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Volume 43 (2024): Issue 4 (Oct 2024)
Bodily Uncertainty, Precarious Body: An Embodied Narrative of a Physical Education Teacher From an Autobiographical Perspective
Gustavo González-Calvo and Göran Gerdin
School physical education (PE) is influenced by different discourses that play a crucial role not only in the (re)production of PE practices but also in shaping teacher subjectivities. This paper aims to explore how a PE teacher responds to, lives, and negotiates his embodied professional subjectivity over time. To achieve this, we employ an autobiographical approach to delve into the first author’s life story of becoming and being a PE teacher over time, grappling with the unease generated by the knowledge that his body may have an “expiry date.” Through narrative analysis, we discuss and reflect on the complex experience of teaching a physical and corporeal subject such as PE, focusing on four themes: (1)reflecting his life as a PE teacher“the young, healthy and athletic body,” (2) “the uncertain body,” (3) “the precarious body,” and (4) “the shut-up and just-do-it body.”
Creating and Performing Educational Gymnastics Using Computational Thinking Skills
YuChun Chen and Lorraine A. Jacques
Purpose: This study examined how physical education majors used computational thinking (CT) skills in a movement concept course. Method: Twenty-two physical education majors were tasked to create two gymnastics routines (i.e., algorithm design), analyze their routines (i.e., decomposition and abstraction), create and follow a personalized fitness plan (i.e., abstract), revise the routines (i.e., debugging), and perform the routines at the end of the semester. Data were analyzed as a single case study with embedded units using structural coding. Results: The participants demonstrated strengths with debugging and algorithm design; however, they struggled with decomposition and abstraction, which was congruent with previous research regarding these two concepts as the most difficult and important CT skills to master. Discussion/Conclusions: The findings underscore the value of CT skills in a non-STEM (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) course, expending the instructional appropriateness to expose CT to undergraduate students with little to no interest or previous experience in STEM.
Erratum. Attributes Contributing to the Use of Technology in School-Based Physical Activity Promotion: A Diffusion of Innovations Approach
Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
An Activist Approach to Physical Education and Physical Activity: Imagining What Might Be
David Kirk
Middle School Students’ Team Cohesion Development Within a Sport Education Season: A Mixed Methods Investigation
Baofu Wang and Senlin Chen
Purpose: The purposes of the study were to examine the longitudinal changes of team cohesion within a Sport Education season among female students and to identify facilitators and barriers underlying cohesion development. Method: A longitudinal, concurrent, mixed methods design was employed. Students from sixth to eighth grades (all girls; n = 55) in small teams (n = 15), and their physical education teacher, from one convenience private school in a southern U.S. state, participated in this study. All students completed the validated Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire across three time points. Regular field observations, focus group interviews with students, and individual interviews with student leaders and the physical education teacher were conducted to capture the facilitators and barriers. Results: No significant time effect was observed for team cohesion, but student leadership significantly moderated cohesion development from Time 2 to Time 3 and from Time 1 to Time 3, but not from Time 1 to Time 2. Qualitative data unraveled four facilitators and three barriers underlying cohesion development. Conclusion: The findings are informative for future Sport Education-based curricular and instructional practices to nurture team cohesion.
Erratum. Initial Validation of the Teaching Methods Scale in Physical Education
Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
Instructional Alignment in Physical Education Student Teachers’ Lesson Plans for Individual Sports
Peter Iserbyt, Jackie Lund, and Fien Lux
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the instructional alignment of unit and lesson plans in physical education. Methods: Unit and lesson plans of 31 student teachers from one Physical Education Teacher Education program were analyzed. Trained coders assessed the quality and alignment of unit goals and lesson outcomes, assessments, and tasks. Interobserver reliability was 93% based on the full sample. Results/Discussion: Only 7% of unit goals (n = 145) were assessable and feasible. There was strong alignment between unit goals and assessment in 61% of the sample. Only 26% of unit goals were assessed. For lesson outcomes (n = 476), only 8% were assessable and feasible. For tasks (n = 1,806), 51% of the sample were strongly aligned with lesson outcomes and 50% with unit goals. Conclusion: There was limited instructional alignment in unit and lesson plans. Providing more support for student teachers to improve their instructional alignment is needed.
Recommendations for Physical Activity in Segments of the School Day Support the Increase in Daily Physical Activity in Adolescents
Karel Frömel, Dorota Groffik, Josef Heidler, Josef Mitáš, and Michael Pratt
Purpose: This study aimed to assess the impact of segment-specific physical activity (PA) recommendations during the school day on the daily PA in both boys and girls. Methods: A total of 426 Czech and 219 Polish adolescents participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: one receiving segment-specific PA recommendations for the school day and the other receiving general daily PA recommendations. The Youth Activity Profile questionnaire, the World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index, and the wearable Garmin vívofit were used in the research. Results: The application of segment-specific PA recommendations during the school day was significantly associated with higher PA on school days. It also increased the odds of meeting the recommendations of 6,000 steps/day after school (odds ratio = 1.63, confidence interval [1.19, 2.24], p = .003) and 11,000 steps/day (odds ratio = 1.59, confidence interval [1.16, 2.18], p = .004) on school days. Conclusions: Segment-specific PA recommendations during the school day are effective and should be integrated into physical education curricula, comprehensive school PA programs, and broader school educational strategies.
Integrating edTPA into Physical Education Teacher Education: Teacher Educators’ Perceptions and Experiences in Preparing Teacher Candidates
Edward B. Olsen, James D. Wyant, Emi Tsuda, Michael K. Laughlin, and Deborah S. Baxter
Purpose: In the United States, 15 states maintain policies and 25 states represent some level of edTPA affiliation. This study investigated how the edTPA was integrated and aligned into different physical education teacher education (PETE) programs in New Jersey. It also sought to understand teacher educators’ perceptions and experiences in preparing teacher candidates for the edTPA. Methods: This study utilized three data sources: semistructured interviews (n = 4), one focus group interview (n = 1), and documents (n = 17). Data analysis reflected a conventional approach toward qualitative content analysis. Results: In analyzing the data, four themes were established: (a) benefits and drawbacks of edTPA in PETE, (b) goals and success of edTPA in PETE, (c) integrating edTPA into PETE—macro- and microperspectives, and (d) analytic insights into edTPA and future recommendations. Discussion/Conclusion: In states requiring the edTPA, early exposure, scaffolding, curriculum mapping, and a shared mission and vision are critical. In states not requiring the edTPA, programs may want to consider indicators of performance, such as artifacts, reports, elements of the edTPA, university-based assessments, or a portfolio. Regardless of the type of assessment, “a” performance-based assessment may help to determine teacher candidates’ ability to plan, instruct, assess, and reflect.