Ralph Wood

See You in the Movies? We Hope Not?

H OW knowledgeable are you about influential figures in physical education? Specifically, are any of the following physical educators familiar to you? Mr. Chapin, Ms. Balbricker, Mr. Meister, Mr. Horn, or Ms. Stoeger. Perhaps you will recognize the names of their schools, listed respectively: Padua High School, Angel Beach H. S., John F. Kennedy H. S., Lamar High School, Beverly Hills High. Ifwe told you that millions ofpeople have observed them in action, and for that very reason they are potential role models, would that stimulate your memory? By now you may have remembered, or perhaps guessed, that the physical educators mentioned and their schools were all taken from movies. While the characters listed and their movies, in some cases, may be forgettable, the stereotypical images they represent are not as easily forgotten. Keep reading if you would like to find out what you can learn from these teachers. Movies are an inescapable aspect of our modern culture. They are a popular form of entertainment and potentially have significant influence on individuals in our society (Farhi, 1999; Swetnam, 1992). Elliot (as cited in Farhi, 1999) found that 68 percent of an audience viewing the film jFK accepted the information presented as factual. However,jFKis more accurately described as a historical dramatization of fact blended with fiction. In examining the film portrayal of

Does Varying Attentional Focus Affect Skill Acquisition in Children? A Comparison of Internal and External Focus Instructions and Feedback

Recently, researchers have concluded that motor skill performance is enhanced when learners adopt an external attentional focus, compared to adopting an internal focus. We extended the line of inquiry to children and examined if skill learning in children was differentially affected by providing instructions and feedback that direct attentional focus internally versus externally and if the effect of attentional focus varied between younger and older children. Forty-eight children in two age groups (5–8 years old and 9–12 years old) were randomly assigned to either an internal attentional focus group or an external attentional focus group. Participants completed three 10-trial acquisition blocks of a shuffleboard accuracy task, followed by retention and transfer tests. There was no significant difference between internal and external focus groups, though older children performed significantly better than younger ones did, and all groups improved with practice. These results suggest that skill learning in children improves with task-based instruction and practice, regardless of the direction of attentional focus. More research is needed on children and attentional focus to determine whether they, and possibly other beginners, learn better with an internal or external focus of attention.