Drowning in the Shallow

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Twice in the last week I have had conversations with people about why they engage in physical activity. The first said fitness and the second said health. These have been stock answers I have heard all through my career.

Physical Activity 202

Physical Activity Fitness Fitness Health 202

Drowning in the Shallow

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

This post is a reminder to myself of the gap: A reminder that the field of PE is a messy and misunderstood one and where radical reform and ideals will ultimately fail when that messiness is not understood. A reminder that PE pre-service teachers already come with strong values and ideas about the subject.

PE 168

PE Teacher 168

Drowning in the Shallow

AUGUST 26, 2023

INTRODUCTION What is feedback? Feedback is information that is provided to learners during practice, usually after a single trial or a group of trials and is considered one of the most important and studied factors which affect the learning of knowledge, skills, and behaviours (Schmidt et al, 2019).

PE 246

PE 246

Drowning in the Shallow

JULY 9, 2023

Traditional PE. “Traditional“ A description of the way we have always done PE against more contemporary approaches. A qualifier that is used as a pejorative. Employed indiscriminately – within the academic literature, on social media and in discourse around PE – as a substitute for practice we don’t like.

Academics 228

Academics PE 228

Drowning in the Shallow

JUNE 11, 2023

There are 3 possible futures for Physical Education in England. At least according to David Kirk’s (2010) critical analysis of the subject. The darkest future is the extinction of the subject, this however is the least likely one. The most likely future for the subject is that the dominant practice, what he calls ‘PE-as-sports-techniques’, will … Continue reading More of the same?

Physical Education 246

Physical Education PE Sports Sports 246

Drowning in the Shallow

MAY 6, 2023

Meaningful PE (MPE) is a framework which recommends drawing upon and applying a set of practices within PE teaching. The essential ones (in my opinion) being; vision, shared language, reflective practices and democratic practices. Vision (Ní Chróinín et al, 2019) consists of a set of vivid and concrete hopes, practices and purposes. Having one is … Continue reading Meaningful PE – just good teaching?

Teaching 363

Teaching Teaching PE 363

Drowning in the Shallow

APRIL 8, 2023

When children turn up to PE we may not inform them of the learning intention and explain why that learning intention is valuable. If this happens our subject can seem to lack coherence. This makes it both harder for teachers to teach and for children to learn and see PE as valuable in their education. … Continue reading How can we attempt to create a greater sense of coherence within PE?

PE 246

PE Teaching Teaching Teacher 246

Drowning in the Shallow

MARCH 19, 2023

In the past fortnight I have either listened to or read other people’s opinions about the power of PE and it frustrates and disappoints me.

PE 246

PE Health Sports Sports 246

Drowning in the Shallow

FEBRUARY 26, 2023

For Catherine Ennis, if PE is to educate students for a lifetime of physical activity, then it needs to provide not just an effective experience but an engaging one as well.

PE 246

PE Physical Activity Wellness Education 246

Drowning in the Shallow

JANUARY 29, 2023

How can we ensure that experience of PE does no harm? One way is to improve our ethical decision making, which requires a shift in mindset in how we see PE, how we advocate for PE and how we respond to other people’s stories of their experience of PE.

PE 168

PE 168

Drowning in the Shallow

JANUARY 1, 2023

Top 10 read posts in 2022 Top 10 read posts written in 2022 20 mistakes I’ve made in my 20 years of teaching PE (2022) This was a reflection back on my career in PE teaching and teacher education to date and what mistakes I have made and to ensure that I don’t make similar … Continue reading Drowning in the Shallow 2022-in-review →

Teaching 135

Teaching Teaching PE Teacher 135

Drowning in the Shallow

DECEMBER 31, 2022

When we reduce things down to its simplest level the PE Teacher has only two things they have any control over to influence children’s learning in PE and making it a meaningful experience. The first is the type of tasks and practices they design for children to participate in.

PE Teacher 173

PE Teacher Teacher PE Teaching 173

Drowning in the Shallow

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

Mary Kennedy’s (2016) offers a conceptualisation of teaching that is through the lens of persistent challenges.

Motivation 130

Motivation PE Teaching Teaching 130

Drowning in the Shallow

OCTOBER 30, 2022

Questioning is an important teacher behaviour within PE. It is a key part of Rosenshine’s principles of instruction (2012).

Teacher 246

Teacher PE Teaching Teaching 246

Drowning in the Shallow

SEPTEMBER 4, 2022

Teaching PE is a continuous act of making professional judgements about the why(s), how(s) and what(s) of physical education (Quennerstedt, 2019). This is a fundamental but challenging part of a PE teachers job. It requires deep reflection and challenging what we have been encultured to think during our own PE experiences as a child. This … Continue reading What’s your PE Jigsaw Puzzle?

PE 183

PE PE Teacher Physical Education Teaching 183

Drowning in the Shallow

AUGUST 28, 2022

There is increasing political recognition of the importance of physical literacy (PL) in England. It was a critical principle underpinning UK Parliament’s (2021) recent proposal for a ‘national plan for sport, health and wellbeing‘ and the government’s response agreed that it should be an essential focus for physical education (PE) and school sport (DCMS, 2022).

Government 363

Government Physical Education PE Sports 363

Drowning in the Shallow

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

PE positions developing children’s behaviours as either one of its main outcome or as a means to achieving other valuable aims. Either way PE openly promotes itself as ‘the’ subject that can enhance grit, or resilience, or cooperation or any number of ‘education through movement’ outcomes. A 2016 Brookings Report categorises these into 4 domains … Continue reading Making the abstract concrete.

Movement 178

Movement PE Achievement Education 178

Drowning in the Shallow

DECEMBER 12, 2021

The view we have of children shapes what type of PE, school sport and school based physical activity (PESA) we provide. In a deficit based approach we see children as either at risk of becoming broken or already broken.

Strength 130

Strength Physical Activity Movement PE 130

Drowning in the Shallow

JANUARY 1, 2022

Top 10 read posts in 2021 Top 10 read posts written in 2021 What is a ‘constraints led approach’? (2016) A constraints led approach is a relatively new approach to skill acquisition.

Education 130

Education Education 130

Drowning in the Shallow

JANUARY 29, 2022

Physical Education is not inherently good. Children and young people will not automatically improve their movement, health, academic success or their pro-social behaviours just by participating in the subject. To achieve that we need to become more intentional with how we shape PE, what we fill it with and how we offer it. To ensure … Continue reading 20 mistakes I’ve made in my 20 years of teaching PE.

Teaching 130

Teaching Teaching PE Academics 130

Drowning in the Shallow

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

A week does not go by without some big claim being made about the positive developmental benefits of PE. PE will sort out children’s behaviour, better prepare children for the work place and create a fit and healthy nation. This week’s big claim is that PE will improve children’s academic achievement.

PE 130

PE Academics Achievement Fitness 130

Drowning in the Shallow

MARCH 13, 2022

Physical Education is resistant to change, or so it is said. A raft of government policies, National Curriculums and reports from interested stakeholders haven’t been able to overcome the comfort that has been created by a multi-activity sports technique focus approach. It is estimated that around 70% of change initiatives fail to achieve their planned … Continue reading 10 thoughts on PE curriculum change.

PE 130

PE Government Physical Education Achievement 130

Drowning in the Shallow

APRIL 17, 2022

The recent Ofsted research review in PE highlights that most children in PE lessons are novices and therefore need to be supported by explicit teaching strategies. Specifically high quality demonstration, instruction, feedback and practice will benefit the acquisition of important declarative and procedural knowledge.

PE 130

PE Teaching Teaching 130

Drowning in the Shallow

MAY 1, 2022

What is unique about Physical Education? Not just the uniqueness of its content but also its medium for learning (Griggs and Randall, 2022)? These question should be front and centre of any conversation about the subject. The current focus on curriculum in England and the freedom afforded by government policy (and inspection mandate) means these … Continue reading Why movement?

Movement 130

Movement Government Physical Education Education 130

Drowning in the Shallow

JUNE 11, 2022

I dislike the guiding principles of ‘broad‘ and ‘balanced‘ when it comes to thinking about the PE curriculum and the selection of activities and sports within it.

PE 130

PE Sports Sports Sport 130

Drowning in the Shallow

JULY 31, 2022

How do we improve the quality of teaching in PE and in so doing improve both student learning and the student experience?

PE 246

PE Teaching Teaching 246