What am I becoming as a PE
teacher? The Challenges and Inspirations of PE in Ireland today. Pedagogical
Change.
Why would you continue
to do something you do not enjoy? This is a question which I feel has shaped
the PE teacher I am becoming. If students do not enjoy something they will not
want to do it. As Tannehill et al (2015) outline, if we want to make physical
activity truly apart of every day for young people then we must make it
enjoyable. However, can students truly enjoy something if they do not
understand it fully or if they do not have the skills to do it independently? This
is something I have come to realise as I progress through my teacher education.
It is my belief that it is no longer enough to just have enjoyable PE. Students
require more.
While ultimately I
feel my goal as a teacher is student enjoyment, I now feel that in order for
students to achieve enjoyment they must also have an understanding of what it
is they are doing, why they are doing it, how it can benefit them and how to
correctly do it. If students do not have these things how can they enjoy PE?
How will they be encouraged to participate in physical activity for a lifetime?
The aim of physical education is not just to promote activity and wellbeing of
young people while they are in school, but to teach them how they can continue
to live a physically active, healthy lifestyle in the future, beyond their
school lives (NCCA, 2017; NCCA, 2016).
Studies find the more
competent students are in PE, the greater the enjoyment (Carroll and Loumidis,
2001). This is why I try to ensure all students experience success in my
lessons, be it through physical activity or through taking another role in the
class. I feel I have become a teacher who wants all students to achieve in PE,
regardless of ability. That’s not to say I do not value ability. I do feel
skills are important. However, as a teacher I do not like to get too caught up
in skill mastery as I feel this can often discourage a weaker student; who is
already less likely to participate in activity outside of PE class. As a result
of pedagogical change in PE; in particular the introduction of physical
education short course and LCPE, skill is becoming increasingly important,
however it is more about the understanding of the skill and the ability to
recognise components which result in a skill being done well.
Pedagogical change has
most definitely shaped the PE teacher I am becoming. Due to the introduction of
the PE short course and CBA’s at junior cycle level and the senior cycle PE
specification, an increased emphasis has been placed on student understanding in
PE; thus influencing the emphasis I place on understanding while I teach.
Pedagogical change in
PE has shone a new light on the subject. The introduction of LCPE is
undoubtedly the biggest inspiration of PE in Ireland today. Our subject now has
purpose. (It always had purpose but all
of a sudden when you place and exam at the end of a subject people begin to see
that purpose). I experienced this first hand while on placement. It was like a
switch turned on in students’ brains when they first looked through the LCPE
sample paper. A switch that said ‘this is actually a subject’, ‘I need to start
working for this’. LCPE also gives
students a strong incentive to remain physically active right up to exam time,
as noted by O’Rourke (2019), who also referred to the introduction of LCPE as a
‘game changer’.
But, what does this pedagogical
change mean for PE teachers? A challenge. What do I teach? How do I teach it?
What are the best approaches? How should I allocate time? What does this
learning outcome mean? Am I covering it correctly? How can I ensure junior
cycle PE is covering enough information to allow students to smoothly
transition into LCPE? Teachers are being challenged in many ways and
encountering new difficulties following the introduction of pedagogical changes
in PE. But although challenged I feel teachers are excited to embark on this
new journey in physical education, one that will completely change the way it
is viewed.
As Whitehead (2013)
says ‘promoting positive attitudes towards physical activity in the interests
of establishing exercise as a lifelong habit should be our ultimate goal’. This
is a quote which I feel sums up who I am becoming as a PE teacher as we
progress into exciting and unknown territory for PE amidst pedagogical change.
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope it gave some insight into my views. As
I have said, if they don’t like it they won’t do it!
Bibliography
Carroll, B. and Loumidis, J.
(2001) ‘Children’s Perceived Competence and Enjoyment in Physical Education and Physical
Activity Outside School’, European Physical Education Review, 7(1),
pp. 24–43, available: 10.1177/1356336X010071005
National Council for Curriculum and
Assessment (NCCA), (2017) Physical
education curriculum specification: Leaving certificate, Dublin: Author
National Council for Curriculum and
Assessment (NCCA), (2016) Short Course
Physical Education Specification for Junior Cycle, Dublin: Author
O’Rourke, B. (2019) ‘A move in the right
direction: PE takes off for Leaving Cert’ The
Irish Times, 12 Feb, available: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/a-move-in-the-right-direction-pe-takes-off-for-leaving-cert-1.3786798 [accessed: 12 Mar 2020]
Tannehill, D., Van der Mars, H. and
MacPhail, A. (2015) Building Effective
Physical Education Programs, Burlington: Jones and Bartlett
Whitehead, M. (2013) ‘What is physical literacy and how
does it impact on physical education?’ in Capel, S. & Whitehead, M. Debates in Physical Education, Abingdon, Oxford: Routledge, 37-52
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