I have worked in the sphere of education for 25+ years. I have two degrees: in Linguistics and Teaching, and the second one in Organizational Management. Plus I have attended a lot of seminars, courses and read numerous books on coaching, management, systems and neighbouring fields. Many times, I heard such adages like "There is nothing more practical than a good theory" - many college professors savor this idea, but I beg to differ. Based on my experience of a teacher and coach, I want to say the opposite: "There is nothing more theoretical than a good practice". Our mind is a mystery to us, and this is good. We don't even know where our thoughts originate. We can only guess how our mind works. We can just see the results. I have seen thousands of educational achievements of my students, ranging from success at the test of English and progressing to getting PhD. As I conceive it, I see clearly that IF YOU WANT TO ELABORATE A POWERFUL THEORETICAL FOUNDATION, FOCUS ON PRACTICE! When you are playing badminton, your mind simultaneously worls out patterns and congruencies. You do not have to cram rules and twwet them to your coach. When a child is learning to speak, he/she hear millions of sentences and collocations. He then tries to reproduce something. Kids do not study grammar, but it does not mean they a deprived of an immeasurably intricate system of knowledge in their minds. Let me emphasize the word MINDS - not just brains. When you will coach or tutor your client, try to focus on practice. The system will follow concurrently. It is much more beneficial to do one thousand exercises then to read aloud a hundred rules. Our mind is a voracious doer. It is not a theorest. If you as a mentor add some wise insightful reflection on your client's performance - then your cooperation becomes stupendous. You will be amazed by the results in the long run. Again, I tell you this looking back at my coaching practice - and it is extensive. So, I love practice. I view theory only as an auxiliary expedient to our goal of development. And what is your thought on this?