Monthly Archives: January 2018

Inquiry – Abstract

Question: How can social and emotional learning be effectively integrated into daily practice by physical educators?

Social and emotional skills are valuable for all people to learn and have transferrability to many facets of life both inside and outside the school throughout all developmental stages. Throughout this inquiry journey I wish to learn more about the role social and emotional learning can play in physical and health education settings. This will be implemented through the use of specific pedagogical models to guide planning, establishing a safe and supportive classroom environment, setting aside time for reflection, and modelling appropriate behaviour. Questions that will guide my inquiry explore themes such as the disconnect between SEL in elementary and secondary settings, how to implement SEL in an unbiased way, and how SEL connects to different domains of learning. My inquiry is guided by research related to SEL in general, SEL and specific pedagogical model implementation in physical education settings, and SEL program effectiveness for different populations of students.

Inquiry – Journey to Date

Initially, my inquiry question stemmed from experiences in elementary schools. All of the elementary schools I have worked infuse social and emotional learning strategies into day to day happenings at the school. I have not observed this in secondary schools, with the exception of alternative learning programs.

My question has not changed through the process of inquiry I and II, but after researching pedagogical models, SEL programs that have been implemented in physical education settings, and PHE teachers’ views of SEL and how it relates to their course content, the way that I approach the question has changed. This inquiry project documents my journey into finding out why this disconnect exists between elementary and secondary approaches to teaching and learning, whether there is value in applying SEL approaches at the secondary level, and learning more about which approaches may be most successful or most realistic.

Inquiry – Future Directions

The following questions will guide my thought process and inquiry journey throughout practicum:

How strong is the divide between SEL and psychomotor/cognitive learning? For instance, can they happen at the same time? Should they happen at the same time?
How can educators incorporate SEL into their practice without bias based on their personal values?
Why is there a disconnect between the importance placed on SEL in elementary vs secondary settings?

My goal in considering these questions is to deepen my understanding of SEL and its role in learning and development, both in and out of physical education settings.

Inquiry – Links to Practice

Use pedagogical models that support SEL to guide unit and lesson planning

I drew heavily from two pedagogical models used in physical education, Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) and Inventing Games. The link below shows a mini-unit where I used elements of TPSR as a guide.

Personal Fitness Unit Plan

Establish a safe, supportive classroom environment

I plan to do this using cooperative activities and games that allow students to begin to explore the concept of identity, such as ice breaker games. I will begin each class with an entrance survey to get a sense of students’ interests, preferences, and attitudes toward physical education.

Entrance Survey

Allow for reflection time

I plan to use entrance and exit slips, discussions, and check for understanding talks to allow for students to reflect on what they are doing in class and make connections between the course content and their lives outside the gym.

Model appropriate social and emotional behaviour

I plan to model personal and social responsibility through taking ownership of mistakes and encouraging students to be process-oriented rather than outcome-oriented, and by demonstrating care for others by treating students and other teachers with kindness and respect. I can model appropriate emotional behaviour by calmly expressing negative emotions (such as anger) verbally and addressing conflicts in a fair and objective way.

Developing Students’ Emotional Well-Being in Physical Education

Lu, C., & Buchanan, A. (2014). Developing students’ emotional well-being in physical education. Journal Of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 85(4), 28-33.

The purpose of this article was to provide instructional information on how to incorporate social and emotional learning in physical education settings. The authors suggest that by using a specific framework called STEP, physical educators can help students develop social and emotional skills that will be valuable both inside and outside the gymnasium. The STEP framework consists of four domains that each play a role in developing students’ social and emotional skills in physical education: students, teacher, environment, and program. I chose to use this article because it provides a specific framework that can be used to implement SEL in physical education settings.

Teaching Social and Moral Skills in Physical Education

Jacobs, F., Knoppers, A., & Webb, L. (2013). Making sense of teaching social and moral skills in physical education. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 18(1), 1-14. doi: 10.1080/17408989.2011.621118

The purpose of this study was to learn about how physical education teachers understand curriculum goals of teaching social and emotional skills, especially without formal training in SEL and with little guidance from PE curriculum documents about defining social and moral development or how to help students make social and moral achievement. They found that PE teachers viewed their class environments as places where social and moral skills can and should be developed, and found many similarities between social and moral development and social interaction skills. They did not find that there was a consensus among PE teachers about the most important aspects of social and moral development, or about how these curriculum goals should be met. I chose to use this reading because it reflects on how physical educators approach and find meaning in teaching social and emotional skills in the context of their subject area.

Significant quote: “The commonalities in curricular practices found in this study and the individual differences together possibly reflect a globalized socialization of PE teachers into and through sport accompanied by differences rooted in how they as individuals make sense of their upbringing.”

Inquiry – Limitations

I worry that there will not be enough time to make an impact during a ten-week practicum, and that a lower perceived value of affective learning compared to cognitive and psychomotor learning may be a barrier. Students, administrative staff, and other educators may not value SEL in general, or specifically within physical and health education settings. It could be perceived as interfering with activity time, or thought of as an entirely separate set of skills to learn that are too difficult to incorporate into daily practices. In addition, I would like to be mindful that many youth programs that have SEL as a goal or outcome are criticized for not using evidence-based practices to influence their design and pedagogy. They are also criticized for being poorly managed, not meeting the needs of the participants, and lack buy-in from administrators and other teachers (Gordon, Jacobs, & Wright, 2016).

Inquiry – Further Questions

In the future, I would like to ask current teachers and reflect on my own learning with respect to the following questions:

How strong is the divide between SEL and psychomotor/cognitive learning? For instance, can they happen at the same time? Should they happen at the same time?
How can educators incorporate SEL into their practice without bias based on their personal values?
Why is there a disconnect between the importance placed on SEL in elementary vs secondary settings?

Inquiry Design

My approach to this inquiry began with my teaching philosophy and natural teaching style that emphasizes social and emotional aspects of learning. My understanding deepened by reading CASEL’s resources about SEL and Hellison’s book Teaching Responsibility Through Physical Activity. With these resources in mind, I was drawn to different pedagogical models that could support SEL in physical education settings: Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR), Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), and Inventing Games. TPSR, in particular, overlaps with principles of SEL in many ways (Gordon, Jacobs, & Wright, 2016).

I was able to use concepts from the aforementioned sources as guiding principles in my inquiry design. In the beginning lessons, I will attempt to establish rapport with students and an inclusive, safe classroom environment using cooperative activities and games exploring the theme of identity. Games that are creative, cooperative, and exploratory have been shown to help students understand emotional expression through movement and empathize with others’ emotional worlds (Lu & Buchanan, 2014), so I feel this will lay a strong foundation from which to build social and emotional skills through physical education.

I plan on using modified and non-traditional forms of games to focus on development of specific physical and cognitive skills, and using exit slips and debrief/Check for Understanding discussions during class to make connections between activities and students’ lives outside the classroom.

Throughout my practicum I plan to model appropriate expression of a wide range of emotions, and to accept and respond to displays of emotion in class settings without judgment. I plan to use reflective journal writing as a formative assessment tool that supports students’ expression of emotion as well as their personal development (Lu & Buchanan, 2014) (Hellison, 2003).