Tags
concepts, EDU6132, education, educator, effective, health and fitness, master in teaching, participation, physical education, questioning, student, teacher, teachers
P1 – Practice intentional inquiry and planning for instruction. The meaning I found in the standard P1 is that, as an education professional, it is my responsibility to put time and effort into discovering the best practice for m students. It is also my responsibility to use this newly acquired information to plan lessons that will provide the most benefit to my students. There are many educational practices that have lasted many decades because they are still useful and best practice, there are also practices that have carried on because it is convenient to keep them the same. There are also subjects, such as Health and Fitness, that are disregarded by policy makers and because of this are not provided the proper attention needed to provide students with the best education possible. [1]
Figure 1, titled “What is Learned Helplessness?” is a question-response post that described how learned helplessness can effect students in a Health and Fitness class. While this response was not directly pointed in this direction, it drew my attention toward alternative ideas of teaching Health and Fitness classes. [2]
While teaching Health and Fitness classes I have noticed that many struggles have stemmed from students’ confidence in both their previous understanding of the activity and also their ability to physically complete the activity. Between grades 6-12, most Health and Fitness curriculum involve a large time allotment for conventional sports and culturally relevant physical activities ( usually recreational activities present in the society). The students who participate in these sports or physical activities outside of school (or as part of a school team) have a clear advantage over those who do not have similar experience and this creates a riff within the class. As was touched on in Figure 1, students who struggle in front of their peers are more prone to ridicule and learned helplessness. I have often searched through my own knowledge-banks and experiences to come up with a way to better prepare all students for the activity they are about to take part in. I have integrated some ideas into my current teaching, but have also thought of other solutions that are simply not realistic because of the time frames most Health and Fitness classes are allowed. [3][4][5]
My concern is that Health and Fitness classes are being treated as a biweekly, 45-50 minute exercise class (excluding Sex Ed. and Drug Use curriculum). While any and all exercise students are able to do is beneficial, there are negative connotations to throwing a student into a physical activity, in front of his/her peers, and expecting them to give full effort after a five minute introduction to the activity. This approach would never be found acceptable, with regular use, in a math course, an English course, or a science course. Students are provided plentiful amounts of information and support (at least in comparison to Health and Fitness classes) prior to being placed in front of the eyes of their peers. My proposal is for Health and Fitness classes to be treated as any other subject in school. If a teacher was given the time to properly introduce an activity (and the rules, cues, strategies that accompany it), students would then approach participation in the activity with more confidence in their understanding of the activity and, in direct correlation, be more confident in their ability to complete the activity successfully. The health of our students is not a recreational activity and needs to be treated as more than such. [6]