Preservice teachers experiences of LEARNING ABOUT MEANINGFUL PHYSICAL
Pre-service teachers’ experiences of LEARNING ABOUT MEANINGFUL PHYSICAL EDUCATION Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland Tim Fletcher, Brock University, Canada Mary O’Sullivan, University of Limerick, Ireland Stephanie Beni, Brock University, Canada @meaningfulpe
Outline 1. Meaningful Physical Education 2. LAMPE 3. Pre-service teacher’s experiences
Why meaningful experiences?
personally meaningful engagement in physical activity experiences holds the potential to promote long-term commitment and engagement in physical activity
(Kretchmar, 2007)
What are meaningful physical education experiences?
FEATURES OF A MEANINGFUL PHYSICAL EDUCATION EXPERIENCE Delight Social interaction Motor learning Fun Personally relevant learning Challenge (Kretchmar, 2001; 2006; Beni et al, 2017)
How do we facilitate meaningful experiences ?
Pedagogies aligned with the features of meaningful physical education
“meaningfulness comes from connecting past, present and future meanings ‘into some kind of coherent story’ “(Baumeister et al, 2014)
Expectations/ goal setting Experience (aligned with the features) Reflection Ascribe meaningfulness
A version of school-based physical education where the promotion of meaningful experiences is the explicit teaching and learning priority
Learning About Meaningful Physical Education (LAMPE) ü Four Year study ü Pre-service teachers (PSTs) in Ireland Canada This research was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada
PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF Learning About Meaningful Physical Education (LAMPE)
Teacher educators 1. Make the prioritization of meaningful participation explicit 2. Model and discuss learning about meaningful PE 3. Support PSTs’ engagement with meaningful criteria as learners and as teachers 4. Frame learning activities using features of meaningful participation 5. Support reflection on PE experiences
What are pre-service teachers’ experiences of LAMPE pedagogies?
Ethnographic Research Design 270 students (approx. ) across four years 6 groups from Canada 3 groups from Ireland Course content Introductory methods Advanced methods Developmental games
DATA SOURCE PST interviews • Early point • End point PST focus groups • Mid point PST artifacts APPROX. DATA (year 14) 90 individual interviews q 70 Canada q 20 Ireland 14 focus group interviews with 35 participants q 9 focus groups with 18 participants Canada q 5 focus groups with 17 participants Ireland ~ 668 individual work samples
WHAT: “Enough challenge so that they are challenged but then they can independently or collaboratively with peers find a way that they can improve based on the resources that are available. ” (Rob, Canada, Year 2). “I think it is important that children enjoy it as well. If you don’t enjoy it, you are not going to be enthusiastic about it” (Focus Group 3, Ireland, Year 2). “The social aspect of sport and phys ed I think is huge, and the way that it can bring people together and teach social skills” (Shannon, Canada, Year 2).
WHAT: CANADA: Fun and Challenge Social interaction Personally relevant learning IRELAND: Fun and challenge Skill learning Personally relevant learning
WHY: “[I am looking forward to] making Phys. Ed. fun and having those kids that wouldn’t traditionally want to participate in Phys. Ed. , like getting them excited about it and wanting to come” (Laura, Canada, Year 1). “Before you were just kind of like, ‘Oh, just let them play PE, ’ (or do PE, or whatever), but now you kind of realize that there’s a lot more involved and that you’d like to make these kind of aims as well” (Jason, Ireland, Year 3). “I think I’ll definitely use [ideas about meaningful experiences] because if you don’t get them to tell you about the stuff, and you if don’t make any of it meaningful, then you don’t exactly know if it’s going right or going wrong. I think that’s probably the best benefit from having it used in the classroom” (Leanne, Ireland, Year 3).
HOW: “I think it is also really important that the teacher gets to know their students really well so you know what things make them uncomfortable so you can adapt your lesson plan to that and make sure everyone is being incorporated and participating to the best of their abilities. ” (Laura, Canada, Year 1) “Setting challenges for each child for each stage through it rather than just have them doing a random activity for no purpose at all. Just so they have something to aim for and something to build on. ” (Focus Group 1, Ireland, Year 1)
HOW • “A lot of discussion really helps… to get them to understand why they are doing certain sports or even getting them to understand how they can transfer those skills to everyday life. It is not just, ‘We are going to the gym to play soccer and leave, and that was gym for the day. ’ You can take things how, transfer to having a more healthy lifestyle, so not just playing sports at school, but you can go home and get involved outside the school” (Madison, Canada, Year 3)
“and then they were totally into it. If we add a story to it they get really into it and lose track of time… I guess I would want them to not want to leave. I would want them to be caught up in the moment so much that they wouldn’t be waiting for it to be over.
Prioritisation of features and meaningful approach Concerned with the QUALITY of the experience for individuals more than the content… Shared language using features Described individual features and related pedagogies Different PSTs emphasized different features
Integrated nature of features Commitment to shared vision - but lacking details Pedagogies aligned with features The role of competition
How pedagogies combine in overall approach Delight – concept and pedagogies Role of goal setting and reflection in evaluation of experience and ascribing meaningfulness The big picture – how this all fits together
What can we learn from this as teacher educators?
PST experiences provide • Encouragement on the value of LAMPE pedagogies • Feedback to teacher educators on own approach • Insight on the effectiveness of our pedagogies • Identification of aspects that need clarification/ more emphasis • Direction on areas that require more specific pedagogies • Guidance on how to align what/ why/ how
“It kind of changes your whole approach to the way you see games and how you think about how you were taught or think about how you were coached, and you're like, ‘Oh, this could have been so much better“, and it makes you want to make it better, because you want people to have that positive experience” (Focus group, Canada, Year 1).
“How good it would be to lead more of those who seek our help to experience movement in such delightful and meaningful ways that they too will know what activity is like when it can hardly be avoided” (Kretchmar, 2001, p. 325)
THANK YOU! Tim Fletcher tfletcher@brocku. ca Déirdre Ní Chróinín Deirdre. Ni. Chroinin@mic. ul. ie Mary O’Sullivan Mary. OSullivan@ul. ie Stephanie Beni sb 12 kz@brocku. ca @meaningfulpe. wordpress. com
REFERENCES Blankenship, B. & Ayers, S. 2010. The role of PETE in developing joy-oriented physical educators. Quest, 62 (2), 171 -183. Kretchmar, R. S. 2000. Movement Subcultures: Sites for Meaning. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 71 (5), 19 -25. Kretchmar, R. S. 2001. Duty, Habit, and Meaning: Different Faces of Adherence. Quest, 53 (3), 318 -325. Kretchmar, R. S. 2006. Ten more reasons for quality physical education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 77 (9), 6 -9. Kretchmar, R. S. 2007. What to Do With Meaning? A Research Conundrum for the 21 st Century. Quest, 59 (4), 373 -383. Kretchmar, R. S. 2008. The Increasing Utility of Elementary School Physical Education: A Mixed Blessing and Unique Challenge. The Elementary School Journal, 108(3), 161 -170. La. Boskey, V. K. 2004. The methodology of self-study and its theoretical underpinnings. In International handbook of self -study of teaching and teacher education practices edited by J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. La. Boskey and T. Russell, 817 -869. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Metheny, E. 1968. Movement and meaning. New York: Mc. Graw-Hill Ní Chróinín, D. , T. , Fletcher, M. O’Sullivan. 2015. Using self-study to explore the processes of pedagogical innovation in physical education teacher education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport, and Physical Education, 6 (3), 273 - 286. Polanyi, M. & Prosch, H. 1975. Meaning. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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