Inclusive and accessible physical education: rethinking ability and disability in pre-service teacher education

This paper identifies and explores emergent themes in inclusive PE in the specific context of pre-service teacher preparation programs. Fully inclusive PE encompasses four areas: knowledge and curricula related to ability and disability, teacher attitudes, pre-service teacher education and a reframing of our understandings of multiple perspectives on physical literacy. Fully accessible PE involves material and attitudinal conditions configured to render these programs actually usable by all those whose ‘inclusion’ is intended. Access is, indeed, conceptually implied in ‘inclusion’, however, in practice the latter can easily become more of a slogan naming an aspiration than a realizable state of affairs. Unless an organization or individual brings a universal commitment to access, attitudinal barriers may prevent full inclusion from becoming a reality. The paper uses qualitative case study methodology to examine pre-service teacher education students’ preconceptions about ‘dis’ability and analyses heuristically how pre-service teachers pre-conceived notions of ability and disability may be challenged through an intervention. 21C PE programs can move towards an emphasis on inclusive activities which are not based on traditional conceptions of physical competence, size, shape, appearance and ability, but instead focus on how all bodies can develop fundamental movement skills, functional fitness and physical literacy. The author challenges pre-service students to address issues of accessibility, normative notions of ability, body equity, social justice and inclusion, as well as the need for multiple definitions of physical literacy. The paper is a case study of the specific phenomenon of ‘broadening student teachers’ understandings of ability and disability in PE’ as a necessary condition for preparing students to work in schools where full inclusion may not have been integral to PE policies, programs and practices.     

Targeting Mr average: participation,gender equity and school sport partnerships

The School Sport Partnership Programme (SSPP) is one strand of the national strategy for physical education and school sport in England, the physical education and school sport Club Links Strategy (PESSCL). The SSPP aims to make links between school physical education (PE) and out of school sports participation, and has a particular remit to raise the participation levels of several identified under-represented groups, of which girls and young women are one. National evaluations of the SSPP show that it is beginning to have positive impacts on young people's activity levels by increasing the range and provision of extra curricular activities (Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), 2003, 2004, 2005; Loughborough Partnership, 2005, 2006). This paper contributes to the developing picture of the phased implementation of the programme by providing qualitative insights into the work of one school sport partnership with a particular focus on gender equity. The paper explores the ways in which gender equity issues have been explicitly addressed within the ‘official texts’ of the SSPP; how these have shifted over time and how teachers are responding to and making sense of these in their daily practice. Using participation observation, interview and questionnaire data, the paper explores how the coordinators are addressing the challenge of increasing the participation of girls and young women. The paper draws on Walby's (2000) conceptualisation of different kinds of feminist praxis to highlight the limitations of the coordinators’ work. Two key themes from the data and their implications are addressed: the dominance of competitive sport practices and the PE professionals’ views of targeting as a strategy for increasing the participation of under-represented groups. The paper concludes that coordinators work within an equality or difference discourse with little evidence of the transformative praxis needed for the programme to be truly inclusive.     

Learning movement culture: mapping the landscape between physical education and school sport

This article examines Movement Culture as an approach to support teachers in exploring the integration of Sport as a medium for learning within Physical Education. By avoiding the need to draw clearly defined lines between Physical Education and Sport, Movement Culture embraces both. It acknowledges the need for subject matter in Physical Education to reflect societal shifts towards greater individualisation and means of seeking self-realisation, through individual and collective movement practices. Movement Culture maintains the educational purpose of Physical Education by developing meaningful subject matter and contextualised learning that reflect contemporary and evolving participation in Sport. Structural components for two frameworks are developed from an analysis of learning within Movement Culture. The frameworks are then employed to explore potential subject matter drawn from Sport. It is argued the structure of these frameworks retain sufficient portability to different Sports or groups of Sports and thus track developments in Movement Culture. Such structures also have the potential to support a more coherent rationale for pedagogical practice across Physical Education curricula.     

Learning to teach Sport Education in Russia: factors affecting model understanding and intentions to teach

While remarkably positive findings have been presented in research focusing on Sport Education in school settings, investigations on how preservice teachers learn to teach a new curriculum in physical education have been described as ‘the missing link’ in curriculum research. The purpose of this study was to introduce Sport Education to students in a Russian physical education pedagogical college, and to track their understanding of the model through a series of learning experiences. An action research methodology was employed as the main design of this study, which included four experience steps: lecturing, participating, planning and teaching. The most significant finding related to the knowledge that preservice teachers received during their intensive participation. In particular, this cohort of preservice teachers began with the misconception that Sport Education is a model where the teacher is essentially substituted by the students in terms of the operation of the class. However, by the end of the experience, the preservice teachers held the belief that Sport Education is more like a completely different teaching style where the teacher becomes a facilitator of class events. Nonetheless, their previous histories with physical education and their apprenticeships of observation strongly shaped their future intentions to teach the model.     

体育学硕士研究生的择业倾向现状及对策

采用社会调查和文献资料等方法,对北京体育大学、上海体育学院、华东师范大学体育与健康学院、山西大学体育学院体育学硕士研究生的择业倾向问题进行了研究。结果显示:体育学研究生的择业地域期望较高,普遍关注大城市和经济发达地区,而很少有人愿意到小型城市和欠发达地区;体育学研究生的首选择业单位为高校;体育学研究生的择业倾向具有时效性和地域性,在不同的时空条件下,他们的择业取向存在不一致性。从整体上看,体育学研究生的择业倾向呈现出多元化和复杂化。     

Sport Education as a pedagogical application for ethical development in physical education and youth sport

The purpose of this paper is to consider four pedagogical applications within the Sport Education model to examine the ways in which a young person can become a literate sports person and develop ethical behaviour through engagement in physical education and youth sport. Through a systematic review of the Sport Education research literature we present evidence to suggest that although notions such as inclusion, responsibility and ownership, personal and social development and social justice are part of the architecture of this pedagogical model, our findings show that rather than simply being caught, ethical conduct must be taught. Consequently, in the final part of the paper, we present four pedagogical applications within Sport Education that physical education teachers as well as youth sport practitioners and administrators may find useful to promote ethical development: (1) ethical contracts; (2) sports panels; (3) modified games; and (4) awards and rewards.     

内蒙古自治区大学生身体形态指标的比较分析

2010年由教育部、国家体育总局等五部委联合组织开展了第六次全国学生体质调研工作.本文依据2010年中国学生体质与健康调研内蒙古自治区资料(内蒙古自治区19-22岁学生,该年龄段均为在校大学生),对我区大学生身体形态指标进行比较分析,探索我区大学生身体形态的差异,以期对高校体育工作的改革与完善提供客观的依据.     

‘That is like a 24 hours-day tournament!’: using social media to further an authentic sport experience within sport education

Several studies demonstrate that Sport Education supports the development of an authentic experience of sport. Social media has the potential to further the development of an authentic sport experience since it is a key aspect of contemporary sport culture and can be a space for individuals to interact during the Sport Education. Yet the evidence-base on the use of social media within Sport Education is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore how social media supports the development of an authentic sport experience within Sport Education. The context of this study was within a female recreational community sport futsal club. Players engaged with Sport Education as a focus for their sessions for 13 weeks. The Sport Education season embedded the six key features. During the Sport Education season, players interacted with each other through Facebook. Data were generated from; (1) researcher/player field journal, (2) Facebook posts and (3) post-season player interviews. Data analysis involved inductive, constant comparison and member-checking methods. Results showed that players’ uses of Facebook supported the development of an authentic sport experience. Players’ uses of Facebook strengthened the development of three key Sport Education features; affiliation, festivity and season. Based on the limited amount of research on the impact of social media within Sport Education and community sport, future studies should continue to examine the effectiveness of social media as an interactional tool to enhance the development of an authentic sport experience.     

Teaching responsibility through sport education: prospects of a coalition

The purpose of this study was to provide a database analysis of a combined sport model and from this to develop a theory from practice. In particular, the original concern was to examine the extent to which the teaching of personal and social responsibility (TPSR) could form a coalition with the Sport Education model. Forty-five 6th-grade boys, who had a previous history of struggling with the fair play requirements of Sport Education, participated in a 26-lesson season of Xball, an invasion game designed by those students. As a general summary, it was found that some of the features of TPSR strengthened the foundation of Sport Education, but due to the need to introduce new tasks and problems for students, a hybrid model (Empowering Sport) was developed. This hybrid, with a predominately ecological integration perspective, presents a curriculum model that allows for achievement within a powerful triangle of goals--sport skill competence, social responsibility, and personal empowerment.     

The influence of content knowledge on teaching and learning in Traditional and Sport Education contexts: an exploratory study

Background: Our understanding of the role in which content knowledge (CK) can strengthen instructional models and how that knowledge matters for professional development is limited. It is contended that mere use of an instructional model is insufficient to impact psychomotor learning in meaningful ways.

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate how a teacher's enacted pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) differed as a function of CK and Sport Education (SE), and to investigate the relative contribution of CK and Sport Education on student learning in terms of swimming performance.

Methods: Four intact classes comprising 88 secondary school students (age: 16–17 years) were randomly assigned to a Traditional, an Sport Education, a Traditional-CK, and a SE-CK group. All classes were taught by the same teacher during a 10-day unit of instruction in the front crawl.

Results: Results showed that the teacher's PCK differed as a function of improved CK. For verbal representations, the amount of cues in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK groups increased about sixfold compared to the Traditional and the SE group. For visual representations, more partially incorrect demonstrations were observed than correct demonstrations in the Traditional and the SE group. More mature and developmentally appropriate tasks were observed in the Traditional-CK and the SE-CK group compared to the Traditional and the SE group. Students in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK groups demonstrated a significant reduction of their amount of strokes on 50?m compared to the Traditional group. A significant interaction effect revealed a larger increase in swimming performance in the CK groups compared to the Traditional and the SE group. Finally, students in the SE group swam significantly more laps than their counterparts in the other groups.

Discussion and conclusion: These results show the impact on student learning when CK was added to both Traditional and Sport Education conditions and contribute to the literature for pre- and in-service teachers. The Sport Education model did not contribute to students’ swimming performance. Students in the Traditional and the SE group did not get the same quality of instruction as students in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK conditions. The latter groups received content that was presented differently both as a presentation and in terms of the actual task. In short, students in the Traditional and Sport Education conditions experienced the content differently than those in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK conditions. These instructional differences resulted in students in the Traditional-CK and SE-CK conditions improving their swimming performances in terms of technical efficiency and in terms of 50?m times.     

The evolution of student-coach’s pedagogical content knowledge in a combined use of sport education and the step-game-approach model*

Background: One of the essential elements within Sport Education is the inclusion of student roles and responsibilities. While previous research has examined students’ performance in officiating tasks, the examination of student-coaches’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) within peer-assisted tasks of Sport Education has been scarce. Indeed, the only study to date which has examined student-coach effectiveness was conducted by Wallhead and O’Sullivan [2007. “A Didactic Analysis of Content Development During the Peer Teaching Tasks of a Sport Education Season.”Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 12 (3): 225–243]. In that study, student-coaches struggled to manifest PCK by providing appropriate demonstrations, to diagnose errors, or to modify tasks for higher order content development. The study of PCK may be a useful heuristic to examine instructional effectiveness in physical education.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the evolution of the PCK of a cohort of student-coaches across three hybrid Sport Education-Step Game Approach seasons, and to examine the impact of protocols put in place to specifically enhance coaches’ PCK.

Participants and setting: Twenty-one students and one teacher from a school class in the north of Portugal participated in the present study.

Method: Data from multiple sources were collected: (a) videotape observations of all lessons, (b) field notes, and (c) pre-lesson interviews with the student-coaches. These were then subjected to deductive examination through a process of thematic analysis.

Findings and conclusions: Following a baseline season that identified four key limitations within the student-coaches’ instruction (task presentation, error diagnosis, feedback, and task modification), these students participated in specific coach preparation that involved modelling teacher’s instruction, pre-lesson meetings, and coaches’ corners. While showing marked improvement in their content knowledge across the second season, a second protocol was instigated during the third that involved the student-coaches to participate in stimulated reflections of their instruction and the incorporation of planning sheets to enhance their instruction. It was found that both interventions were efficacious in developing student-coaches’ PCK, which allowed a more complete transfer of the instructional responsibility from the teacher to the students. These results give insight into the importance of including coach education protocols within the design of seasons of Sport Education with respect to student-coaches’ instructional preparation.     

社会模式下高校残疾学生体育参与无障碍环境探析——以福州市大学城某高校为例

随着社会公众对于残疾认识的提高,残疾人的生存条件得到很大改善。教育是残疾学生享有的基本权利,体育是教育的基本内容之一,如何让他们享受学校中的体育参与权,是本文研究的出发点。通过文献资料法,参与式观察法及访谈法了解目前高校残疾学生体育参与无障碍环境的基本情况,从硬件设施和软件角度探析影响高校残疾学生参与体育活动的因素,从设施、观念、政策及体育课程的设计等方面提出体育参与无障碍的解决办法。     

Inclusion in sport: disability and participation

Abstract

For the last couple of decades UNESCO has aimed to achieve to a far extent the implementation of the guiding principle of inclusion at all levels in education systems worldwide. The idea that countries ‘should ensure an inclusive education system at all levels’ is also a central objective of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This Introduction to the Special Issue explores what participation as an aspect of inclusion means in general, and realistically can mean in sport and quality physical education in particular. Sport is introduced as a context in which, unlike in education, the individual choice of a sporting activity on a spectrum ranging from separate activities for persons with disabilities to modified activities designed for all makes it necessary to attribute each approach equal importance and validity instead of discrediting segregated structures and glorifying supposedly inclusive ones.     

关于运动参与概念的研究

运动参与作为新一轮基础教育改革的体育学习领域,越来越受到广大体育工作者的重视,但原有运动参与概念只是对运动参与领域目标的总体描述,而不是其真正定义,不利于理解运动参与的内涵。通过查阅大量文献资料界定运动参与的概念、提出运动参与的特征,指出运动参与是指学生在体育课堂或课外体育活动中身体、心理等方面的投入。运动参与的特征为参加活动过程中身体和心理两部分的不同表现及其相互关系。     

Creating Inclusive Physical Activity Spaces: The Case of Body-Positive Yoga

Purpose: Within the modern cultural climate, those in larger bodies face high levels of weight stigma, particularly in sport and physical activity spaces, which serves as a strong barrier to their participation. However, given the strong link between physical activity and general health and well-being for participants, it is important to explore strategies that encourage participation of these individuals. Thus, the current research examined strategies that physical activity instructors use to develop inclusive exercise spaces for all body sizes. Method: This study employed a series of semistructured qualitative interviews (n = 9) with instructors of body-inclusive yoga classes to explore the ways in which they encourage participation for those in larger bodies. Results: Emergent themes from the current study suggested support for 6 factors for creating body-inclusive physical activity spaces: authentic leadership, a culture of inclusion, a focus on health, inclusive language, leader social activism, and a sense of community. Conclusion: This study revealed that leaders must intentionally cultivate inclusion in their spaces to encourage those in nonconforming bodies to participate. These findings have important health and management implications for the sport and physical activity context and provide a basic outline of practical strategies that practitioners can use to foster inclusion in their spaces.     

影响运动防护课程实施的组合因素维度的验证性因子分析

研究采用探索性因子和验证性因子的方法,探索影响运动防护课程在普通高校实施的因素及其维度,目的是确立影响运动防护课程顺利实施的组合因素维度,对深入研究高校运动安全教育具有重要作用和价值。结果显示:影响运动防护课在高校实施的维度指标主要有教学主体素养和意识、学生参与动机、教学条件设施、学校管理、学校文化氛围、课程计划设置。经验证这些组合因素维度指标模型拟合程度较好;教学主体素养和意识和学校管理组合因素维度是影响运动防护课实施的重要因素,但需对学校文化氛围和学生参与动机进行更深入研究。     

Physical Education's Role in Public Health: Responses

In this study, we used the trans-contextual model of motivation (TCM) to examine the effect of Sport Education (SE) on students' participation in a voluntary lunch recess sport club. A total of 192 participants (ages 9-14 years) completed measures of the TCM constructs before and after a 12-week SE intervention period. Participants had the opportunity to participate in weekly, voluntary lunch recess sport club sessions during the intervention period. SE elicited a moderate increase in autonomous motives in physical education. The TCM accounted for a significant proportion of the explained variance in lunch recess sport club intention and participation. Autonomy-supportive curricular models, such as SE, may have the potential to facilitate transfer of motivation and participation in physical activity from a physical education to an extracurricular context.