The Politics of PE

PE is part of the school curriculum and is subject to the micro-political

setting of the school

PE Teachers Development Programme – Conferences for PE Curriculum Leaders

in Primary School

Dr. David P. Johns

Outline

• PE is a political issue.

• The organizational issues that affect PE teachers.

• Justification for our field

• Strategies to enhance the field of PE.

Most of the problems that arise from teaching PE are to do with the the unequal distribution of power.

Power relationships influence the individual teacher.

The school becomes a micro-political setting in which lives are acted out.

Micro-politics.

Professional Issues Marginalized in most schools.

Professional status of the teachers is low.

Reluctance to include the knowledge in the

formal core of school curriculum.

Teachers do not link goals with objectives.

Many claims about physical education are

groundless.

The Status of PEPE as a subject area is considered less valid

than teaching maths, language or science. The body and work have been considered

less important than mental work requiring less skill and complexity.

PE is associated with bats and balls =play whereas learning is associated with books =work .

Work and Play

Work has always been ascribed with a higher status than play.

PE is associated with play whereas learning is associated with work.

Cartesian and Confucian philosophy have both considered mental labour to be more important than physical labour.

Outside Pressures Pressures are indirectly exerted by government

agencies that are concerned with school effectiveness.

TOC, School Management Initiative, School Education Quality.

Teachers feel pressure to react but are concerned about the extra work they have to do.

Teachers’ SkepticismMost reforms are not sustained and lack

government pressure and support. Teachers become skeptical of their importance

or effectiveness.Teachers find these recommendations to be

more of an inconvenience than a threat to their career pattern.

They fear more about their professional status than the stability of their job.

PE teachers feel internal pressure

• PE suffers from fragmentation, limited authority,being highly routinized.

• School administrators consider PE as not important.

• PE teachers may feel that they do not want to oppose those in positions of power.

• Do not propose new ideas of changes.

School principal is much more influential over PE teachers because of power relationship.

He/she may be supported by senior teachers.

Parents exert pressures through the school administration on the PE teachers.

Internal Power relationships

PE teachers

Parental interest Principal &Senior Staff

Internal pressures

Teachers feel that they are losing their professional status because:Their work is bureaucratically regulated.They experience intensification of work loads.Their job becomes a routine.They feel they are executing rather than conceiving work tasks.

Deprofessionalization

Failure to comply

PE teachers are in conflict between the wishes of administrators and their own philosophy. PE teachers feel that they must comply with the school principal. Career advancement is dependent upon the will of the principal. PE teachers lose their sense of professionalism.

The Need for Effective PE

Based on the evidence that physical activity reduces health risks, the field

has an opportunity and a responsibility.

The need for effective PE

• Adult diseases have the roots in childhood.• Provide children with learning experiences

that motivate them to be active makes a significant contribution to the reduction of social problems later.

• At the moment there is evidence that more needs to be done to reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Evidence of low activity patterns• Using heart rate monitoring Macfarlane

demonstrated low level of activity.

4.2 8.4 12.5 16.8 21 25.2 29.4 33.6 37.8 42

From leisure time activity questionnairesAMI = activity metabolic index ( F D I )

Courtesy of Dr D.J. Macfarlane, PE and Sport Science, HKU.

40

30

20

10

0

AMI - kJ/kg/d

Pe

rce

nt

H.K.~ 75%Canada~ 22%U.S.A.~ 10%

H.K.~ 25%Canada~ 78%U.S.A.~ 90%

H.K.~ 5%Canada~ 36%

“Sedentary” “Active”

“Optimal”

Evidence of low activity patterns• Approx. 34% of sample of 1383 students indicated

that they accumulated 30 mins of MVPA once /wk (Johns, Ha, Macfarlane,2000)

Percentage of 12-14 years old students who accumulated 30mins of daily exercise

0

10

20

30

40

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Days

Per

cent

age

Female

Male

Percentage of Time Spent by Participants in Activity of Home & School

Location Lying Sitting Standing Active Very ActiveHome 3.05 69.42 13.78 7.76 2.75School 0.40 23.30 40.50 28.18 3.32Home & School 1.43 44.93 27.28 18.14 3.04

Activity Level (%) - percent of observed intervals of time

Evidence of low activity patterns• Using direct observation Johns and Ha (1999)

discovered that home and recess activity were similarly low.

Percentage of Time Spent by Children in Physical Activity at Recess

•0

•10

•20

•30

•40

•50

•sit •stand •walk •very active

• Per

cent

Rec

ess

Tim

e (%

)

•boy

•girl

Fiona Lee, 2001 CUHK.

Sports Participation and Academic Performance by Band

Courtesy of K. Lindner. PE and Sport Science HKU.

Weekend discretionary time

Vigorous ActivityModerate Activity

Light ActivityRest

14.0 hours78%

2.8 hours16%

0.4 hours2%

0.8 hours4%

14.3 hours79%

0.2 hours1%

0.9 hours5%

2.6 hours15%

Saturday Sunday

Peak oxygen uptake (VO2 max)

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

VO2 p

eak (

ml.

kg-1

.min-

1)

A & D Students

NS NS

Dec. 00

Mar. 01 Mar. 01

Dec. 00Jul. 01

Nov. 01

Jul. 01

Nov. 01

PE Students

What do students think?

Strategies to Enhance School PE

How can the field of PE be strengthened for more effectiveness?

Multi-Dimensional Change

Printed Materials Plans and Guidelines

Practices in schools

Ideology and beliefs of teachers

School reform

The Role of Physical Education

School Physical education is still the most appropriate setting to encourage physical activity because it is: Potential to reach virtually all childrenMost appropriate site for wide-scale interventionIs evidence -based.

Responsibility on Teachers

• If PE is struggling for an identification, health promotion should be one of the major reasons for its inclusion in the school curriculum.

• PE teachers are well placed to assume the responsibility of helping to shape health beliefs and values held by individuals that will ultimately determine their behavior patterns.

Training and developmental needs of teachers.

Stage 1 -Survival

Stage 2- Consolidation

Stage 3- Renewal

Stage 4- Maturity

On site support and

technical assistance.

On-site assistance access to specialists consultants

and advisors.

Conferences, professional associations,Demonstrations projects,

Teachers centres

Seminars, institutes, courses, degrees progammes

journals and conferences

• Respect from others (teachers/principal).

• Participation in decision making.

• Stimulating professional interaction.

• High efficacy.

• Use of skills and knowledge.

• Resources to conduct the work.

• Goal congruence.

Quality of Work Life Criteria

Factors affecting QWL

Social / Cultural Changes.

Professional growthPlans, Expanded teachers rolesTeacher initiated programs .Peer observationsMechanisms to increasesocial cohesiveness.

Administrative /Political Changes.

Structures that promote formal participationin making school Policy.Strongdecentralization todepartments

Technical/Instructional Changes.,

Restructuring the Conditions for teaching / learning .Alternate schedule ,Student Empowerment,Parent Involvement.

Schools - the Best Option?

Schools are the most promising site for improving physical activity because:

They are shaped by the cultural values and social pressures applied by parents.

Education reform includes reform of physical education.

Parents are stakeholders and a source of power in school reform.

How can it be accomplished?• Parent teacher associations are looking for

ways of assisting their children. • Teachers need to believe in what they are

doing and convince others. • Select a theme that will appeal to parents

and school.• Design small experimental projects that can

lead to larger scale efforts.

Target GroupsTarget Groups

Children who learn fromadults the importanceof a healthy body.

Teachers needto see physical activityas part of the integratedcurriculum that provides

health component

Parents interested inproviding opportunity

to maintain theirchildren’s health.

Teachers’ Strategies• The needs of students include mental,

physical and emotional health.• Are these needs reflected in your PE

program?• Select a way in which your message can be

conveyed and if possible use the authority of ED and CDI.

• Decide how to approach other teachers, principal and eventually parents.

Policy by Planners

Implementation by teachers

Practice by what happens in schools

Policy into Practice

Teachers as Change Agents.

• Policy does not automatically not become practice.

• Teachers are the link between planners and classroom practice.

• If teachers are not involved in the planning and actual practice of making changes, nothing will change.