Keven A. Prusak

A Critical Look at Physical Education and What Must Be Done to Address Obesity Issues

JOPERD • Volume 82 No. 4 • April 2011 P hysical education (PE) and physical education teacher education (PETE) are no strangers to change over the past 100 years, growing and morphing in order to meet changing societal interests and demands. From its beginnings in the late 19th century as a vehicle for health promotion (under the direction of physicians), to the immediacy of military preparedness (1917-1945), then for recreation and leisure pursuits (1950s-present), PE has reinvented itself over and over again (Corbin, 1993). Curiously, due to national crises such as obesity and other lifestyle issues, PE finds itself having come full circle—to once again fill a role as a health promotion tool. Park, as early as 1989, labeled PE as the renaissance field of the 21st century, but many others in the field hesitate to make changes that would lead to such a rebirth or even resist such changes. The target has moved, and some find it extremely unsettling. Johnson (2002) described dealing with moving targets in a delightful allegory involving four mice that are forced to deal with change when someone moves their cheese. Well, someone has moved our collective cheese, and we now have to deal with it! This article takes a frank look at the need for educational reform in physical education. It discusses the past and present failings and the implications of those failures. It presents only six PE teachers’ opinions, but it is an informed opinion, based on a combined 123 years in the business both as PE teachers and as PETE and wellness professors. This article is not exhaustive in scope, but a beginning that is intended to promote dialogue and action aimed at making PE not only a player in this national debate but the go-to player. Our examination is guided by Collins’s (2001) “good-to-great” framework, which identifies the characteristics of companies that made a remarkable transformation from being average to becoming great by outperforming comparison companies and the market as a whole. To make the leap from good to great, each company had to develop one essential aspect: an unflinching willingness to face the most brutal facts of one’s situation. We propose that PE must examine, with unflinching honesty, its past failings and current realities in order to move forward—to move from good to great. While we remain optimistic about the value of and future for PE in public schools, the problems that PE faces have convinced us that it must make its own dramatic transformation. This transformation, however, must not be haphazard nor piecemeal. Cautioning against maintaining the status quo or attempting insufficient change, Lawrence A Critical Look at Physical Education and What Must Be Done to Address Obesity Issues

Is Your Class about Something? Guiding Principles for Physical Education Teachers

Abstract Quality programs need to focus on a purpose, or vision, and guiding principles can help to establish that focus.

Effects of Music on Physical Activity Rates of Junior High School Physical Education Students.

Music is an everyday occurrence in a person’s life. Music is heard in the workplace, in homes, and in the mall. Music can also be heard as a person exercises. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of music on junior high students (n = 305) step counts and time in activity in junior high school physical education classes. In this study, students wore pedometers, and a 2 (conditions: with and without music) × 2 (activities: basketball and volleyball) crossover design was used. It was found that across all grades (7th, 8th, and 9th) and gender, more steps were taken with music in both activities versus without music. No significant differences were noted in time in activity between activities with music (2,839 steps taken in basketball) than without music (2,494 steps taken in basketball). Music is a tool that can assist junior high school physical educators in meeting the objectives of having students in physical activity for a majority of class time. It made students’ physical activity experience enjoyable.

Using Object Lessons to Teach Health-related Fitness Concepts

JOPERD • Volume 79 No. 9 • November/December 2008 I magine watching a physical education class playing a vigorous game of basketball. As always, the more athletic students are everywhere: running, passing, and shooting. Typically there are three or four obese kids who predictably jog or walk from end to end, playing a marginal role in the game. Now imagine that every student in the class instantly becomes obese and tries to continue the game. Suddenly they are less willing to move, run, and jump. They seem to be very uncomfortable, self-conscious, hesitant, and even fearful. They do not seem to enjoy moving, which is odd because they have always enjoyed basketball. Students who were once nonobese develop a new sense of empathy for the heavy kids in the class, now that they too are fat. Even the teacher sees the heavy kids in a different light. The teacher may even realize that he or she has too often misunderstood, misjudged, and maybe mislabeled the heavy kids as lazy and decides to fi nd a way to reach every child—those who are now overly fat or obese and those who will be if they do not learn to manage their lifestyle. Now imagine how the overweight students would feel if they could instantly lose the excess weight. Likely, they would feel free to engage in activities that they once enjoyed, or had not had the chance to because they were obese. More than ever before, the students will understand why it is important not to become overweight as they grow older. They may even understand that managing their weight and other lifestyle choices will provide a quality of life that allows them to pursue their many interests free from the debilitating effects of obesity. Every lesson on fi tness concepts could evoke this kind of personal meaning by using an “object lesson” format. An object lesson is one in which students fi rst experience the idea, what it “feels” like (Warren, 2004), before the concept is explained. A quality experience followed by debriefi ng provides students with an experiential background on which to process the new ideas. New ideas are then referenced to the experience and, as a result, are more deeply understood. Students make connections between the idea and reality because they “felt” it fi rst. The purpose of this article is to describe (1) health-related fi tness (HRF) lesson content, (2) specifi c instructional strategies in object-lesson format to be used by secondary physical education teachers to increase student understanding and personal construction of meaning, and (3) the implications for both inservice teachers and PETE professionals. To do so, this article includes one object lesson for each of the fi ve HRF components: cardiorespiratory fi tness, body composition, fl exibility, muscle strength, and muscle endurance (see sidebar, p. 20). These lesson plans describe activities that allow students to engage in self-directed learning opportunities. Students will fi nd personal meaning through fi rst experiencing the concepts and then by teacher-guided discovery of concepts (with debriefi ng following the activity) that solidifi es and deepens their understanding. These lessons are not intended to be the Using Object Lessons to Teach Health-related Fitness Concepts

Developing HALM Teaching Competencies in PETE Teacher Candidates

The lifetime activities approach, which grew out of the lifetime physical activity model, has informed the practice of one physical education teacher education (PETE) program as it prepares teacher candidates to teach K–12 students about the importance of health, health-related fitness, and physical activity. Health-enhancing behaviors such as healthy eating habits, using stress management techniques, and healthy sleep behaviors are also introduced to students. This article describes activities that are presented to help PETE teacher candidates develop healthy and active lifestyle management (HALM) teaching competencies. Two HALM teaching competencies (one-minute HALM tips and object lessons) are defined, and a description of where they appear in the curriculum and how they are assessed after field teaching of K–12 students is provided.

PE Central: A Possible Online Professional Development Tool

Traditional professional development offerings for teachers often overlook the needs of the physical educator. Left to their own devices, PE teachers frequently turn to online resources (e.g., PE Central, PHE America [formerly pelinks4u], PHYSEDagogy, and SHAPE America’s Exchange and Teacher’s Toolbox) for professional growth support. Clearly these online offerings provide valuable resources to teachers, but it is unclear if any meet generally accepted definitions of what con-stitutes sanctioned professional development. The purposes of this study were to (a) describe pre- and in-service teacher usage of one of these websites, PE Central; (b) describe their satisfaction with PE Central; and (c) assess the relationship of these online resources to promote pro-visional teacher change, student engagement, and permanent teacher change. PE teachers (n = 418) responded to an online survey. Both pre- and in-service teachers averaged monthly usage and were more satisfied than not with the PE Central website. PE Central provided teachers some key elements of professional development and was posi-tively related to provisional teacher change but negatively associated with student engagement and permanent teacher change. Suggestions for making the site a resource for sanctioned professional development credit and associated future research possibilities are explored. Subscribe to TPE

Adolescent Physical Activity and Motivational Profiles While Keeping a Physical Activity Record

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between adolescents (N = 124) from physical education classes keeping a daily online leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) record and feelings of competence toward LTPA, motivational profiles toward LTPA, and LTPA behaviors. Method: A repeated measures ANCOVA was used to examine the relationships between recording compliance and perceived competence, motivation, and physical activity. Results: As students kept the LTPA record, boys’ LTPA levels significantly increased and girls’ levels significantly decreased. A significant interaction between recording compliance and introjected regulation was found; the more students recorded the less motivated they were by guilt or obligation to exercise. A significant interaction was found between recording compliance and intrinsic regulation, showing the more students recorded the more intrinsically motivated they were to exercise in their leisure time. Discussion/Conclusion: Implications and suggestions are described for...

Effects of Teacher-to-Student Relatedness on Adolescent Male Motivation in a Weight Training Class

The purpose of this study was to determine if the motivational profiles of male junior high weight training students differ across levels of teacher-to-student relatedness. One hundred and sixty six students participated in one of two units of instruction. Contextual motivation was measured using the Sport Motivation Scale II–Physical Education (SMS II–PE). Situational motivation and relatedness measurements were assessed using the Situational Motivation Scale-Physical Education (SIMS–PE), Amotivation Inventory–Physical Education Scale (AI–PE), and the Interpersonal Behavior Scale (IBS). Results revealed that situational motivation was not affected by the intervention in either group. Significant differences were observed in students’ contextual motivation. That is, both within-groups’ contextual motivation increased. Though the intervention did not reveal significant differences in students’ situational motivation, it may confirm the complimentary nature of relatedness and autonomy constructs in fostering student self-determination in a physical education setting.

An integrated mind-body approach to arthritis: a pilot study.

Arthritis affects both the physical and psychological abilities of people in all walks of life. There are currently no recommended effective ′disease-modifying′ remedies. Therapists and physicians are therefore exploring possible benefits from non-conventional therapeutic approaches. The purpose is to assess the changes in fitness and psychosocial outcomes of six doctor-referred patients as a result of participating in the I Can Move Again (ICMA) program. Six female participants diagnosed with arthritis were recruited from a local family practitioner. The subjects participated in a series of daily classes for 12 weeks including massage, mindfulness, bounce-back chairs, resistance chairs, aerobic and anaerobic training, rebounders, and whole body vibration platform Tai Chi. Demographic, psychosocial, and physical data were collected at the ICMA and at Y-Be-Fit (Provo, UT). Significant pre to post mean differences were found for sit-ups (F (1,8) =5.42 P =0.048), chair stand (F (1,10) =6.622 P =0.028), arm curl (F (1,10) =14.379 P =0.004), six-minute walk test distance (F (1,9)= 19.188 P=0.002), and speed (F,(1,8) =13.984 P =0.006), and rotation right (F (1,10) =8.921 P =0.014) and left (F (1,10) =11.373 P =0.007), in 27 of the 61-item questionnaire. The preliminary data on the six subjects lacked sufficient statistical power to detect the significant differences that could exist, thus committing a Type II error, but it is important to note an overall, substantial trend in improvement in the patients′ physical outcomes and psychosocial perceptions associated with improvements in activities of daily living.

Comparison of Two Taping Techniques on Navicular Drop and Center-of-Pressure Measurements During Stance

This study examined the eff ectiveness of an antipronation spiral stirrup (APSS) taping technique, compared with the augmented low-Dye (ALD) technique, in controlling navicular drop (ND) and producing a lateral shift in the center-of-pressure (COP) line during the stance phase of gait. Twenty college volunteers participated in a crossover design, testing 2 taping techniques across 3 conditions. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that the APSS technique produced signifi cantly less ND, compared with the ALD technique, at the pre(P .05) and postexercise (P .05) conditions. The APSS technique produced signifi cantly less ND than the barefoot condition at preand postexercise (P .01) conditions. A signifi cant (P .05) lateral shift in COP was noted between 30% and 90% of the stance phase in the tape reexercise condition in the APSS technique. The APSS technique seems to be eff ective at controlling ND and preventing a medial shift of the COP during the deceleration phase of foot pronation. [Athletic Training & Sports Health Care. 2014;6(6):252-260.] Overuse lower-leg injuries, although often of uncertain etiology, are frequently affected by anatomical, mechanical, training intensity, volume, and injury type factors.1,2 The catch-all term shin splints has been used to describe a variety of conditions, including compartment syndrome, periostitis, stress fractures, nerve entrapment syndrome, and various tendinopathies.3,4 More recently, the shin splints term has been used interchangeably with an equally ambiguous, but more medically descriptive phrase, medial–tibial stress syndrome (MTSS).5 This syndrome is characterized by exercise-induced pain along the posteromedial border of the tibia, is not attributed to compartment syndrome or stress fracture,6,7 and is of idiopathic origins. A common link of these varied pathologies with abnormalities in foot position is an increased drop in the location of the navicular bone. This drop, resulting in a “fallen arch,”8 is often referred to as pes planus. In a pes planus foot, the center of pressure (COP) is deviated more medially during gait than in those with a neutrally aligned foot.9-12 Williams et al13 found that low-arched individuals have a more medial COP than those with high arches, allowing the possibility that COP may be useful in detecting changes in foot orientation throughout the stance phase of gait (heel strike through toe-off).9-13 In addition, pes planus feet have been associated with tibialis posterior dysfunction.14,15 One of the primary functions of the tibialis posterior is to contract eccentrically throughout the deceleration phase of foot pronation.16 If the tibialis posterior is dysfunctional, it cannot effectively control the force that must be transferred from the foot to the lower leg, leading to its inability to control the “falling” of the arch. This hyperpronation during gait can result in lower-leg pain,3 which supports the theory that suggests that foot overpronation, attributable to tibialis posterior muscle dysfunction, is a possible cause of MTSS.7 Several researchers13,14 have studied the effectiveness of taping or use of custom shoe inserts as an effort to control navicular drop (ND). Orthotic inserts have proven to be Ms Prusak from Maple Mountain High School, Spanish Fork; and Dr Prusak is from the Department of Teacher Education, and Dr Hunter, Dr Seeley, and Dr Hopkins are from the Department of Exercise Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Received: December 9, 2013 Accepted: November 12, 2014 Posted Online: December 3, 2014 The authors acknowledge the contributions of Devin Francom, MS (Brigham Young University), for his creative use of functional statistical analyses and cubic smoothing splines, allowing for the examination of changes in the center-of-