Taking the Helm: Physical Educators Managing Change through Professional Learning Communities

ABSTRACT

Change in education is inevitable. Physical educators are being positioned to effectively manage change and control their own destiny. In order to manage and facilitate positive change, physical educators should clearly embrace and accept physical education as a public health tool, understand the educational change process in schools, and know how to manage change through the strategic utilization of Professional Learning Communities. Physical educators can shape the culture of schools by increasing physical activity levels for students in physical education while facilitating physical activity opportunities for students and faculty across the school day. Given that physical education is a subsystem of the larger school system, each physical educator must understand the nature of change in schools and how to successfully influence it. Professional Learning Communities provide a structure for physical educators to take the helm by influencing positive and systemic change, shaping culture, and advocating for increased physical activity in schools.     

Valuing and Desiring Purposes of Education to Transcend Miseducative Measurement Practices

Abstract

The separating and isolating tendencies of measuring practices can lead educators to lose sight of the aims and purposes of education. These end purposes can be used to guide and ensure that the activities of educators are educational, and therefore, Biesta recommends there is a need for educators to reconnect with them. This article. explores this notion of a ‘reconnection’ and argues that if educators are to challenge any potentially miseducative measuring practices, then this reconnection must require educators to value and desire particular end purposes. Desires are recognised to be existential in character and are identified as being necessary for initiating actions. It is argued here that this aspect of desires is important for understanding the significance of a ‘reconnection’ because without it the purposes of education may remain only as abstract philosophical ideals. To make a difference and to challenge the isolating and miseducative tendencies of some measuring practices, educators must come to value particular purposes of education, and in addition, they must exercise the courage to enact them. This can be made possible because educators strongly care for and desire the actualisation of the purposes to which they are connected.     

Silver to Gold: The Alchemy,Potential, and Maturing of ACES and CES

Exponential changes in Western and international society and in American and international education afford promise, opportunity, and challenges for tomorrow's counselor. Roles of counselors, counselor supervisors, and counselor educators must reflect and shape the needs and growth of populations in specific countries and throughout the world to afford timely and appropriate responses and intelligent and sensitive proactivity. Leadership in services, teaching, research, credentialing, policy, and law all seem to be areas of potential contribution and growth for the counselors, counselor educators, and counseling supervisors of tomorrow.     

Confidentiality in childbirth education

Protecting the confidentiality of the personal information that childbirth educators receive from their clients is crucial. Without this respect for privacy, educators will not be able to get the information essential to meeting their objectives. Childbirth educators who work in schools may come under federal law that protects individual student records (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA). Childbirth educators who are employed in a health-care facility may come under federal law that protects individual health information (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA). All childbirth educators must be thoughtful advocates of the rights to privacy and self-determination of expectant parents.     

Raising the Next Generation

Amy Morris Homans had a vision that graduates of the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics and Wellesley College would make physical education a well-respected profession. The professional preparation received by her students equipped them to be educators, administrators, and future leaders of physical education. The purpose of this essay is to examine the socialization process that doctoral students in kinesiology experience as they prepare for their roles as future faculty in higher education. New faculty members quickly discover that they must be more productive than their predecessors, and they must possess broader talents to meet the societal expectations placed on university faculty. Three simultaneous socialization processes will be discussed: the role of the graduate student, the roles and way of life of faculty in higher education, and into the discipline. How can doctoral faculty better prepare future faculty to meet the expectations of the tenure and promotion process? Strategies by which the doctoral experience may be reformed to improve doctoral socialization are provided.     

Preservice physical education teacher socialization through an outdoor education field experience

Outdoor education (OE) has an increased presence in physical education as it addresses the discipline’s national standards and promotes involvement lifetime physical activity. However, physical educators’ learning to teach OE is not well documented. The purpose of this study was to understand preservice physical educators’ experiences in and perspectives on an OE field experience. Participants included 13 third-year preservice physical educators (10 male, 3 female). Qualitative data were collected using focus group interviews, observations and guided reflections. Results indicated that preservice teachers (PSTs) perceived a controlling course environment that limited educational outcomes. They did, however, increase in confidence teaching OE, and applied skills learned in the teacher education program. With the exception of learning to be more adaptable, however, the PSTs did not perceive the experience as relevant to future teaching. Results are discussed within the framework of occupational socialization theory, and implications for practice are noted.     

Early childhood education and care: Do we need to develop the physical literacy of educators?

The early years are critical for physical literacy (PL) and physical activity (PA). With increasing numbers of children attending early childhood education and care (ECEC), educators play a significant role in childhood development and may influence young children’s PL journey. Educators receive minimal training in PL and PA, but receive increasing direction to integrate these concepts into ECEC learning. The purpose of this study was to assess educators’ PL, then determine which components of their PL were associated with self-reported intentions and behaviours to promote PL and PA. Educator PL was moderate, while self-reported intentions and behaviours to provide PL and PA opportunities were high. Only one component of PL was associated with intentions and behaviours. The PL of educators may not inform their intentions and behaviours to provide PL and PA within ECEC frameworks.

     

Who is to retrain the teacher trainers?: A Papua New Guinea case study

The single most important factor to improve the quality of education in a developing country appears to be increased general and professional education of teachers. Initially, it seems that this may be appropriately addressed in the teachers' colleges. However, the teacher educators themselves, often have received their own education either from the universities of developed countries or from “expert” expatriates at home. Often the result has been an adapted western curriculum being offered in the teachers' colleges, which is inappropriate to the student teachers. As a means of obtaining increased insight into a developing country's context, this study sought to gain some understanding of how Papua New Guinea teacher educators and inservice teachers negotiate their western higher education at the University of Papua New Guinea. This may provide assistance to expatriate educators to provide an educational experience that addresses student learning needs with appropriate process and content.     

Inclusion Paradigms and Perspectives: A Stepping Stone to Accepting Learner Diversity In Physical Education

Learner diversity is the focus of this paper. Parallels are drawn among attenlpts to integrate children with disabilities (who have unique motor needs), less skilled learners, and/or disinterested learners. Paul and Ward (1996) propose that debates over inclusion are paradigmatic in that ethical inclusion paradigm proponents (all children should be included) are at odds with comparative inclusion studies (determining whether or not inclusion really works). Application of Paul and Ward's idea about paradigm conflict and other special education perspectives are discussed to draw attention to low skilled and/or disinterested learners as well as to children with disabilities so that the needs of all children are uniformly addressed. When conducting research about learners without disabilities that are currently not fitting into physical education classes, paradigm dilemmas must be avoided. Future studies in physical education should focus on how diverse learners can be accommodated more than on how diverse learners affect other children. Further, physical educators may be better able to serve the needs of all students through coltural/social minority models (Paul, 1998; Sherrill. 1998) and infusion-based curricula (Rizzo, Broadhead, & Kowalski, 1997).     

Computer Technology in an Authentic Science Project

Summary

While a constructivist approach to the integration of technology in the science curriculum can enable teachers to educate students on the cyclical nature of the research process and interrelate various scientific concepts, there are several considerations for educators must take to assure that it is done effectively. The authors provide a review of a project that was designed and implemented for high school science students that integrated the use of technology in a constructivist environment. This review summarizes the strengths and limitations of the project and provides educators with further considerations when implementing such a project. As educators become more familiar with what is required to successfully integrate technology in a constructivist environment, the limitations and obstacles that may be encountered can be limited. More research devoted to the use of computer technology to teach science process skills will bring teachers and students closer to harnessing the potential powers of both project-based learning strategies and the computer environment.     

区域社区教育工作者专业成长的创新路径——以常州经开区为例

随着教育全民化、学习终身化思想的普及和完善,我国社区教育日益壮大,并正在向全面化、规范化、科学化的方向快速发展。作为直接执行者,社区教育工作者必然要担负起推进社区教育发展的重任,他们的专业化水平将成为影响社区教育改革成败的关键,他们的专业成长之路必成为社区教育质量提升之路。当前,社区教育工作者的专业化水平与教育部等九部门关于进一步推进社区教育发展的意见要求存在着一定的差距,低水平严重制约了社区教育的创新发展。通过区域内社区教育工作者专业化发展的现状分析和实践研究,常州经开区社区培训学院全方位、多角度开展区域内社区教育工作者专业成长路径的创新研究,在不断的创新与实践中探索出一条能够促进区域社区教育工作者专业成长的路径。     

重新认识美育的"独立价值"——当前学校美育状况调查的思考

本文在对当前学校美育状况的调查结果进行分析与思考的基础上，指出学校美育工作存在的诸多问题，其原因主要在于；（1）长期以来教育方针对教育者的误导；（二）教育观念的落后；（3）教育实践环节的滞后；（四）师范类教育在美育上的缺失。要转变学校美育的基本状况，必须角认美育的独立价值，在教育方针中体现德，智，美，体各育的齐头并进；在教育观念上充分认识美育感性的，趣味的，人格的教育；在教育实践环节上真正实现美育的独立价值。     

Critically-oriented pedagogical tact: learning about and through our compulsions as teacher educators

The work of critical teacher education centers on making sure future teachers learn to be critically-oriented practitioners. In this article, I assert that this sort of learning must first begin with the critical teacher educators themselves, and that much of the most fruitful learning manifests itself in the teacher educator’s compulsions. Drawing on a key finding from a phenomenological study that focused on cultivating pedagogical tact in teaching, I suggest that the ways in which I compulsively strategized at times limited what I could accomplish as a critically-oriented teacher educator; that each of us as teacher educators have compulsions that limit just as much as they make possible; and that our examinations of these compulsions are important for our students’ growth as critically-oriented practitioners.     

The Role of Graduate Programs as Gatekeepers: A Model for Evaluating Student Counselor Competence

Current literature indicates that in addition to academic ability, counselor educators must also assess students' personal characteristics and clinical skills. Given the increased awareness of the possible damage caused by counselors who do not possess the personal qualities and requisite skills, faculty may be expected to serve as gatekeepers for the profession. This article reviews the ethical and legal mandates relevant to developing and implementing a gatekeeping model. It presents a model endorsed, in principle, by the Texas Association of Counselor Educators that uses a behaviorally specific student evaluation instrument developed in accordance with competencies outlined in the American Counseling Association (1995) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.     

Developing Online Graduate Coursework in Adapted Physical Education Utilizing Andragogy Theory

Graduate adapted physical education (APE) courses have typically been taught using face-to-face formats where the instructor and learners physically meet in a classroom and engage in discussions and experiential exercises. However, because in-service physical educators have time demands associated with teaching, coaching, and family commitments, face-to-face meetings may not be feasible. Therefore, online learning may provide a more efficient and effective method for training in-service physical educators to become APE specialists. The purpose of this article is to disseminate guidelines for developing and implementing online coursework in APE within the theoretical framework of andragogy (adult learning). In this article, the authors describe characteristics and implementation of an online APE graduate course for in-service physical educators based on andragogy theory. Andragogy theory addresses the particular needs of adult learners and is based on the idea that there are significant differences in learning characteristics between children and adults (Knowles, 1989). This article first describes four components fundamental to andragogical instruction: experiential learning, self-directed learning, engagement, and transformative learning. The narratives provide information and characteristics about online APE course development for PE teachers’ professional development and how andragogy approach is a useful and beneficial approach to enhance learning.     

Walking Our Talk: The Imperative of Teacher Educator Modeling

If teacher educators are to be effective, they must be sure that their own professional house is in order. To that end, effective teacher educators must be absolutely clear about their professional mission. In addition, they must also have the appropriate background and training to be effective in their mission. Further, they must bridge the chasm between theory and practice as they prepare teacher candidates by keeping current in K–12 contemporary classroom practice. Finally, they must model what it means to be an accomplished classroom teacher for their pre-service teachers including the professional option of earning National Board certification. Only when teacher educators meet these four demanding criteria can we feel with reasonable certainty that they are living up to their job.     

Supporting Young Children’s Vocabulary Growth: The Challenges, the Benefits, and Evidence-Based Strategies

The complexity of words makes vocabulary development a multi-faceted process that presents challenges to early childhood educators, offers benefits to young learners, and must be supported through evidence-based strategies. All students, regardless of socio-economic status or background, need to make significant gains in receptive and expressive vocabulary at home and at school each year in order to support their growth in literacy. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those students who speak English as a second language are particularly at risk of failing to make proficient vocabulary gains. The most effective way for early childhood educators to enhance the vocabulary development of all students is to implement evidence-based strategies for teaching vocabulary. A key finding in the research is that young children need to be actively engaged in vocabulary development if they are to remember new words and begin to grasp the multiple, nuanced meanings of words. Other effective vocabulary instruction practices include meaningful repetition; combining the enactive, iconic, and symbolic modes; and reading aloud in a dialogic style. In light of the trend in the research data that links the child’s vocabulary level to gains in reading comprehension, early childhood educators have a special obligation to teach vocabulary more effectively.     

Finding Common Ground: A Synthesis of Science and Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Experiences with Professional Growth

The seven articles that comprise this Special Issue examine the professional growth of mathematics and science teacher educators across different contexts and different foci of who is the teacher educator being studied. Despite these differences, a common thread running throughout these seven articles is the need for learning to be situated in collaboration with others. In this final article, we examine the contribution of these articles through two perspectives: that of the collaborative contexts supporting the professional growth of mathematics and science teacher educators, and the role of disciplinary knowledge as part of the purpose for teacher educators’ professional growth. We notice that collaboration can take on very different structures in supporting teacher educators’ professional learning due to the different purposes and roles of the teacher educators in the studies. We also notice that while collaboration figures as an important component in all of the studies, the disciplinary specific aspects of collaboration, i.e., how collaboration might be negotiated differently by teacher educators in mathematics and science, is still not well understood. Overall, these articles provide important insights that help to shed new light on the complex and multifaceted nature of teacher educators’ learning and growth and provide productive avenues for future research.

     

Changing Educational Policies in the United States and India: Perspectives of Teacher Educators

Abstract

Educational policy changes are intertwined with teacher education at multiple levels, affecting teacher educators in a variety of ways. Despite the different contexts, teacher educators in the United States and India must fulfill a variety of roles in order to meet the demands within those contexts. This qualitative study compared the cases of seven teacher educators in Iowa in the United States and seven teacher educators in Delhi, India on their common experience of mandated policy changes. Collaboration was found to be central in the teacher education policy implementation process in Iowa, USA and Delhi, India.