I think it’s really comforting to know that many of us were in the same boat with our experiences with PE. Just like many, I have had my share of negative feelings towards PE while going to school, which was why as soon as PE became optional in grade 10; I decided to take dance instead. My problems revolved around many of the social issues that are often associated with PE. These include the practices that humiliate students for their abilities. For instance, the process of “trying out” for sports doesn’t really create equal opportunity to participate regardless of ability. I remember a list of names was posted on a wall indicating all the people who had made it on the team, and I remember how embarrassed I felt when my name wasn’t on that list. Not being able to participate because I wasn’t good enough took a huge toll on my self-esteem and self-confidence.
However, I am so excited to be moving forward with teaching PE while this steady shift has been taking place in health and physical education classes with more and more educators adopting a broader, more balanced approach to health and physical education as a reflection of the new curriculum. I believe careful planning by educators is needed in order to structure programs to promote the development of social values within sports. I believe all students should be encouraged to participate in a wide variety of physical activities, such as sports, dance, and fitness to learn which ones they enjoy most and thus create a commitment to active living throughout their lives.
Hi Mona,
I really enjoyed reading your reflection for week 1 and how open you were about your feelings regarding P.E. I feel that I was very ignorant growing up when it came to participating in P.E. I grew up participating in extra-curricular activities such as soccer and basketball. I always played competitively thus making my mentality surrounded by the need to win. Outside of school my dad would take my brother and I on runs for 45 minutes. My dad instilled in us from a young age that health is everything and if we don’t take care of our well being it will be difficult for us in the future. To be honest I hated going on these runs, but before I began high school the coaches invited us to play at the gym at my soon to be high school. All my friends and I were very excited to attend this event. When we went our coaches got to meet us all personally. However, something happened that I was not aware of. This event was a “tryout” where the coaches were picking out the best players. The grade 8 coaches approached me and said that I had made the team, but I still had to attend tryouts when they happen during the school year. I was sooooo ecstatic when I got this news because I was 12 years old and didn’t know this was unfair for other students. Unfortunately when I look back now, I see how unjust this process was. I feel like I was favored throughout high school with my P.E. teachers and my basketball coaches. I want to change this when I begin my teaching and tell the students if you are determined you have the potential to be the best player out there. However, at the same time I did work very hard to reach my skill levels. I used to attend all morning practices and evening practices; I dedicated a lot of my time to perfect myself. Nonetheless, from our first EDCP 320 class I have learnt how my P.E. teachers rarely followed the P.E. protocols that were pointed out in the lecture.
Although we both had different experiences growing up, I feel that we both learnt how important it is to teach P.E. fairly for all students no matter what their physical literacy is. I agree with your post Mona that we need to promote development in cognitive and affective ways. My goal is to encourage all students participate in P.E. because I had so much fun in P.E. myself. I want all my students to experience this. I am passionate about teaching P.E. and am looking forward to all the challenges that come my way and I will tackle them head on.
Mona, thank you so much for your honesty. I really connected with some of the things you had to say. On our first day in class, when Steve asked us to write down a positive experience or memory from PE, I truly could not think of even one positive experience. Honestly, the best of times spent in PE were days when it ‘wasn’t so bad…’ but never actually positive. At least not in the memories I’ve carried with me. So I wrote that down, I told Steve that I honestly cannot think of even one positive experience from PE, and I actually quite regretted this. I didn’t want that negative connotation to be attached to someone’s first impression of me. Because I don’t believe I’m a very negative person generally. And this certainly made me examine that. I suppose I hadn’t thought about PE for many years, and now being here, I’m thinking about it for the first time in a long time, and it’s evident that I am carrying around these negative experiences with me. Even 15 years after I took my last PE course. This, is not right. I won’t want my students to be harbouring this kind of negativity towards any subject ever. I am so looking forward to jumping into this course. I am excited to approach all of the bigger ideas connected with PE. I love to see how much things have changed, and I feel fortunate to get to become a part of that change.