What is the future for Physical Education?

Mahatma Gandhi famously once stated that the “future depends on what you do today”. While in many cases the future is moulded and created by our past experiences, we cannot go back but only move forward, using today to provide a better future for ourselves and others. When we examine physical education of the past in comparison to present day practice, there has been a significant ‘paradigm shift’ throughout many aspects of it; from segregation to inclusion, traditional ‘one size fits all’ practice to using pedagogical models and of course, the introduction of various forms of technology.

David Kirk (2013) states that the future of PE can be looked at in the “short, middle and longer” term however, I think that examining the role of physical education towards the future of the twenty-first century is of most significance (p.221). I believe that there are three necessary components to help it maintain its quality today. One being as Kirk states, pedagogical models to provide for inclusiveness, the second being meaningful practice to help perceived competence and motivation to participate and the third being student centred learning in basing curriculum content on technology and new innovations that are relevant to adolescent culture.

I feel that one of the most important components to provide for a positive future in physical education is meaningful practice. Without meaning, there is no future for physical education. Ntoumanis (2001) states that to provide for the future, we need to understand if and why children regard PE as “valuable, enjoyable, and rewarding experience, or as a worthless, boring, and humiliating one” (p.226). Teachers are largely accountable for students’ views through how they motivate and provide for student needs and interests in curriculum. Penney & Chandler (2010) believe that in order to create meaning and motivate students to remain physically active in the future we need “highly skilled teachers and comprehensive support structures” (p.85). Such support structures in Ireland are available online through various websites like NCCA and the PDST but is this enough to aid teachers in providing meaningful lessons to maintain student interest in such a valuable subject?

In order to provide meaning in physical education, we need skilled teachers that are confident in their own abilities, to engage students and motivate them. However, when we examine the extent of professional development and opportunity to learn from others, it is clear that teachers in Ireland are at a disadvantage. As technology and innovation move forward, I believe that Ireland needs an online PE Professional learning community platform where all PE teachers can discuss with each other and share ideas and objectives for the future of physical education curriculum development. With curriculum developments such as the junior cycle reform where there is now a short course for physical education and with senior cycle PE and Leaving Certificate PE now being introduced, many teachers may feel the added pressure of creating meaningful experiences for students to encourage future participation.

While I feel that creating meaning in physical education is the most important component to provide a stable future for the subject, I feel that the use of pedagogical models and technology to increase inclusiveness and student centred learning are both critical for the future. While there are certain implications for the future of physical education such as Fernandez-Balboa (2012) refers to as the economy of education or one driven by profit, I feel that such implications can be overlooked by what we do today to counteract such issues. In Ireland, we finally have senior cycle physical education and leaving certificate physical education which I feel is a stepping stone to a brighter future. Can we create meaningful experiences to encourage participation beyond the classroom? I think we can, by starting now – “The future depends on what we do today”.

           

 

References

Kirk, D. (2013). What is the future for physical education in the twenty-first century?. In: Capel, S., Whitehead, M Debates in physical education. Oxford: Routledge, p.220-231.

Fernández-Balboa, J-M. (2012). Physical education in the digital (postmodern) era. In D. Kirk (ed.) Physical Education. London: Routledge, p.99-115

Ntoumanis, N. (2001). A self-determination approach to the understanding of motivation in physical education. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 71 (1), p225-242.

Penney, D. & Chandler, T. (2010). Physical Education: What Future(s)?. Sport, Education and Society. 5 (1), p.71-87.

 

 

The educational value of Sport Education: a critical response to Kirk (2013)

When we think of sport or any form of physical activity, we often remember the great successes or heart-breaking failures of the past. However, we can overlook what’s most important about sport and physical activity – the kind of people it makes us become. Kretchmar (2005) discusses the virtue and morality of sport in how it defines us by the decisions we make, either good or bad and how this greatly impacts on our own personal values in everyday life. Whether it’s Zinedine Zidane head-butting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final, Mike Tyson biting off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear in 1997 or even Lance Armstrong’s drug use throughout all of his achievements, all sport and forms of physical activity taught to us in our youth have a lasting impact on the decisions we make in life, our morals and respect for others.

This has a significant correlation to our school environment and our roles as Physical educators in the classroom. How can we help students to achieve their goals in physical education, while also helping them understand the role of physical education in their decision making in everyday life? When we examine the role of physical education in schools, it is, as Tannehill, MacPhail & Van Der Mars (2013) declare as engaging students in sport and physical activity beyond the physical education environment and providing pathways to maintain such involvement for the future. In order to do so, Kirk (2013) believes that model based practice is the way forward, particularly through the curriculum model of sport education.

 

As an aspiring physical educator, I believe David Kirk’s argument towards model based practice particularly, using sport education as a means to provide a solid foundation for students in physical education. Kirk (2013) suggests that the traditional method of physical education teaching or the “one size fits all”, sport technique approach does not work. In order to provide achievement outcomes for students across all educational domains, we need to go beyond traditional practices of skill, progression and game time to using the sport education curriculum model.

 

Sport education encourages students to become “competent, literate and enthusiastic sportspeople” (Kirk, 2013, p.980). While at times teachers may be too involved in directly instructing lessons, this approach to learning involves the teacher taking on a facilitator role, encouraging what is described as “guided discovery” and “problem solving” (Kirk, 2013, p.980). I think that this approach to learning is more beneficial to students in taking more control and responsibility for their own learning, ultimately becoming more independent learners in preparation for life after school. In addition to this, the curriculum model helps students develop socially and focuses on student ethics and morals, fairness, equality and inclusion which are so important for outside of school life. Moreover, the physical education blogger Whitehead (2014) states that sport education develops so many key skills that they see their students “grow up in lessons” right in front of them.

I question, however, if the model is sufficient for holistic student development, whether it focuses too much on student roles and responsibilities and impacts on actual skill development and progression time for those hoping to achieve in their different movement forms.

In conclusion, I believe that Kirk (2013) is correct in stating that sport education is best for student learning. Essentially, it develops what I want my students to achieve within physical education in preparation for adult life – taking responsibility for learning, independence, social skills, respect for others, inclusiveness and physical literacy. Such traits directly link to my value orientation of self-actualisation, where I want to place student needs and interests at the core of my lessons.

 

References

Kirk, D. (2013). Educational Value and Models-Based Practice in Physical Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory. 45 (9), p. 973-986.

Kretchmar, R.S (2005). Practical Philosophy of Sport and Physical Activity. Leeds: Human Kinetics. p. 183-204.

Tannehill, D. Van Der Mars, H. MacPhail, A. (2013). Building Effective Physical Education Programs. MA: Jones and Bartlett. p. 1-402.

Whitehead, M. (2014). A models based approach to PE: Sport Education. Available: https://drowningintheshallow.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/a-model-sport-education/. Last accessed 24th Feb 2018.

 

What Kind of PE Teacher am I becoming?

I read an interesting Blog post recently from a practicing physical education teacher on why he might ‘banish football from PE entirely’ (Anderson, 2016). This blog really struck a chord with me. As a student in secondary school, I was always of the opinion that physical education class was football class. For six years, this was all I was exposed to. Imagine banishing this? What would my PE class have entailed then? This made me consider how much my thoughts and opinions on the meaning of physical education have changed since school and most importantly, what kind of PE teacher I am now becoming.

When considering my views on physical education as a student in comparison to now as a pre-service teacher, a quote from Tannehill & MacPhail (2012) really helped me to grasp more insight into my own beliefs. The quote stated that “pre-service teachers enter our teacher education programmes with firmly entrenched preconceived notions about teaching and student learning that are built on years of experiencing education as students” (p.2). I felt that I could really relate to this statement. As a student and through my early years of studying in university, my value orientation had always been directly linked with disciplinary mastery. I believed that developing skills, executing them competently and mastering performance was all that was important in physical education.

 

However, now that I have had a more in depth learning experience about physical education pedagogy and have completed two school placements throughout my teacher education programme, I see just how much opportunity I have missed out on throughout my years of physical education as a student in school. The kind of physical education teacher that I am becoming is so different to what I once thought or imagined physical education was supposed to look like.

 

In reality, I think that my thoughts and opinions have completely reversed as to what I deem most important within physical education. I believe that having the experience of teaching on school placement really opened my eyes in particular to the diversity of a physical education classroom setting. As a student, developing and mastering football skills seemed normal or natural and most importantly ‘fun’ for students such as myself and those who were relatively skilful and interested in the sport. Despite all of this, as a teacher I have realised that having ‘fun’ and enjoyment in physical education is most important for me. I believe that if students are enjoying what they are doing, they are motivated to take part and be physically active.

 

As a future PE teacher, my value orientation is now more correlated with self-actualisation. Behets (2001) states that self-actualisation relates to where “students’ needs and interests are placed at the centre of the curriculum” (p.144). While developing skills and competence is important in physical education to increase student confidence, I feel that I am becoming the kind of PE teacher who is most interested in how enjoyable, fun and engaging my PE lessons are for students. I am most concerned with students’ interests, needs and challenging everyone at an appropriate level. I think this is vital to increase self-esteem and encourage and motivate students to remain physically active. While I think that playing football shouldn’t be ruled out of my physical education lessons, I firmly believe that it is pivotal to provide students with the opportunity to experience a wide variety of strands so that they can find some personal enjoyment, confidence and motivation to remain physically active after school life.

 

References

Behets, D. (2001). Value Orientations of Physical Education PreService and Inservice teachers. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. 75 (2), p.144-154.

Tannehill, D & MacPhail, A. (2012). What examining teaching metaphors tells us about pre-service teachers’ developing beliefs about teaching and learning. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy. 19 (2), p.1-15.

Anderson, Lee. (2016). Why I might Banish Football from PE Entirely. Available: https://wewearshorts.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/why-i-might-banish-football-from-pe-entirely/. Last accessed 03/02/2018.

 

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton