Nate McCaughtry

Learning to Teach Sport Education: Misunderstandings, Pedagogical Difficulties, and Resistance

This study used cognitive developmental theory to analyze how teachers learn to teach sport education. Two groups of undergraduate pre-service teachers were studied, one group during their secondary methods and corresponding field-teaching courses, the other during an independent teaching course. Data were collected through ethnographic observations and interviews, and analyzed using constant comparison. Findings revealed that the teachers encountered three pitfalls in learning to teach sport education. First, group one teachers struggled with the tactical instruction in sport education and, in response, retreated to the safety of decontextualized skill drills or non-instructional games. Second, group one teachers, in their descriptions of future pedagogical intentions, expressed resistance, for a number of reasons, to incorporating most of the unique characteristics of sport education into their future secondary classrooms. Third, group two teachers misunderstood the role of skill development in sport education. The discussion centers on mechanisms of knowledge acquisition related to learning sport education, and recommendations for teacher educators and future research.

Elaborating pedagogical content knowledge: what it means to know students and think about teaching

The purpose of this study was to examine how a teacher understood her students and then thought and made decisions about content, curriculum and pedagogy. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and Deweyan philosophies of experience and education provided the theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through observations (N = 38) and interviews (N = 38) over four months and analysed using constant comparison. Findings indicated that this teacher possessed a broad repertoire of knowledge about students that she used to think and make decisions about content, curriculum and pedagogy. The connections between knowing students and thinking about teaching were more sophisticated and interconnected than is typically recognized or articulated in teacher knowledge literature. Three themes are used to explain how this teacher understood her students’ emotional and social lives in and out of her classroom, and ways it influenced her thinking and teaching. The discussion centers on the need for more comprehensive analyses of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge.

Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Nutrition Behaviors: Targeted Interventions Needed

OBJECTIVE To compare dietary knowledge, behaviors and self-efficacy of black middle school students of low socioeconomic status with their white counterparts of higher socioeconomic status. DESIGN Cross-sectional, school-based survey. SETTING Large metropolitan area in the United States. PARTICIPANTS Middle school students (1,208 of low socioeconomic and 978 of higher socioeconomic status). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Dietary behaviors, dietary knowledge, and dietary self-efficacy were assessed by questionnaire. ANALYSIS Differences between black students of low socioeconomic status and white students of higher socioeconomic status in the above variables. RESULTS Black students of low socioeconomic status scored significantly lower than did white students of higher socioeconomic status on several of the variables. They were more likely to consume empty calorie food, meat, and fried food and less likely to eat fruit, vegetables, dairy products, and grains; they were less knowledgeable about dietary variables; and they had significantly lower self-efficacy regarding their ability to change dietary habits. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The results of this study suggest that black students of low socioeconomic status should be targeted for early intervention related to dietary behaviors. This age group is amenable to change, and interventions designed specifically for them may result in lifetime reductions in risk of morbidity and mortality.

Using Social Cognitive Theory to Predict Physical Activity and Fitness in Underserved Middle School Children

Abstract Few researchers have used social cognitive theory and environment-based constructs to predict physical activity (PA) and fitness in underserved middle-school children. Hence, we evaluated social cognitive variables and perceptions of the school environment to predict PA and fitness in middle school children (N = 506, ages 10-14 years). Using multiple regression analyses we accounted for 12% of the variance in PA and 13-21% of the variance in fitness. The best predictors of PA were barrier self-efficacy, classmate social support, and gender; whereas, only gender predicted fitness. The results affirmed the importance of barrier self-efficacy and gender differences. Our findings regarding classmate social support are some of the first to illuminate the importance of school-specific peers in promoting PA.

What makes teacher professional development work? The influence of instructional resources on change in physical education

The purpose of this study was to understand factors that make teacher professional development successful and what success might mean in terms of teachers’ instructional practices and feelings about change. Specifically, this study focused on the impact of instructional resources on the large‐scale curricular reform of 30 urban physical education teachers. Data were collected through interviews and class observations. Data were analyzed using inductive analysis, member checks, a research team and triangulation. Analysis of these teachers’ use of and perspectives toward the instructional resources provided in the professional development process suggested that they experienced significant instructional and emotional outcomes. First, the resources enabled them to improve their instruction by: teaching more content, maximizing student learning opportunities, teaching diverse learners, teaching to development, and increasing classroom safety. Second, they also reported strong positive and negative emotions from the new resources that influenced how they viewed change. On the one hand, the resources were inspirational in helping teachers to: meet students’ needs, overcome unsupportive administrators, impress parents, and preserve salaries. On the other hand, resources also led to anxiety and concerns about utilization, storage, maintenance, and preserving relationships. Implications centre on better understanding professional development for teachers.

The Ecology of the Gym: Reconceptualized and Extended

The ecological paradigm has become a powerful framework for understanding how teachers and students negotiate the learning environment. This article articulates the ecological paradigm into a more cohesive framework and expands it using influential work from the sociology of physical education. First, we explain several core concepts of ecological theory and explain how they fit together. Next, we overview past ecological work in each of the three main task systems, while integrating literature from outside traditional ecological theory to show how it better enhances the paradigms usefulness. We show how culturally relevant content, student ownership/control, and cooperation/competition provide richness in further explaining the instructional task system. Similarly, we broaden the student social system into a social task system with three dimensions: relationships between teachers and students, relationships among students, and the social climate of the school.

Top‐down public health curricular change: the experience of physical education teachers in the United States

Schools are frequently seen as the solution to social problems, and recent public health issues such as the near epidemic rates of obesity and diabetes are some of the newest pressures facing schools. This investigation is an exploration of physical education teachers’ reactions to one school district’s attempts to mandate a public health driven curricular change. Forty‐six elementary physical education teachers reported via interviews their perceptions of the change process. Data were analysed via a constant comparison process. Two key areas of implementation challenges were identified; including teachers’ need for new knowledge and the mismatch between the curriculum and teachers’ understanding of physical education and their context.

Meaning and Movement: Exploring the Deep Connections to Education

Many in education suggest that to have studentsadopt healthy and active lifestyles, then theymust be offered meaning rich physical activityexperiences. This paper adds to thisconversation in two ways. First, this paperadds depth and richness to traditionalconceptualizations of the meaning in movement.In doing so, we interrogate the physical,cognitive and affective meaning that studentsmay derive from participation in movement.Second, this paper examines the role ofphysical activity in theme-based, integratedcurriculum. We highlight how physical activitycan be incorporated into theme-based units insubstantial and non-trivial ways.

The impact of a social cognitive theory‐based intervention on physical education teacher self‐efficacy

Adolescents are physically inactive and non‐Caucasian adolescents achieve the least amount of physical activity. Hence, supporting teachers’ efforts to increase their students’ physical activity during physical education is important. We examined the influence of a social cognitive theory‐based intervention on teachers’ efficacy to teach physically active physical education lessons (i.e. Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum [EPEC] efficacy) and efficacy to overcome common barriers (i.e. barrier efficacy) to teaching physically active lessons. Forty‐seven elementary physical education teachers from a large inner‐city school district in the USA participated. We paired experienced teachers (n = 15) with novice 1 teachers (n = 15) while learning how to teach a physical activity curriculum and compared them with a group of teachers (n = 17) who received no intervention. We hypothesized that the intervention teachers, relative to the comparison group, would improve in their efficacy to teach the EPEC and overcome barriers. All 47 teachers completed EPEC and barrier efficacy scales pre and post intervention. Analyses indicated a variety of significant main and interaction effects with mean scores in the expected directions. Both groups of intervention teachers improved their efficacy to teach the EPEC and their efficacy to overcome barriers. The comparison teachers’ efficacy remained stable or decreased. In general the significant results, combined with meaningful effect sizes, supported the effectiveness of our intervention and the importance of professional development training in a physical activity curriculum on teacher’s efficacy.

Sexuality Sensitive Schooling

American schools, especially their physical education and sport programs, provide some of the most hostile social geographies in all of society for gay youth. With the aim of transforming schools toward more democratic and sexuality sensitive institutions, this paper reviews the literature on sexuality and education. In the review, three themes, critical for educators pursuing sexuality sensitive change in schools, are presented. These themes include the following: cultural experiences of gay and lesbian youth in the home, community, and school; consequences of sexuality-based victimization; and the role that physical education teachers and sport coaches can play in fostering sexuality sensitive schooling.