Thinking differently about physical education through reflection, discussion and ongoing evaluation – blog by PE teacher Kelly Fleming
Recently, the UKPE collaborative organised a series of cross-border professional learning workshops for PE teachers. The main aim of the workshops was to create a space for PE teachers from across the four nations of the UK to discuss and share their experiences and ideas around curriculum, pedagogy and change. We’ve kept in touch with a few of the teachers, who have agreed to share their reflections from/on the workshops in a series of short blogs. In this first blog, Kelly Fleming, a PE teacher from Wales, describes the confidence she has gained from talking to other PE teachers about the challenges of curriculum innovation.
Thinking differently about physical education through reflection, discussion and ongoing evaluation
My name is Kelly Fleming and I have been teaching for 10 years. When I first graduated from university, I taught secondary PE in a Welsh medium school. However, 6 years ago, I moved to an English medium school where 3 years ago, I became the head of Health and Well-being. In this role, I lead the development of the Health and Well-being and PE curriculum in line with the new Curriculum for Wales. The new curriculum has encouraged me to reflect on the subject of PE, particularly in a changing and post-COVID world. It seems to me that young people need now more than ever before the mental, social and physical skills to cope with a changing world. This has encouraged me to think differently about PE and to begin to understand just how PE and PE teachers can support the development of these skills.
In thinking differently about PE, I believe it will be necessary to move away from some traditions, for example, those traditional sports within the curriculum that are defined as ‘for males’ and ‘for females’. Instead, we need to think much more broadly about PE, extending the concept of learning in PE from ‘performance and physical literacy’ to developing skills that young people can use beyond school. This might include areas such as relationships, bullying and substance misuse, topics that are currently taught in the classroom. However, one of the problems with this is that pupils see these as something separate from PE. One of the things I’d like to do as head of Health and Well-being is to integrate all of these areas so that pupils can connect their learning and come to value PE as a more holistic and meaningful subject.
Thinking differently about PE has been very challenging. I often feel uncertain about what I am doing, and whether or not the decisions I have made about the new curriculum are right or wrong. I decided to come along to the UKPE cross-border workshops both to listen to other PE teachers to find out what they are doing differently, and to hear their thoughts on, and discuss, some of the decisions I have made about the new Health and Well-being curriculum in my school. The discussions I had with the other teachers were extremely interesting and supportive. The other teachers empathised with me around the challenges of curriculum change and of motivating our learners. They also gave me more confidence and ideas to think differently about PE. However, at this stage, conversations were less about coming up with concrete solutions, and more about asking the right questions, for example:
• What and how do we want our pupils to learn?
• How should the curriculum change to achieve this?
• How do I need to change to support pupil learning and achievement?
• What should we assess?
• How do we involve pupils more in the decisions about their learning?
Importantly, I know now that I don’t have to answer these questions on my own. Indeed, engaging in discussions with colleagues from across the UK has been very reassuring – knowing that they are asking the same questions and encountering the same challenges. During the workshops, we were able to discuss these questions and draw on the knowledge and experiences of each other to explore potential solutions.
One of the key ideas I took from the discussions was the notion that PE (health and wellbeing) could be a space where pupils learn more about themselves, a space where young people can make connections to all aspects of their life, and not just a subject that should focus on passing an exam. PE can be a space that focuses on purposeful experiences for young people – which means that it also must be inclusive. To begin to lead towards this form of PE, I know I have to keep learning, discussing, reflecting and asking questions. This, in turn, will help me to build my confidence to think differently and innovate in PE.
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