Today was our first day of EDCP 320. My expectations were completely different from the outcome. I was initially fearful of returning to “P.E.” class, however that soon ceased. When the free play began and all the basketballs and volleyballs were brought out everyone started having fun and I felt comfortable. The “mission impossible” game was a blast, I have not had the opportunity to be playful in that manner quite possible since primary school. Re-visiting elementary school physical education activities brought back a lot of memories, I had forgotten about all the fun games we used to play. What I found very interesting in Mr. McGinley’s lecture was the incorporation of health education into the P.E. course. Health education is a subject matter that I could never place into an appropriate topic area, I was almost relieved to hear that it is now part of the PE curriculum. When my generation was at the fragile age where we had questions relating to our physical development and health, we weren’t sure where to turn to for the answers. I was also pleasantly surprized to discover that “hall of shame” activities have been highlighted as inappropriate and unnecessary, finally; The embarrassed and ashamed little girl in my psyche is smiling in appeasement. The experience of the first class activities and lecture have been a form of assurance that this course is no repeat of any high school PE class. I am excited to explore the physical education pedagogies and further develop my own physical education literacy.
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Great post Para, it was both genuine and relative to my same vulnerabilities. I definitely relate to many fears that you experienced prior to entering the gym last week. I was anxious about being inexperienced in comparison to my fellow teacher candidates. I am not a physically active person that engages in many sports or self practiced activities so there was a sense of worry that I would be judged based on my inexperience. In complete honesty, I was not looking forward to this course because of how alienated I was as a child. I used to love playing basketball until I was victimized by both my P.E teacher as well as male teammates. It truly brought back many negative experiences from my childhood physical education classes that resulted in gender bias, humiliation of the weaker students (myself included) and a developing self-consciousness in that environment. However, I too was pleasantly surprised when I entered such a safe and welcoming environment to be physically active in last week! Both Mr.McGinley as well as my peers truly created a safe space for individuals in the same sphere as myself. Reading about your experiences Para makes me feel relieved that I am not alone in what I am going through. Hearing about the curriculum and new pedagogies created a sense of excitement for what is to come. Finally we will be moving away from the humiliation and shame-based methods of partaking in Physical Education class. I was surprised to learn of how much emphasis will be placed on mental, emotional and dietary health as well as the physically active components of the program. I found it quite interesting that there will be a new focus on educating individuals on real life activities that will be relative in the future. Finally my firm beliefs on anti-bullying, health education and creating a safe space for learning will be incorporated in our teaching practices.
Thank you for your enjoyable reflection!