PE 2020: THE NEXT NINE YEARS

Based on close to 2000 essays that were posted on the PE2020 website, a full day of discussion at this year's San Diego AAHPERD convention, and feedback on draft documents posted online on the NASPE Forum, a PE2020 National Initiatives' document has been submitted to NASPE. This signals what I hope is both the end and the beginning of some vitally important discussion and professional reflection.

The NASPE Board will consider the document recommendations at its upcoming summer meeting. In all likelihood the Board will try to include some of the initiatives into its new strategic plan. Leadership from our national professional association will be essential to help us move forward. But, depending solely on our relatively small national association to lead us into the future is an unrealistic and unfair expectation. Unfortunately, only about 5% of those individuals who teach physical education are NASPE members. NASPE staff does a pretty remarkable job with rather limited resources, but they are going to need help from the rest of us.

As I write this, the nation is gripped in budgetary bickering. The economic downturn shows no signs of a speedy recovery. School districts around the country continue to suffer financial shortfalls. And cuts to physical education programs and positions proceed unabated. How, as a profession, do we move forward in such an unsecure and stressful working environment? In truth, the question we need to face is "How can we not?" 

Teachers personally affected by job losses, and programs in crisis due to shrinking budgets, have immediate needs to attend to. But it's precisely this state of affairs that makes forward thinking and planning so necessary. For far too long, we physical educators have failed to take time to think ahead and plan our future. It's not as if threats to school physical education are a new phenomenon.

Over the past 30 years, what used to be four years of required high school physical education has shrunk almost universally to two or fewer years. It takes little imagination to predict where this trend is headed. And middle school and elementary school physical education is no safer. The sad truth is that while public awareness of the need to improve children's health may be at an all time high, far fewer see public school physical education as a critical part of the solution. Why is this? That's one question we need to spend time pondering.

Build a Shared Vision for Physical Education in the Year 2020 and Beyond

But there's much more. In the years leading to 2020, expect to see many changes to our way of life. A revolution in education is underway, and will almost inevitably accelerate. New ways of structuring schools and programs to improve student learning are showing success and gaining support. If you've been around education long enough it's easy to feel you've seen reform efforts before, and if you wait long enough they'll pass by and leave you alone. But today is different because the dire consequences of inaction are frighteningly real.

The world around us is fast changing. The emerging global economy increases opportunities for out-sourcing that could hasten the rate of job loss in the US. The effect on local communities would be catastrophic if business and production dwindles. Children unprepared for the 21st century work-world face uncertain employment, careers, and futures. Reductions in revenues will not be able to support the comfortable lifestyles Americans are accustomed to.

Present day public school and college graduation rates are abysmal for all ethnic groups, but especially minorities. In the newly emerging, knowledge-based world, what will the growing numbers of those unqualified to work do? Who's going to support them? And who's going to look after the needs of our burgeoning baby-boomer retirees? Like it or not public school education has to change, and with it so will physical education. But what will we become?

Taking time to imagine our professional future is something all of us must do. When you think about it, it's not much different from investing in a savings account. You know that what you are doing today will benefit you tomorrow. And planning for the future isn't the "guess-work" process often contemplated. It's no longer a "crystal ball gazing" amusement. Successful companies do it all the time in an effort to follow trends, predict likely outcomes, and create desirable products. The military and national security agencies are avid "futurists." Shouldn't we be the same?

Almost certainly, tomorrow's schools will offer more individualized instruction. It never has made much sense trying to teach the same content to a group of 30 or more individuals all at different learning stages who happen to be similar ages. New technology is providing the key to unlocking effective individualized instructional strategies, and it's doing it in a way likely to affect physical education. To what extent will tomorrow's students need to be place-bound to learn effectively?

Parents of home schoolers already know that they can cover most of the required curriculum in half the time of regular schools. Making the most effective use of student time is going to be a key consideration in the "new" education. And if students don't meet daily in classes, what will this mean for physical education?

Although it may take more than nine years, technology is also going to transform the role of teachers. Teaching is fundamentally about information giving and performance assessing. Tomorrow's technology will do this faster and more accurately than humans. Want an example? Think about the challenge of teaching a movement skill to a class of 30, all of whom are at different ability levels. Teachers are hard challenged to provide the right information to each individual. It's impossible for them to observe all performers simultaneously. And providing accurate, individualized feedback to everyone is not viable.

Not so for tomorrow's technology that will be able to record and compare student performance against a vast database of information and return feedback instantly. What then for physical education teachers?

But all this is of course assuming that future schools will continue to include physical education in their curriculums. Few of the schools embracing efforts to reform education are paying much attention to physical education. Look at your local charter school as evidence. The Common Core State Standards initiative supported by the National Governors Association, and adopted by almost every US state, has ignored physical education. It seems an increasingly small step for us to imagine a state, city, or large school district someday soon choosing to eliminate physical education from its curriculum, and organizing an alternative way for students to get physical activity. Imagine the snowball effect nationwide.

Fortunately, despite these pessimistic and alarming visions, it's probably not too late for us to get serious about us playing a key role in tomorrow's education. But it's not just going to happen, and none of us can afford to depend solely on our national professional association to protect or represent us. Instead, we need to mobilize locally: in our states, school districts, and programs. We need to speak with clarity about the important role that quality physical education can play in a child's education. But first we need to do a much better job at unraveling what we see as the purpose of physical education in the future. This is why we need to spend more time reflecting upon what we have to offer tomorrow's students.

The PE2020 initiative has provided some impetus to get us started, but now it's up to each of us to engage our colleagues in futuristic thinking. Simply stated, the future depends on us: our actions or inaction.

Finally, on a personal note, thanks to all of you who have in different ways contributed to PE2020. As you may know, it's been the focus of my work efforts this past year. It's been a great experience getting your emails, talking to you, and reading your ideas. For me, the best legacy of the initiative is the hope that more and more physical educators will be inspired to ponder our future and take responsibility for leading the profession forward.

Steve Jefferies, publisher pelinks4u

CELEBRATE PHYSICAL EDUCATION: DANCE CONTEST AT SLIPPERY ROCK AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
For more than 20 years, Darlene Bullock, an elementary school physical education teacher in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, has organized a school wide dance contest.

In this article, author Wei Bian describes the contest procedure and explains how the contest began. Held every February, it provides a culmination to several weeks of dance instruction. Each homeroom participates for a total of about 500 students, and classroom teachers serve as judges.

Based on her interview with Ms. Bullock, Wei provides suggestions for physical education teachers who might like to implement a similar event.  read more...

STATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATIONS PROVIDE EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR COACHES AND ATHLETIC DIRECTORS
This month, Sport and Coaching section editor Deborah Cadorette, describes the collaborative coaching education program that the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) has with its state athletic association and state universities. Deborah notes that some state athletic associations have little or no requirements for the coaches.

Not so in Michigan where all those involved in school sports work hard to ensure that coaches have the knowledge and skills to do their job effectively. Learn more about the components of Michigan's coaches education program. This article is a great resource for those involved in coaching education. read more...

PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS TRAINING: GOAL SETTING AND SELF-CONFIDENCE
In this third article on psychological skills training, author Christine Lottes focuses on goal setting. Christine emphasizes the importance of setting realistic and motivating goals, and explains how coaches and athletes often said goals that are unrealistic and stress inducing. She carefully explains the differences between process, performance, and outcome goals, and provides practical examples of each. Also included is a printable handout you can use with your athletes. read more...

PREPARING FOR ANOTHER SCHOOL YEAR
Longtime elementary school physical education teacher Tom Winiecki writes this month about how he is preparing for the upcoming school year. Being effective is on his mind and especially how this can best be measured. Tom describes how he assesses student learning in his classroom. He acknowledges the existence of many different approaches, but outlines an assessment strategy that has worked well for him after years of practice and refinement.    read more...

PHYSICAL FITNESS KNOWLEDGE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BY ETHNICITY
As you may know, research suggests that African-American and Hispanic populations tend to be less physically active, and have higher rates of chronic disease than White and Asian populations.

In this article, Gregory Soukup and Timothy Henrich describe a study they conducted with high school students to examine differences in health-related physical fitness knowledge between different ethnic groups. As a result of their research the authors make suggestions about the content of physical education curricula.   read more...

STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF FITNESS AND THEIR PHYSICAL EXPERIENCES
 How can we get students to be more physically active both during and outside of the school day? Not surprisingly, how students feel about their physical education class experience likely effects their motivation to be physically active out of school.

Author Charity Bryan describes a study she conducted with middle school students that examined their fitness level, physical education class experience, and physical activity level. It became clear that student attitudes toward physical education were the result of the connection they made with the teacher, and the types of activities they experienced. It was also discovered that students frequently misperceive their own fitness levels.  read more...

ASSESSING TEACHER KNOWLEDGE: USING RESEARCH TO INFORM LEGISLATION AND POLICY
What would you consider to be a fair and accurate measurement of your teaching ability? In this era of high-stakes testing there is an understandable concern about the quality of teaching. But when it comes to physical education teaching, how can effectiveness best be assessed?

In this article, author Murray Mitchell points out that commonly used paper and pencil assessments may not be the best way to assess physical education teachers' competence. He describes an alternative technique he developed that focused on student performance. He also emphasizes the importance of establishing valid assessment strategies when the results of assessments may be used to justify legislation.  read more...

FIT BITS BOOST ENERGY AND ATTENTION SPANS FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS
It's hardly news to physical education teachers that physical activity helps to get children's brains moving. Created by the Michigan Fitness foundation is a new program called "Fit Bits," designed to get students up and moving in the classroom.

Designed for students in grades K-5, Fit Bits takes about 7 to 10 minutes for each activity. Embedded into the activities is information on nutrition, as well as the importance of personal skills such as respect and cooperation.

Deborah Fast, of the Fizika Group, explains more about the Fit Bits program in this article.   

read more...

PSYCHOLOGY FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATORS - 2ND EDITION: STUDENT IN FOCUS
Have you ever wondered why some students in your classes don't do what you expect? Are they deliberately misbehaving just to annoy you or could it be something else?

Ted Scheck reviews a book entitled, Psychology for Physical Educators that may have some of the answers. The authors are European, and they start the book emphasizing that, "In all European school systems, the major goal of physical education is to enhance physical activity." Reading this book helped Ted better understand his own physical education teaching. He shares these insites with you, together with much more about a book you might like for your professional library.  read more...