A Profession in Transition

by Gale A. Wiedow
President, Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America)
(Formerly the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance)

I love my kids. I'm talking about my own kids. My children. I think about them every day and I realize I don't tell them often enough that I love them. They are good kids!

This probably strikes you as an odd way to begin an article about our profession and about the future of our professional association but let me explain. Both my son and my daughter are now adults and finding their niche in life. They have families of their own and they face many of the same challenges most of us did as we worked through the early years of our adult lives.

Significantly, my daughter changed her name! She gave up her maiden name, the only name she had ever known, and took a new name. This marked the next chapter in her personal evolution toward self-actualization, self-fulfillment, and creating her lasting personal legacy. Even before she changed her name she was an exceptional person- caring, loving, fun, dedicated and professional.

And do you know what? Even though she changed her name, she remains - and might even be more - caring, loving, fun, dedicated, and professional!

But to say that she didn't change in other ways would be misleading. Not only did her name change but her perspective changed. She no longer focused on her needs as an individual, but became more aware of the needs of others. Initially her concern was with her husband, then with the birth of children her circle of concern and responsibility grew. Balance between her individual needs and the needs of those around her, became and remains, a priority.

I offer the analogies above to make a point - actually two points. First, while a name is important and gives us an identity when relating to others, names are simply an attempt to capture our essence with a label. Who we are and what we do remains more important. Second, our profession is just like our lives. It's multidimensional and most of us have responsibilities that cross disciplines. If I were to label myself as a physical educator (which I commonly do) I would be remiss if I gave the impression that I didn't also address the implications that physical activity has on one's health, or that a quality, comprehensive physical education program must include dance. A failure to recognize the many lessons learned through sport or the implications of having a broad repertoire of skills for use during leisure time would also be a professional oversight.

I view myself as belonging to a professional family in which our diversity is our strength - one in which we become richer as we recognize and integrate the variety of disciplines that represent our collective knowledge base. I believe in the concept of synergy as expressed by Aristotle over 2300 years ago: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." And I believe the recent unification of our professional associations will truly result in an even more productive 'family,' much better prepared for the challenges we will face in the future.

One last comment before I shift gears: I joined AAHPER in 1974 and was a member when we added the 'D' in 1979. The Alliance was the only name I had ever known for my professional association. I developed an emotional, professional, and historical attachment to the acronym, something the vast majority of our members have done. I understood it and appreciated it - even though it didn't include a letter for my vocational emphasis - it had no 'S' for sport. Still, I was included, actually - welcomed into the association. I joined my state association early in my career, and my boss took the initiative of nominating me for an open position as a section chair in our district association. A call from a Gulick Award honoree initiated my national involvement as a member of an association committee. I was hooked. Now 40 years later, I remain engaged, excited, and committed to lifelong learning and to the professional associations that have served me so well over the years, by whatever name we choose.

And now the shift.

What kept me engaged in professional associations for the entirety of my career? The answer to that question is best illustrated from a convention presentation by Dr. John Crompton, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A & M University.

In his presentation, Dr. Crompton asserted that people don't want products; they want benefits. He contrasted the concept of selling with that of marketing and talked the audience through an evolutionary model that used the task of cleaning a floor as his example. He began by reflecting on the craftsman era in which products were made by hand - in his scenario - a broom. The production of brooms was time-consuming and as a result, the cost of a broom was high. With industrialization and innovation, the task of cleaning the floor was met with a new invention - the vacuum cleaner.

At first, vacuums were expensive and therefore only available to the wealthy. However, as the production era evolved and as production became more efficient, the cost of a vacuum cleaner became affordable for a vast majority of Americans. As a result, sales flourished. People were buying vacuum cleaners as fast as companies could produce them. This era too, however, waned. By the mid-1950's sales had declined significantly. As a result, enterprising vacuum cleaner companies decided that rather than waiting for customers to come to them, they would take the product to the customer. And thus the sales era was born.

As a child I can remember numerous salesmen at our door offering, not only vacuum cleaners (Electrolux), but spices and flavorings (Watkins products), reference books (World Book Encyclopedias), women's cosmetics (Avon), and a host of other products. This tactic worked well for a period of time, until, as Dr. Crompton recounted, consumers stopped buying. A major reason for not purchasing - in this case a vacuum cleaner - was that "it didn't clean under the couch." It didn't meet our needs as consumers. It didn't provide the benefits that consumers sought.

Uninspired salespeople probably simply wrote the comment off and likely persisted in venturing on to other houses repeating the same sales pitch. But somewhere, an enterprising salesperson reflected on what was happening and decided that rather than dismissing the comment, it would be wiser to design a product that addressed the consumer's needs and desires. Thus the marketing era was born. If a product met the needs of consumers, if it provided the benefits they sought, then the sale was easy - the transaction was complete.

I don't sell vacuum cleaners! Yes - I realize that, but the parallels suggest that we can learn a lot from the experience of the vacuum cleaner salesperson. First, I probably need to digress for a moment and reflect on an important concept. That concept deals with 'focus.' In the craftsman, production, and sales eras noted above, all attention was focused internally on the product and the production method. How can we make the product faster and less expensively? It was only after the realization that the desires of the consumer were paramount that production began to focus externally - on the benefits sought by the consumer. That change of focus from looking internally at what we do, to looking at the benefits that consumers want is critical. People don't want products - they want benefits!

And so - let me make the jump to what we as professionals do - as teachers in the gymnasium, dance studio, or health education classroom, as coaches on the field, or physical activity leaders trying to integrate more activity into a child's day. Are we teaching what we teach because it is what we want to do, what we like to do, what we enjoy, or what we're good at (an internal focus on the teacher), or do we choose what we teach because it provides benefits to our students (an external focus on the consumer - our students)? What sense does it make to design lessons to meet our own needs rather than what our students want and need?

This same concept is also true for our professional associations. My perspective here is that of both a provider (I am an officer in our major national professional association and I have served in a variety of roles at the state and district level) and as a consumer - I'm a teacher. In professional associations the temptation is to spend too much time looking internally at what we want to do, like to do, or think we're good at, and then trying to sell it to our target audiences. This is a sales mentality that history suggests is doomed to fail. In contrast, when professional associations embrace the premise that 'making the sale' depends on understanding the benefits being sought, their chances of success increase dramatically.

What benefits do our students want? That's your call, but I would suggest that they want to have fun, to be challenged, to experience success, to be with friends, to feel good about themselves, and to feel competent. I'm sure you can add to this list.

What benefits do professionals want? If you are a member of your state or national association, what did you hope to gain - what benefits did you expect? Maybe it was so you could attend a state, district, or national convention and you had to be a member to attend. Maybe it was to extend your professional network beyond your building or your school district. Perhaps it was access to information to enhance your effectiveness as a teacher or a coach, or to support people advocating for you among decision-makers and keep you updated on legislative issues affecting your profession. The key point here is that for professional associations to thrive and attract members they need to focus on meeting members needs.

These are exciting and challenging times. All of us face increasing demands for accountability, for integrating technology, for garnering support for our programs and our profession, and for preparing our students for a lifetime of physical activity. My advice is simple. Don't go it alone - take advantage of the programs, products, services and resources of your professional association. If we stick together we can SHAPE our professional future.

I wish you the very best in 2014!

(Gale currently serves as the interim dean of the College of Education at Dakota State University where he has been a member of the faculty in physical education and exercise science since 2007. Prior to coming to DSU, Gale served as national program director for the National Youth Sports Program, a federally funded summer day camp program for economically disadvantaged children. His prior experience includes leadership in recreational sports programming at the University of Nebraska and at Indiana University, where he also served on the physical education faculty. In addition, Gale served as chair and professor of HPER at the University of South Dakota, as well as the Associate Dean for Research and Technology.)

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