Physical Educations

Week 1: Physical Education

• Physical Education (PE) is a planned, progressive part of the school curriculum that develops physical skills and promotes wider learning through movement, such as teamwork and resilience.

• Key agendas influencing PE:

  • Sport

  • Health

  • Education

Sport Agenda

• Sport occupies a prominent position within society, including playfulness, leisure, and competition.

• Competition has characterized contemporary notions of sport.

• There is a skills-focused approach which has resulted in PE being taught as 'sport-technique'.

• There is a focus on performance outcomes rather than the process.

• By focusing solely on performance outcomes, this can limit what young people can do.

Health Agenda

• PE and health have a long-standing relationship because of the physical nature of sport which can be used to work towards health outcomes.

• PE is used as a tool to try and ameliorate childhood obesity and sedentary lifestyles amongst children.

• Health and PE is reduced to a performance-oriented fitness outcome.

Education Agenda

• As PE is not valued as much as core subjects such as math and English, the educative aspect of PE is neglected.

• However, the educative value of PE is becoming more known, as well as the benefits PE has in the cognitive, affective, social, and physical learning domains.

Curriculum Drivers

1. Situational

2. Professional

3. Material

4. External

Situational

• Demographical, historical, and cultural factors shape curriculum thinking and practice within schools.

• Traditional influences of team sports.

• Public/private influences the content of the curriculum, valued elements of assessment, and status of PE.

Professional

• Professional development, teacher value, and qualifications.

• Head teachers' drive for PE can facilitate the subjects position.

• Class teacher's confidence can influence what and how PE is delivered.

• Teacher training.

Material

• Time, allocation, and facilities.

External

• Accountability and performance.

• Neoliberalism.

• SATs, numeracy, and literacy testing outsourcing in primary PE.

• External providers are more likely to have good knowledge of the sport they are delivering.

• There can be generalist plus sports coach:

  • Sometimes as shared lessons

  • Sometimes used to cover teachers who don't have PE knowledge

• There's generalist plus specialist PE teacher.

• There's the exclusive use of coaches in all PE Lessons.

Benefits of Outsourcing

Limitations of Outsourcing

Week 2: Holistic Learning

• Holistic learning is when PE is centered around a number of broad aims such as physical, cognitive, affective, and social domains.

Cognitive Aim

• Often highlighted in order to give PE status - A 'proper subject'.

• In secondary school in particular evidence of an 'academicisation' of PE.

• PE in gyms is considered separate and sub-ordinate to learning in classrooms.

• In high stakes examination contexts "PE is being studied but only rarely experienced" (Thorburn, 2007).

• Neglects the study of PE as part of the 'whole person' and the role of embodiment and physical culture in learning.

Social Aim

• Often it is assumed that just by playing sport character traits will develop.

• Games may have a role to play here- BUT…

• To assume a causal relationship is misguided at best.

• There is a need to actively teach with a focus on social/socio-moral aims in order to affect change.

• Furthermore…

• It is argued that to effectively develop socio-moral practices and understanding through PE there must be engagement with wider socialising agents (family, peers etc) and this needs to be part of a whole school approach.

• PE is widely viewed as having the capacity enhance Socio-moral development (see for example Bailey et al., 2009; McCuaig et al., 2015; Rossi and Janes, 2016; Hooper et al., 2020).

• BUT…..

• Remains largely under-developed in practice (Jacobs and Wright, 2014).

• Teachers are generally supportive of holistic notions of teaching and value Affective and Socio-Moral domains but are unsure of how to implement and assess these (Wright et al., 2020).

• Evidence that teachers use both reactive and explicit approaches to teaching about social and emotional learning (Wright et al., 2020).

• But key considerations might be issues of Policy direction, CPD, and occupational socialisation.

Affective Aim

• Largely related to 'subjective consciousness'

• Has potential to be salient in creating conditions for meaningful PE particularly in relation to notions of experiential learning and inquiry.

• However, is at odds with an educational system that values standardised assessment for the assessment of understanding and progress.

Mind/Body Dualism

• Dominance in early PE of Cartesian mind/body dualist perspective.

• Privileging of cognitive domain and an accompanying perspective from a number of key writers at the time that Games were unimportant and easily mastered and therefore of little educative value.

Holistic perspectives on learning in PE

• Physical Literacy: the motivation, confidence, physical competence, and knowledge and understanding for learners to be engaged and value physical activities for life.

Philosophical underpinnings of physical literacy

• Monism: Mind and Body are inseparable

• Existentialism: Value and Impact of Experiences

• Phenomenology: Experiences shape our unique perspective

Inknacting elements of physical literacy

• Wants to take part in PA

• Confident when taking part

• Moves efficiently and effectively across a variety of activities

• Has an awareness of movement needs and possibilities in different physical activities

• Can work independently and with others

• Knows how to improve performance in different physical activities

• Knows how being physically active can improve well-being

• Has the confidence to plan and effect a physically active lifestyle

Physical Literacy in Primary PE

• Principles for Practice focusing around the learner:

  • individual needs

  • promoting motivation

  • building confidence

  • physical competence

  • developing knowledge and understanding

  • developing responsibility

  • charting progress

Potential of Holistic Approaches in PE

• Expectations for end of KS1

• Expectations for end of KS2

Learning Outcomes

• Should include a verb, context, and quality to describe what pupils will know, understand, and be able to do.

• Generating learning outcomes: overall…

Week 3

Teaching as Why, What, and How

• Why do we do something? What is its purpose/value? What is the aim of PE?

• What do we do in our classrooms? What content do we select? What is our medium for delivery? What Learning outcomes/objectives do we select?

• How do we operationalize the what, i.e., what pedagogy might we employ to help us meet our aims? What specific activities and practices might we use? How might we assess these?

High-Quality Physical Education

• The Importance of Knowledge - What is Taught

  • Rules, tactics, techniques; effects of exercise on the body; what motivates us to participate; how culture, gender, ethnicity, class, etc., influence participation; principles of movement, agility, balance, coordination.

• The Quality of Content/How it is Taught

  • the activities, their relevance/meaning, breadth, depth, pedagogy (methods/models).

• The Sequencing of Content

  • how content and learning builds/progresses.

Spectrum of Teaching Styles

The Anatomy of Teaching Styles

• Conceivable categories of decisions that must be made:

  1. Pre-impact

  2. Impact

  3. Post-impact

Pre-impact

• Decisions that define the intent -> specific planning and preparation decisions (including learning outcomes).

Impact

• Decisions related to the implementation -> execution of the pre-impact decisions during the pedagogical encounter.

Post-impact

• Decisions that focus on assessment of and feedback on the impact -> assessment of whether there was congruence between the intent and impact.

Landmark Teaching Styles

• The styles range from teacher-centered (A) to learner-centered (K).

• A = command

• H = divergent discovery

• B = practice

• I = individual

• C = reciprocal

• J = learner initiated

• D = self-check

• K = self-teaching

• E = inclusion

• F = guided discovery

• G = convergent discovery

Cognitive Clusters of Teaching Styles

Reproductive Cluster

• Fosters reproduction of past knowledge.

• Command, practice, reciprocal, self-check, and inclusion styles

Productive Cluster

• Evokes production of new knowledge.

• Guided, convergent, divergent discovery, individual, learner initiated, and self-teaching styles

Discovery threshold

• The point that marks the separation of the clusters on the spectrum.

• Its the point at which decision making predominantly shifts from teacher-determined (A-E) to learner-determined (F-K).

Reproductive Cluster

Productive Cluster

Teaching Styles in Practice

• Learning outcomes should be a key factor in determining which teaching style(s) to employ.

• Decisions about which teaching style is 'best' - or rather, most appropriate – also depends on situation/context:

  • Learner demographics (e.g. age)

  • Prior Learning

  • Group characteristics (e.g., preferences, individual motivations)

  • Resource availability (Including Time)

  • Activity characteristics (e.g., complexity, risk)

• Teaching styles operate along a continuum and are complementary to one another.

• Multiple styles may be used within one lesson or to teach the same activity to different groups of learners.

• Adopting a variety of styles will facilitate more effective (and inclusive) teaching (Hodges Kulinna & Cothran, 2003).

• Employment of the Spectrum of Teaching Styles can bring about what Mosston and Ashworth (1994) term 'Developmental Effects'.

• Taken to be the development of 'desirable' characteristics/attributes.

• 'Developmental Effects' are related to domains of learning:

  • Psychomotor

  • Cognitive

  • Affective

• This can, therefore, facilitate the holistic development of learners.

• However…

• Learning should be planned progressively and sequentially.

• When planning our lessons, we should:

  • Take account of what has gone before, so that new knowledge skills and understanding builds on previous learning in a logical sequence

  • Sequence content to ensure that pupils advance from simpler skills and understand to more complex skills and understanding

  • Cliffe (2021)

Adapting Practice to Meet Learners Needs

• Planned learning activities should allow pupils to develop their competence and improve their performance across a range of skills and domains.

• Practice can be adapted to meet learners needs through the STEP principle:

  • S = Space

  • T = Task

  • E = Equipment

  • P = People

Adapting Practice and Inclusion

• Recognizing Diversity

• Pupils are all different and are likely to have individual learning needs.

• Some pupils will face particular barriers to learning if as schools and teachers we do not look to address structural barriers.

Special Education Needs or Disabilities

• Data suggests not all young disabled people (often referred to in education settings as Special Educational Needs or Disabilities - SEND) are fully included in PE.

• Disabled children's activity levels decrease significantly as they get older.

• Activity levels for disabled and non-disabled children are similar when they first start school (KS1 - 83% during term-time compared to 84%).

• By age 11, disabled children are less likely to be 'active' or 'fairly active' (KS2 - 77% vs 85%).
  The gap widens more significantly by the time they are 16 (KS4 - 52% vs 72%).

Inclusion spectrum

Activity Inclusion

• Open

• Parallel

• Modified

• Specific

Inclusion Model

• Key Partners including Setting

• Coaches and Volunteers

• Health, Education, and Sports Governing Bodies

Activity

• Participant

• STEP adaptation tool

• Ability

• Adapted physical activity

• Impairment

• Activity and Session

*SEPERATE/ ALTERNATE
*OPEN
*Everyone can play
*DISABILITY SPORT
*PARALLEL
*Ability groups
*MODIFIED
*Change to include

The Activity Inclusion Model Practice Types

Open Practice

• Everyone does the same activity.

• Players can work at their own level, but nothing is changed, adapted, or modified.

Modified Practice

• An activity is designed for the group.

• The activity is then adapted through principles such as STEP to meet the needs of different individuals.

Parallel Practice

• Everyone takes part in the same activity, but players are organized into groups according to ability, and the activity is set to match the ability of those in the group.

Specific Practice

• Activities are adjusted specifically to the needs of certain groups.

• This is reflected in the impairment-specific pathway.

Inclusive Practice in Physical Education

• Inclusive practice is at the center of:

  1. learning outcomes and objectives

  2. teaching styles and assessment type/format

  3. access strategies, resources, activities, and group dynamics

• Inclusive practice:

  • meets the needs of individuals

  • overcomes barriers to learning

  • sets suitable learning challenges

Week 4: Adaptive Practice

1. Anticipate barriers

2. Plan to address barriers

3. Use assessments to elicit evidence of learning

4. Make in-the-moment adaptations

Traditional Approaches to PE

Models-Based Practice within PE

• Models-based practice (MbP) is concerned with…

  • "ensuring that teachers… have a comprehensive and coherent plan for teaching and learning" (O'Donovan, 2011, p.326)

• MbP claimed to have the potential to facilitate the delivery of high-quality programs due to:

  • Clarity of purpose (Focuses on learning outcomes)

  • Broader learning focus (Brings about learning in multiple domains)

  • Explicit approach (Details instructional approaches, assessment strategies, etc.)

• MbP represents a move away from the privileging of subject matter (i.e., curriculum) or the teacher

  • Focuses on aligning outcomes with pupils' needs and instructional approaches

• MbP is commonly conceived as being about the use of singular models (Casey & MacPhail, 2018)

• BUT… MbP can involve the use of multiple models within a multi-model curriculum

• Hybrid models - where two models are used in conjunction within one another – can also be utilized

• MbP claimed to facilitate effective and inclusive teaching within PE

• Enables PE to better demonstrate its educational value (Kirk, 2013)

• Research demonstrates that MbP can be effective, BUT… can also be challenging to implement (Lawson, 2009)

  • Teachers' experiences of PE at school can be more influential with regard to their practice than teacher preparation itself (Pill et al., 2012)

There are a range of models that have been developed within PE

1. Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU)

2. Cooperative Learning (CL)

3. Sport Education (SE)

4. Health-Based PE (HBPE)

5. Teaching Personal Social Responsibility (TDSR)

Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) Model

• Bunker and Thorpe (1982) recognized that traditional approaches constrained pupils' learning:

  • poor transfer of technique from skills practices to games

  • limited decision-making capabilities within gameplay

• The TGfU model was developed to enhance pupils' abilities to play games legitimately through modified versions designed to suit their developmental stage

  • learn about playing games through playing games

The 6 stages of the TGfU Model

1. Game form -> teams participate in a modified (or full) version of the game, dependent on their developmental level

2. Game appreciation -> teams are introduced to the rules of the game

3. Tactical awareness -> principles of play are gradually introduced (positioning, creating/restricting space, advancing an object, etc.)

4. Decision making -> pupils develop the ability to select both what to do and how to do it (recognizing cues and predicting outcomes)

5. Skill execution -> pupils refine their abilities to perform the appropriate skill (or action) and in a successful manner

6. Performance -> teams participate in a modified (or full) version of the game, with performances now enhanced

The Y Guiding Principles of the TGfU Model

1. Sampling -> exploring similarities and differences between games

2. Tactical complexity -> matching pupils' developmental stage

3. Exaggeration -> emphasizing particular game features

4. Representation -> developing relevant modified games

Advantages of the TGfU Model

• Moves away from technique-focused instruction

• supports the transfer of learning from practice to games

• Enhances pupils' decision-making capabilities

• Develops "off-the-ball" play

• Enhances engagement, motivation, and independence

• promotes holistic learning

Disadvantages of the TGfU Model

• Requires teacher preparation (initial teacher training (ITT) or continuing professional development (CPD))

• Requires teachers to 're-position' themselves

• Modifying games, in relevant ways, can be difficult

• Identifying relevant questions can be challenging

• Perceived as an easy option

Cooperative Learning (CL) Model

• The CL Model involves pupils working together on an assigned task:

  • groups are purposefully selected by the teacher, based on factors such as diversity and complementarity

  • pupils work without direct or immediate supervision

• The model enables pupils to "maximize their own learning while maximizing that of their peers Johnson et al, 2008)

The 3 Learning strategies of the CL Model

1. Think, Pair, share

2. Jigsaw Learning

3. Learning Teams

Key Elements of Cooperative Learning

1. Positive interdependence -> pupils depend on each other to succeed

2. Individual accountability -> everyone's performance counts. Pupils must make meaningful contributions

3. Promote (face-to-face) interaction -> time together do relate, communicate, etc

4. Interpersonal and small group skills -> develop both through free communication

5. Group processing -> dialogue and discussion about learning

Social and Affective Learning The Sport Education (SE) Model

• Siedentop (1984) felt that teaching within PE was decontextualized

  • techniques taught in isolation

  • lack of affiliation or membership to teams

  • seasonal nature missing

  • values, cultures, and rituals missing

• The model educates pupils in the fullest sense of the sport

Key Aspirations of the SE Model

1. Provide authentic sport experiences

2. Allow pupils to take on diverse roles

3. Encourage a sense of personal and social responsibility

Key Outcomes of the SE Model

1. A competent sportsperson -> has developed skills and strategies to the extent that they can participate successfully in a game

2. A literate sportsperson -> understands the rules, traditions, and values associated with a specific sport and can differentiate between good and bad sport practices (

3. An enthusiastic sportsperson -> plays and behaves in ways that preserves, protects, and enhances the Sport culture

The 6 Key Features of the SE Model

1. Seasons -> teams participate for an extended period of time

2. Affiliation -> pupils form persistent teams that remain constant for the duration of the season

3. Formal competition -> pupils engage in competition with one another in line with formal schedules

4. Record keeping -> teams track their progress over the course of the season, documenting their activities and performances

5. Festivities -> rewards, awards, and celebrations are embedded throughout the season

6. Culminating event -> seasons culminate with an event to celebrate pupils' achievements

CONTENT
Teachers observe and assess the ability of students.
Further teacher observation and assessment of students and formation of mixed-ability
teams.
Meeting with all students to explain and discuss SE.
Students informed of teams and encouraged to discuss and agree on a team name. Introduction of portfolios and team display boards.
Pre-season training (teacher-led). Students encouraged to practice the role of reporter, warm-up
officer, score-keeper, and equipment officer while also being an active playing member of the team.
Continuation of pre-season training. The student coach of each team now leads the sessions
(student-led) and not the teacher. Play 3v3 within teams.
Round robin formal competition (5v5).
Time spent concentrating on team display board and portfolio work. Some team practice time.
Festival Day. All teams played one match (5v5) to decide their finishing position. Medals
awarded to all students as well as the winning team, most improved team and most improved
performer.
Opportunities to Develop Physically
Promoting
motivation
Building
Confidence
Physical
Competence
Developing
Knowledge and
Understanding
Literate Learners
Devolving
Responsibility
Individual
needs
Learner
Charting
Progress