"I have met many teachers, visited many schools, worked in many educational institutions, and I strongly believe that Jeff Beedy is the finest educator and administrator (and human being) I've met in two decades of teaching and doing education observation research."
      DR. ROBERT COLES PULITZER PRIZE WINNER AND FORMER HARVARD UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR
Picture
Dr. Jeff Beedy, a Harvard Educated Scholar, has spent most of his career developing the theory framework for positive learning using  sports, relationship-based learning, and more. His highly respected contribution to pedagogy and education at large can be witnessed in the many schools and programs he has founded or directed around the globe. Jeff was the founding director of the first American boarding school in the Global Education City on Jeju Island, South Korea.  Today, the Korean International School in South Korea is thriving with close to 1000 students. Dr. Beedy is also the founder of the Positive Learning Using Sports model and truly believes in the power of sports to instill critical values for development and growth. ​
Dr. Beedy consults with non-profits organizations around the globe on how to positively transform communities through sport-based education.
Dancing with the Natives is a philosophical novel about adolescence. Metaphorically it describes how adolescents experience their lives and how adults come to respectfully dance with them. Adolescence is not unlike living on a remote island-a place of isolation and separation from adults. No matter how well intentioned, adults are perceived as invaders. Like doctors arriving by airplane to a place that has never seen either medicine or flying machines, trust needs be earned through learning the natives' dance before goodwill is accepted. The same is true with relationships between adults and adolescents. No power  positioning or "I am the boss" posturing will take the place of unconditional love and time spent listening and respecting the rituals, feelings and thoughts of the adolescent. 
Do sports teach us how to play the game of life well? It all depends. Most of us know from first hand observation that sports can build character or undermine it. They can foster fair or dirty play, honest competition or win-at-all-costs. they can promote teamwork or selfishness, self-control or fits of rage, the ability to win and lose gracefully or neither. In my lifetime, the negative character effects of competitive sports have, sadly, become ever more common. From little league to professional athletics, competitive sports have seemed to bring out the worst, not the best, in players and fans alike. But as the PLUS curriculum makes clear, it does not have to be that way. Approached correctly, sports can be an important tool for building the character of our children and helping to rebuild the character of our culture.