Suzan F. Ayers

The Role of PETE in Developing Joy-Oriented Physical Educators

The current focus on utilitarian outcomes (e.g., fitness, health, skill development) in physical education has not been effective in producing life-long movers and makes physical activity a duty to be performed. An alternative to a utilitarian focus is to have a joy-oriented focus in which physical activity is promoted because it is joyful, pleasurable, and personally meaningful. In this paper, we present factors that inhibit a joy-oriented focus in physical education and reasons physical education teacher education (PETE) programs have thus far failed to produce joy-oriented physical education teachers. We then present a new approach to PETE—the foundational approach—in which the joy of movement forms the foundation of and is threaded throughout the program. Ten specific changes to PETE programs are proposed to produce joy-oriented physical education teachers.

All In: Teachers' and College Faculty's Roles in Recruiting Future Physical Educators

A 10-year trend of nationwide decreases in teacher preparation enrollments has been notable in physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. Many factors have been offered as an explanation for this drop, including the convenience of online options, a strained economy, political factors, and widespread “teacher bashing.” This article uses the acculturation phase of occupational socialization theory to examine how the physical education profession can effectively recruit prospective teachers. Actions are suggested for K–12 physical educators and PETE professors, both independently and in collaboration, that could foster young peoples interest in the profession. The strategies physical educators could implement include engaging potential recruits in conversations about the physical education profession, providing teaching assistant opportunities, and setting up campus visits for students expressing interest in the profession. College/university faculty can also recruit undeclared students, nurture current PETE candidates, collaborate with local junior-college faculty and advisors, and use inservice professional development opportunities to connect with potential recruits. While none of these is the “silver bullet” to retaining a profession, each provides a way current physical education professionals may contribute to the growth of our field.

Participation in Sports and Physical Education in American Secondary Schools

What Was Done? Data were collected between 2003 and 2005 from more than 500 schools nationwide. School administrators completed questionnaires as part of the Youth, Education, and Society study on physical activity, physical education participation and requirements, and sports participation in their school. Over 54,000 students in those same schools completed questionnaires as part of the Monitoring the Future study, regarding their gender, racial selfidentifi cation, and their parents’ educational level, which was used as a proxy of socioeconomic status (SES). The data, which were analyzed in 2006, were collected from students in grades eight, 10, and 12.

Implementing Physical Best in Higher Education Courses.

JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 7 • September 2007 T he obesity epidemic in the United States has reached pandemic levels (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2000). The facts are indisputable (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2001): • 61 percent of adults in the United States were overweight or obese (BMI > 25) in 1999. • 13 percent of children ages 6 to 11 years and 14 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 19 years were overweight in 1999—nearly triple the prevalence rate for adolescents 20 years ago. • Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults, and that percentage climbs to 80 percent if one or both parents are overweight or obese. • The increases in overweight and obesity cut across all ages, racial and ethnic groups, and both genders. • 300,000 deaths each year in the United States are associated with obesity. • The economic cost of obesity in the United States was approximately

Motivations for Exercise Help Explain Body Image Differences

117 billion in 2000. While the popular press and society address this situation by electronic, textual, and subliminal advertising messages, researchers have been examining and designing potential solutions to the problem. This research has included much interest from the federal government (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1997, 2004; National Center for Health Statistics, 2004; USDHHS, 1996, 2000, 2001) and from scholars across many disciplines (e.g., Dietz, 1998; Strong, Melina, Blimkie, Daniels, Dishman, 2005). Recently more research has been conducted on childhood obesity and its relationship with physical inactivity (Blair, Morrow, Cooper Institute, & American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM], 1998; Hovell, Sallis, Kolody, & McKenzie, 1999; USDHHS, 2000; USDHHS & United States Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2005). Given the three-fold increase in the prevalence of overweight among adolescents over the last two decades, obesity is now the most prevalent chronic disease among children and adolescents in the United States (Dietz, 1998; Elkins, Cohen, Koralewicz, & Taylor, 2004). Contributing to the obesity pandemic is the fact that the percentage of adolescents who engage in the recommended amount of physical activity decreases with age, especially among adolescent girls (CDC, 2004; Hovell et al., 1999). In light of these trends, increased student enrollment in physical education has been widely encouraged for more than a decade (CDC, 1997, 2004; Dietz, 2005; Pate & Hohn, 1994; Strong et al., 2005; USDHHS, 2000, 2001). The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE, 2001) recommends that elementary schools provide students with 150 minutes of physical education per week and that Implementing Physical Best in Higher Education Courses

High School Physical Education Students' Heart Rates During Different Activities

What Was Done? The study included 571 female fitness-class participants, between the ages of 18 and 71, who were recruited from fitness centers in a metropolitan city in Australia. Prichard and Tiggemann (2008) cited earlier research indicating that one-third of exercising women use fitness centers, thereby supporting their participant selection. On average, participants had been fitness center members for 3.70 years, exercised a total of 7.62 hours per week at and outside the fitness center, and wished to be 6 kg lighter than their current body weight. A questionnaire was developed using a range of preexisting, standardized measures to assess background information, exercise participation, reasons for exercise, self-objectification, body esteem, and disordered eating behavior. Women who agreed to participate took home a copy of the questionnaire to complete at their convenience and returned it in a postage-paid envelope (51.92% response rate).

Curbing Risky Behaviors in Adolescent Athletes

8 JOPERD • Volume 80 No. 9 • November/December 2009 What Was the Question? Researchers have found that different types of activities taught in physical education demonstrate a wide range of intensities, with team games eliciting the highest percentage of moderate-tovigorous physical activity (MVPA), followed by individual activities, individual games, and movement activities. Several studies have shown a difference between the intensity of physical activity during physical education for boys compared to girls, although prior research has primarily focused on elementary and middle school programs. Laurson, Brown, Cullen, and Dennis (2008), citing recent calls for schools to assume leadership roles in promoting physical activity, examined the intensity of different types of high school physical education activities by measuring students’ heart rate responses. A secondary purpose was to identify how these responses vary by gender and grade level.

In-School Physical Activity for Children with Intellectual Disabilities

10 JOPERD • Volume 80 No. 5 • May/June 2009 What Was the Question? The pressures adolescents face to look better, perform better, and be accepted by peers can create unhealthy and dangerous behaviors, especially among athletes. Behrendt (2008) outlined two programs that have been found to reduce risky behaviors among athletes: the Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise and Nutrition Alternative (ATHENA) program, developed to address issues specific to female athletes, and the Athletes Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS) program, which is more specific to the needs and issues of male athletes.

A Descriptive Analysis of the Application of PETE Standards

Youths with intellectual disabilities (ID) have been reported to have lower levels of cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength, as well as higher levels of adiposity compared to children without ID. Pitetti, Beets, and Combs (2009) evaluated physical activity patterns of children with ID in three school settings: adapted physical education (APE), self-contained classrooms (CR), and inclusive recess (RE). Examples of ID include autistic syndrome, Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, and attention -deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the amount of time that children with ID spend in school-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This study used heart rate to measure physical activity in 15 youths (6 boys, 9 girls) ages six to 11 from a Midwestern city. All participants were classified as having ID, were in one of two self-contained classrooms in the same elementary school, and had no limiting conditions that would decrease their ability to participate in physical activity. For all settings, heart rate was measured by telemetry. Average resting heart rate (RHR) was determined by RHR measurements collected on three noncon-secutive days between 8:00 and 8:45 a.m. Total MVPA was determined by the mean time spent above 1.25 percent RHR in each of the three settings. The average times spent in MVPA were 43, 20.9, and 19.6 minutes for APE, CR, and RE, respectively. Overall, the total average MVPA was 83.5 minutes per day. Students with ID were found to achieve the recommended daily level of MVPA (i.e., 60 minutes) on most days of the week. The low intraclass correlation coefficients (0.2 RE MVPA to 0.79 APE MVPA) reflected the high variability among observations for each child. This finding indicates widely varying amounts of physical activity during monitoring periods for each child. The physical activity guidelines for school-age children recommend at least 60 minutes of MVPA on most days of the week. While little information is available about the physical activity patterns of children with ID, the participants in this study surpassed the recommended 60 minutes of MVPA during the day. This study suggests that schools can play a crucial role in promoting the recommended physical activity level for children with ID. However, due to the limitations of this study (i.e., differing class structures, teacher-student ratios, physical infrastructures, etc.), its results cannot be generalized to all students with ID. Fewer than one-third of schools in the United States have separate APE …

Intermittent Versus Continuous Walking in Obese Populations

Background: In 2008, Ayers and Housner published a descriptive analysis of undergraduate PETE programs’ application of the 2003 NASPE standards. The shift in emphases from the 2003 to 2008 standards motivated the examination of how U.S. PETE programs address current standards. Purpose: Based upon recommendations for future research, this study investigated how the 2008 NASPE beginning teacher standards are assessed. Technology, diversity, and adapted physical education (APE) were also analyzed. Method: Data were collected from 156 PETE program directors through a revised version of the Ayers and Housner online survey. Results: Programs utilized a variety of methods to assess teacher candidates’ (TC) skills, with methods of assessing each standard reported. An increased number of programs required a multicultural/cultural diversity course (77.2%), APE coursework (96.5%), and at least one technology course (91%). Discussion: PETE programs have continued to improve in faculty and TC diversity as well as responding to standards. Future standards must be written to address identified weaknesses. Subscribe to TPE