Physical Education Essay Research Paper I believe

Physical Education Essay, Research Paper

I believe that in many circumstances and in differing situations, children’s emotions and discomforts are being over looked in the physical education setting. Ideally a teacher would like to have all their students, as well rounded as possible, as far as intellectually, emotionally and physically. I am afraid it is almost impossible these days, with the influx of divorce, widening gap in socioeconomic status, increased diagnosis of attention disorders and the increased number of kids that are less active these days. This is a serious demand put upon any teacher. Though these problems are extensive, they still nonetheless are real; a policy that is trying to help and is being adopted into Saskatchewan’s physical education policies is the term regarded as “inclusion”, which is part of the governments aim of “lifelong participation”. Inclusion education is about students with disabilities or other inequalities having the same choices and chances to participate in activities in their education as their peers. I felt it was my responsibility both for myself and the kids that I would teach in the future, to explore this aspect of teaching to better understand what goes on in the gym.

Of course I can understand the importance and significance of inclusion needed in all areas of teaching. To reflect on my past experience, growing up as a timid, shy and overwhelmed child in school, I had but one place I felt somewhat comfortable and that was the sports field. With being fairly gifted with my coordination, I felt it was my one place to shine at school. Comfort was the key for my success in physical education; it unlike other classes put me in a situation I felt I could compete in. So when phys ed. came around I flourished and almost always tried to be the best I could, and because of this, I feel that most of the time I was one of the favorites for the phys ed. teachers. This is another area of concern (favoritism) that I would like to address and to try to understand. Favoritism is a small part of a teacher’s expectations of their students, which can lead to detrimental outcomes for some children if not felt wanted or welcome.

“Good teachers are typically those who encourage their students to believe they are capable, important and self sufficient.” Something that could be added to this quote even though it is very exemplary of what is necessary, is the word “all” in front of the word students. It could be conveyed that the quotation could have significance and relevance for a select few. Students that mould into what the teacher deems necessary for the right skills and attitudes acquired in order to teach them properly and effectively while still making the teacher feel they are accomplishing their job. What I am trying to say is there are kids who from an early age know just what to do in order to please their teachers, and there are those that struggle to find that all their life. It is those who relate well to the teacher that often are “encouraged” to “believe” that they are “capable” and “important”. And it is those who the teachers boast who have “succeeded”.

Maybe I am way off base as far as teacher’s expectations and attitudes, and how they treat students differently. But I felt for example in elementary physical education, more of a bond and a relationship with my phys ed. teachers. This was because of the attitude and enthusiasm that I would bring to the gym unlike the rest of my schoolwork. I believe that there were kids that were neglected to some extent because of kids like myself. I did feel then and even today partially feel those kids had their place to shine, be it with math or language, science or french. Albeit with each kid hopefully having a place to shine, I know as a teacher I will have to foster and practice forms of inclusion and to stay away from having favorites. I want each kid of mine to feel capable, self sufficient and important. Part of the reason I chose this assignment was to expose myself to other teacher’s ways of incorporating inclusion and dealing with favoritism. Two areas that I feel I will have to work on in order for myself to feel that either I will be a good teacher or a great teacher.

On page #1 of the notes you will see that I observed a class that I would very much like to teach someday, not necessarily the kids, just more of the situation. There was only twenty students which was a pleasant surprise because of the horror stories that you hear about having thirty some kids in one class. There were ten girls and ten boys; again this seems almost ideal. Now I’m not completely sure what I would do, but the first five minutes of tag I thought was a little violent, and it was the boys who prevailed in being last to stand. This I feel segregated the athletes from the others because of the nature of the game and it was not entirely useful. On the other hand I really liked what he did with the relays, the teams were very even and the different ways of incorporating fun and skills really helped with the participation. Everybody, no matter the level enjoyed this activity because even though it was competitive, the nature of the specific relays helped the kids realize it was really just for fun. I was surprised but pleased when he decided to split the class so girls were against girls and boys against boys when it came time to play the floor hockey game. This really included ev