Pre-service teachers’ experiences of LEARNING ABOUT MEANINGFUL PHYSICAL EDUCATION Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Mary Immaculate College, Ireland Tim Fletcher, Brock University, Canada Mary O’Sullivan, University of Limerick, Ireland Stephanie Beni, Brock University, Canada @meaningfulpe

Outline 1. Meaningful Physical Education 2. LAMPE 3 Outline 1. Meaningful Physical Education 2. LAMPE 3. Pre-service teacher’s experiences

Why meaningful experiences? Evidence suggests that personally meaningful engagement in physical activity experiences holds the potential to promote long-term commitment and engagement in physical activity Many young people feel that PE and youth sport lacks personal meaning and relevance – so we are interested in the types of PE and youth sport experiences young people find to hold personal significance.

personally meaningful engagement in physical activity experiences holds the potential to promote long-term commitment and engagement in physical activity

Kretchmar’s writings as the starting point….

Methany explains, something becomes personally meaningful as ‘we seize upon it, take it into ourselves, and become involved with it. This feeling of involvement is a symptom of what the idea means to us, or how we find it meaningful or significant’ (Metheny, 1968, p. 5). (Kretchmar, 2007)

What are meaningful physical education experiences?

FEATURES OF A MEANINGFUL PHYSICAL EDUCATION EXPERIENCE Social interaction Motor learning Challenge Personally relevant learning Fun Delight We drew largely on writings of Scott Kretchmar to guide our approach and positioned meaning-making as the prioritised filter for all pedagogical decisions in our respective PETE classes. In particular, Kretchmar’s features of meaningful PE: fun, social interaction, challenge, motor competence, delight formed the basis of our vision for meaningful school-based PE – we then set about devising an approach to our students learning about meaningful PE (Kretchmar, 2001; 2006; Beni et al, 2017)

How do we facilitate meaningful experiences ?

Pedagogies aligned with the features of meaningful physical education

“meaningfulness comes from connecting past, present and future meanings ‘into some kind of coherent story’ “(Baumeister et al, 2014)

Expectations/ goal setting Experience (aligned with the features) Reflection Ascribe meaningfulness

A version of school-based physical education where the promotion of meaningful experiences is the explicit teaching and learning priority

Learning About Meaningful Physical Education (LAMPE) Four Year study Pre-service teachers (PSTs) in Ireland and Canada an approach to PETE where the facilitation of meaningful experiences was the prioritized filter for pedagogical decision-making (Kretchmar, 2000; 2001; 2006; 2007; 2008; Blankenship & Ayers, 2010) Sharing findings from across the 4 years – focused on PST experiences This research was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada

PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF Learning About Meaningful Physical Education (LAMPE) Based on our work we identified 5 pedagogical principles that represented our approach

Teacher educators Make the prioritization of meaningful participation explicit Model and discuss learning about meaningful PE Support PSTs’ engagement with meaningful criteria as learners and as teachers Frame learning activities using features of meaningful participation Support reflection on PE experiences Outline each pedagogy…. Now we were ready to use this 5 pedagogy framework to guide our planning and teaching and assessment.

What are pre-service teachers’ experiences of LAMPE pedagogies? Our RQ was…….

Ethnographic Research Design 270 students (approx Ethnographic Research Design 270 students (approx.) across four years 6 groups from Canada 3 groups from Ireland Course content Introductory methods Advanced methods Developmental games Ethnographic research provides “analytic descriptions of reconstructions of intact cultural scenes or groups” (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993, p. 2) and uncovers the shared meanings of the group/s. Thick description is central to ethnography so the reader can vicariously experience the setting and situation encountered by the researcher. Strong ethnographic design necessitates multiple forms of naturalistic data that represent a deep and trustworthy account of the participants’ life-world (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). Teaching through Introductory and advanced PE methods classes, LOG classes, Developmental Games/TGfU classes, etc.

90 individual interviews 70 Canada 20 Ireland DATA SOURCE APPROX. DATA (year 1-4) PST interviews Early point End point 90 individual interviews 70 Canada 20 Ireland PST focus groups Mid point 14 focus group interviews with 35 participants 9 focus groups with 18 participants Canada 5 focus groups with 17 participants Ireland PST artifacts ~ 668 individual work samples Our final data were…… Student data sources were particularly important in gauging their responses to our pedagogies

Based on our work we identified 5 pedagogical principles that represented our approach

WHAT: “Enough challenge so that they are challenged but then they can independently or collaboratively with peers find a way that they can improve based on the resources that are available.” (Rob, Canada, Year 2). “I think it is important that children enjoy it as well. If you don’t enjoy it, you are not going to be enthusiastic about it” (Focus Group 3, Ireland, Year 2). “The social aspect of sport and phys ed I think is huge, and the way that it can bring people together and teach social skills”  (Shannon, Canada, Year 2). Name and describe features Eg. 1 – challenge Eg 2 – fun Eg 3 – social

WHAT: CANADA: Fun and Challenge Social interaction Personally relevant learning IRELAND: Fun and challenge Skill learning

WHY: “[I am looking forward to] making Phys. Ed. fun  and having those kids that wouldn’t traditionally want to participate in Phys. Ed., like getting them excited about it and wanting to come” (Laura, Canada, Year 1). “Before you were just kind of like, ‘Oh, just let them play PE,’ (or do PE, or whatever), but now you kind of realize that there’s a lot more involved and that you’d like to make these kind of aims as well” (Jason, Ireland, Year 3). “I think I’ll definitely use [ideas about meaningful experiences] because if you don’t get them to tell you about the stuff, and you if don’t make any of it meaningful, then you don’t exactly know if it’s going right or going wrong. I think that’s probably the best benefit from having it used in the classroom” (Leanne, Ireland, Year 3).   Features and ME provided shared language to articulate their vision A mixed bag – some clearer than others….vast majority committed but articulation of detail lacking. … e.g. 1 – inclusive Eg 2 – focused on learning Eg 3 – committed but vague…

HOW: “I think it is also really important that the teacher gets to know their students really well so you know what things make them uncomfortable so you can adapt your lesson plan to that and make sure everyone is being incorporated and participating to the best of their abilities.” (Laura, Canada, Year 1) “Setting challenges for each child for each stage through it rather than just have them doing a random activity for no purpose at all. Just so they have something to aim for and something to build on.” (Focus Group 1, Ireland, Year 1) General pedagogies and some specific to each feature e.g. 1 - Relationship with students e.g. 2 - Challenge pedagogies accessible – modifying based on student ability through choice, student interests and needs – autonomy supportive– pedagogies such as discussion, asking students, responding to their needs, making adaptations, choice

HOW “A lot of discussion really helps… to get them to understand why they are doing certain sports or even getting them to understand how they can transfer those skills to everyday life. It is not just, ‘We are going to the gym to play soccer and leave, and that was gym for the day.’ You can take things how, transfer to having a more healthy lifestyle, so not just playing sports at school, but you can go home and get involved outside the school” (Madison, Canada, Year 3) Some specific pedagogies aligned with specific features were identified. e.g. 1 – personally relevant learning

“and then they were totally into it “and then they were totally into it. If we add a story to it they get really into it and lose track of time… I guess I would want them to not want to leave. I would want them to be caught up in the moment so much that they wouldn’t be waiting for it to be over. Glimpses of a vision combined with action…. Giving them something that makes them think about it more. I think that’s really important, not to just say, ‘Gym class is over; I don’t have to think about it for a week.’ They should say, ‘I can’t wait till next week,’ or ‘I want to try this at home and show my brother or sister.’ …. adding in feel-good moments in things, so giving them accomplishment along with it. That’s what I could imagine kids that don’t exactly enjoy gym class and they’re not the best at it... say you were to give them some sort of really positive feel-good thing about it, it wouldn’t matter if you were the strongest. You would still feel good in class, so that’d be good.” (Kirsten, Canada, year 3).

Concerned with the QUALITY of the experience for individuals more than the content… Prioritisation of features and meaningful approach Shared language using features Described individual features and related pedagogies Different PSTs emphasized different features

Pedagogies aligned with features Integrated nature of features “So it’s like you want to make sure they’re having fun and that they can be social with each other, because that’s a big thing too… Just making sure that you can talk to them and that they feel comfortable with you as well, and then they can at least go up to you and tell you, ‘I don’t like that we’re doing this.’ It’s good to have a connection with them.” (Vanessa, Canada, Year 3) Commitment to shared vision - but lacking details The role of competition

How pedagogies combine in overall approach Delight – concept and pedagogies When I remembered their names, their faces just lit up. They were so excited… Just encouraging them by pointing out their name like, “That was a great goal!” Just pointing out specific goals that I’ve been trying to implement within the practice and telling them that was great or showing them how to fix it and when they do fix it tell them that was amazing. Constant reassurance and encouragement is super important especially at young age.” (Lauren, Canada, Year 3) Role of goal setting and reflection in evaluation of experience and ascribing meaningfulness The big picture – how this all fits together

What can we learn from this as teacher educators?

PST experiences provide Encouragement on the value of LAMPE pedagogies Feedback to teacher educators on own approach Insight on the effectiveness of our pedagogies Identification of aspects that need clarification/ more emphasis Direction on areas that require more specific pedagogies Guidance on how to align what/ why/ how

Overall commitment to action based on ME very encouraging “It kind of changes your whole approach to the way you see games and how you think about how you were taught or think about how you were coached, and you're like, ‘Oh, this could have been so much better“, and it makes you want to make it better, because you want people to have that positive experience” (Focus group, Canada, Year 1).

“How good it would be to lead more of those who seek our help to experience movement in such delightful and meaningful ways that they too will know what activity is like when it can hardly be avoided” (Kretchmar, 2001, p. 325)

THANK YOU! Tim Fletcher tfletcher@brocku.ca Déirdre Ní Chróinín Deirdre.NiChroinin@mic.ul.ie Mary O’Sullivan Mary.OSullivan@ul.ie Stephanie Beni sb12kz@brocku.ca @meaningfulpe meaningfulpe.wordpress.com

REFERENCES Blankenship, B. & Ayers, S. 2010. The role of PETE in developing joy-oriented physical educators. Quest, 62 (2), 171- 183. Kretchmar, R. S. 2000. Movement Subcultures: Sites for Meaning. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 71 (5), 19-25. Kretchmar, R. S. 2001. Duty, Habit, and Meaning: Different Faces of Adherence. Quest, 53 (3), 318-325. Kretchmar, R. S. 2006. Ten more reasons for quality physical education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 77 (9), 6-9. Kretchmar, R. S. 2007. What to Do With Meaning? A Research Conundrum for the 21st Century. Quest, 59 (4), 373-383. Kretchmar, R. S. 2008. The Increasing Utility of Elementary School Physical Education: A Mixed Blessing and Unique Challenge. The Elementary School Journal, 108(3), 161-170. LaBoskey, V. K. 2004. The methodology of self-study and its theoretical underpinnings. In International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices edited by J.. J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey and T. Russell, 817-869. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Metheny, E. 1968. Movement and meaning. New York: McGraw-Hill Ní Chróinín, D., T., Fletcher, M. O’Sullivan. 2015. Using self-study to explore the processes of pedagogical innovation in physical education teacher education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport, and Physical Education, 6 (3), 273- 286. Polanyi, M. & Prosch, H. 1975. Meaning. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.