‘You have to find your slant, your groove:’ one physical education teacher's efforts to employ transformative pedagogy

Background: Teaching for social good and inequity has been presented as needed in sport pedagogy research. However, very little is known how transformative pedagogical practices that teach for social good are implemented and sustained at the elementary level. Purpose: This digital ethnographic study sought to describe one elementary school physical education (PE) teacher's attempt to employ transformative pedagogy (TP). Method: Cochran-Smith's [1998. “Teaching for Social Change: Toward a Grounded Theory of Teacher Education.” In The International Handbook of Educational Change, edited by A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan, and D. Hopkins, 916–952. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004. Walking the Road: Race, Diversity, and Social Justice in Teacher Education. New York: Teachers College Press] pedagogical principles for social justice education (SJE) drove our data collection and analysis. Seven qualitative methods were employed to collect data about Harry's pedagogies, organizational structures, and the content he taught. These were formal and informal interviews, conversations, short films, document collection, social media accounts, and an electronic journal. Data were analyzed using both inductive and deductive methods [Patton 2015. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage]. Findings: Harry's TP and the factors that facilitated and limited his practice were uncovered within five main themes: (a) creating communities of learners through restorative practice principles, (b) building on what students bring to school with them for a democratic curriculum, (c) teaching skills, bridging gaps, and the affective component, (d), working with communities in-between social justice illiteracy, and (e) utilizing diverse forms of assessment. Conclusion: We confirmed that there is no best way to teach social justice through PE and that TP must be individual to the teacher. In addition, this study highlighted methods and pedagogies by which teachers could engage in TP. Finally, the study's findings implied how teacher educators might go about working with both preservice and inservice PE teachers with the goal that they focus on facilitating social justice through their pedagogical approach

“It’s Up to Us:” Factors Influencing the Perspectives and Practices of Instructors Working in an Out-of-School Swimming Program for Underserved Children and Youth

The purposes of this study were (a) to describe the perspectives and practices of instructors working in an out-of-school swimming program (OSSP) for underserved children and youth and (b) to examine the factors which shaped these perspectives and practices. The theoretical framework employed was occupational socialization. Two female instructors participated in the study. Five qualitative techniques were used to collect data and standard interpretive techniques were employed to analyze them. Key findings were that the instructors were highly skilled and had well-developed sets of beliefs about teaching swimming and working with disadvantaged children and youth. These perspectives and practices were influenced by the interaction of the instructor\u27s acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization. Implications for selecting instructors for OSSPs included asking potential instructors about their occupational socialization and hiring experienced physical educators. The study also suggested that instructor training includes a substantial teaching component and elements on technical pedagogy and teaching philosophy in the aquatic context

The Role of PETE in Developing and Sustaining Physical Literacy Informed Practitioners

This paper discusses teacher preparation in relation to encouraging and empowering future teachers to appreciate the potential and value of adopting physical literacy as the goal of PE. The paper addresses the issue of the role of schools and teacher training programs in developing the next generation of PE teachers entering PE Teacher Education (PETE) with respect to thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and beliefs that underpin the concept of physical literacy, and providing high quality learning experiences that are crucial to continuing physical activity throughout the life course for all children, not just those that have a natural aptitude in this area. Many advocates for radical change in physical education have repeatedly argued that physical education curricula around the world are too focused on a traditional, one size fits all, sport technique based, multi-activity form. Others have argued that the traditional curricula have a primary focus on physical competence in running, jumping, and balls skills rather than providing experience in a wide range of physical activities including, inter alia, those with a focus on aesthetic awareness and those related to outdoor adventure

“The Education System is Broken:” The Influence of a Sociocultural Foundations Class on the Perspectives and Practices of Physical Education Preservice Teachers

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of one sociocultural foundations class taught by Florence, a teacher educator, on the perspectives and practices of two physical education preservice teachers (PTs), Michael and Bob. Within a narrative inquiry approach, data sources were nonparticipant observation, intraviews, conversations, exit slips, digital interactions, responses to three fictional physical education teaching scenarios, a fictional curriculum outline, three stimulated recall interviews, documents, and various forms of visual data. Theoretical thematic analysis was employed to work with and make sense of the data. Findings indicated that both PTs faced frustration and discomfort during class. Nevertheless, the class resonated and raised the PTs’ critical awareness of sociocultural issues related to physical education. Key reasons for the apparent success of the class were the deinstitutionalizing pedagogical methods employed by Florence and Florence’s “problem-posing” education which prompted the PTs to question their perspectives and assumptions about society and culture

The development of games literacy with student-designed games intervention

The study examined the games literacy (understanding rules, games values, dis- tinction between good and bad practices) learned by elementary school students after a student-designed games intervention with target games. The intervention was divided into four stages: target games introduction, teaching games to other students, creating new games, tea- ching their own games. Data collection included observations, questionnaires and interviews, which were analyzed by a triangulation. It was concluded that students were able to appreciate the rules of the games created, but had difficulty in presenting the game, a task normally assigned to the teacher

Faculty members engaging in transformative PETE: a feminist perspective

The purpose of this study was to describe sport pedagogy faculty members’ (FMs) efforts at engaging in transformative physical education teacher education (T-PETE). T-PETE stresses the importance of FMs creating social change through their pedagogical approach and begins by asking preservice teachers (PTs) to reflect on their perspectives and practices (Tinning, 2017 Tinning, R. (2017). Transformative pedagogies and physical education. In C. Ennis (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of physical education pedagogies (pp. 295–306). New York: Taylor & Francis. [Google Scholar]. Transformative pedagogies and physical education. In C. Ennis (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of physical education pedagogies (pp. 295–306). New York: Taylor & Francis; Ukpokodu, 2009. The practice of transformative pedagogy. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 20(2), 43–67.). Participants were three white, female, able-bodied, lesbian/gay sport pedagogy FMs. The study was conducted in the United States. Feminist theory and feminist pedagogy drove data collection and analysis. Data were collected by employing a series of qualitative methods. An inductive and deductive analysis revealed that FMs had specific T-PETE goals, content, and pedagogies. Furthermore, several factors served to facilitate and limit the FMs’ effectiveness when engaging in T-PETE. The findings suggest that program-wide PETE reform is necessary in the United States for creating social change, and influencing PTs perspectives and practices. In addition, they suggest that American PETE programs might benefit from greater diversity among the FMs who staff them

Effect of caffeine ingestion on fluid balance during exercise in the heat and during recovery

Background. The effect of ingestion of a common stimulant, caffeine, on fluid balance during exercise and recovery is not fully known. Objectives. To determine the effect of caffeine on fluid balance during exercise in the heat and during a 3-hour recovery period thereafter. Methods. In a randomised, controlled design, caffeine-naive participants (N=8) pedalled on a bike to achieve 2.5% baseline body mass loss in a hot environment in four separate conditions: with (C+) or without (C–) caffeine ingestion (6 mg/kg of body mass) prior to exercise, followed by (W+) or without (W–) 100% fluid replenishment (water) of the body mass loss during a 3-hour recovery period (yielding C+W+, C+W–, C–W+ and C–W–, respectively). Results. Mean (standard deviation) urine production was not different (p>0.05) regardless of rehydration status: 230 (162) mL (C+W–) v. 168 (77) mL (C–W–); and 713 (201) mL (C+W+) v. 634 (185) mL (C–W+). For the 3-hour recovery, caffeine ingestion caused higher hypohydration during rehydration conditions (p=0.02), but practically the mean difference in the loss of body mass was only 0.2 kg. Conclusion. In practical terms, there was no evidence that caffeine ingestion in moderation would impair fluid balance during prolonged exercise in the heat or during 3 hours of recovery

Parenting behavior and the risk of becoming a victim and a bully/victim : a meta-analysis study

Objective: Being bullied has adverse effects on children's health. Children's family experiences and parenting behavior before entering school help shape their capacity to adapt and cope at school and have an impact on children's peer relationship, hence it is important to identify how parenting styles and parent–child relationship are related to victimization in order to develop intervention programs to prevent or mitigate victimization in childhood and adolescence. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the published literature on parenting behavior and peer victimization using MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Eric and EMBASE from 1970 through the end of December 2012. We included prospective cohort studies and cross-sectional studies that investigated the association between parenting behavior and peer victimization. Results: Both victims and those who both bully and are victims (bully/victims) were more likely to be exposed to negative parenting behavior including abuse and neglect and maladaptive parenting. The effects were generally small to moderate for victims (Hedge's g range: 0.10–0.31) but moderate for bully/victims (0.13–0.68). Positive parenting behavior including good communication of parents with the child, warm and affectionate relationship, parental involvement and support, and parental supervision were protective against peer victimization. The protective effects were generally small to moderate for both victims (Hedge's g: range: −0.12 to −0.22) and bully/victims (−0.17 to −0.42). Conclusions: Negative parenting behavior is related to a moderate increase of risk for becoming a bully/victim and small to moderate effects on victim status at school. Intervention programs against bullying should extend their focus beyond schools to include families and start before children enter school

Skills, strategies, sport and social responsibility : reconnecting physical education

Physical education is one of the more difficult subjects in the curriculum for generalist classroom teachers in primary schools to incorporate confidently into their teaching. In many primary schools, the generalist classroom teacher defers to a physical education specialist. This situation has both positive and negative features. In this context, this study brings together several prominent models of physical education teaching in an approach that enables the curriculum to be encountered through the interests of the children. This approach offers a generalist teacher, through appropriate professional development, a means for delivering a high-quality physical education programme, and also complements the repertoire of the specialist physical education teacher at both primary and secondary school levels.<br /