Written by Prof. Dan Gawrisch

What does your physical education (PE) program look like at your school? Does your PE classroom look the same as it would have looked 10, 20, or even 40 years ago? Classrooms in every other academic discipline have continued to change and adapt with time, yet often our gym or PE area has not changed. The days of teaching PE with one ball and a whistle in a gym without technological capabilities are gone.

How has your method of instruction and assessment in PE changed over the years? Do you still teach PE the same way it was taught 10, 20, or even 40 years ago? If we continue doing what we have done in the past, we will continue to get the same results, to the point of being reduced or eliminated from the educational landscape.

Some experts believe that you are either on the cutting edge of PE, striving to advance the profession, or you are helping move PE toward extinction. Wuest and Fisette (2015) agree, saying the primary reason for professional development is that our field is constantly changing, stating:

If you do not want to be that professional that is deemed “old school,” then it is your ethical duty to stay current in the latest research, practice, and technologies to provide your students with the most effective instruction. (p. 21)

Some WELS schools continue to see PE as an after-thought, doing what has been done before because that is the easy way, because we just don’t know, and/or because we lack the training or resources to do better. Dodgeball, kickball, and relay races have been in the PE Hall of Shame (against professional conduct and practice) since 1992 (Williams, 1992).

Are you on the constant pursuit of best practice in PE? After all, “Professionals will make it a goal to further their education and actively look for opportunities for personal growth and improvement; they will go as far to pursue a plan as to accomplish that goal (Gohs, 2013).

Whether your school plays activities listed in the PE Hall of Shame or you have an excellent PE program, it is important to understand that we can all improve. There is no perfect PE program, no perfect PE teacher, and no perfect school. However, we can all join in the constant pursuit of best practice.

There are both formal and informal options for professional development in PE. Professional journals, webinars, websites, and blogs exist as regular informal professional growth opportunities. Classes, forums, clinics, workshops, conventions, and conferences are more formal options.

One upcoming opportunity to grow professionally in PE is the WELS National Physical Education Conference on September 22-23 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. (https://mlc-wels.edu/continuing-education/2016-wels-pe-conference/). This conference will be valuable to professional development in many ways, including:

1. Networking – This means you will not only enjoy fellowship and encouragement, but you will grow your professional circle of other educators. You will form new relationships with educators in similar situations and strengthen old relationships with those you already know. Through networking, you will learn from others and serve others as they learn from you. Teachers will come together to help solve professional problems.

2. Gaining new skills and knowledge – Conferences will help you discover and implement new techniques to add to your teaching repertoire, as well as help you advocate for your PE program in your school. You will learn how to move PE classes away from what has been done in the past, as well as how to promote physical education and physical activity throughout the school day, using latest brain research developments.

3. Interpreting and promoting the value of the field – Attending professional conferences will allow for the best thinking and ideas to be articulately interpreted. This will help the PE profession within the WELS achieve recognition, respect, prestige, and cooperation with other areas of education and the people we serve (Wuest & Fisette, 2015, p. 392).

The totality of the listed outcomes (and unlisted outcomes) is that your student’s learning experience will be improved in physical education. Essentially, this is the goal of all professional growth in all academic disciplines – to improve student learning. The same is true in PE, but it’s more than just one student in one class. Research shows that when schools offer quality physical education and school activity programs, all areas of learning in the school may improve (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010).

At the 2013 WELS PE Conference, one school brought their entire faculty as a professional development opportunity, understanding that creating an active climate within a school is an entire school initiative. PE conferences are designed for classroom generalists and administrators, as well as PE specialists, because we all must work together to improve students’ learning experiences within our WELS schools.

Why stay on the constant pursuit of best practice in physical education? Because it is what professionals do in order to benefit students and better serve in our respective ministries.

Dan Gawrisch graduated from MLC in 2008 with a degree in elementary education and physical education.  He completed his master’s degree in teaching physical education from the University of Northern Iowa in 2010.  He has served at MLC as a professor of physical education since 2013.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). The association between school-based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance. Atlanta, GA: Department of Health and Human Services.

Gohs, R. S. (2013). Professional is as professional does. PE Central Article. Retrieved from http://www.pecentral.org/professional/articles/Professionalism_in_PE1.pdf

Williams, N. (1992). The physical education hall of shame. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 63(6), 57-60.

Wuest, D.A., & Fisette, J. L. (2015). Foundations of physical education, exercise science, and sport. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.