a lot of people do. But how many people do you see do this?" He

placed a bail on the right side of the pocket, c o v e ~ g haif of it. Then, he set up another

bal1 and shot it into the pocket without even touçhing the first one.

"Awesome! " enthused Am. "Where did you learn that?"

"Somebody showed me that a long t h e ago." Jamie said. "And they told me this: 'Be a

sponge, soak it ail up, if you miss a shot, know why, stay down and watch what happens.

That bad shot you make could be usefiil someday, so pay attention!' So now, I'm teliing

you. Pay attention."

"Yes, sir!" joked AM, and mock saluted. "But seriously," she added, "1 had no idea there

was so rnuch to see and think about."

Jamie could see she had leamed this first lesson well.

"If you're a pool player, that's what you do,.. . " he grinned as he thought of a comection,

" that's your homework! "

Ann braced herself, and decided to raise the issue, trying not to sound too teacberly,

"What about your homework, in school? 1 mean 1 can tell just fiom your in-class journal

wrïting that you are a good writer, but your mark doesn't show that." She lost her s d e as

Jamie's eyes once again flew to the ceiling.

"School, 1 mean no offence, Miss Sheridan, as I'rn guessing you like it a lot, 1 don't like. 1

mean, what's the point, for me? They want to keep us al1 nice and busy, and it's jun plain

boring. "

A m paiised, and thought about what he had said. "You know, just because 1 want to be a

teacher doesn't mean that 1 think school is perfect. In fact, I'm sure it can be boring." she

tried to find the comection, as Jamie had. "You love pool, nght?"

"Right " agreed Jamie.

"And you want to do your best at it?" she asked.

Jamie nodded. "Oh yeah, say, even in class sometimes 1 find myself thinking about shots 1

made in the tournament,. . ." he trailed off.

"Weii, t h ' s the way 1 see school, that you do it for you, you do your best, and then you

have the satisfaction of your best work. "

She thought she sounded a bit like Miss Mamers. Oh well.

Jamie nodded bnefly, and then said, "No more interruptions, we have to get back to

work! "

Chapter Three: Methodology

"We are not mere smudges on the mirror. Our We-histories are not liabilities to be exorcised but are the very precondition for knowïng." (Pinar, 198 1, p. 184)

Introduction

This chspter summarizes important aspects of my methodology. Issues raised

include why 1 chose narrative inquiry, and defining a narrative for the purposes of my

research. As well, 1 examine the nuidamental assumption underlying mirrative, that story

is the way we constnict and understand Our experience throughout Our iives. I continue on

to explore a number of features of narrative inquiry which are most relevant to this

current thesis. These include: collaboration, autobiography, validation and truth, narrative

analysis and narrative creation Thus, the rationale for my choice wili be explored, and for

readers both familiar and unfamiliar with narrative research a clearer understanding will

be developed of where my thesis is located within this new and exciting field.

Whv Narrative Inauirv?

Six years ago, 1 spent a summer not unlike this writing my Master's thesis in

English. While the topic, Adrieme Rich's poetry, was one I was passionate about, 1 never

gave much thought to my position as researcher within the thesis. My theoretical

approach was unique, my readings of the poems dense and descriptive, aad yet so much

of potential interest (and relevant to my readings) was taking place between the lines of

that thesis in my "real Me." Only a number of years later in a course on Narrative Inquiry

in my graduate studies in Education, did 1 look back and question "Where was 1 in that

thesis?" Here I am ... some six years later, still a passionate leamer, and yet, my attitude

towards the relationship between my self and my research, has changed, necessitating a

new approach. My connection to narrative inqujl was forged in that graduate education

course, in which rny interest in story-telling and Literq cnticism was opened to the

possibilities of including my own Iife history in a thesis. Using narrative inquiry's

dynarnic perspective on the interaction between story-telier and listener, 1 will now be a

more present "subject" in my own research.

... moving back to my chil&OOd. my earliest memory ofpool. I m u t net have been much more than six yems old. as 1 c m remember bmely being able to see over the large. imposingpool table in the basemeni of somejkiends of my parents. We had aZZ s h e d supper. and @envar&, the men had retreated dawnstairs to perjionn a ritual incompreehemible to me. / c m remember watching one of them trsing the chalk, anà not knowzng w h t is was for, fo me it îaok on an dmost mystiwI pality. 1 wanied to understand. to l e m more, but we were quickly hishedfiom t h t magical world to pkry upstairs. ..

Perhaps my decision to research pool lies in my desire to still gain entq into that

"magical world": Narrative research is interested in that possibility. 1 chose to pursue

narrative research because 1 feel it offers a theoretical perspective that aüows for the

inclusion of rny own life story/autobiography in not just the research findings but the

research process. Narrative research is interested in stories as a fbndamental structure of

our thought, and narrative research seeks to increase understanding of the sharing and

interpretation of stones:

Our lives are ceaselessly intertwined with narrative, with the stories that we tell and hear told, with the stories that we dream or imagine or would like to tell. Al1 these stories are reworked in that story of our own Iives which we narrate to ourselves in an episodic, sometimes semiconscious, virtualiy uninterrupted monologue. We live immersed in narrative, recounting and reassessing the

rneanings of our past actions, anticipating the outcornes of our hture projects, situating ourselves at the intersection of several stories not yet completed. We explain our actions in terms of plots, and often no other form of explmation can produce sensible statements.

(Polkinghome, 1988, p. 160)

Thus, to Polkinghome, we narrate Our lives to ourselves as we explain the events that

happen to us, and we narrate our lives to others as we sbare those stories with others. If

this is the way we understand o u lives, then a research perspective which appreciates this

can offer important insights into how we teach and learn, and even conduct research.

Comelly and Clandinin (1990) describe the comection thus: "We say that people by

nature lead storied lives and teil stories of thcse lives, whereas narrative researchers

descnbe such lives, coUect and tell stories of them, and write matives of experience" (p.

2). In my research, 1 could also add, "and weave their own experiences into that

tapestry. "

What is a Narrative?

Having touched on narrative research's primary focus, the story/narrative, I wi11

now deive into deîjning narrative for the purposes of my research. 1 will begin with an

"everyday use" of the word narrative, as it is defined in The Penguin C d i a n

Dictionq: "a story or tale that recounts events" (p.504). This has rnuch in common

with narrative as applied to m y research, as 1 see rnyselfas collecting the narrative of

"How 1 leamed to play pool" fkom my respondents. However, "narrative" as used in this

research does vary ffom its more specific use in structuraiist literary anaiysis.

Gudmundsdottir's (1 995) commentary on this divergence helps to make sense of the

multiple meanings:

S tnicturalist iiterary theorists make a clear distinction between narrative, story, and discourse (Culler, 1975). A narrative has two parts: aory and discourse (Chatman, 1978). The story includes the events, characters, settings and so on that constitute the content of a nanative. The discourse is the t e h g , expression, presentation, or narration of the story. ... Other scholars entertain a much looser distinction between story and narrative. This looser distinction is more flexible and, consequently, more usefid to researchers in the social sciences who wish to apply it to the analysis of a wide range of social phenomena. (p.25)

Thus, the use of the term "narrativet' in the context of this research is not technical, but in

the "more flexible" sense that is allowing me to explore the learning of pool (a social

phenomena) fiom the perspectives of three piayers, and myself.

As Gudmundsdottir (1995) has observed, many scholars such as myself favour the

definition of narrative that is more dosely aligned with a holistic view of "story," a

perspective which suppons this kind of research. He cites the example of the research of

Herrenstein-Smith, who

finds the stmctural definition of narrative too limiting. It prevents us fiom using it "miitfiilly" in the analysis of "language, behaviour and culture." She proposes an alternative definition that is based on the idea that narrative is more than simply a structural feature of texts. It is something, rather, that is embedded in human action (p.227). Narrative, in this account, is a series of verbal. symbolic, or behavioural acts sequenced for the purpose of "telling someone else that something happenedW(p. 228). (As cited in Gudmundsdottir, p.25)

Thus, once again, narrative is defined to emphasize its comection to human action, joined

with the impulse to explain. Because my research is focussed on the practice behaviour of

the participants, and seeks to understand a culture of learning, it is more profitable to

41

view narrative in this way. In this thesis, the ''something that happened" is the a m e r to

the question "How do I leam pool?" My activity as a narrative researcher is to interpret

and synthesize the i n t e ~ e w s with my participants. la this way, 1 am viewing the entire

i n t e ~ e w as a narrative, telling the aory of "How do 1 learn pool?"

There is another important element yet to add to my working definition of

"narrative." Thus far, 1 have estabtished that "narrative" is more closely aligned with

"story" in this research, a holistic view of narration, which contrasts with stmcturalist

literary theory. We dso have narrative that is "embedded in human action" and is tied to

"teiiing someone efse that something happened." Another crucial element to narrative is

the fan that, as Poikinghome's earlier quote suggened, a narrative is not simply "the

facts" but is a process that involves subjective interpretation. Gudmundsdottir (1995)

offers a defition that highlights this active and changeable nature of the creation of a

narrative: "Narrative fiinctioning always involves interpretation and reinterpretation, the

structuring of experience, and the act of t e h g someone something." (p. 29). This

definition incorporates the impulse of explanation with the understanding that experience

is structured as we tell o w stories. By combining Hemensteùi-Smith, Polkinghone, and

Gudmundsdottir's perspectives, we capture the essence of what interests the narrative

researcher: The act of telling as an act which does not objectively relate experience, but

rditerprets it, creating it in the moment.

Thus, the definition of narrative which 1 am using for this research takes a holistic

perspective on the human impulse to communicate and recognizes that no story is fiee

fiom an interpretative process which is common to both the teiler and listener. This

42

definition is crucial to my research methodology in that it influences d i interpretative

decisions. In this thesis, 1 am not seeking simply to interpret the objective interview

"data" provided by my "subjects" in order to determine "How people learn pool." Instead,

1 am interested conveying in an authentic way, the stories of these three piayers about

"How I learned pool," understanding that 1 am interpreting, and with an interest in

including my own autobiographkal experiences in the pool h d . There are tiuee aspects

of this thesis which most dramaticaily highiîght the interpretative dynamic: my

autobiographical writings, which foreground me as an experienced, and interpretiag

researcher, the "symbolic" moment fiom each interview, which 1 have chosen to represent

the spirit of the playeis story "How 1 leamed pool, " and finally, the creative story which 1

have written in an attempt to synthesize the three interviewdstories into one fictional

s t o ~ intended for a general educational audience. Thus, by defining narrative, 1 have

identified the fundamental perspective underlying this entire thesis.

MethodoIoaical Distinctions

Here, 1 turn to Pollùnghorne, to help readers understand how 1 am dzerentiating

between pans of my research methodology which share aspects of other qualitative

methods, such as phenomenology or henneneutics, and parts of my research methodology

which are more exciusively narrative in perspective. In his 1988 landmark book on

narrative inquiq, Narruiive Knowing cad the Hummi Sciences, Polkinghorne offers a

useful perspective on just what exactly the researcher in the human sciences is doing:

The object of inquiry for the human sciences is the reality of human expenence, both that present in and that hidden fiom awareness. Human experience is herrneneuticaily organized accordhg to the figures of linguistic production. A fiinction of the human sciences is to read or hear and then interpret the texts of human experience. (p. 1 59)

Like Polkinghome, 1 see myself as an interpreter of the "texts of human experience,"

which are, in this case the narratives 1 coliected fkom my three respondents, as well as my

own autobiographical text. Fenstennacher (1 997) observes that one of the most vaiuable

contributions narrative makes is adding to our understanding of "the intentions and

beliefs of teachers" (p. 123). 1 would add that understanding the intentions and beliefs of

leamers is an equally valuable undertaking.

Almost a decade later, Polkinghorne (1 995) has continued his discussion of

narrative inquiry by providing a conceptual tiamework to distinguish between research

that merely uses narratives as data, and what he would ident* as tnie narrative research.

To distinguish these types of research, Poikinghorne has devised the terms "analysis of

narratives," which represents the more traditionai fom of reswch in which narratives are

analysed "ta arrive at generaiizations about the group being studied" (as cited in Elbaz-

Luwisch, 1997, p. 76). The other type is "narrative analysis," wtiich is "research in the

narrative mode, in which the researcher studies particular cases, eitber of individuals or of

'bounded systems,' by coliecting material, usually descriptions of events, and from them

producing stoned accounts which render the data meaningfûl" (as cited in Elbaz-Luwisch,

1997, p. 76)

To fùrther define the opposition between the two types of inquùy, Poikinghorne

focuses on outcome:

In analysis of narrative, the desired outcome is generaiizations about a particular phenomenon based on the narratives generated by or about that phenomenon; in narrative analysis the desired outcome is no[ a generalization but a narrative which renders clear the meanlligs inherent in or generated by a partiailu subject. (Elbaz-Luwisch, 1 997, p. 76)

However, as Elbaz-Luwisch (1997) observes, these cotegories may not be as hard and fast

as Polkinghome would like to believe:

in working with an individual teacher 1 am particularly interested in the "career story" which can be constructed from the teachefs account of her work, but I am equaiiy interested in particular stories the teacher berself may tell, because the analysis (otlen literary or structural ) of these smaller stories provides clues to the creation of the "career story." (p.76)

Thus, Poikinghorne's fiamework can be usefbl to elucidate the ciifferences in research

using narrative. I would locate myself alongside Elbaz-Luwisch in that 1 am andysing the

nanatives collected to observe any cornmon trends amongst them, in an attempt to

generalize, but at the same t h e , 1 am delviag deeper into the individuai stories to create

my interpretive narrative of each respondent: there is overlap.

Certainly, there is overlap within my thesis, but there is also overlap in defining

narrative inquiry. 1 agree with K. Casey (1395) iii t er article "Narrative Inquiry.":

" Current examples of narrative research cannot easily be categorized within specific

subject areas, whatever their authors' actual institutional locations. Narrative research is,

at present, distinctly interdisciplinary, including elements of literary, histoncal,

anthropological, sociological, psychologid, and cultural studies" @. 2 12). While

recogninng the variety of uses of narrative, Fenstennacher and Richardson (1 994) argue

for more clarïty regardhg "the narrative itself(the outcome of m a t i v e method, be it

45

wrïtten or spoken), narrative inquky (ways of remembering? eliciting, constmcting, or

reconstmcting story), and narrative use (as devices to promote change in pracùce)" (p.

52). From their perspective, 1 am analysing my respondents' narratives, and incorporating

my own in a narrative inquiry, and aeating a nanative for poteatial "narrative use" as a

teaching tool for others. The purpose of presenting these various areas of potential

overlap is to show that whiie I strive to clarifjr my intentions, there wiU always be grey

areas with a methodology such as this. Thus, this thesis combines a more traditionai

"analysis of narratives," which overlaps with other qualitative approaches such as

grounded theory, or hermeneutics, with a "narrative anaiysis" which is more distinctly

narrative in origin.

Both approaches are evident in my interpretation and writing of the thesis. M e r

collecting the narratives of my respondents, 1 transcribed them, and pored over the

transcripts, immersing myselfin them in order to idente the common themes. At the

same time, however, that 1 was seeking the generahble, 1 was seeking the specific, in

looking for a moment, a quote, a vivid description of an event that seemed to represent

each respondent and their approach to Iearning pool. I have organized my findings into

three themes, which seek common elements to allow the similarities and contrasts of the

individual stories to play themsehes out. 1 have also created a story, a new narrative

which seeks to synthesue the experiences of the three respondents with my own. My

story seeks to be a "product rather than a record of research" (Kelchtermans, 1997, p. 129)

in the truest narrative sense.

Narrative Research and Educationd Studies

As 1 suggested in Chapter Two, 1 beiieve that narrative research has a significant

contribution to make in adding a new perspective to educational research, and thus new

data for consideration. By combining narrative research with other research methods in

education, 1 believe we can corne to a more complete pictun of teaching aod learning. As

Hunter McEwan (1995) observes, the recent shifk of interest towards narrative research is

indicative of a new focus in educational research that opens up multiple understandings

of teaching and learning. This, to me, is a key to what makes narrative research narrative:

A new aim is to tell stories about teaching in the hope that in saying something new we will learn to do it better .... The change that this move inaugurates in the philosophy of teaching replaces the search for essences, and for a logical theory of teaching, with an exploration of the multitude of ways that teaching can be rneaningfbily understood. (McEwan, p. 1 76)

Thus, while in the past we may have been looking for just one answer, narrative research

is part of a shfi that accepts that there are "many answers. " As F. Michael ComeLly

observes in his preface to Jalongo's (1 995) Teacher's Stories, "Cunously, perhaps, the

study of teaching rather than the study of leaming has been in the forefiont of these new

educational modes of inquiry" (p. xii). 1 beiieve that by understanding Iearning, we can

better understand teaching: narrative research's belief in how we "storyl' our lives

embraces multiplicity in interpretation and in funhering the understanding of teaching

and learning .

In her 1995 article, Nancy Zeiler makes a c d for attention to language in

educational research, attending to communication in a way that recognizes the complexity

of the communication process. She sees the potential for new and exciting ways to

47

discuss leaniing and teaching: "Many are now arguing for compelling, innovative,

expressive rhetoric in education and the human sciences" (p.223). As McEwan and Egan

observe in the introduction to their 1995 book, "Narrative language allows us to delve

beneath the outward show of human behaviour to explore the thoughts feelings, and

intentions of agents" (xi). Thus, in narrative, language is not simply how data is

expressed, but part of expressing if and in fact a tool to delve beneath the surface itself I

share the optimism of these scholars in hoping that my narrative methodology has

collected interesting data, and my narrative andysis has made a unique and worthwhile

contribution to knowledge in educational studies.

Collaboration

Given the narrative understanding of the nature of story-making, narrative

researchers ofien seek out active collaboration with their respondents, a new and

sometimes chalienging territory for researchers. This is due to their realization of the fact

that researchers cannot neutrally interpret the data that they collect fiom people. Narrative

creates a new and exciting space for stories and data collection to be created in a way

more true to our narrative reality: the interaction of story-teller and story - 1- istener.

However, as Elbaz-Luwisch observes, this is not a spontaneous or easy process:

In the past year, 1 have watched the fnistrations of sîudents taking part in undergraduate and graduate courses in teachers' knowledge and narrative research, when the teachers they were interviewing suddenly becarne unable or unwilling to continue, or insisted on making major deletions in the interview transcript; this doesn't happen very &en, just oRen enough to bring home the risks of doing such work, and the personal cost of collaboration for the researcher. (Eibaz-Luwisch, 1 997, p.79)

Once again, narrative has steered away fi-om the worn path of traditional research into

new, unmapped tenitnry. The challenges are not an unwelcome side-effect of a trendy

methodology, but part of the very process a narrative researcher is striving to value and

recognite.

In my research, 1 did desüe collaboration and feedback fiom my respondents. My

ability to make tbis happen, however, was limited by wanting to finish writing over a

shorter period of time with an end of summer deadiine looming. Al1 respondents received

the transcript 1 produced of the interview. 1 also sent dong copies of drafts of chapters

for them to read and comment on. 1 was particularly interested in how they would respond

to my choice of a "symbolic narrative moment" to represent them. In the end, the

feedback 1 received was limited, both by how busy my respondents al1 were, by t h e , and

by the fact that 1 had not established clear enough expectations for collaboration with the

respondents. in a fùture study, 1 wouid structure in time for response and feedback, and

actuaily buiid the respondents' feedback into my data. As Mishier (1990) observes,

"Instead of assuming a past reality as a criterion, a potential warrant for the validity of my

interpretation is whether it makes sense to the respondent" (p. 427). Players provided,

with some revision, positive feedback to me on this measure of validity.

Given the priority that narrative @es to the interaction of story-teller and story-

Iistener, narrative inquixy is opening up new and excitiag ways for researchers to

49

incorporate themselves into their research. Autobiography is one such way for a

researcher to openly and actively explore their strengths and limitations as interpreter of

another's story. In this sense, the narrative researcher adopts a perspective in which they

themselves are the instrument of interpretation of the data. The conclusions drawn about

the narratives coilected in the course of research are not seen to be the self-evident truths

of the data, but rather a reflection of the researcher him or herself. As Carol Mullen

(1 994) observes, "By focussing on their own telling as part of the research story they are

studying and writing about, researchen' stones ring tme on a deeper, more subjective, and

ultimately inter-subjective level" (p. 254). At first, the inclusion of one's self in academic

writing seems fearfùlly unprofessional and taboo. However, it was just that taboo 1 was

earlier bemoaning when 1 wondered "Where was I?" in my first Master's thesis on poetry.

in this current research, it feels liberating to include pieces of myself in the forrn

of autobiographical recollections:

Narrative method redraws the distinction between public and private, holding that the materials of one's personal Me are essential to an understanding of one's work, and particularly so when one's M e and work are ccncerned with education (Pinar, 1994). Al1 who were trained never to use the first person singular in academic writing can appreciate the difEiculties involved in this change; we have invested a lot of energy in making a clear distinction between Our personai and professional knowledge, and in keeping our personal stories out of the picture. (Elbaz-Luwisch, 1997, p. 8 1)

Whether it is openly acknowledged or not, the "1" of the researcher is present in, and is

fuelling the research. As Pinar (1984) observes, "the architecture of self is the

construction of an authentic humanity; in this sense autobiography becomes the

reformulation of Hktory [sic] as weil as of Me history" (p. 30). Narrative research allows

50

for some consideration of how the complexities of the "1" of the researcher and the "1" of

the respondents are comiag together. Can this be explicated and "solveâ"? No, but it is

another complexity in the research process which narrative is willing to examine.

Validation and Truth in Narrative Inauirv

The hcontrovertible truth of events that are narrateci is less of a concem than the

truth of those events for the narrator at that moment. A one-to-one correspondence with

extemal reality is not considered necessary to validate the data in narrative research. The

narrative understanding is such that it is seen that gl& is how the respondent is stnicturing

their reality to make sense of it at this moment. For example, in playing pool, an

experienced player could read a book, or have a signdicant learning experience that could

considerab1y shift a respondent's perspective on how they learned pool after the interview.

Or, to follow another line of reasoning, if 1 were to continue my pool career, and become

a professional, and conduct this same study, the focus of my questionhg would change

considerably in ways that 1 can't even understand right now. Both respondent and

researcher are subject to change, and the data is interpreted with this understanding.

The narrative researcher Alessandro Portelli (1 98 1) highlights this dynamic in a

fascinating article in the History Workshop Journal entitled "The Peculiarities of Oral

History." Here Portefli actually discovers incongruities in dates and chronologies between

what the people he is inteniewing believe, and what "actually happened." instead of

disrnissing the data he has r d v e d bom these workers as inadmissible, Porte&

postdates as to why a date of certain significance has sbifted in their memory:

For instance, over halfof the workers in te~ewed in the industrial town of Terni tell the story of their postwar strikes placing the kiiiing of a worker by the police in 1953 rather than, as it really happened, in 1949; they also shifl it fiom one context to another (fiom a peace demomtration to the urban gueriiia struggle which followed m a s layoffs at the local steelworks.). This obviously does not cast doubt on the actual chronology; but it does force us to rearrange Our interpretation of events in order to rempise the coiiective proasses of symbolisation and mytb-making in the Terni working class- which sees those years as one uninterrupted stxuggle expresseci by a unifjnng symbol (the dead comrade), rather than as a succession of separate events. (p. 100)

Thus, a narrative perspective does not dismiss a misconception or "untruth," but sees it as

in fact an opportunity to demonstrate exactly what narrative research is: the interpretation

of story and production of a narrative to explain that misconception or "untnith." As

Thomson (1995) observes, "the 'distortions' of memory could be a resource as much as a

problem" (p. 1 64).

As my research is not seeking respondents' recoiiections of the same historical

events, this was not an ongoing con- in my research. However, there are interesting

points of divergence in the data between respondents. For example, when the players

offer their opinion on whether previous sports experience has helped their learning of

pool. Ail were avid athletes before focussing on pool exciusiveiy, and one believes that

they brought ody their competitiveness to pool fkom the other sports, another cites hand-

eye CO-ordination as a benefit, and the other, a more general athletic ability that is

transferred to pool. Which opinion is "true"? An interesting and paralle1 discussion resuhs

regarding whether only one of those opinions is "tme." 1 believe that each explanation is

true for each athlete within the fkamework of their narrative.

Narrative Anaivsis and the Narrative Creation

As understanding of narrative research increases, we find it being the material

interpreted (namative as raw data), the means of interpretation (the methodology), and

now more recently, as a means to communicate research fiodings (a consistent m a t i v e

mode throughout). This means taking substantial departures fiom traditional academic

writing. As Sheppard and Hartman observe:

In the fields of English literature and writing, for example, the novel has become an acceptable format for the doctoral dissertation in some departments, with the stipulation that the writer submit dong with bis or her novel a critical introduction or appendix, as proof that he or she has conducted substantial critical and historical research as part of the process of writing-or preparing to write-the novel. (Sheppard and Hartman, 1999, p.33)

While 1 have nothing so radical to submit as a noveI on the learning of pool as my thesis

here, I have included creative writing in the project as an important synthesis of my

Ieaming. In this sense, the story fùnctions as the ultimate narrative, with myself as the

creative instrument through which ail data flow. 1 am attempting to formulate a

representative narrative which captures the spirit of dl four narratives.

So here, 1 hearken back to McEwan (1995), and his hope that "in saying

something newu@. 176) about teaching, we will learn to teach (and learn!) better. 1 thhk

that the use of creative writing in educatioaal research has great possibilities. As Zeiler

(1 995) observes: "Narrative holds the appeal of interest and identification and offers

perpetual possibilities for enlarging the access to, and possibly the impact of, educational

research" (p. 223). In writing a creative narrative to synthesize my research findings and

53

the themes 1 identifieci in the narrative I collecteci, I feel 1 am taking narrative research to

its ultirnate conclusion, where form is refiecting the theoretical perspective on story.

Alongside that intent, my hope rnirrors that of Zeller, which is that as researchers

we may find a larger audience, and create a larger impact through experiments such as my

own. Krail(1988) offers a poetic perspective on how a story such as my own couId

inspire ongoing learning. Citing Van Manen, fiom "Practising Phenornenologid

Writing" she observes that " When the language of our research 'speaks the world in a

primary sense rather than abstractly speaking of it,' we relive Our experiences with the

advantage of distance. We can go back over and over the- each time with added

insight" (p. 476). Thus, my story seeks to create a difEerent experience of learniog for the

reader, one which cornes out of synthesizing the research tindings in a primary sense.

What Hap~ened: Narrative Research in Process

I have always been interesteci in learning fkom people: this is one of the reasons

that interviews and narrative research appealed to me. At the t h e 1 was deciding a topic,

1 was senously pursuing pool, and had even started t a h g lessons in an effort to speed my

learning process. As I becarne more of a "regular" in the pool halls, 1 noticed that almost

everyone 1 played was willing to share a tip with a novice such as me. 1 was impressed

with the focus and intensity of the players who played in the tournaments 1 was now

competing in, or watching on a regular basis. What stimulatecl my decision to M e r

knowledge in this a r a was my reakation ofjust how senous these players were about

1 earning .

54

Thus, I decided to interview only pool players who had been serious about the

sport for a number of years, and who had achieved an impressive level of success. My

interest in interviewhg Ai Lougheed grew out of studying with him, and reaiizing the

depth of bis knowledge, and his talent as a teacher. AiJison Fisher was chosen on the

basis of her reputation as the three time Women's World Nine-bal Champion: her

technique and composue during cornpetition are both notable. After talking to many

players about my research interests, many recommended Maureen Seto as an interview

candidate, on the basis of her remarkable story, and reputation as a top women's player in

both snooker and nine-baii in Canada. What was important about al1 three of these

players was that their Iearning process had already taken them to high levels of

achievement: within the definitions of the field, ali of them are "experts."

1 decided that 1 would create a list of questions to ask during the interviews with

these three respondents. These questions (which are included as an Appendix) were used

in an open-interview format, in which additional questions could be used to foUow up

themes, or answers provided by other respondents. The questions were based to a large

extent on my own expenences learning pool, and my own current challenges in the game.

1 recognize now, in retrospect, that this may not have been the moa effective way to elicit

answers fiom world champion players, particulariy about their own current challenges.

As w d l many of the questions regarding my current challenges or leaming expenences,

such as leamhg to bank balls, etc. were difficult for these players to remember.

Sometimes the questions actudy seemed to be geniag in the way of leamhg

about how the respondents leamed pool. Why was that? 1 think it was due to the number

55

of questions which 1 expected to get through in a two to two-and-a-half bour interview:

six pages of questions! Certainly part of this was the expectation that 1 had to band in

questions to obtain my ethical review (a relevant concem). What ended up happening

sometimes, however, was that the questions seaned tedious, and an obligatioa to "get

through" rather than the inspiration for the many interesting stones that did corne out of

them. I f 1 were to conduct a similar study again, 1 would certainly eut down on the

number of questions, or ask the respondents to write some of the questions, another way

to help focus on what the respondents consider most important in their experience. in the

final analysis, my detailed List of questions may have hindered my narrative approach

somewhat, but did not completefy stifle the spontaneous stories that my respondents

related.

Even before the process of transcription was completed, interpretation was already

beginning. Each interview had a certain mood, tone, or over-riding theme which I tried to

capture with the "representative quote" for each respondent. Each interview had

mernorable moments, and great stories that stood out already. With the transcripts in

hand, I was able to see themes developing. The ones 1 chose to pursue were the three

which appear in the next chapter: Players Sharing Knowledge: An Expert Sub-culture,

Solo-Learning and Practice, and finally The Mental Garne: Expertise in Cornpetition.

Players al1 seemed to comment upon these themes in their interviews, and considered

them important. To develop the themes in more detail, 1 would pore over the tramcripts

again and again, searching for related quotations for each respondent. Before this, and

pardel to this process, 1 was also exploring expert aquisition and the other Literature

56

mentioned in Chapter Two to help illuminate my findings.

When the findings were completed, and the themes identified, 1 began writing the

short story to synthesize what 1 had leamed. My goal for this story was not to rewrite the

findings that appear in the third chapter, but to find some way of representing the spirit of

the 1ea-g 1 bad witnessed to a larger audience. Althouse CoNege Press recently

published a book with a similar goal, which 1 was unaware of und after beginning the

story. The very existence of Brent Kilboumts book For the Love of Teaching was exciting

to me, in that it represented the work of a Liodred spirit. In his preface, Kilbourn

discusses his own stniggles with how "we should write about teaching" (1998, p.xüi)- A

novelia he wrote is one of bis m e r s . He says "'To Seek a Deeper Truth' is premised on

the assurnption that there is room to say serious things about teaching in a form that is not

saturated with jargon and that is open to a more general audience" (1998, p-xi$. L, too,

believe that my stoly says "senous thiogs" about both teaching anci learning. The story

will be discussed fiirther in the concluding chapter, after its finai instdment.

Conciusion

My choice to use a narrative research methodology was a very conscious one,

fuelled by my interest in how stones and experience are constmcted and CO-constnicted

by story-teller and Listener. Through my own readings on varied forms of narrative

research, I have identified a number of features important to my research, which when

combined, can m e r the question "What is narrative about narrative research?" In the

course of exploring these feaîures, (collaboration, autobiography, validation and tmth,

narrative andysis and narrative creation), as well as disnissing my own research

experiences, 1 have also been able to answer the question "What is narrative about my

research?"

Just Play: Part Four

Ann had found hersdfbecoming quite taken with pool. Amidst the stress of

completing her teaching placement, pool became her refuge. Somehow, when she was on

the table shoothg by herse& the outside world seemed to fade away, replaced by a world

that was more just, more reliable. The forces of good and evil were replaced by the forces

of physics: If you aie straight and aim correctiy, then the baiî would go in. Well, mort of

the time! Whde she was no match for any of the regulars at the "Rack 'Em," her vexy

intensity seemed to eam a bit of respect. AU she had leamed was that to get good at this,

she migbt as well get a degree in it, because it was going to take years!

Jamie had been a big help to ber, with a couple lessons. Her term as snident

teacher in class was up at the end of this week, and he had agreed to meet her for one last

lesson. Here she was again, at the entrane of that now familiar door. It welcorned her,

offenng an escape. As she walked in, Gary at the bar greeted her and poured a cup of

coffee for her. Jamie was sitting at a table, watching a match on the fiont table. She

greeted him.

"Eh, how's my favourite shark?" she joked.

"Not bad, uh, teacher, and you?" he returned-

"SuMving, and this is my last week, so I'm in the home stretch." She tried not to sound as

tired as she was. "So, what's on the agenda, pool teacher?"

He turned to watch the match again at the table. "Today, 1 think_ we'll just watch. This

guy is fiom out of town, he's really good. You know enough about nine bal1 to foiiow the

garne. "

59

Ann's brain was spinning. Nine ball: well, she knew eaough, that the b d s were sunk in

order fiom one to nine, and to watch out for combination shots on the nine, but she

couldn't play it. She didn't even h o w where the white b d was going most of the the!

"Okay, sure, " she agreed. He was the tacher, after ali.

They watched the match together. She had expected silence, but Jamie would point out

interesting moments in the game, where the player had a choice to rnake, or had got out of

position. S he couldn't see most of what he was taiking about, but she was amazed that he

could so ofien predict the other players' shots, where they would put the cue baii for their

next shot.

"Take a look at the four bail, there -" Jamie gestwed towards the table.

"It's nght beside the eight baii." Am wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"Where could you sink it?" Jamie asked her.

"Ummmm," she looked at the pockets, and could see that there was nowhere to shoot it

with the eight ball in the way, "Nowhere?"

"Good" said Jamie, still watching the match. "Okay, aow he's sunk the two ball, now

what would you do?"

Ann waffled. "1 don't know. "

Jamie just nodded. "Watch."

AM obsemed as the player bit the three bail, but didn't si& it, and bid the cue ball behinà

some other bah.

"That is a safety: you play safe when you dont have a shot, and you don't want to leave a

shot for the other guy, uh, player." Jamie continuecl to watch the player shoot.

60

"How did you know he wouid do that?" Aiin was curious-

"Tt was the four bal4 there, it was tied up." Jamie answered. "He knew he couldn't sink it.

If it was me, 1 wouid've done the same ...y ou don't want to try an impossible shot and

leave someone else an open table."

A m observed, "You see a lot there that 1 don't see."

Jamie shmgged. "Watch the good players, and youliI Ieam a lot. You shouid always be

watching and leaming. If'you want to see some good pool, come out sometime to Our

monthly tournament on the 1 s t Sunday of every month."

"That sounds good," said Am.

They continued to watch the match, and Ann leamed a lot, not only about what shots the

players might try, but aiso about how diligently the players had to appfy themselves to be

that good. This was a thinking game, that's what she k e d about it. Any of these players

could get up and sink lots of bah, but it was how they moved the cue bal1 into position,

and how much they were thinking about strategy. She wanted to get that good, too.

She wondered ifJamie realized that she felt sorry to be moving out of his

cIassroom in a couple days. She didn't redy feel like she'd been abie to "help" him much,

in fact, he had helped her. The best she had corne up with was to encourage him to find

some way to bring pool into his writing, and she had found a book on the hiaory of

billiards which she had taken out of the miversity tibrary for him. Both of these

connections had seemed somewhat strained to her, however. She sighed, and thanked

him.

"You've opened up my eyes, thaiilrs for your help! 1 guess III see you in class before 1

leave?"

Jamie smiled. "Yeah, probably . "

"Weil, 1'11 corne and check out this tournament you rnentioned some time. See you!" AM

headed off to prepare her lessons for the next day, and mark the rest of those essays she'd

promised to have back before she lefi. So much to learn!

Chapter Four: The Players and the Themes

Introducina the Plavers

Al Lougheed, Age 53, born in London, Ontario, and currentiy Living near London, top

amateur

Al is a World Senior Amateur VNEA 8-bal1 Champion (1997). He is well-known

in the London area, and sought-after as an instructor. Mr. Lougheed began playing

snooker in bis youth, when that was the dominant a i e sport in Canada. m e r a hiatus of

well over a decade, he returned to the sport to l em pool in his mid-thirties, 8-bal1 and 9-

b d , which he k s been playing ever since.

Allison Fisher, Age 3 1, bom in Cheshunt, England and currently living in North Carolha

in the U. S .A, professional

Allison is the reigning and three-tirne World Nine-Bali Champion, the only person

to retain that title three times. She began playing snooker at a young age, capturing her

first title, National Ladies Champion, at oniy Meen years old. M e r a highly successful

professional snooker career in Eaglaad, Ms. Fisher came to the U.S. in 1995 to play Nine-

baii, an unfamiliar game and incredibly, began to dominate the sport almost immediately.

Maureen Seto, Age 42, born in Nova Scotia, Canada, and currently living in Toronto,

Canada, professional

Maureen plays on the women's professional tour in the United States, and is the

1997 and 1998 Canadian 9-bal1 Champion, the 1998 Canadian snooker champion and

63

former World Snooker Amateur Champion. She began playing snooker more seriously

after an accident confined her to a wheelchair, padysed fiom the waist down. She is no

longer in a wheelchair, and her continueci leaming of the game of pool has made her a top

player.

Colette Peters, Age 30, bom in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and currently living in

London, Canada, amateur beginner

Colette has been playing pool senously for almost two years, with the intent of

being the best pool player she can be. While she has certauily seen a great deal of

improvement, especially due to her study with Al Lougheed, she has not yet won a

tournament.

These quotes have been chosw by me fiom the entue text of the i n t e ~ e w s

because 1 feel they capture some essence of the player as a leamer, and some essence of

tbeir personality as a cornpetitor.

Al Lougheed

1 think, bas idy, it's because 1 persevered to try and teach myseLç, and spent so much time at teaching myseK.1 just appiied the lessons I've learned and the ups and downs, and can take it and apply it to other individuals that 1 see going through the same process ... l t e gone through such pain of analysis and study in tenns of improving myself, that 1 can take it and share that joumey, if you like, with other people.. .my joumey encompasseci: observation and study.

64

This quote captures the essence of Al's character as a pool player and lemer: He

is passionate and thorough. Not content to simply go with the standard flow of

knowledge, Al has consistently sought to improve his knowledge to a supenor level,

regarding technique and other aspects of the sport. His knowledge is most directfy

manifested in his bigh level of play. His studied approach and level of knowledge

combine with an aptitude for teacbing to make him a sought afker teacher. He describes

his experiences in earlier sports as "one hundred percent, total competitive passion," and

it is clear he is the same in his pursuit of excelience in pool.

Allison Fisher

1 always treat matches seriously, because 1 have a lot of pride in my performance. So, for sure, every match is important, and you have to r edy give it a hundred percent, and, it is pride, really. So 1 dont, even if l'm playing a little kid, or something, 1 dont like letting them win. You know, so, - it's your killer instinct, you know, you want to win at al1 costs.

For a world champion on the top of her field, I felt that this quote captured some

of the essence of what d e s a champion. Aiiison Fisher gives a "hundred percent"

whenever she steps up to the table regardless of whom she is playing. Her pide in her

performance will not d o w her to play sloppily, in a way that might slip into her

competitive game. I think anyone witnessing Alfison Fisher's calm and professional

demeanor in cornpetition is seeing her "killer instinct" in action: a mental fortitude and

strength as intimidating as her technique.

65

Maureen Seto

Well, when 1 played in the wheelchair, 1 played fast: I'd go around the table pretty quickly. i'd jua grab the rad, and just pull myself around. And somebody said to me when 1 first went to the World Championships, and 1 didn't know anybody, Jimmy Wych, any of those players. Someone said to me, "You move around the table almost as fast as Jimmy Wych." And 1 says "WeU, [ifJ the table was higher or 1 was shorter, 1 would go under the table, which would be faster." (C laughs) So even in my wheelchair 1 playd quickly.

This powerful quotation captures the essence of a tenacious spirit. Few people

conquer the challenges this talented player has, in leaming to walk not once, but three

times in her Me. To then rise to the top of the sport in Canada and begin competing

internationaily is indeed incredibie. This story shows Maureen Seto's ability to rise above

any Limitations set before her, whether it be in her learning of the sport, or in other aspects

of life. As she says in the quotation, if the table was "higher or I was shorter, 1 would go

under the table, which would be faster." 1 thinlc this speed is also aa aspect of her

personality. It was evident in the interview that she is a quick thinker, and she is well-

known on the WPBA (Women's Professional Biliïards Association) tour as a quick

player.

The Plavers as Learners

This was a sub-theme that came out both in discussions of formal schooling, and

in pool leaniiag. Ail of the players are obviously motivated leamers when it cornes to

pool. When it came to school however, two of the players, Maureen Seto, and Allison

Fisher, recalled that their motivation in a subject was affecteci by the quality of the

teacher, and by their interest. Al Lougheed is a very self-motivated learner who has a

66

positive view of the role education can play in one's life. Below, I review each player, and

include a quote fiom them regarding learning in schooi.

Maureen Seto

Maureen Seto describes herself as a "good leamer" 4 t h a "good memory." She

recds that her leamhg in school was "sporadic" and directly comected to her interest in

a subject, and the quality of the teaching she was receiving. The teachers she credited

with inspiring her motivation she describes as having an "interest in teaching." She

recalls being able to make a remarkable improvement in a cumulative course in calculus,

an improvement which was simply the result of her applying herseK In the interview, she

takes a global view of learniag, and sees much in cornmon arnong school and pool and

iife learning:

Application: you have to apply. If you don% apply, you don? le m... If you dont do the homework, you can't be good at it: It's just basic learning-teachuig. It's like any other subject in Me, you know. You can't be good at your work unless you learn it. You can't be good at anything until you leam it. You know, you can f&e it for a while, but in the long run, you're on& fooling yourself, because other people out there can see.

The importance of appiying yourself was a theme that came up repeatedly . It i s obvious,

that in pool, Maureen Seto has found a "Me subject" in which she has applied herself and

learned very successfùlly .

Ai Lougheed

As mentioned above, Al Lougheed's study of the game of pool impressed me a

great deal. Not only is his knowledge immense, but he has very efféctive ways of

cornmunicating that knowledge to a beginner such as me. E saw a strong connection

between Al's discussion of his philosophy of learning whch 1 quote below, and his

approach to pool learning, specïfically. Here Al is explainhg why he decided to attend

university, and work for his Bachelor's degree in literature and philosophy, although he

didn't intend to use the education directly in his work:

To me, 1 always knew that selfibettement was an internai thing. I was never back at school to accomplish any kind of practical goal, just to, to be aware of more intemal and spintuai, if you Iike, a quest, curiosity of people and the world and the way things work.

Al describes his early experiences in spon as "one hundred percent, total competitive

passion, and I'm the same way with pool. It hasn't dùninished at al." Thus, Al is a leamer

who believes in the intemal benefits of learning, and has applied his competitive passion

to the study of the sport of pool.

Allison Fisher

Similar to Maureen Seto, Mison Fisher describes herself as a "quick leamer," and

describes her interest in school subjects as being infiuenced by teachers for the better or

for the worse. In this quotation, we hear AUison describe the importance of the teacher in

learning, and she extends this to the learning of pool:

Well in learning, yeah, as 1 said, the teacher is essentid ... You could have somebody who really wants to leam how to play pool, but if you put them with somebody who's kind of, very stiff, and "You have to do it this way, and that's that!" Then, and they don? enjoy it, or they hurt, or it's not the right way for them, then it's no good, it might lciii their interest. So, I think you have to have a bit of fiin in everything you do, you have to have a iighthearted side. Because some people aren't meant to learn easily, or they migbt

need somethhg different. But there are similarities, for sure, 1 mean, 1 think in learning. As 1 said, it depends how much you want to learn, who teaches you, 1 think they're majors, really, those issues.

Again, the issue of application, which Maureen Seto raised is here again. Allison Fisher

confinns that learning in general has certain commonalities, whatever the subject.

We see a csmmon perspective among these people who have dedicated

themselves to leamîng pool: motivation and the quality of instruction play a key role.

While two of the players recall influences in school learning that affected their

motivation to learn, in pool, they seem to have found an outlet for their abilities.

Similady, with Al Lougheed, pool, which has inspüed so much learning, has become an

outlet for his "total cornpetitive passion," and for his belief in the persona] benefits in

questing for knowledge. These three players demonstrate achievement in learning at a

high level, it is simply in a field that is outside of the traditional educationai realm. The

key for their achievement and motivation has been a connedion with the "subject of pool"

that was sometimes lacking in their previous encounters with formal education.

Theme One: Plavers Sharina Knowledne: An Expert Sub-Culture

In this section I d be exploring the theme of "Players Sharing Knowledge: An

Expert Sub-Culture." This is the metaphorical step into that temtory rife with stereotype,

the pool hall. This theme arose out of my analysis of the three i n t e ~ e w s in transcript

form. Each player made reference to learning pool through other players sharing

69

knowledge with them, and ais0 referred to sharing knowledge with others. Through the

course of this section, 1 wiîi be e x p l o ~ g the different ways players striving towards

expert performance can share their knowledge, using many excerpts fiom the i n t e ~ e w s

and some autobiography.

First, 1 would like to review in this and the next paragaph, the major concepts

that the literature introduced earlier will contribute to this reading. The first is fiom Lave

and Wenger's work, " Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation" (1 99 1 ). As

suggested in Chapter Two, Lave and Wenger's work is important to my research because

it applies to the leaming culture of the pool hall. There is no "pool school" for aspiring

expert players to attend. In fact, 1 would argue, with support fkom Lave and Wenger's

writings, that the education happening in the pool hall is in direct contrast to traditional

transmission models of education. Wrthin the varied studies of apprenticeship covered in

their book, Lave and Wenger claim that "there is very little observable teaching; the more

basic phenomenon is leaming. The practice of the community creates the potential

'curriculum' in the broadest sense" (p. 92-93) Thus, 1 will be examining how the players

learn together, and how knowledge cm be gain& by playing or watching together with

member of the pool haü commwity.

Expert acquisition research provides an excelient complement to Lave and

Wenger's work in my efforts to characterize the learning culture of expert players. 1

remind readers of the concept of the second-order environment, from Bereiter and

Scardamalia (1993) . This is a fruitful concept, as expert players, or those striving towards

expert performance, value the process of expertise as defineci by Bereiter and

Scardamalia (p.98). Expert players vatue tbose working at the edge of their cornpetence to

fùrther their learning, they value the hvestment of time and other resources to learn the

sport, and they respect those engaged in the progressive problem-solving required to gain

expertise. The expert sub-culture embraces those that exhibit these quaiities, and as we

will see in this chapter, Iearning truly commences when one becornes a member of the

sub-culture and gaias access to the knowledge in the wmmunity. In addition, deliberate

practice, as discussed earlier, becomes a factor here, "a well-defined task with an

appropriate diflticulty level for the particdar individual, informative feedback, and

opportunities for repetition and corrections of errors" (Ericsson, 1996, p.20). In tbe

interviews we will see how powerfùlly deiiberate practice and the expert sub-culture

combine for optimum pool learning.

The first issue that arose when discussing the sharing of knowledge with other

players was "Who to share with?" One of the players to address this was Ai, who usuaily

shares his knowledge only with other players he has determïned are peers or near-peers,

and sees this a general practice arnongst accompiisheâ players:

Players of equal knowledge.. .dont mind sharing, because what the one person could giean from me, 1 could glean fiom him the next day, so it's a give and take situation. But my sharing my knowledge with a lesser recreation player, taken to its ultimate rationale, is: "Why would 1 bother?" He doesn't have anything to give back, and I'm not getting paid blowing my hot air, and usually, there's littie or no thanks when you do. It's not even realised how much this person is capable of absorbing what you're telling them, anyway ... Most players that have gained any sense of accomplishment at the table know that they've had to work hard to do it, and don't give it up fkely. Most pool players with a sharing experience, are fairly reticent, except ifit's with their buddies or their peer group. When they get discussing shots, they don't want someone who's in there with a jack of knowledge putting their two cents worth in, because half the the, nobody wants to hear it.

What's interesting here is the value placed on knowledge level achieved by other players,

and Al's consciousness of that. The value of the sharing of kmwledge is an exchange that

is of mutual benefit to players of equal knowiedge level, over tirne, not necessarily in the

same day. The issue of pay is raised with a "lesser recreational player," which would be

the way an inexperienced player wouid have to gain knowledge initialiy, tbrough paid

lessons. Finally, Al raises "discussing shots" as a sharing experience. The comections to

this practice and the practice of chess experts has already been raised, and wiil be

explored in more depth shortly.

Maureen Seto adds an interestiag twist to the question of "Who do 1 share with?"

and the issue of money. Ms. Seto has wached, and worked as a consultant on films to

coach actors who portray pool players. As a Canadian champion, she could demand a

lucrative rate for lessons. Instead of charging a flat fee, Ms. Seto assesses a potential

student on a case by case basis, and charges them depending on their attitude and what

they are dedicating to the sport. Some players may view the lesson less seriously, and rnay

not implement any changes suggested. For t h e 4 she charges a steep fee:

Because ... then they're not wasting my time, which 1 gained over many years, and talking to a lot of people, and a lot of obsexvation, a lot of watching people . . X I see someone working at it, lots of hours, and stuE they're not doing it for fiee, right?, so 1'11 give it to them. Because they're putting in the hours, so to me, that's not fiee. Rigbt? They're putting in a lot of hours, which is a lot of time, which is a lot of money. But if 1 see someone who just wants to do the quick fix, then 1'11 charge them a lot, because it's th8 same thing, it's the same fee, but two different relationships.

Here again, the issue of the amount of t h e and effort it has taken to acquire the current

skill-level is raised. Ms. Seto values that dedication to the extent that she will share her

72

knowledge for free with even a lesser player who appears to aspire to a high level of play,

and will benefit fiom her knowledge.

Certainly, in my own experience, there is a world of ciifference in the two cultures

existing simultaneously in the pool halls 1 have played in. When 1 first decided that 1 was

going to improve my game, 1 played nightly at a local pool hall with a large recreational

clientele. As 1 dida't know a single pool player in the city of London, 1 played for hours by

myself The recreational players viewed this as an aberration, and ofkm made joking

comments to me to the efféct of "That's cheatiag!" Indeed, to a recreational player, to play

alone would be to defeat the sociai and enjoyable aspects of the sport.

AU of that changed for me one evening when 1 was approached at the table by an

older man. 1 was puuled. Why was he watchuig me shoot? As 1 recd, he watched me

shoot a couple bah, which 1 probably missed, unaccustomed to any scrutiny. In his

gravelly voice, 1 recall him saying something like "You won't make any *&?!@ bals if

you shoot like that! Let's piay." 1 racked the balls for him, and he quickly ran the table. 1

felt like 1 had reached Niwana! This guy could play pool! Through the course of a couple

more games, in which 1 had hardly any shots, as I recail, he gave me a few pointers, and

bid me goodnight.

From there on in, when he would see me, he would often play a couple games

with me, even though 1 was basically a complete beginner. Like Ms. Seto's students,

however, 1 was putting in the time, and before long, was improving. "Old Lou" as he is

calied helped me begin my serious interest in pool by htroducing me to the expert sub-

culture that 1 had been missing up to that point. 1 remember bim pointing out a teenager

73

playing on a nearby table, and telhg me he had one of the best strokes in town, and

encouraging me to watch what he was doing. Now that 1 am a regular, although novice

player, he stiil coaches me, helping me shoot shots currently above my level. When I

thank hun, he offers a grne "That's what it's al1 about, kid." Through the initial interest of

this one player, 1 was initiateci into the expert sub-culture in that pool room, where my

efforts were no longer "cheating" but respected as an attempt to seriously improve my

game.

HaWlg examined who expert players choose to share their knowledge with, 1 wiü

now move into HOW those players share knowledge. The first example 1 would like to

give, cornes fkom Allison Fisher as she describes experiences when she was thirteen years

old and in Engiand:

I used to go in the pub and play in fours, because there was only one table there, so we just used play. And when 1 wanted to learn something, I'd get one of the guys to teach me, and I'd just practice it. ..So that was a big thing. 1 remember learning how to draw the bail back. 1 remember wanting to know how to do it, getting one of the guys who was really good at it to show me. And.. -1 used to practice, used to practice that, over and over.

So, to gain pool knowledge, one may simply ask, but you are more likely to gain the

knowledge you want when it is a fiiend, or peer you are asking. What is interesting to me

in this quote is the depth of discrimination the young thirteen year-old player had even

then. She did not simply ask player to demonstrate the skili she desired to learn: she

asked one who was "really good at it." The fact that she was discriminating between

players shows a conscious observation that will surface again.

Collaborative experimentation is another way that knowledge is gained, and

shared while playhg with peers. Maureen Seto gives aa apt description of how leamhg

of this sort occurs between peer players:

Ifwe corne to a point, and 1 think someone's going to do it this way, and 1 think about it another way, 1 Say, "Just wait." And, we'll just use spit or something to mark that spot where that object bal1 is and then where the cue bal1 is, and say, "Okay, try it yow way." And then we'll try it a few times my way, and then we'll try it a dflerent way.

With this sort of learning, players are sharing their knowledge in the context of one

particular shot, and the dernands it places on the player to get in position for the next shot.

What is interesting is the fact that the experimentation goes beyond what both players

would have doue thernselves to a "dinerent way." This is very much in keeping with

Bereiter and Scardamalia's definition of expertise as a process in which experts keep on

the edge of their competence. By sharing in this maaner, they are always comparing their

choices with those of others, and even attempting other alternatives to add to their

repertoire of choices.

What the interviews demonstrate is that this kind of mental practice, whether

undertaken coliaboratively, as seen above, or alone, as in the next chapter, is a well-

known form of learning to al1 of the players. Just as the advanced chess players use

"deliberate practice" by studying the matches of international chess rnasters to "[predict]

the chess master's next move" (Ericsson and Charness, 1994, p. 739), pool players, at

l e s t those striving to improve, are never sitting idly watching a match, but are literally

comparing their own strategy and position-making ability with that of the player they are

watching, either confirming knowledge, or gainhg knowledge.

Demonstrating this kind of s h e d deliberate practice at a high levei, Allison

Fisher recounts her tour last year with professional pool player Grady "The Professor"

Matthews:

It was very good for me being on the road with Grady, because we had a few hours here and there where we would go to a pool table, and 1 would say, "Weli, what would you do in this situation?". .. maybe pushing out. Where would you push to in a situation? And 1 would have an idea in my head, and I'd see if it matched bis. Or kicking, how do you - what system are you using to kick this ball? Where are you kicking it to? Wbere do you want the cue b d ? Those sorts of things. So, the more, khd of advanced stuff.

Again, we see that to optimize the learning, you must be processing the information on

the table at the same tirne as the other player in order to have something to compare with.

The cornparison, and assessrnent of the dinerence in shot choice, if any, is the space in

which the learning takes place.

Like Maureen Seto and AUison Fisher's examples, Al offers examples that

demonstrate this dyaamic of deliberate practice in pool. Aî's examples are interesting in

that they do not invotve actual play, but collaborative observation of matches between

other players. The iively term Al uses to describe the process is "mental gymnastics. "

Here he cites an example that might occur at a tournament:

I've had people wak up, or sit with me while I've been watching a match, and you start thinking "What do you do here?" then you ask the other person "What would you do?" "Yeab, well he did that, 1 wouldn't have done that" this type of thing, so you get a sharing of that level ... Co-observation, and analysing. It's usually very fleeting, and dis-jointed, and here and there, but it's stiil a sharing which you can do if you know the person sming beside you is thinking on the same wavelength.

Thus, even when not at the table with another player, this kind of deliberate practice is

occurring. The shot choices of the player are discussed and analysed for soundness, and

alternate strategis are offered. The key to the leamhg is that, like the advanuxi chess

players, the pool players are confirming or expanding their memory bank of patterns to

play on the table, and are adding to their conceptual understanding of strategic choice-

The process does not simply end there, however. Ai explains that players

watching a match in cornpetition may even approach the players they have been watching

to offer their insights if they feel it could help himlher improve in the fùture:

If two of them [my peers] are sining there watching, and have my best interests at heart hoping for me to win a match, and they come to me d e r and say "Why didn't you do this bere?" after, and not being criti cal... they're trying to add theû level of expertise to help me win.

Thus, just as in Lave and Wengels research, "coparticipation" (1991, p. 13) and

"circulation of knowledge among peers and near-peers" (p. 93) is crucial to the

functioning of the expert subculture. Members of the expert subdilture learn together,

l e m fiom watching each other, and leam fiom feedback on their play fiom their peers.

It would not be accurate, however, at this point to conclude this section without

discussing the role of waching in this expert sub-culture, and the learning of pool. There

are points at which players may deem it necessary to receive focussed feedback and

technical support which cannot come fiom informal consultation in the pub or pool M.

Allison Fisher received coachuig fiom one of the best coaches in snooker, Jack Pailan.

She recalls:

When 1 was [seventeenJ,prior to the wodd championshïps, 1 knew that there was something in my garne, there were certain shots 1 was missing, or certain shots 1 was dohg something wrong in So that was where that coach came in and corrected it aii. So 1 knew that 1 needed to change ...

77

Al Lougheed also sought out the knowledge of a coach, one who had a "heartfeit love for

analysing why and what happens in aiî aspects of the game to higher levels." While Al

felt that the coach's knowledge base was not sigdcantly greater, through consulting him

he was "just confirming what 1 knew, and fine-tuning a little bit more on the ...p hysics of

what's happening on the table." Maureen Seto, while not having a longstanding

relationship with one coach, recalfs a brief discussion with this same coach regarding bal1

interaction that "opened [her] eyes," and inspired months of solo study to leam the

concepts he described. Thus, the role of shared learning will Vary fiom player to player, as

wili the degree to which formai coaching is sought out.

Theme One Sununarv

To conclude, upon entering a pool hall, you may find an expert sub-culture of

players striving for the highest levels of performance, existing right alongside the

recreational players. What differentiates the expert sub-culture is the fact that players are

consistently operating at the edge of their cornpetence, working to expand the limits of

their abilities. How do players accomplish this f a t ? Quite differently fiom a model in

which knowledge is only passed fiom the "howledgeable" tacher to the "ignorant"

student, in the expert sub-culture knowledge circulates amoagst "peers and near-peers" in

a process of CO-participation. Certainly some knowledge is gained fiom a tacher-student

relationship, but this is not the dominant learning model. As dehed by expert acquisition

research, the players use "deliberate practice" CO-operatively to further knowledge

individually, and coliectively. Through exploring the theme of "Players Sharing

78

Knowledge: An Expert Sub-Culture" we bave seen that to excel in the sport of pool,

players mun undertake a lengthy study, one which is supported by players on the same

journey themselves.

Theme Two: Solo-Learnina and Practice

As 1 examine how the three players discuss their solo-leamhg experiences and

practice habits, we d see the process of expertise in action. First, 1 will refiesh the

reader with quotations from the literature tbat are particularly relevant to this theme.

From there, 1 wiil tum to the players to define what is an expert perspective on practice

that optimizes leaming. A certain amount of overlap occurs with the previous theme, as

players discuss their leaming experiences obseming other players' matches, aithough in

this case the observation and leaming is solo. M e r exploring examples of solo-leaming

of this kind, 1 move on to a discussion of practice. What to practice? Why practice? The

players reveal that the process of expertise is a necessary part of using solo-leaming and

practice to improve performance.

To emphasize why solo-leaming and practice may be of interest here, 1 retum to

B ereiter and Scardamalia's (1 993) discussion of expert-novice cornparisons. While

research of this kind, such as the study of snooker players discussed in detail in Chapter

Two, may be able to make some usenil determinations about what separates the experts

from the novices, Bereiter and Scardamalia observe that the picture created is a "static"

cornparison:

They show what experts lmow and do at a given moment, but they show nothing

about how experts got to where they are or how they maintain their expertise. The presurnptive answer is "through practice" but the research doesn't really tell us that or give us any bais for idemhg whether more is uivalved. (p.34)

As suggested previously, tbis is exactly the focus of the study, to ask the experts about

issues such as these, and see if the process of expertise is as generalizable as Bereiter and

Scardamalia suggest. The richness of the i n t e ~ e w s in this area suggests there is much to

be learned by ashg experts these questions, thus funher complethg the picture begun by

earlier research.

W e 1 will be examinhg the quotes that foiiow for evidence of the process of

expertise, an expert process can also be characterized by the use of "deliberate practice"

as discussed in the previous chapter. The similarity of shared learning experiences by

pool players to practices used by advanced chess players has already been explored in

detail: In this chapter, we wili be looking for similarities in practice. Certainly ail of the

players discussed the importance of practice, and not just any practice. As Allison Fisher

said, throughout her iife she has "always done quaiity practice." As this section

progresses, 1 believe the reader wiii be wnvinced that "quality practice," as described by

these players and "deliberate practice" are almost identicai.

According to Ericsson (1 996), deliberate practice encompasses "speciai activities

designed to irnprove performance" (p.42). This definition is quite vague, and does not

incorporate the oppomiaity for "feedback" which was part of the onginai formulation by

Ericsson, Krampe, and Tech-Romer (1 993): "a welldeniied task with an appropriate

difficulty level for the particular individuai, idonnative feedback, and opportunities for

repetition and corrections of erron" (Ericsson, 1996, p. 20). As \J becorne apparent in

the discussions by the players that foiiow, the feedback in their practice sessions almost

aiways cornes fiom themselves, although all beiieve that feedback £tom others is

potentialiy useful. In fact, appearing in the Ericsson book is a study of chess players

which determineci that "cumulative serious [read, deliberate] practice alone is the m o a

important predictor for m e n t chess rating" (Chamess, Krampe and Mayr, 1 996, p. 52).

Given that deliberate pcactice was considerd the crucial factor for chess players, I was

very interested to hear the thoughts of the pool players, for in pool one must not oniy

recognize the strategic patterns in play, but also effect the shots onesex

What was interesthg in my discussions about practice 4 t h the players was that

each of them was quick to point out the opposite of their approach to practice at the table.

Maureen Seto: But there's some people just hit bah, and hit bah , hit balls, ... it's not beneficial. Right? But it's the ones that are workiag on specific thhgs that get the most out of it.

Al Lougheed: I'm sure that certain people just do it, and b o c k balls around, and really don't retain anything in a memory bank, because they're not geared to it, nor d O they care.. .

Allison Fisher: You could spend twenty hours a day banging b a h around, but not iearning a thing. So it really is what you practice, that's essential.

I found the insistence of ali players on this point an important starting point to define

expeddeliberat e practice. The value these players place on practice has nothing

whatsoever to do with time spent at the table. The value came out of working on

something specific, retaining knowfedge in the memory bank, and the fact that leamhg

was occurring. W k t is exciting about the commonalities here is that learning may be

considerably accelerated in pool, and many other undertakings if the focus is on teaching

81

leamers how to practice, even more than what to practice.

Now, what exactly defines the value in praaice for these players wiii be explored

in more detail. When I asked the question "Could you recall the last time you learned

something at the table, and describe it?" Two out of the three players answered that they

leam something every time they approach the table:

Al Lougheed: 1 try and tearn something every day, or c o d h something that I alread y know.

Maureen Seto: Probably every single time.. .Most likely, every time 1 play a match, of course, because ... everybody's style is different, so you'd probably leam one thing, sometimes even if you do& think of it.

While AUison Fisher responded with a story about an interesthg shot she had learned

fiom another player on the tour, she taks at other times in the interview about her

constant attention at the table:

Always, 1 stay down on a shot: 1 watch where the cue bail is hitting into the pocket. It's no good slopping balls in. Ifyou're hitting an edge of the pocket, and you mean to hit the middle, then it's important to see that.

What fascinatecl me about this was the sheer relentlessness of learning that these players

insist upon for themselves. Having achieved such a high level of proficiency, they still

regard themselves as leamers every time they step up to the table.

Here, in their powers of observation, whether it be where the ball is going into the

pocket, or other players, we do see some overlap in the learning expenences of the

previous section. The fact tbat this is happening alone in some cases does not make it a

different process, it is stiU the process of expertise. Particularly for Ai, learning alone was

important early on, as he r e d i s that in the snooker halls "the ievel of sharing when 1 was

younger was non-existent, almost completely non-t iastent." Thus, Al's recollection of

leaming reflects these past differences:

You look at what the better players are doing, you run down to the back table, and see if you c m do that. "Yeah, 1 can spin it out this way," or "How does he make that baii draw back?" ... Thats the learning process that you go through: step by step by obsewation. It's much easier if someone explains to you what they're doing, rather than you trying to interpret. It jusr shortens the education process, 1 suppose.

What is interesting here is the eagerness of the young players to experiment to find the

" secrets" of the better players. The lack of sharing i t the t h e of Al's youth added this step

of interpretation into the process, making solo-learning crucial.

Even if solo-learning does not corne out of necessity, it can stiU be extremely

useful. Allison Fisher recalls watching a televised match, and taking away a new shot to

use:

1 remernber seeing Terry Griffiths, (I was probably about, 1 don't know, maybe, let's Say thirteen, because 1 know 1 wasn't very old) playing a certain shot to get out of a snooker on tv in England. 1 thought, " Wow! I'm going to use that! " .. .it was quite a natural shot, 1 mean, most snooker players know it, and play it. But 1 remember seeing it, and thking, "Oh, I'm going to do that ! "

Thus, even without the input ofanyone else, Allison was observing at a high level, and

recognizing a shot usefid to her repertoire. These examples demonstrate that the process

of expertise does indeed involve staying at the edge of one's cornpetence, and persistently

learning.

Thus far we have seen players using observation together (the previous theme)

and aione (in this theme) while watching matches to leam fiom the strategy and technique

of other players. AUison Fisher adds another reah in which observation c m be useful

that of the psychological state of your, or anotherts opponent:

I think it's essentiai to watch, and to pick on people's weaknesses and strengths. You know, 1 could watch a pool match and say "Oh, that's why that person missed that," ... or you can observe a lot mentaiiy too, in their minds, in their faces, in their posmre, the way they sit in theû seat, their body language: everything.

Information gleaned tiom attention to issues such as this codd be crucial in choosing a

strategy in a match. Perhaps an opponent's weakness is technical, as in a tendency to miss

certain shots, or perhaps it is psychological, for example, an inabiiity to play their best

when behind in a match. Being a keen observer of others' psychologicai state only

provides more information that the expert player can act on strategically to win: once

again, the constant active learning state necesszuy for the process of expertise has been

Now 1 will move fiom looking at solo-ieamiag experiences comected to

observation to solo practice. As we saw above, the players saw their practice at the table

as drasticdy different than " banging balls around . " Practising involved " Iearning, " or

"confirming wbat they know" and choosing a "specific" goal for the session. Allison

Fisher reveals the importance of practice to her when she disnissed "the confidence that

practice gives me" :

So that's wtiere practice cornes in for a player who's reached a very high level ... That's why you need to tune up a bit, because it's yow confidence, it's your backbone, you know.

Thus, practice is an active process that is not taken iightly by players "at a very hi&

Certainly daily practice was the ideai for these players, and amount of time

practiced daily varied. While Al discussed the challenges of baiancing work and other

commitments, which limited practice to 1-2 hours daily, the professionals discussed the

challenges of finding a balance in their hves with pursuits outside of pool. Maureen

talked about taking a week off after a tournament, so that she would "wme back huogry"

to the table. Then, the build up for the aext tournament would begin, with one to one and

a half hour practice session, and then a break before returning to the table, so "then it will

be like a match." (Matches last approximately an hour and haif on the tour.) Maureen

Seto also spoke of the need to practice in a way that "doesn't bum out my legs." Allison

Fisher also talked about the need for balance in her life with practice. While she said she

would normaüy spend three to four hours a day, she said that "sometimes when you take

a break it's good," speaking of the need to "get enthused again." Thus, what is apparent is

that players rnust self-monitor and balance their Iives to ensure they dont burn out: one of

the keys to success in leaming is continued motivation and enthusiasm for practice.

What is it exactly that these players practice? Al Lougheed, considers his practice

solely technical. His aim for a practice session is to ensure that he is stroking the cue on

the Iine of the shot, and smoothly:

If the ultimate goal of playing pool is delivering a straight smooth stroke into the cue bali, and directing that cue ball to a particular place, then this is what most practice should be devoted to, in my opinion. That particular place that 1 am directing the cue ball to can be a straight on shot or one that the object bail is cut into the pocket. 1 am stiil directing the cue ball to a particuiar spot. This is doae with cue delivery. To effect this stroke, 1 experiment with the fundamentais of technique: stance, grïp, bridge, eye movement, and general body piacement .

Thus, Al Lougheed is continually returning to the fùndamentals in order to ensure that bis

technique is consistent, for without a "straight, smooth stroke" his knowledge cannot be

put into action on the table.

Similarly, Allison Fisher sees technique as a high priority for practice. Once again,

the c o ~ e c t i o n to practice and confidence is reiaforced. When asked about practice and

technique, she responds:

that's what on a daily basis, if 1 wu practising, that's really what 1 do practice, 1 dcn't practice - I'rn looking at my technique ali the the. Because once that starts changing, once little things creep into your game, one, your confidence goes, but, two, you're, you're not going to, you're aiming shots differently. You know, you make up, you compensate, and that's no good, if you're twisting your wrist, or you're elbow's in the wrong spot, or whatever. Then you start, you're naturally compensating, and then you dont know where you are, so itvs really important to do technique and the fùndamentals.

Thus, for Allison as well, practice is seen as crucial to maintaining the consistency of play

fiom whicb confidence cornes.

Practice c m ais0 play a somewhat different roie, yet one sm c o ~ e c t e d to

confidence. Maureen Seto describes her practice sessions as varied, depending on what

her irnmediate needs are:

It ail depends on what I'rn working on. Sometimes, it depends on i f 1 miss something, in my match, or was weak on something in my match. Then that would be what I'd be working on, usudy. A lot of times, it's a weakness, what I'd be working on. It's good to have different cirilis, maybe, for dflerent days, too. So you dont get bored.

Here, for Maureen, striving to improve performance is a crucial part of practice. As well,

in the quote that follows, for Aiiison Fisher, who describes why simply shooting racks

over and over is not what she would practice.

1 like repetitive shots, to do it over and over. I f 1 just nui a rack, you're never, firstly you're never going to get the same rack, over and over again. And if 1 do that, I'rn not going to really remember the shot, I'rn not going to, 1 mean it's all natural to me now, obviously, but 1 might, if I play the shot once, 1 certainly haven't perfécted that shot. So let's say 1 run the rack, but there's a shot that 1 didn't play so weil, or I'rn not on the right side of something, 1 rnight play that over and

over. But I would say in practice 1 would have key shots that I would practicc that corne up dl the tirne.

Thus, a common goai in the practice sessions here seems to be to not simply shoot shots,

or sink bas, but to gain confidence by perfeaing shots that the player identifies as a

weakness, either from cornpetitive play, or the praaice session itself.

What else rnight be o c c u r ~ g during practice? Al Lougheed describes his concept

of the memory bat&, a fhitfbi concept to help others understand how practice is

contributhg to performance in cornpetition:

The memory baak consists of three basic areas that are being built: Recognition of particular angles or ait shots, Recognition of stroke speed and how those angles are anéaed by speed of stroke, and Recognition of angles of deflection from these shots, the angie that the cue baii haves the object bail. This would also include hitting shots with siding and building a certain memory of the nuances of my cue and what it does under certain circumstances.

Thus, while practising, Al is filling, or conîïrming his memory bank with knowledge of

how the balls interact during shots, and how he cm alter that with the placement of the

eue tip and speed of stroke. Becoming familiar with his cue, the consistent piece of

equipment, is also a priority for Al, as tables can Vary dramatically. Thus, the building of

knowledge is a very active and conscious undertaking, which goes far beyond simply

When 1 presented the concept of such a memory bank to AUison Fisher, she did

see strong connections with what she was aiming to do in her practice sessions too. The

memory of what one is effecting is crucial, although she does state that it is dl automatic,

or "natural" to her now, with her level of accomplishment, one must still have the

memory of the shots to make them:

I'd say it's ail memory: that's why you're practising. That's why you practice. You don't practice just to bang b d s around. "Oh, 1 can get the ball to here." I'rn actually watching the path, when I'rn down on the sbot, and 1 stay down, I'm watching the path of the cue ball: I'rn mernorizhg When 1 play a shot with Iow right hand spin, 1 need to aim this ball, a bit thicker, or a bit thinner, or whatever, that's what I'm remembering.

Thus, memory se+ms to be a key element to practice. The players here are practising to

add to their memory bank of shots and possibilities. Tomlinson (1995) empbasizes the

"strategic nature" (p.23) of practice that is identical to Ailison Fisher's quote above. To

embody effective practice, the player must have "awareness and recognition of relevant

events" combined with "active attempts" (p.23). Unlike the chess players, the pool players

must not only know and read the strategic patterns on the table, they must ensure they can

effect, and hold in their memory the pbysical elements of these shots.

In my own experience, my enthusiasm for improving my pool skills preceded my

abiiity to praçtiçe in the way described by these players. As 1 said before, I knew no one

else who played pool, so when 1 decided to irnprove, 1 did hit baiis, balls, and more balls,

by myseq for months. When 1 think back on those practice sessions, 1 find them almost

cornical. I was practising, but was 1 learning? When Old Lou approached me, 1 think he

could see 1 was determineci, but clueless. Over tirne, he gave me guides and benchmarks

to measure my performance by, (such as ann position, cue bal1 control) and drew my

attention to many shots that used spin to increase my awareness of position play. Many

of the shots he showed me 1 am only now begianing to be able to make, or understand. 1

think that gaining awareness of some of the finer aspects of play was cxucial for me to

increase my leaming, as I had something more to aim for than just sinking the ball.

88

By entenng into formai lessons with Ai Lougheed, 1 gained a great deal of knowledge in a

more systematic fashion, tailored to my ability. Now when 1 practice, 1 do have specific

goals, as Maureen Seto does. 1 work on al1 aspects of my game, including my stroke,

position play, and a variety of shots. 1 have one shot that still psyches me out in

cornpetition, and 1 ofien practice it to try and gain confidence. Ody once 1 was initiated

into the learning culture of the pool hail did I gain enough knowledge to practice to learn.

Now my practice is deliberate, and guided by the process of expertise as I strive to both

gain knowledge and improve my technique.

Theme Two Summarv

In the practice of these players we have seen many elements of deliberate practice,

as descnbed by Ericsson. As Maureen Seto says, "it's better to set goals when you

practice." This is a direct parallel to the "well-defined task" (p. 20) Ericsson alludes to.

Similady, as Allison Fisher described her liking of "repetitive shots" for practice in order

to perfect them, Ericsson clairneci that "repetition and correction of errors" (p. 20) was

important to deliberate practice. Ericsson's conception of deliberate practice is, 1 believe,

another way of viewing the process of expertise as conceived by Bereiter and

Scardamalia, as we saw in Chapter Two. The process of expertise is characterized by a

willingness to learn at the edge of one's wmpetence. Maureen Seto summarizes this well

in her advice to aspiring players:

Listen. Watch. Practice. You know, specific practice is the best. A lot of people just practice bitting balls. And they're just hitting things that they know. You're not going to get better that way. You have to find tbings you don't know or you

89

don? like.

Thus, these players, with their relentiess focus on leaniing despite the high level of play

they have already achieved, show expertise in action. Practice is not a trivial undertaking,

but the very "backbone" of the player, as AUison Fisher observes. Practice gives the

player confidence and adds to knowledge. Aii players observe that someone could "bang

balls" and l e m nothing, so it is the expert aîtitude these players bring to the table that

keeps them leaming through practice.

Theme Three: The Mental Garne: Exbertise in Cornpetition

The third theme that 1 have identifid in the interviews is that of "The Mental

Game: Expertise in Cornpetition." This theme will explore this more difficult to define

area of leaming for the three players. As in the previous two sections, 1 will begin with

"key quotations" fiom the literature to "key" the reader into important concepts to watch

for in the words of the players. After that, 1 seek to define "the mental game" fiom the

perspective of the players, drawing on a number of examples which arise in competitive

play to make the picture more complete. From t h e , the players discuss what they believe

the origins of a strong mental game, or "seasoning" is. The section concludes with the

players describing how they seek to improve this aspect of their competitive play, and

thus, expertise.

To make the co~ect ion between the mental game and expertise, 1 first hearken

90

back to Bereiter and Scardamalia's description of the basebal Worid Series veteran as

having an experhe to cope with the championships that greener players did not. In

Chqîcr ï.wo, this example was raised with some interest, as it seems to suggest that there

is a whole realm of a sports endeavour, in this case basebali, that is completely separate

nom s u , and oniy cornecteci to championship experience.

It requires nothing difFerent in the way of basebail s l d and knowledge. What is difFerent is the pressure, where every game is crucial and any l a p e may be fatal. Knowing how to manage oneself in this situation is evidently thought by many managers to count enough to balance against quite a bit of excellence in regular performance. @ -60)

In this view, the separate expertise is "knowing how to manage oneself' under this kind

of extreme pressure. Henning (1997) attributes the difference of competition for pool

players to the increased flow of stress hormones, which can influence not only the rnïnd,

but al1 muscles involved in executing a smooth stroke (p. 8). As this chapter continues,

we will see if this separateness is present in the discussions by the players, al1 three of

which are champions io their own rigbt.

As Orlick and Partington (1986) revealed in Psyched, champions need quality

training that is mentally intense, as observed in the previous theme, but they also need

mental preparation for wmpetition. As Orlick and Partington (I 986) observe, "the best

athletes have developed very sound procedures for drawing upon their strengths in

important competitions" (p. 6). The practices the authors iden* that optimize

performance are: establishing plans on how to maintain focus in competition; an ability

to evaiuate competitions, and learn fiom them whether negative or positive; and finally,

having strategies to deal with distractions (p.6). Accordhg to Partington and Orlick

(1 986) the athlete must take each of these elements, and practice them, until these

"success elements are developed and refined" b.6).

To underscore the importance of the mental preparation, the authors turn to the

athletes themselves. In responding to their questionhg about "inner views of winning":

Many of these highly successfid athletes felt that they could have reached the top much earlier if they had worked on strenghening their mental skiils earlier in their careers. Some mentioned that they had the same technical and physical skills honed to perfection four years before becoming wodd champions, but they had not yet learned how to hold their best focus in important competitions. Once their focussing skills were retined, their dreams became a reality. (Partington and Orlick, (1 986),p. 6-7)

Here, these athletes are emphasizing the same separation between sport-specific skill, and

"championship expertise" that we just saw above in Bereiter and Scardamalia's work. In

fact, according to these athletes, mental preparation and focus seems to be the factor that

pushes the athlete over the line to the world champion class.

Indeed, in "Toward a General Theory of Expertise: Prospects and Limits" (1991)

Neil Charness draws attention to the importance of the mental game in chess. Expert

acquisition has been studied in chess a great deal cornpared to other realms of activity and

yet he must admit that

Another unexplored issue is that chess playing is an emotional activity.. Aside fiom such homilies as "sit on your hands" or "when you find a good move, look for a better one," there is Iittle f o n d instruction about how to control the emotional arousal that is evoked in the heat of the battle. (p. 59-60)

Thus, Charness cannot deny the importance of the influence of emotional factors in the

"heat of the battle," even though his field has not expioreci it. Certainly, one of the goals

of this thesis is to reveal how the mental game played itselfout as a powertùl theme in the

i n t e ~ e w s of the three players.

What exactly is the mental game, and how does it influence play in high level

cornpetition? TO give a vivid picture of this, 1 would like to tum to Ailison Fisher, who

describes the mental game as "that 1st Little bit.":

1 dont think a coach c m teach you that. 1 think they can teach you certain mental aspects, which 1 think you caa get fiom a book anyway. Or, they can maybe help you with experiences that they've had, in a situation they c m say "Weil, tbis is what 1 felt in tbis situation, and this is how 1 dealt with it." But 1 do honestly think that the 1 s t Little bit cornes f?om the person, because, you, how do you explain, you've got millions of snooker playen who make hundred breaks, yet you put h e m in a tournament, and you've ody got the same four winners? The same people always winning, it's always the same. And what is that? Why is that? And 1 just think that those people have that extra Little bit, of something.

Perhaps this quote simply reinforces the questions we are asking. Why is it that the same

few players win, when numerous players are at an equal ski11 level? 1s the mental game

an immutable factor of personal forcitude, or is it something that can be learned through

intense application, as the OIympic athletes suggest?

To begin with, to explore this phenornenon, we will turn to the players as they

discuss their challenges in playing top level competitions. The first is Maureen Seto. Ms.

Seto modestly estimated that she had gaineci about 50 percent of the knowiedge about the

game she needed. Here in particular she discusses her current challenges with the mental

game:

M: It's just rny head 1 have to fix. C: So is there, certain things you're telling yourself when you get up to the table that you tbink are & d n g your game in that way? M: Fear. You know, because "They're this and that," that sort of thing sometimes. AU 1 have to do is just play my game ...j ust play as tough as 1 can, and 1 won't mice these small mistakes. And it's ody s d l mistakes, and then you get to yourself . . . Sometimes it's gettiag to the table and sort of talking yourself into

missing.. .

Here, Maureen talks about fear in competition related to the international field of players

she is up against. By thinking about the reputation or play of her competitor, she is

shifking her focus on to things out of her control. In Psyched the sports psychologists

maintain that the athlae's focus mua remain on her ''job" (p.6). This seems to be the

same shift of focus that Maureen Seto reaiizes she needs when she says "al1 1 have to do

is just play my game" in order to win. Her sbift in focus to fear of her opponent is

removing her ability to "play her game."

Another challenge of tough competition is an almost physical change that occurs

in how the players experience even their own play. This has some basis in reality, as

stress literalîy changes our chernical make up, but the changes described by AUison

Fisher contain a psychological element, too:

Because when you get into a major tournament, you are numb. The feeling isn't the same, when you're playing in the world title championships, or something. 1 talked to Terry Gritfiths about this once. I said "Why is it, why can't you feel anything?" He said "That's what you cal1 pressure. " That's what it does to you, so you actually go numb. So it's essential that when you do practice on your own, you're practising good habits. So you need to kncw what you're feeling, so you can keep doing it over and over again every day. When you come to the tournament, you're numb, you're not feeling it, so what you practiced has become natural. So every minute you practice at the table, you have to make sure it's something good, because that is what is going to come into your cornpetitive play.

Ailison Fisher's quote here points to an interesting intersection between deahg with that

kind of world class "pressure" and the fùndamentals of practice. As a competitor, Allison

counts on her "good habits" and focus on flawless technique to stand her in good stead,

even vrhen the pressure of huge toucnaments changes even ber very expenence of play.

Another challenge faced in the mental game is a missed shot in competition. If

mistration rises, so does tension and adrenaiia, and the ability to play declines. How do

the players ded with the disappointment ofmissing a shot that may cost them the match,

and stiU play on at peak performance? AUison Fisher offers her thougàts:

Especially during the match,. . .you want to say, "Okay, 1 missed it because of this: GOODBYE!" Goodbye to that thought, now let's wait 'til 1 get back t o the tabIe, because therets no time to dweli, and when you have that negative, b t f s no good for yow fùture responses, really. But, after, certainiy, 1 can remember fkom toumaments my bad shots, my pattern play.

Thus, in order to maintain focus, Ailison Fisher has acquired the ability to shut off her

negative thoughts regarding missed shots because she knows it wiil affect her "fùture

responses." Similarly, Al Lougheed says that you have tu "teach yourseif to remah

stoic," and "in the present." What is interestiag, is that maintaining calm doesnft rneaa

forgetting the shots, or not learning 6om them, it refers to the ability to rewgnize a

mistake and quickiy let any emot iod response that wouid hamper performance go.

Given how important skills such as these are to peak performance, how do the

athletcs believe they are gained? Al Lougheed sees seasonhg as varied depending on

experience:

Well, seasoning is just experience, ... And you cm have different types of seasonhg: some people cm play for ten years, and their seasoning consists of the type of things they play at on the table is compietely recreational, their seasoning wiil be at that level. At the competitive level, seasoning is experience at competitive situations. C: Now what role do you think a coach, or this group of players [peers] could play in helping someone achieve seasoning? A: Well they cm help only in the sense that the sharing starts to become at a higher level. You an't inculcate seasoning into anybody. They have to experience themself, levels of competition and t h e spent on table, and just general time spent at the game. Seasonhg probably has the overd import of experience in

competitive situations, and ai i the things that cm happen to individuals in competitive situations, and that starts to incorporate the psychological, the physicai, and the emotional, and ail the rest of it. C: Okay. A: And the seasonhg is a very, very subtie leamhg experience that bas to take place over a period of tirne. That you're learning some things that you're not even aware you're leaming, if you work at it .

Thur, the seasoning, which to Al incorporates coping with cornpetitive pressures in the

psychological, physical and emotional r e a h cannot be taught: it must be experienced. la

addition, the leamhg of seasoning is not a sudden gain of knowIedge, but a slower, subtle

learning experience over a period of tirne.

AUison Fisher defines seasoning and a strong mental game implicitly as she telis

the story of her expenence at the last World Championships. This passage is worth

quoting at length:

A: You feel a lot more pressure, you definitely feel a lot more pressure [at the Worlds] because that is what is at stake, and when I - 1 remember when 1 went in this year my confidence was a bit low, 1 wasn't reaiIy playing in top form, and 1 knew it, so sometimes you just have to gut it out, and just stay with it. 1 mean, 1, kind of stniggled my way through to the finai, and 1 was so relieved at being in the final that I kind of took the pressure off myselfa bit and 1 played really welî in the finai, so, it tumed out weii, and 1 came away with the title, but prior to the event and during the eveat, I really wasn't feeling Like 1 was going to win it this year. C: Wow, now, when you use the phrase "gut it out" what sort of strengths are you drawing on there? A: You are drawing, you are drawing actuaüy fiom your gut, really, because there are times when yoy you b o w you're not playing well, your confidence is low, and you kid yourseif in your head. Basically thatfs where the training of fiindamentals cornes in, your technique, and tbings like that, because that redly does pull you through under pressure a lot of the time, so ... and you just have, you have to h d your hart somewhere, you really have to dig deep sometimes, and just get that Little bit of extra strength: determination, desire. And you have to motivate yourself into getting those feelings sometimes.

What is interesting here is how in an intensely stressfiil match the strategy Aliison Fisher

96

uses is to " kid" herseif' into feeling more confident. Another recurrent theme appears here,

which is the strong role the hdamentals have in creating confidence for these players.

As we move fornard in this s d o n , we will see what other strategies players use

to improve their mental game. In fact, two players have already aüuded to one of the

rnost important ways which high level players seek to train theu mentai game, and add to

their seasoning: through story-teliing- 'Inis is one of the ways in which Allison Fisher

admits that gains could be made. Another player or coach wuid "help you with

experiences that they've had, in a situation tbey can say "Well, this is whaî 1 felt in this

situation, and this is how 1 dealt with it." Like looking at the shot choices of other players,

in this way you could gain new strategies or c o h the correctness of your own thinking

processes. Al Lougheed also beiieves this is the most important way that high level

players help each other in the mental and emotional aspects of the game. In fact, just the

other night when 1 visited the pool hail we both fiequent, he was telling a story of a

difficult cornpetitive situation, and received feedback from peer players who kaew him

well enough to recall a similu circumstance in bis history that did not have such

detrimental effects. Players wiil often share stories of s i d a . trials. Through sharing such

as this, the players are able to clac and verbalize theu mental approach, and hopefùlly

receive a helpful outsider's perspective as weU.

When playing in a tournament, 1 encountered a troubling set of circumstances

which 1 have used the "story sharing" approach to address. The problem began when rny

opponent had fiiends sining around the table at which we were playhg. When they were

talking while 1 was shooting (a breach of etiquette), 1 asked them firmly to be quiet. They

97

were relatively quiet, but when 1 was about to break, one of them walked in front of the

table (another breach of etiquette). Dealing with their mdeness fnistrated me to the point

where 1 began missing shots, and handed over enough games to this opponent that he won

the match. 1 told this story to two players highly regardeci in the city and received back

the same answer: 1 should have stopped playing dtogether and had the toumament

director remove them from the are&

The stories both players told me helped me leam what is accepted behaviour in

such a situation. The first player I c o d t e d told me about similar circum~tatlces in

which two friends of a player tried to sit by the table in a tournament. He describeci how

he insisted (he had to tell them more than once) that they move up to the viewing galiery.

This player also told me that the distractions can be intentional (this is d e d "sharking")

and that I should never tolerate any, especially in a toumament situation. The second

player also suggested that 1 leave the room, or go outside to regain my composure and get

back in the "zone." By talkiag to these players, 1 have gained confidence in addressing

such a situation in the fùture, have learned what is considered appropriate behaviour

under these circumstances by two top players in the city, and also have gained a potential

strategy to recollect myselfin similar, or other circumstances in the fùture. Sharing

stories c m make a signifïcant contribution to gains, panicuiarly in the realm of the mental

garne. What else do players say will help them develop a strong mental game,

and add to theu seasoning? One answer that was unanimous was "play hard." This is in

keeping with the process of expertise, in that players are always workiag at the edge of

their expertise. There is no room for slacbg off, because, as has been descnbed earlier,

that sloppiness can creep into your cornpetitive play. Maureen Seto describes practising

with a fiiend of hers, one of the top d e professional players in Canada:

M: We practice tough, Wre we're playing a match. C: Thatt's good practice. M: But 1 didn't play as tough as him, and so 1 needed to do that, because when 1 practice with him, he doesn't let up, and it helps me focus.

AUison Fisher gives similar advice to an aspiring player:

1 would say to somebody learning, once they f-1 competent enough, or even not, even just to go out there and do it, to play tournament, play matches, or to just play people and consider them matches, or tournament. Yeah, just always play hard, basically.

Finaily, Al observes dong the same vein when describing what he sees as an essential

difYerence berneen recreational and serious players:

Most people are happy with a cornfort zone when it cornes to cornpetition, and they dont want a playing field that's tipped against them. Even in the interest of learning, they dont waat that.

By implication, the experts do work outside of theu cornfort zone: you can't improve that

intensity or leam in that situation unless you play hard.

Going hand in hand with playing hard is îhat intense mental attitude which these

players take to practice and play. As Psyched researchers Orlick and Partinson observe,

practice must be undertaken "with the highest degree of quality or with absolute intensity"

(p.6). AUison Fisher recounts how she would actually try and bring up the feelings during

practice which occur in a title match:

The feeling isn't the sarne [in a big match] as it is at a practice, because now you've got pressure in there too. You know, it's a whole big equation, of when you get into competitive play. So you need to create, actuaiiy, pressure, in practiq that's what 1 used to do. C: How wouid you do that?

A: You cm make out you're playing in a match, you cm create the feelings inside of you. You can say sornething like "Oh this shot is for the world titie!" or whatever, you can feel it. You can create the feeling, but it's how you practice.

Thus, by gening the rush of feeling that occun during competition by convincing herself

of the importance of her practice shot, Allison Fisher prepares herself for coping with the

pressure of competition in a seasoned way.

Theme Three Summary

Through the course of this section, we have seen "The Mental Garne"

conceptualized as a separate realm of expertise in pool, although intimately connecteci to

technical ability at the table. Playen described many challenges they face in cornpetitive

rnatc hes, including fear of opponent, moving past mistakes in matches, the "numbness" of

playing under extreme pressure, and the mental challenge of playing when their

confidence is low. How do players work towards improving their performance under such

stresshl conditions? One resounding response was "play hard," meanhg putting as much

focus and intensity into practice as they wouid like to perfom in cornpetition. Another

answer, a recurreut theme, was the importarice of technique and the fiindamentais, the

"backbone" of confidence, according to Allison Fisher. Players also tell stories of their

mental challenges in matches, a process which can help them cl- what they need to

focus on, and elicit other enli@tening stories fiom others or more directeci feedback.

What is undeniable is that this reaim of expertise is carefUy considered by the players,

and is another aspect in which they strive to improve their knowledge and performance.

Chapter Summaq

This fourth chapter has presented the research fïndings in the fom of three

dominant themes which arose nom the interviews. "Players Sharing Koowledge: An

Expert Sub-Culture," the first theme explored the social nature of lurning in pool, and

included discussions fiom players about the sharing of knowledge between peers. The

second theme, " Solo-Learning and Practice, " confirmed that the same deiiberate practice

habits are apparent in the players as they watch matches alone. In addition, the active

nature of the practice habits of the players were compared to the concept of deliberate

practice which originates fiom expert acquisition. Finally, "The Mental Game: Expertise

in Cornpetition" was the third theme explored, as the players described their challenges ia

cornpetition, and the varied strategies they use to improve th& concentration. Ail three

themes were connecteci by the threads of the process of expertise woven in to

complement their own characteristics.

Just Play: Part Five (Conclusion)

AM didn't see Jamie agah before she le& aad when she retumed to the Faculty of

Education, she was swallowed by assignments, weU, buried would be more accurate. She

did fhd tirne to play pool at least once a week, at a pool hall close to her apartment.

When she did finally crawl out fiom under her work, she decided a visit to the Rack 'Em

monthly tournament would be in order. So, on the last Sunday of that month, she dropped

by in the evening to check it out.

True to fonn, Jamie was there, playhg a match that a number of players were

watching. She grabbed a coffee, and sat d o m to watch, noticing she was beside the man

that Jarnie had played before. "What's the score?" she asked, hoping Jamie was doing

well.

The man paused to watch Jamie sink the eight, and nine bds .

"Now it's bill-W," when he saw her p d e d expression, he added, "tied." Knowing she

knew Jamie, he added "lamie's won three games in a row to corne back, now whoever

wins this game wins the match."

Jamie broke, and no b a h went down. Ann watched as his opponent sunk four

balls dmost efforttessly. Now he had a very hard shot on the five ball, well at least for

Am it was. Ann watched him sink it, trying to jinx him, and guessing it had worked as

she watched the a i e baii go down in the side pocket. The man was funous, and picked the

bal1 out of the pocket, and threw it, hard onto the table. Jamie did not seem to be bothered

by this. He took a moment to look at the table, and shot pretty quick, 6 ,... 7 ,... 8 ,...He had

an easy shot on the aine, straight in close to the corner pocket. He looked for a second at

102

the other player, and then shot it in to win. Ann clapped enthusiastically.

She waited unùl he was finished tdking wit.1 other players, and then waiked up to

congratulate him.

"That was great! " she exclaimeci.

"Thanks. " Jamie nodded.

"That guy," AM motioned over to the table where he was still sitting, "told m e you had

been behind three games. 1 mean, how did you do that?"

Jarnie srnileci, "1 don't know, 1 just, take it game by game, no, evm shot by shot. 1 know

that guy, and he tries to make too good shape and makes rnistakes late in the rack a lot of

the time. 1 figured there was a good chance that 1 wodd have a turn at the table."

Ann remembered bis throwing of the b d . "Don't you ever get upset iike he did?"

Jamie nodded, "I've had my moments, we ail do, but if you lose your cool you've lost the

game, it just gets worse and worse ifyou do that. 1 mean, what if I'd been sitting there

thinking, "I'm losing, I'm a loser." wMe he was shooting in that last game? Would 1 have

been ready to get up aad win? No, 1 don't think so.'

"When do you play again?"

"Oh, not for a while, I'rn still on the A-side. Hey, if you want to play a game, let's grab

that table. They're not using it for the tournament nght now, and Bob won't mind for one

game. "

Ann thought that would be fiin, and then would stay to watch a bit. "Sure, sounds good."

She went to grab a cue while he grabbed the remaking balls ftom under the table, and

racked them for a game of eight baü.

"You break, Miss Sheridan."

"That's Ann to you, Mister, uh.. . "

" Jamie will do just fine."

They begm playing, Am suspectiag she was getting a few more chances at the

table than anyone else here wouid that Nght. She was remembering something a player

had told her in her new pool hall, that her a m had to be at ninety degrees to the floor

when she bit the ball. She checked it each time to see it was right.

"Hey, Ann,. . "

"Yes?"

"That's really nice and e v e w g that you're looking at your arrn, but it's not going to

help you sink b d s right now."

Wh, no?" Coniùsed again, AM had thought this attention to ber technique would impress

him.

"No. Look at the bail you're going to sink, and just play. Loosen up, and just play."

Taking a deep breath, AM did just that, and sank three b d s in a row! She didn't even

rnind missing that last one.

"Wow, a pool shark in the making here!" Jamie smiled.

Am smiled. "Well, maybe more of a pool guppy." They laughed.

"What happened with that last shot on the four ball?" Jarnie asked.

"Ummm, don't know?" Shoot, she wasn't even watching.

"Just remember, 'just play' but keep watching stuE It doesn't mean don't ihink, it means,

oh, what does it mean, um. ..it means go with the flow, and do your job at the table. Like,

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dont stand there thinking "This is where 1 put my foot," or you'll catch yourself up, but

you still need to be Iearning fiom your mistakes and stuE..got it?"

"Got it! " Ann moved back fiom the table to let Jamie shoot.

Suddenly they heard Bob announchg the next match on theu table. "Scott and Len on

table four." Two players approached. She and Jamie gnbbed the extra baiis off the table.

"Thanks for the game, even ifwe didn't have t h e for you to win it!" Ana joked.

"No problem, another time. Listen, I'm going to go see if 1 can get a match going with that

guy," Jamie motioned towards the "best in town" A m had just been sitting beside.

"Thanks for your help in class. Ifyou keep it up, someday you'll be as good a pool player

as you are a teacher!"

AM smiled, sure she was going to cry. As she sat at the table, and watched Jamie start the

match, she reaiized that maybe she didn't have to "save" somebody to make a difference,

in fact, maybe that whole idea was wrong. From now on, she would "just play," just

teach. For the first tirne, she redy & Wce a teacher, and she was just beginning ...

Chapter Five: Conclusion

Nbw, Suzy, get back to that table! You are not afIowed to p i q outside untilyou practice your bank shols! Really. how do yuu ever expeft to m m n f fo îmything ifym don7 feam your pool?

The very absurdity of the above fictionai quotation higblights the enonnous gap

between the pool hall, and the homework, or the piano practice that would normaily be

the subject of such a conversation. As the saying goes, which is OB heard even in the pool

halls, "A good pool game is the sign of a misspent youth." It is my hope that through the

course of reading this thesis, both the more traditional chapters, and the narrative, that the

saying might be amended to "A good pool game is the sign of active, ofien shared,

learning, investment in seif-monitoring strategies, solo-practice which embodies the

process of expertise, and thousands of hours of play." (But 1 acknowledge that this might

be a bit too long to be as catchy as its predecessor.) However tongue-in-cheek the above

might seem, it does state a serious goal of this research, which is to reveal pool for what it

is: a sport which requires serious dedication, and thought to excel in.

1 will now svmmarize and reflect on my findings under the following four

headings: Expert Acquisition, Narrative Inquiry, The Themes and the Story, and The

Future.

Emert Acauisition

As 1 suggested at the bepinning, very Sttie has been written on pool learning f?om

an academic perspective. In îhe course of this thesis, 1 have inîroduced the field of expert

1 O6

acquisition in order to shed light on the learning experiences of myself and the three

players. The concepts I used for tbis purpose were "the process of expertise," and

"deliberate practice." Both were, 1 believe, ves, helpfiil in identifying the three major

themes, and in elaborating on them. if the hallmark of a successfiii relationship is a "give

and take" situation, then my choice to draw on this field of research was a success.

The fkst "give" in this relationship was from expert acquisition: in my initial

readings, the concept of deliberate practice arose, and inspirecf more detailed questionhg

regarding the practice habits of the players. What became apparent was that the players

were using deliberate practice, as defineci by Ericsson, et ai., but dserentiy than the

forma1 definition: they were not wnstantly dependent on extenial feedback as Ericsson's

suggested. (The example of a tennis coach providing constant feedback during practice

sessions was an example used to demonstrate deliberate practice). Although ali players

Ieanied fiom others, oniy Allison Fisher had a forma1 coach, and oniy visited with him

approximately every six months. What became apparent was that these players had

devetoped self-monitoring strategies in practice that dowed them to practice deliberately

independently. Thus, the players' departure fiom expert acquisition's definition of

deliberate practice highlighted a speciai quality in their practice.

Another interesting "give and take" o m e d with the quoted example of the

advanced chess players studying the matches of chezs masters in the same mamer that

pool players observe other playen. As soon as 1 read this example regarding the chess

players, 1 was s m c k by the similarities. The constant dialogue 1 heard around me in the

pool hall was, in fact, echoing the tactical study of chess, and confirmeci the importance

1 O7

of the "pattern play" in pool. Another study in chess demonstrated that the number of

hours of such deiiberate practice was the most important determinant of a player's rating

(Ericsson, 1993, p. 77). Here, 1 think, is where pool departs from chess, and presents

another interesthg case. Pool is a pattern play sport in which the player must enact the

pattern with physical sWs. While chess prowess could be determined by practice of the

patterns alone, Ume after time, the pool players emphasized the importance of their

"fùndamentals" and "technique" to their confidence at the table. Pool could provide

expert acquisition theory with another case, in wbich strategic pattern play is mediated by

the expen player's ability to effect what they envision in their head with their technique.

Fioaily, 1 found Bereiter and Scardamalia's concept of the "process of expertise"

extremeiy miiffil in the interpretation of my data. Even deliberate practice itself could be

subsumed under the heading of the process of expertise, something which seemed even

more elegant to me, as it appeared to fit the hoiistic character of the learning the players

were describing, learning which went beyond practice sessions to encompass leaniing in

competition, learning tiom books, even books about unrelated sports, watching videos,

even iearning while tdking about pool over a meal. The process of expertise, is, in short,

the application of one's full ability at the edge of one's cornpetence, in a way that even

more knowledge is gained (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1993, xi). The players' relentless

focus on learning, their ability to observe the minute details of a shot, and then, even with

an error, input possible uses for that shot in the fûture, to me represented an accomplished

ap~roach to leaming. 1 see exciting potential here to take these hdings even outside the

world of pool and sports, and help other leamers by fkst showhg them how to leam, then

what to lem.

Narrative Inauiq

When 1 chose the topic of pool leamhg for this thesis, 1 knew 1 wanted it to be a

narrative inqujr. m e r the completion of the thesis, I can wnfidently say that this was

the area in which 1 learned the most about myself, and about planning a research study.

This kind of knowledge cornes ody with experience, and for that reason, 1 believe that it

is some of the most valuable know1edge 1 gained during the coum of this research. Of

course, this is not the kind of knowledge that is s h e d as fieely in a forum such as this.

However, 1 wdi step outside of the cloak of authority with which 1 am supposed to cover

myse& and in doing so, 1 believe 1 am embodying the values that drew me to narrative

inquiry in the fmt place.

The approach I planneci when envisionkg my narrative inquiry into pool leaniing

was something akin to going to the grocery store when you are hungry. My eyes were

very big indeed, and no matter how convincingly 1 could speli out a research plan in my

proposai, I was picturing a process that would have taken another six months of

collaborative work, which 1 doubt would have appealed to my respondents. Perhaps what

1 was airning for, or envisioning was a doctoral thesis, for a master's degree, but what

research issues, specifidy, am 1 alluding to here?

The £kt issue is collaboration. Certainly, this is a hallmark of narrative research,

and often an issue of discussion in current articles and books. 1 had, fiom the very outset,

envisioned active daboration with my participants: their enthusiastic reading of my

1 O9

chapters regarding the data, ïively exchanges of theones back and forth. What happened

was much more pedestrian, and, in retrospect, could have been predicted. There were a

number of fàctors that 1 can see that contributed to this end result that are worth

discussiog. The first of these, a serious illaeu, delayed resuirch to the point where time

became more of the essence than 1 had hoped. Another mntributing factor was that two of

the players 1 had chosen were hi&-profile professionals touring around the world, who

lived in different cities than 1 did. In order to accommodate the receipt of materiais, an

appropriate time of response, editing, and re-editing, 1 think that another six months

should have been allowed for collaboration to truly occur, which, when added to the time

already spent, was not possible.

The issue that then aises fiom the time concems is that of investment. When aii is

said and done, this is my thesis, which is meeting a requirement for rny university degree.

1 think that as an inexperienced narrative researcher, 1 expected a level of enthusiasm

from the participants which was not realistic with the way I had stnictured the research.

How could 1 change it? One way wouid be to expand the time lirnit to aliow for more

exchange of information. Another way would be to limit the study only to local players,

such as Al Lougheed, who are higtily accomplished, to d o w realistically for more access,

such as a follow up interview, or series of interviews.

Another way to improve collaboration would have been to significantly change

the data collection technique to ask the participants to write down a story fiom their pool

learning, analyse it for themes, and then meet for an interview to discuss the stoiy and

their pool learning expiences. Having a text thnt the participant had c r W beforehand

110

would have allowed for oogoing discussion and anaiysis, redrafüng, and sharing in a

collaborative way. As well, the participants would have created something of "their own"

for discussion, perhaps increasing investrnent in this ongoing d y s i s . What 1 leamed

fkom this thesis was that the desire of the narrative researcher for open collaboration can

be complicated by many factors.

In another study, should 1 desire collaboration, 1 will plan for it much more

throughly, and when 1 approach participants, ensure that they are interested in aspects

of the research, including the collaborative oms that follow the initial data gathering. As

an inexperienced researcher, 1 was much too tentative about this, aimost apologetic for

making time demands for the interview, and stating on the information form, that

participants codd be invoived &er to the degree with which they were cornfortable. Of

course, for busy people who considered this project, later involvement in

collaboration was not a pnority. Overall, however, I found that 1 leamed a great deal

about this aspect of narrative research for the fùture.

Another learning expenence alludeci to in Chapter Two in the sphere of narrative

inquiry was the skiil required to interview well. 1 decided on a semi-structured interview

format, which consisted of seven pages of questions. A tension developed in each

i n t e ~ e w , and in the thesis as a whole regarding the choice of this format- Initially, 1 had

feh that the questions would provide important bases for cornparisun between the three

players and myseE which they did. However, at times, the questions seemed to "get in

the way" of having the real discussion about pool learning. The "story" of how a player

got into the garne seemed to flow quite spontaneously at the beginning of each interview,

111

but then, sometimes, keeping to the list of questions seemed Iess productive. 1 draw

attention to this as another issue for the budding narrative researcher. In the future, 1

would definitely choose a les structureci interview that d o w s each player's perspective

to flow through more easiiy, rather than being structureci and containecl by my

perspective.

What was this thesis undertaken for, if not to leam? in facf this experience bas

only increased my respect for narrative researchers, and enthusiasm for narrative inquiry

as a methodology. The inteIIestual stimulation of interpreting tbe inteMew data, and

structuring the story of "How did I leam pool?" for each participant was extremely

rewarding. Synthesizing the themes identified by the research into a creative story was

chdlenging, but one of the most rewarding aspects of the thesis. This thesis embodies

both approaches to ma t ive identifieci by Polkinghorne: 1 have andysed narratives and

identified themes, and also synthesized a narrative to "make sense" of the stories told.

This thesis is a narrative inquiry proud to enter into the process of defining and

experimenting with a relatively new research methodology:

To embrace story as a central element in the study of teaching and teacher education, we must realize that we are entering unfamiliar and often quite turbulent waters and that, for most of us, there is a great deal of basic mapping work to be done. (Carter, 1993, p. 11)

The Storv and the Themes

Having discussed narrative inquiry, 1 would now like to mm to my creative

narrative and comment on its function in the thesis as a whole. The first installment of the

story appeared intentiody before the introduction of the thesis. The intention here was,

112

of course, to draw attention to it, and destabilize the expectations of the reader.

Stmcturaliy, the story continued throughout the thesis, interspersed with the traditional

chapters, the story unfolding as the thesis presented the findings. The goal here was to

have the thesis and the story " d e sense" together, rather than appendmg the story to the

end of the more traditional format.

Whiie, of course, there were an infiaite oumôer of choices about how to ponray

the fhdings, 1 chose one which was more closely related to my field of teaching. AM also

has an important syrnbolic role to play, representing academia and the teacher as they

read the thesis, and enter the pool hall vicarîously. By choosing a teacher as the explorer

in the pool hall, 1 had also created a character who would have to have this new world

explained to her. By creating the character of Jamie to inhabit the stereotypic role of the

yowg student skipping school to play pool 1 ailowed Ann to confiont that stereotype,

and wrestle, at least i n t e d l y with questions regarding whether Jamie was fading school,

or the school was fading him.

Each of the three themes identifid in Chapter Four appear in the story, to the

extent that the "outsider" A n . c m understand them. She encounters "Players Sharing

Knowledge" literally in the person of Jamie. He trains her in the process of expertise in

pool through bis lessons on thinking, observation, and encouragement for Ann to monitor

herseIf in ways similar to those discussed in "Solo-Leaming and Practice." Jamie's

expenences in the tournament lead to a discussion about "The Mental Gaw: Expertise in

Cornpetition," and Jamie's exhortation to AM to "just play" lead to ber personal

revelation that this approach may be generalizable beyond the pool hall.

113

This is not a story for pool players, this is a story for educators and academic

readers unfarnijiar with pool. The question of audience is important, because the story had

to be accessible to readers other tbon serious pool players. In this way, sorile of the higher

level knowledge imparted by the players in the three themes has been sacrificeci to the

spirit of the process of expertise. Jamie is not teaching a peer here, so the level of lesson

is admittedly lower. However, he is instnictuig her in the process of expertise as

embodied in bis own pool pracbce. As suggested earlier, this may be one exciting way

which teaching can learn fiom expert acquisition: to draw attention to how the learner is

gathering knowledge, not simply what the content is.

The Future

Having brought "school" and "pool" that little bit closer, 1 hope that 1 have opened

up possibilities for fùrther study as wefl. Certainly within expert acquisition, fiirther study

of pool has the potential to compiement curent research on chess knowledge. Within the

field of educational studies, 1 see a number of exciting possibilities. One may be studies

of passionate leaniers, such as these three players, who choose to bewme Me-long

learners in realms outside the more traditionai educational system. Perhaps there is even

more we could leam about motivation that we could return with to our students in the

schools? Or we may look a litîie closer to examine what knowledge our students might

have outside the classroom?

Certainly the three players 1 interviewed are ail successful leamers. Two out of

the three r e d e d that their motivation and success in school was highly influenceci by the

114

abject and the quality of the teaching they received. Are there lessons about student

motivation that we could seek out in funber research suggested here? Does this game

tend to attract independent leamers who work to the top of their abilities only when a f -

motivated? 1s the school system interested in dweloping aimaila that might be more

successfùl in inspiring motivation in students such as these? What could we as educators

l e m from leamers as successnil Y these three players?

Even the nature of school leaming couid be contrasted with the efforts required by

these players to leam and maintain their expertise. 1 am recalling here Benjamin Bloom's

ground-breaking 1985 study Developing Talent in Yowg People. Bloom concluded that

the findings of his study question the role of "special gifts and innate aptitudes" (p.3) in

achieving excellence, much as expert acquisition research does. However, Bloom did

recognke that al1 his respondents exhibited a "long-term cornmitment to ieaming"

(p.506). How could the school system encourage bis? Bloom wondered:

Although educators know a good deal about keeping students at a task for a short period of time, the same methods are not likely to be as usehl for helping students develop the extended kind of commitment that successfùl learning involves. At the very le* it seems difndt to conceive of creating and maintaining such a commitment unless the learning is a vital and valued part of the students' lives. (Bloom, 1985, p. 506)

1 believe that fiirther exploration of passionate leamers, both in and outside of the school

system would make a great contribution to knowledge.

Finaiiy, the power of schools to define what knowledge is worthwhile, and worth

learning is raised, especidy with respect to Jamie in the story. Jamie is experiencing

success in learning outside the school systern. What are the obligations of the school

115

system to recognize knowledge and skilis that lie outside of the current cumculum?

Could we retain more students in hi& school ifwe approached some midents fiom this

perspective? Perbaps a narrative inquiry in which high school students at risk for

dropping out could idenbfy whether they, W<e lamie, have realms outside of school in

which they are seeking exceIlence. C e r t d y through the course of this thesis, the pool

h d has been revealed as a potential educational site through the stories of three

champion players. There is much that could di be leamed fiom players such as these,

and I wonder what other kinds of knowledge lay yet unexploreci?

Appendix 1

Interview Questions

Introduction

1. What is your m e n t playing level (choose one of: beginner, B player, A player, semi-

professional, expert/professional)?

2. How long have you been playing pool?

3. To date, what is your greatest achevernent in pool?

4. What are your goals for yourself and pool? What do you feel you will need to leam to

achieve these goals?

Personal Story

1 . The type of research I am using is calleci narrative research. Narrative research bas a

particular focus on anaiysing stories gathered through interviews. 1 wonder if you could

take some time to think about a particularly memorable experience you have had that is

connected to your learning of pool. This story could be tiom early in your learning

process, or later on. My main interest is that your story is one that is connected to

asking yourself the question "How did 1 learn to play pool?"

Early History

1. When did you fht become interesteci in pool? Did you have a pool table in your

home when you were young? Now?

117

2. Do you remember malriog a coascious decision to improve your game to the best of

your ability?

3. Did you have any pnor sLills that helped you ieam pool?

4. Did you have any "bad habits" that you paniailarly remember having to overwme?

5. What form of pocket biiards were you playing when you first leamed? What form

of the game are you playing now?

6. Descnbe your progress as a beginner. Over wht t h e period did you progress fiom

a beginner to more serious competitions? How did you achieve this progress? Who

did you play with as you were leaming? How did these player(s) help you?

Observation

1. What role do you thinL observation plays in learniag to be an expert pool player?

2. Can you discuss your own learning expenences watching other players?

3. 1s obsewation of equal benefit for learning technical knowledge, such as stroke,

pre-shot routine, or stance and strategic knowledge, such as observing when a player

chooses to play d e ?

4. Has your own leaming corn obsewation changed as your game has improved?

5 . Can you comment on how you use observation when it wmes to your own game? In

practice? Ln cornpetit ion?

Reflection

1. 1s self-reflection a necessity for irnproving your game? If yes, what aspects of your

118

game are you most often reflecting on?

Did anyone ever coach you on bow to reflect back on strategic choices or key shots

in order to improve the next tirne?

Are there key shots from catain matches that have served as particularly vaiuable

learning experiences for you?

Have you ever us4 reflection to leam fiom a painful loss? From a aarrow victory?

Have you ever read a book about playing pool in the hopes of improving your game?

Can such books help serious players?

Coaching/hst~ction

1. 1s having a coach a necessity for someone p u r m g a professionai pool career? Why

or why not?

2. 1s there an aspect of pool which you believe a coach could not teach? What is if and

why?

3. Tf you have had a coach, w b t did you expect fiom M e r ? At what stage in your

career did you seek out a coach? Can you see yourseif seeking out a coach in the

fkhire?

4. Could you describe your coach (if you had one) in terms of hisher own pool career?

On what basis did you choose bimher? Did you pay himher?

5. How ofken did you mat? Was it on a short- or long-term basis? How did you decide

when the coacbing was "finished"?

6. How did the two of you work togeher in order to improve your game?

119

7. What three words wodd you choose to describe your coach's teaching approach?

8. How much did your coach expect you to practice what you were learning in order to

progress?

9. Have other players you have played hctioned as informa1 coaches for you at

dserent tïmes? Could you explain how this has wntributed to your leamhg

overaii?

Do you remember a coacwfellow player using metaphors or analogies to help

you learn new skills in the game? (an example of this would be using different

images to describe ways to stroke the b d , such as stroking it with a paintbrush,

punching it etc.)

Do you remember a coacWfellow player modelling a certain technique for you to

cop yAearn?

Did your coach suppiy you luith benchmarks to ensure technical correctness, for

example that your position relative to the cue bal1 is correct? What were these

benchmarks? Do you still use hem?

What knowledge is necessary to teacidcoach pool? Should only professionals

coach players?

Could you comment on instnictor certification and what you think its roie is In

the teachhg of pool?

I S. Have you ever taught pool? How did you learn to teach pool?

Practice

H o w many hours a day do you spend playhg pool? How much of that is alone?

To what extent do you practice to maintain your form, as opposed to practising to

iearn?

What role do you think solo practice plays in learning pool?

1s there a certain quality you expect in your practice in order for you to be learning?

When would you quit a practice session?

To what extent do you think leaming pool is simply a measure of time spent at the

table practising?

Technical Landmarks

Can you remember when sinking b a s beuune less of a concem than playing shape

for your next shot?

H o w did you learn what the natural angles of deflection are for the cue b d ?

How did you leam to put spin on the cue ball?

What rok did experimentation and solo practice play in your learning to play shape?

H o w did you learn bank shots?

Do you remember someone teaching you a certain shot which you stiii use today?

H o w do you think you leanied strategic play, such as safeties, or decidiag when to

play safe?

C m you remember the last t h e you learned something playing pool either

practising or competing?

Learning through Cornpetition

1 . What is "seasoning"? Can it be taught?

2. How did you learn to play "under the heat"?

3. How did you leam to focus in cornpetition?

School and Pool

1 . How long were you in school? Did you enjoy school?

2. (If you were playing pool seriously in your youtb) How did you balance school

attendance with your desire to play pool?

3. How is leaming pool diffèrent h m or the same as learnhg a subject in school?

4. C m you think of any ways that the learninglteaching of pool could be camied over to

learning/teaching in the school system?

Current Issues

m a t are the attitudes towards women in pool? Can you think of a story fiom your

own expenence that reflects these attitudes?

What advice would you give to a player committted to improving hidher game?

C m you think of any question(s) 1 have missed? Or is there a story of something else

you would like to share?

Appendix 11

Letter o f Information - The Pedagogy of PooV Leaniing Pooi

My name is Colette Peters and 1 am a graduate student working on a Master's thesis at the Faculty of Education at The University of Western Ontario. 1 am currently conducting research into how people lem pool and would like to invite you to participate in this research.

The aims of tbis research are to fbrther knowledge about how people leam pooi, and explore potentiai applications for this way of i e m n g in our formai educational system.

The information for this study will be colieaed through an interview, which will taice approximately two to two-and-a-halfhours. You wiii be given a list of questions ahead of tirne, and will be tiee to cross off any questions you do not wish to answer fiom the sheet. Of an optional nature would be that some of the t h e would be spent at a pool table in order for you to demonstrate an important point, or show your theory of learning in action by briefly teaching me, a less experiaiced player. The i n t e ~ e w wili be tape- recorded, and 1 will transcribe each interview. Then, 1 wiil a d y s e al1 of the fmding together, and record my conclusions.

If interested, you will be coosulted during the WTiting process, and can read what is written about yow responses to ensure that you feel yow ideas are represented accurately. The information coliected will be used for research purposes only. As the purpose of this research is to further knowledge about the learning of pool, the ultimate goal of this study is to share the findings with others. Possible places that this research could be published include: in a book, in an academic journal for university audiences, or in a billiards magazine. Ifyou do not wish your identity to appear in the thesis and possible publications, you may appear under a false name, with identrfying features such as your home town removed fiom your responses.

Should you consent to participate in this reseîrch, please be aware that you have the right to withdraw at any time without penaity, should you wish to do so, or to decline to answer any specific questions you would prefer not to m e r .

Lf you have any questions about this research or comments to make now or at a later date, please contact me, Colette Peters, at pager no. (5 19) 690-3394, or my s u p e ~ s o r Dr. Aniko Varpalotai at (5 19) 661-2087, ex. 8607.

Appendix III

A Glossary of Pool-Related Terms

Bank - Instead of hitting a b d directly into a pocket, a bank shot involves sending the object b d off an opposite raii, and then into a pocket.

Break - The first shot of a game, in which the player shoots into a group of balls racked in a certain way at the opposite end of the table. in eight-bal1 and nine-bail, the goal of this shot is to sink a bali in order to continue shooting. In snooker, "break c m also be used to refer to how may points a player can shoot on hisiber first time at the table (as in a 40 break, meaning a initial run of 40 points). (d. AUison Fisher's comment about players who cm make "hundred" breaks)

Combination Shot - A legal shot, which, when successfùl, uses the cue bal1 to hit an object bal, which then sinks a third bail into a pocket.

Cue Ball - The "white" bal1 which is used to direct other b a h into the pockets. This is the only ball legally touched by the cue tip.

Eight-Bal1 - The most widely played pool game by recreational players, also known as "stripes and solids" due to the fact that after the break, the opposing players will sink the either the striped or solid bals down to the eight-bal, which is sunk to determine the win. Another term 1 have heard used for this game is "Boston." This game is the most common played in bars on the smaiier 3 112 x 7 foot tables (bar boxes), but is also played widely in many hi& competitive leagues throughout North Amenca on the small and large tables.

(the) Heart - As in "she shot that right into the heart." This refers to the center of the pocket, and describes a shot that sinks without touching the rails surrounding the pocket.

Hooked - The situation when you do not have a direct path between the cue ball, and the bal1 you desire to, or must hit (other bah are in the way). This is desirable when you can create this situation for your opponent @ou "hook" himher). This is very undesirable when your opponent does this to you, or you do this to yourself (you are "hooked"). One way to attempt to hit your object bal1 in this situation would be to kick. (see Kick)

Kick - This describes a shot in which the player sends the cue bal1 off opposite, or sometimes multiple rails, in order to hit the desired object b d . A kick shot can be chosen due to necessity in order to hit a ball and avoid a penalty (such as when you are hooked), or, a kick shot can be chosen when it is the most Uely shot to sink a bail that cannot be shot directly into a pocket.

Make Shape, or Shape - This is the goal of high level pool play, the control of the cue bail, and its direction into position for the execution of the next shot. Cue bal1 control combines a number of factors, such as how hard the shot is hit, and the position of the cue tip on the venical and horizontal axes of the cue ball. Another factor is the players memory bank of shots, and their ability to enact them on the table. I fa player makes a shot which creates more difnailty in effectirg the next shot, they did not "make shape," or they are said to have "no shape." Another term for no or bad shape would be "out of position. "

Nine-Bal1 - A pool game most often played on 4 112 x 9 foot tables (iarger than those often found in bars). in this game, the balls numbered one to nine are racked in a diamond shape and broken. The balls are sunk in order fiom one to nine. To make a legal shot the player must first contact the cue ball with the lowest numbered baü on the tabIe at the time, or a penalty results. Ifafter a legal shot, the nine ball is sunk (with a combination, for example, or on the break) the player wins. This is currently the game of choice in the professional world of pool. (This is not an exhaustive set of rules, which is unnecessary for m y purposes here.)

Object Bal1 - The bail which you are aiming at with the cue bail usually with the goal of sinking it into a pocket.

Pattern Play - This term is related to position play, and refers to the larger sequence of shots required as a "pattern" The player must read the position of aii bds, for example, in nine-bal4 and see the pattern of cue ball direction that is required to sink al1 the b d s in order. Reading a pattern well could include choosing the correct position to be in relation to an object bali so that the naturai ~ a t h of the cue ball d be towards the next intended shot. Getting out of position may mean that the player has a shot in which sinkirrg an object ball is relatively easy, but directing the cue bal1 to the next necessary shot is next to impossible.

Pool - This is a general term referring to the sport played on s d bar box tables (3 1 /2 x 7 foot) tables and the larger 4 1/2 x 9 foot tables with a cue, cue baü, and various selections of meen balls, the first set of which are numbered 1-7, with each one a different solid colour, a black eight ball, and a second set of seven, which are numbered 9- 15, coloured the same as the first seven, but are striped. While "billiards" is a term used interchaageably with pool, this c m lead to confiision as there is a game called billiards which uses three balis and a table with no pockets. The more correct term, although rarely now used to refer to pool, is "pocket biliîards." While snooker is also a cue sport, it uses diffêrent tables, cues, and balls (see Snooker).

Position Play - see Make Shape ...

Push, or Push out - In nine-baü, this is a shot allowed to the first player after the break.

Instead of being obtigated to bit the lowest bal1 on the table, as is nonnally required, the player may "push out" to any position on the table, even sinking a bal1 if desueâ. If the push out is disadvantageous to the second player, they may elect to let the first player try the shot.

Snooker - A game played on the larger 6 x 12 foot tables. Instead of sinking certain balls to win, as in eigbt- or nine-baii, here the players shoot to gain points. The balis are smaiier than pool bds, and the pockets on these tables are tighter and more difficuît. The bals used in snooker are all solid colours, with a large rack of reds used, dong with a standard selection of other doured bails. In shooting, the player must altemate between sinking a red b d (1 point) and sinking one of the other coloured balls, which v q in points from two to Men points. As Al Lougheed recdls, snooker was the dominant cue sport in Canada in the m e s to sixties, but is now much less popular compared to pool.

Spin - (sometimes also refend to as "engltsh") - By stroking through the cue b d either the left or right hand side of the center, you can make the cue baü "spin" on its way to impact the object ball. This spin then redirects the cue bal1 when it impacts a rail. The use of spin in shots is sometimes necessary to obtain the desùed position for the cue ball.

Appendix IV

signacm forci, d o i y 4th copy of thc of the Ethicd Rtrlcw Fama mus k submiacd CO

Cmdurie Omce. F r d y of Educuioo.

A COPY O f TRIS PROPOSAL WILL BE . W E PüUUC .&ND ON A TWO.EOCR RESERVE N TIIE E D U C A ~ O N L I B U Y . -

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