Situation: The first time I saw him was in September 1983. I had just finished my fifth year of teaching and was one of about 200 teachers present at the Fall Physical Education Leadership conference in Reidsville, North Carolina.
I last saw him there 20 years later – the start of the 2003-2004 school year. This professional presenter teacher has not changed much in 20 years; he still had his high energy, his inspiring way of communicating with the teacher, and his love of physical education.
“It’s such a great start to our regional development day,” I thought to myself. Nothing seems to have changed in the last 20 years with him.
Her contagious enthusiasm soon spread to a hundred or more physical education teachers attending our school’s annual Staff Development Day. Everyone seemed to be “pulled out” with joy. Even older, more self-reliant teachers seem reluctant to do the “healthy heart” dances that are presented!
“How many of you have had a good time so far?” a 66-year-old PE teacher presenter asked as she motioned for her to sit down. Suddenly, many people raise their hands! By chance, one teacher started clapping, followed by another, and soon the whole gymnasium was filled with applause. Another small group of teachers in the gym started talking and stood up together facing the presenter. Together, each teacher in the group made a large circle with their arms high above their heads. All the other teachers in the gym followed the group’s leader, and soon everyone was standing – each with his arms in a large circle – “Ovation standing.”
“A Standing O” – It was something the presenter talked about very early on as a simple and quick way to see an outstanding effort. This “thank you” looks very shocking. You can see that the action had a special effect on him, or it seemed. After a minute or so, everyone is seated while the presenter returns to calmness and begins to speak.
“Thank you so much all of you,” he said as he walked slowly across the gym. “But you know, it’s like …” his voice was silenced immediately as he was stunned, dragging his right foot behind him. At that moment, everyone in the gym noticed something was wrong. What’s the matter with his leg? She got scared again. It was as if he had a huge weight tied to his right leg. Then he stopped and stood still.
Chains of Culture: “You know,” he said with a sly smile, “In physical education, we have been dragging ‘chains of culture’ for a very long time. These ‘chains of culture’ keep us from moving forward, without changing our teaching methods. we say ‘things will never change, this is how things have always been.’ ”
“And the people who say ‘things will never change’ are right! Things will never change as long as you and I continue to drag this ‘cultural chain’ with us.”
He continued, “Now before we have lunch at 12:00, I would like each of you to join the three groups and discuss which ‘traditional chains’ you have been traveling with.”
What happened that day was a revelation to me!
You see, now I have a way to explain why Physical Education still seems to cling to traditional ways of doing business. When I looked around and found two other teachers, I knew exactly what my ‘series’ was and still is – it is “grading.”
Why is today’s PE not doing Grade! In my 35+ years of working as a physical education teacher, state-level administrator, and local Central Office manager, I have one major regret – “I have done little to change the way we place students in physical education.” For me, physical education will eventually “make a difference” as we begin to do the following four things:
1. The transition from traditional dance practices (eg dress) to a model based on standards.
2. Redesign the values of each state so that there are no more than 15 “key outcomes” in each grade.
3. In an effort to redesign, create a K-12 rating with a sequential sequence, easy to understand, and easy to say.
4. Include higher education – colleges and universities preparing for the next generation of future teachers.
Virtual PE Manager: Over the past 2-3 years, I have had the good fortune to work with many developing regions in addressing the above. From this collaboration, we have been able to develop and build a new web-based education and monitoring system called Virtual PE Administrator. These school districts are now implementing a system that will monitor and monitor the progress of each learner in line with the “critical outcomes” of grade 12 from kindergarten to high school.
(Artie Kamiya is the Founder and President of Great Activities Publishing Company, Inc. Artie is the most sought-after workshop presenter and receives many national and international awards for his innovative physical education ideas.)
Artie Kamiya is the President and Founder of the Great Activities Publishing Company, an environmental education curriculum, and testing provider since 1982.
Artie’s blog can be found at http://artiekamiya.wordpress.com/
Artie Kamiya has been named “the nation’s leading K-12 physical education expert.” Always looking for his exciting presentations, Artie has conducted about 500 workshops in more than 40 different districts. He is one of the owners of a well-known publishing / consulting company and has successfully invested more than $ 12 million in schools. His work has appeared in numbers