Teaching Kids to Walk and Talk 17 subconscious pretty well does what it is in the habit of doing. The subconscious is a habit-driven processot. Bad habits, as they say, are hard to break. Actually, all habits, good or bad, are hard to break. A new swing is really hard to develop, as is a new way of selling, or a new way of treating people, or driving a new route home. This is the real use of education: the creation of new habits. This can be done in only one way. The subconscious learns in only one way. The subconscious learns by repeated practice. The only teaching that can work, then, is the kind of mentoring that helps someone execute better while they are practicing. How is a high school football coach different from a high school history teacher? Before we attempt to answer this question, we need to consider why it is an important question to consider. In general, I think most people would agree that the behavior of these two types of teachers is likely to be quite different. In our mind’s eye, we see images of yelling and crude behavior versus refined lecture and discussion. But let’s get beyond the superficial stereotypes and think about what they teach rather than their style of teaching it. The history teacher at his worst teaches facts, and at his best teach- es careful analysis of sources of facts. The football coach at his worst teaches that someone could never possibly do something, and at his best coaches someone to do some- thing better. The history teacher teaches the conscious. The football coach teaches the subconscious, This makes sense if we view education (in school) as a conscious affair. It certainly seems to be a conscious affair. We discuss history, we don’t do history. And, it makes sense in football since the coach doesn’t need players who can discuss football—he needs players who can execute. It begins to make less sense when we consider how the conscious and the subconscious interact. As long as we see ourselves as rational b