Reflections in this section of the blog represent both personal thoughts and the completion of an assignment for EDUC 533 Dynamics of Change. The topics will range from Meaningful PE to the Change process and in the end connect the two together as I look to change my teaching practice to focus more explicitly on Meaningful Experiences in PE.
Back in 2014 during my Master of Physical Education program at MUN I wrote about gender and PE. Here is the paper posted in my MPE blog - gender-sport-and-physical-education.html The group presentation on gender specific classes began with the quote below -
"The challenges and issues associated with girls’ disengagement prior in junior high PE leading up to and during high school PE are serious and long standing." In my experiences teaching PE at the junior and senior high level I saw this exact issue develop time and again. At the junior high classes were coed and they often resulted in some students sitting out while others dominated the play in games and activities. GIven the curriculum at the JH level a decade ago was sport focused the people often sitting out were the non-athletic boys and girls. As I was only replacing a permanent teacher for a short time, I was not able to effectively address this issue. Had I been at the school for a longer period of time my initial thoughts are a move to a more non-traditional PE style program incorporating dance, yoga, individual pursuits, outdoor activities and cooperative challenges. These would accompany the sport based activities and over a couple years would phase out the majority of the sport based PE time. Other PE models that could help to address the disengagement could be the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) and Sport Education (SE) models that use groupings with specific roles for everyone so that those less athletic are still able to demonstrate their understanding and knowledge in a different way. A little later in the presentation we discussed some "statements" about gender and PE. In the discussion I spoke about one and in reflecting feel I could have spoke to my experiences for the second listed below.
2. As a male HS PE teacher teaching both coed and girls only PAL and PE I think that there is merit to both a female teacher and a male teacher. I believe that a female teacher would give the students a role model to look up to and that the female teacher would have a better understanding of what teenage girls are going through. As for a male teacher, I found it refreshing to teach in the all-girls PAL program as it was far less competitive and much more focused on fun and enjoyment. The girls in my PAL classes were constantly happy, laughing and having a good time. Now I realize that is a benefit for me, so as for the girls, I think it can be good for the students too. I had no negative interactions to speak of and believe that the relationships I developed with the girls was helpful to them. Ultimately, what might be best for a single gender class is to experience both male and female teachers. In this way they can get the "best of both worlds". Since moving to the elementary level many years ago I have found that splitting classes by gender is not really necessary. When children are 4-12 years old the gender and sex based physical differences that often lead to the situations causing female disengagement have yet to occur. In many cases the females are developing and growing faster and often make up the stronger group of students in PE. Another common request, very popular with students in the grade 2-4 range is to play "boys" vs "girls". This may be seen by others as "inappropriate" and insensitive to those students who do not associate with "male and/or female in a common way", but I believe it to be fine on occasion. Knowing my students and who they are allows for this type of grouping to occur. In situations where a student wouldn't respond well, those classes would not get the option, however, if the group is fully in favour then on occasion I oblige them. All this said, my typical approach to grouping is random, using the TeamShake app for IOS. At the end of the day it is all about knowing the students, talking with them, understanding who they are and what they believe and feel. When you have this relationship with the students you are better able to make judgements about single gendered classes, programs, or groupings.
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