Breaking the Cycle: Preparing the Next Generation of Culturally Responsive Physical Education Teachers

Abstract

The traditional way of teaching physical education can invisibly perpetuate equity, inclusion, privilege, and oppression and reinforce those experiences based on the physical educator’s instructional strategies. The adherence to “traditional” curricula and pedagogy is a disservice to students in 21st-century physical education classes and is a call to action for change. To constructively address this problem, physical education teacher education programs must address equity, inclusion, privilege, and oppression within the curriculum and pedagogy. Strategies can include implementing critical pedagogy through assigned coursework, incorporating meaningful fieldwork experiences and critical reflection, and connecting with students. These strategies can help physical education teacher education programs develop culturally responsive physical educators.

Keywords: physical education; physical education teacher education (PETE); social justice; culturally responsive physical education teachers

Introduction

Imagine if all students experienced physical education in an inclusive way, where oppression and privilege did not exist. Within the context of physical education, these structures and other tenets of social justice are often present but need to be addressed. For this article, social justice is defined as recognizing and addressing concerns surrounding race, gender, class, sexual orientation, disability, and other marginalized groups (Theoharis, 2007), while oppression is the unfair and unequal treatment of people and is often related to discrimination, racism, ableism, sexism, among others (Harrison & Clark, 2016). 

The adherence to “traditional” curricula and pedagogy is a disservice to students in 21st century physical education classes and is a call to action for change. While student populations are becoming more diverse, white educators continue to be prevalent in K-12 teaching and PETE at the post-secondary level of education (Harrison & Clark, 2016), reinforcing the importance of educators becoming culturally responsive to meet the needs of all learners and change their instructional approaches. Further, Ferry (2018) found that how individuals experienced K-12 physical education strongly influenced pre-service teachers’ teaching approach. Therefore, it is essential that physical education teacher education (PETE) programs effectively address social justice issues so that future educators can better serve students from marginalized groups. Bell (2007) discussed the importance of learning from the past and experiences because it helps trace patterns of oppression. Social justice education helps provide opportunities for individuals to develop critical analysis and examine oppression and their socialization and privileges (Bell, 2007).

Developing culturally responsive physical education teachers is one way to infuse social justice into the discipline. Gay (2002) defined culturally responsive teaching as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for teaching them more effectively” (p. 106). Culturally responsive teachers understand that everyone has something to offer and that what is learned does not solely come from the teacher (Gay, 2002). Culturally responsive teaching practices include engaging students, sharing lived experiences, and building student connections (Gay, 2002). These same strategies can be used in PETE programs to support the diverse students in our classes and alleviate historical injustices in physical education (Harrison & Clark, 2016). PETE programs should teach critical pedagogy and social justice education to prepare culturally responsive teachers. 

Dowling et al. (2015) discussed the importance of critical pedagogy in physical education by addressing the context and history in which it has been taught. How physical education has been taught historically can impact how it is experienced, replicating social injustices. For example, physical education has reinforced activities and sports that favor non-disabled, white, heterosexual males (Harrison & Clark, 2016). To diffuse the appeal of physical education to a broader student population, PETE instructors need to become “orchestrators” of change (Battilana & Kimsey, 2017) by leading by example, infusing the curriculum with diverse sports that offer spaces for other definitions of what it means to be “athletic” to step into the spotlight as both students and physical educators. PETE programs can break the cycle of reproduction of oppression, inequities, and privilege within physical education by changing their approach to preparing pre-service physical education teachers.

PETE programs can prepare pre-service teachers to become change agents if the instructors attend to the perceptions students bring to the program from their K-12 experiences in physical education. PETE program instructors must ask themselves: Do students’ experiences differ based on privilege and oppression? Who benefits from participating in physical education? Why should PETE programs change? How can PETE programs address social justice and develop culturally responsive teachers, and are PETE faculty replicating what and how they were taught? A change must start with PETE programs to ensure they serve today’s students. Stoll (2011) voiced three questions about social justice in education that should be considered: “whom do we teach, what do we teach, and how do we teach” (p. 36). These questions can be answered by examining the curriculum and determining what is taught and why it is taught (Klein, 1991). Incorporating critical reflection and dialogue into the PETE program is a great starting point. Strategies to prepare pre-service teachers to become change agents for social justice should include the use of intentional dialogue and assigned coursework that expects students to “lean into” challenging topics, providing experiential learning opportunities that offer different experiences from traditional physical education, incorporating meaningful fieldwork experiences along with critical reflection, and building relationships to make authentic connections with students. These strategies will be examined in more detail in the following sections.

Table 1. Strategies to Prepare PETE Students to Become Culturally Responsive Educators

Coursework in PETE Programs

One strategy for preparing culturally responsive teachers is to purposefully integrate topics and materials that address diversity, equity, and inclusion into coursework. Walton-Fissette et al. (2018) suggested that one way to develop culturally responsive teachers is through scholarly readings. PETE instructors need to be intentional about the scholarly readings they provide their students. Well-chosen readings that offer diverse perspectives can promote opportunities to educate students about topics such as social justice, privilege, and oppression, mainly when students are introduced to authors with diverse backgrounds. See Table 2 for a list of example readings that could be implemented into PETE curriculums. 

Culturally responsive teachers realize that having students read the articles is essential, but reflecting on them is critical. Students must consider how the information they read can be integrated into their lives and future teaching. This critical application step can be accomplished by writing reflective papers or actively participating in classroom discussions. Discussions enable students to think about the readings differently while hearing alternate perspectives from their classmates. PETE instructors need to teach students to be reflective to help create awareness of biases and ways they unintentionally perpetuate and uphold the traditional view of a physical education teacher. This self-awareness is imperative to the development of culturally responsive teachers.

Another way to cultivate alternate perspectives is through meaningful coursework, such as a personal essay. The paper allows students to reflect on their lives, positionalities and identities, and experiences with physical education. Further, students should be encouraged to consider why they chose the profession, how they were influenced to pursue study in the field, and how their life experiences have impacted who they are. An assignment of this type enables students to reflect on their lives and how they see themselves. Culp and Schmidlein (2012) discussed the importance of pre-service teachers reflecting on their own cultures, experiences, values, and beliefs and their impact on how they interact with their students. Following the personal essay assignment, it is essential to have a follow-up discussion to make space for students to hear from classmates’ perspectives and learn how physical education has been a common denominator in bringing everyone into the field. The essay and in-class discussion enable the students to tell their stories.

Another assignment that could promote an understanding of different cultural backgrounds would be creating a bulletin board to develop a theme based on equity, diversity, or inclusion that draws on diverse resources and material. Students could do this task as an assignment and take it into the field. Assigned coursework will help prepare PETE students to incorporate what they learn in the classroom into their fieldwork experiences. Making connections from coursework to experiences is an essential part of PETE programs. See Appendix A for a more detailed explanation of the assignments. 

PETE programs must understand the importance of the activities and pedagogical approaches taught and emphasized throughout the program. The activities should be inclusive, equitable, meaningful, and engaging. Student involvement and engagement are essential to culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2002). Ferry (2018) discussed past experiences in physical education, such as team sports in a competitive setting. While competitive team sports meet the needs of athletic, non-disabled individuals, they can exclude others, given the nature of the sport. The focus in physical education should be on inclusive activities that meet the needs of all students, and it is essential to make future physical educators aware of that philosophy and incorporate activities and different pedagogical approaches that align with an inclusive perspective. The first step to teaching inclusive activities is to determine which pedagogical approach to use. Demonstrating these different approaches throughout the PETE program can help students understand how to meet the needs of all students. Teaching PETE students different approaches, such as Sport Education or the Meaningful PE framework, can help reinforce inclusive practices and provide meaningful experiences in physical education. The Meaningful PE framework emphasizes social interaction, challenge, fun, motor competence, personally relevant learning, and delight (Fletcher et al., 2021). Using this framework can help create an environment that promotes meaningful experiences for students and helps meet the needs of diverse learners. When PETE students create activities or lessons to teach, a requirement should be that the activities are inclusive and meet the needs of diverse learners, which can be accomplished by using different pedagogical approaches. PETE instructors must ensure that the activities and games taught in their classes reinforce what should be taught in physical education to help change the profession. To further the application of a social justice mindset, the history or background of the sport or activity being taught could be shared, and those choices could be representative of other cultures and traditions. By introducing various inclusive activities throughout the program, PETE students can incorporate the activities learned throughout their fieldwork experiences.

Table 2. Example Readings to Incorporate into PETE Curriculums

Meaningful Fieldwork Experiences in PETE Programs

Another way to incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices into PETE programs is by providing meaningful fieldwork experiences for pre-service teachers. Flory and McCaughtry (2014) advocate for teaching physical education in culturally relevant ways by providing well-planned, meaningful experiences that promote diversity and multicultural education. They further suggest that PETE programs prepare pre-service teachers to teach the content they may not have experienced, learn about the community they will teach in, and use innovative strategies to bridge cultural differences (Flory & McCaughtry, 2014). Walton-Fissette et al. (2018) supported this approach when they explored the idea of providing students with intentionally planned learning experiences and teachable moments to help educate students about social justice. Fieldwork experiences are often a certification requirement and a way to provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to gain experience in teaching. These placements offer future educators a chance to implement what they have learned throughout the PETE program and are hard to replicate in the classroom. For PETE students to become more culturally responsive, they should be placed in fieldwork experiences that differ from their K-12 physical education experience to offer a different perspective. For example, if the student grew up in a predominantly white community, providing them with an opportunity to experience a more diverse community or a community that differs from theirs would be beneficial. If several fieldwork experiences are required, the pre-service teachers should complete those experiences in various settings and diverse contexts to offer multiple perspectives. PETE programs need to incorporate a variety of fieldwork experiences so that students can learn and become culturally responsive teachers. 

After fieldwork experiences, students should reflect critically upon these experiences to build self-awareness and become more culturally responsive. Reflective journaling is one strategy that can be leveraged to capture the students’ ideas, thoughts, and emotions. PETE faculty could provide students with a list of questions or prompts to stimulate their thinking about their experience in the placement and what they have learned about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging through the lens of physical education. Prompts may include questions such as: How did the fieldwork experience differ from their K-12 physical education experience? In what ways were the games equitable, or how could they be adapted to invite greater participation? Did the experience reinforce what is being taught in the classroom, and is there anything they would do differently? Finally, a space should be created for students to share their experiences with classmates to enhance their understanding of diverse contexts.

Establishing Connections with Students

Finally, pre-service teachers need to understand the importance of establishing connections with students and how it relates to being a culturally responsive teacher. McCaughtery and Centeio (2014) stated, “Good physical educators know their students and community cultures and build physical education curriculums around them” (p. 12). Culp (2014) suggested that teachers who accept and respect differences among their students develop successful physical education programs. PETE faculty must teach future physical educators how to create a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment by leading through example.

One culturally responsive teaching strategy is demonstrating how teachers can connect with their students through conversation and providing opportunities to listen and learn from each other. Teachers and students can learn from each other through intentional dialogue, as suggested by Freire (2000). His problem-posing education involves a conversation between students and educators in which they can learn from each other, rather than the teacher being the one to ‘deposit’ the information (Freire, 2000). This teaching style enables students to be critical thinkers and develop into culturally responsive teachers. Not only should teachers establish connections with their students, but PETE faculty should also establish these connections with the pre-service teachers in their programs. Pre-service teachers bring their own experiences and perceptions about physical education and learn from each other’s experiences through intentional dialogue. Pre-service teachers must understand that physical education experiences can result from privilege and oppression and that not all experiences are positive. The more physical educators know about their students, the more effectively they can address issues surrounding social justice. For example, physical educators can connect with students from cultures that differ from their own by learning about their culture through research and conversations with the students. After the physical educator has learned about the different cultures, the next step would be to teach a game or activity from the students’ culture, demonstrating empathy and respect. Connecting with students builds trust and respect, which is critical to becoming a culturally responsive teacher.

Conclusion

This article aims to provide PETE programs with strategies to develop culturally responsive teachers. School populations are becoming more diverse, so PETE programs must respond by supporting students to be social justice advocates. PETE programs must evaluate how they prepare pre-service teachers and examine the opportunities within the curriculum and pedagogy to disrupt traditional teaching. PETE programs should focus on developing culturally responsive teachers and teaching future educators that all their students have something to offer. The challenge for physical educators is to get all students involved and embrace the different experiences they bring to the classroom. Physical educators must learn about the context of the culture, set high expectations for their students, and offer a variety of student-centered instructional strategies (Lund & Tannehill, 2015).

PETE programs must constructively address diversity, equity, inclusion, privilege, and oppression to develop pre-service teachers into culturally responsive teachers and break the cycle of replication of physical educators’ teaching based on their past experiences. Incorporating critical pedagogy and intentional dialogue into assigned coursework, providing experiential learning opportunities, incorporating meaningful fieldwork experiences and critical reflection, and connecting with students can accomplish this. These strategies will enable instructors to revise their interactions and disrupt replication. It is time physical educators become change agents by incorporating culturally responsive teaching practices into physical education.

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