Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance

ISSN: 0730-3084 (Print) 2168-3816 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujrd20

Issues
To cite this article: (2015) Issues, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 86:6,
56-60, DOI: 10.1080/07303084.2015.1054217
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2015.1054217

Published online: 30 Jul 2015.

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Download by: [Marissa Hazel]

Date: 26 October 2016, At: 18:31

s a future health and physical

educator, I am a firm believer
in practice makes perfect. It
is inherent in our studies that through
repeated experience, we grow more
valuable to our profession. For example,
someone who has volunteered at a day
camp for at-risk youth for several years
would be more knowledgeable of the
strategies that are successful for managing such a program than someone who
has no experience. Similarly, someone
who has direct experience working with
children with disabilities would be more
valuable in our profession than someone
with no direct experience. It would
be beneficial for students enrolled in
profession preparation programs to
student-teach children with disabilities
as part of a graduation requirement. Students would then gain the ability to plan
inclusive lessons and think creatively in
order to accommodate these children
through their own repeated trial and
error process. This experience would
cultivate invaluable physical educators
who have taken part in an immersive
experience that mirrors the real educational experience. Being exposed to
the reality of a classroom with children
on every end of the spectrum would be
the ideal method of preparation for our
undergraduates. Unfortunately, I know
that this is currently not the case in
many colleges and universities. But only
through repeated practice in real-life
settings will our future professionals become perfect at teaching students with
disabilities.
Marissa Hazel, student,
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

believe that profession preparation programs can better physical

educators for teaching students with
disabilities by placing the educators in

56 Volume 86Number 6 August 2015

real-life situations. This could be a part

of the educators coursework for a semester. For example, require the educators
to complete two hours of observations in
a classroom environment with students
with disabilities. Following the observations, the educators could be required to
teach the class a minimum of five hours
(minimum of 4 lessons). This would
allow educators to get a good feel for
what it takes to teach in a classroom with
students with disabilities. This would not
only benefit the educator, it would also
benefit the educators future students
with disabilities.
Kail Singleton, graduate student,
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

s the parent of a child with a

disability, I feel that the only real
preparation one can get is to
work with children with disabilities. Not

just stop in for a brief little visit once or

twice a year, but really work with them
day in and day out and see the struggles
and the triumphs that some of these kids
face on a daily basis. For some of these
kids just getting their shoes on the right
foot is an accomplishment and teachers
need to know this before they go in. You
have to temper your expectations a bit
when working with kids with disabilities
but you also have to know that they are
not helpless. These kids need to learn all
that they are capable of learning because
there may come a point in their lives
when mom or dad or whoever takes
care of them is no longer around. I think
preservice teachers need to learn how to
teach basic life skills in a way that can
connect with these kids. Teachers also
need to know how to use technology to
their benefit.
Christopher Chestnutt, student,
Laramie County Community College,
Cheyenne, WY.

Do we need a national curriculum for

K12 physical education?
January Question

Issues

How can professional preparation programs

better prepare physical educators for teaching
students with disabilities?

Respond briefly* and send your response by October 5,

to JOPERD, Issues, 1900 Association Dr., Reston, VA 20191,
or email: joperd@shapeamerica.org

*Preferred length is 200 words or less; occasionally, longer responses may be considered.
Please include your institutions name and your position whether faculty or staff member,
administrator, or student. We also welcome suggestions for future Issues questions.

ndividualized education programs

are an important component of
teaching students with disabilities.
Preparation programs would have a
beneficial impact if they provided a better understanding of a students needs, as
well as realistic goals for the individual
student. The Americans with Disabilities
Act has taught us the importance of accommodation and the best way for physical education instructors to understand
what those accommodations should
look like, and their importance, would
be through a professional preparation
program. These professional preparation
programs should be facilitated by subject
matter experts so that preservice teachers may become competent in teaching
students with disabilities.
Daniel Murphy, graduate student,
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

fter learning about the characteristics of the different

disabilities and how this affects

students motor development, behavior

and interaction with others, educators
must learn the strategies that can be
used to work with these children. While
some strategies are universal and can
be used for children with or without
disabilities, some disabilities require a
more structured approach with focused
routines and repetition, and specific
equipment modifications such as those
used for students with visual impairment. Physical educators would also
need to know how to communicate with
these children in ways that they can
understand. It would be frustrating for
a student with dyslexia to go through
a personalized system of instruction
(PSI) approach, which involves a lot of
reading and the use of a workbook to
learn the required skills and perform the
designed tasks. Modifications to provide
more audio-visual materials may be necessary in this case and physical educators working with these children would
need to recognize those needs and figure
out ways to better engage such students.
All students need to be provided with
positive learning experiences so that
they can enjoy physical education and
physical activity and eventually lead a
healthy and active life. This is even more
important when students with disabilities are put into inclusive classes. Professional preparation programs must then
consider including at least one module
on adapted physical education as a core
component, so that physical educators
are prepared to give their best to all their
students.
Gwendoline Wendy Koh, graduate
student, Georgia State University,
Atlanta, GA.

n order to better prepare physical

educators to teach students with
disabilities, these teachers need
to understand how disabilities affect
movement and how to determine the
proper modifications that will still
encourage growth and development
in each individual student. Appropriate progressions include ones that aim
to help students reach the next generic
level of proficiency. Each student is at a

different level, including students with

disabilities. If physical educators can
properly identify how a students disability will affect their movement and
identify several extensions or modifications of the skill, it will ultimately help
that student reach their full potential. At
The College of New Jersey, we have an
entire class dedicated to adapted physical
education. In addition, every assignment
in our other classes requires us to create
modifications for students that encourage proper development and success.
Thanks to this, I am comfortable dealing
with a variety of disabilities and a variety
of modifications or extensions so that
my future students can acquire the skills
they need to be successful.
Jessica Waldeck, undergraduate,
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

Issues

aving physical educators who

are highly trained for teaching students with disabilities
will lead to more student success and
positive educational outcomes for all
students. Students with disabilities will
have a greater learning opportunity
because they will have access to different
learning styles that will accommodate
their personal needs. Those who are
qualified to teach APE should be able
to design achievement-based programs,
implement high-quality instruction, and
demonstrate leadership and advocacy.
They should provide instructional strategies; modify activities, environments and
equipment; and incorporate technology
that could help the students learn in a
different way (Wii, Xbox Kinect, etc.).
Those who are not already qualified to
teach students with disabilities should
take full advantage of professional
preparation programs to become better
prepared physical educators.
Taylor Offredo, student,
The College of New Jersey,
Hamilton, NJ.

eaching students with disabilities has to be one of the hardest

things for any educator. Physical
educators have an extremely hard task
because they have to incorporate all the
students into one lesson. Almost all
students with disabilities are mainstreamed into regular physical education classes. There are only a few select
programs that have a physical education
class just for students with disabilities.
Although as students at The College of
New Jersey we learn how to adjust our
lesson plans to accommodate students
with disabilities and injuries, I believe
all programs need to go a step further
in preparing future physical educators. I
truly believe that all physical educators
should take at least one class to adapt
to teaching students with disabilities.
There is not enough emphasis on
teaching students with disabilities the
importance of physical education. The
more people that physical educators can
influence, the better the results we will
see in student progression. As physical
educators become better prepared to
teach students with disabilities, hopefully the result will be more students
reaching the generic levels of skill
proficiency.
Jason Potts, student, The College
of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

JOPERD 57

Issues

s a former paraprofessional
who worked in a high school,
I know from experience the
level of preparedness some professionals have who work with students with
disabilities. I and a few of my coworkers
had little to no experience or knowledge
about working with these students. We
were all hired for different reasons, but
the fact remains we were not qualified
professionals. Since studying at Georgia
State University (GSU), I have been
exposed to a curriculum that not only
educates me about students with various
disabilities but also gives me opportunities to work with some of these students.
I think that universities should mimic
what GSU is doing by requiring courses
that inform them about students with
disabilities and also require various
practical experiences. These courses
would start at the undergraduate level
by teaching physical education students
background information about special
education; various learning, physical and
emotional disabilities; and about possible
modifications within physical education.
Then students should be provided with
observational experiences to get their
feet wet and become more comfortable
working with students with disabilities.
After the initial experience, students
should be given more in-depth information followed by more opportunities
to work with students with disabilities
on a more involved level. I know I am
not an expert on working with students
with disabilities but I know I am more
comfortable, prepared and educated on
the matter than I once was as a paraprofessional.
Patrick Hampton, graduate
student, Georgia State University,
Atlanta, GA.

roviding opportunities to work

with children with disabilities and
teaching strategies helps to lay a
foundation on which the PETE candidates can build resources to help them
interact with students. I also believe
there have to be discussions regarding what students know about a given
disability and then analyze information

58 Volume 86Number 6 August 2015

and research-based findings on best

practices for working with a student in
a physical activity setting. Through this
multi-pronged approach I believe we
will be providing our PETE candidates
a starting point to build their skills and
knowledge.
Cynthia Henning, director/
instructor, Laramie County Community
College, Cheyenne, WY.

know each students needs because not

every case is identical. Once the needs
are understood, the next step is learning
how to innovate. The teacher does not
have to come up with all the solutions
on his or her own, they should also be
taught who to reach out to, such as a
specialist or online resource.
Allison Bokser, student,
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

here are two important factors

that can help teachers who work
with students with disabilities.
The first is a broad understanding of
what the needs are of students with
disabilities. Too often a teacher will be
equipped with how to teach the lesson,
but will not realize how to actually
deliver that specific lesson to cater to the
needs of a particular disability. Matching
delivery with the specific need is the first
area that programs can improve on. The
next area is time in the field. There is no
substitute for putting in the hours in the
field to see learning occur. John Wooden
once said, You havent taught until they
have learned. This is true with students
in general, but especially with students
with disabilities. It takes time to see true
learning take place. This can only be
accomplished through many hours in
the field of executing lesson plans and
observing student progress. These two
areas could be a huge improvement to
how teachers are prepared to work with
students with disabilities.
Taylor Davis, student, Georgia
State University, Atlanta, GA.

ccording to the Individuals

withDisabilities Education Act
(IDEA) under the federal law
there are specific disabilities the school
will provide services for. In a physical
education class these disabilities may
require more innovative methods to help
the students succeed. In order to make
this possible, professional preparation
programs need to prepare physical
educators to research each disability
properly and know how to communicate
with each student. It is important to

n Singapore, physical education

teachers are not prepared to teach
students with disabilities. Children
with severe disabilities normally attend
a special school, and more recently students with disabilities like mild autism,
ADHD, etc. are attending mainstream
schools. I remember as a beginning
teacher, I had a boy in my class with
autism. He would occasionally let out
a scream and fly into a rage. Once he
threatened to jump off the school building and I was too shocked to respond. I
wished my teacher preparation program
had included courses that would educate
us on how to deal with students with
disabilities, and how to motivate them.
In addition, gaining some real-world
experience at a school or with a trained
teacher would have helped prevent my
shock at certain behaviors and I would
have known what to do in those situations.
Lena Chng, graduate student,
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

n order to be better prepared to

teach students with disabilities, I
believe that it is necessary that we
first understand the disabilities better.
By offering courses that educate future
professionals on the specifics of the
disabilities that they will likely face, we
would be able to better adapt our teaching styles, lessons and expectations of
students. This would create an environment that fosters the growth of students
while continuously adapting to their
needs and changes in moods and behaviors. Furthermore, future professionals
would learn how to better teach to each
student while keeping in mind their

t is critical for all physical educators

to provide a lesson plan that allows
students of all physical, cognitive
and affective skill levels to be successful.
I believe that professional preparation
programs can better prepare physical
educators for teaching students with
disabilities by requiring a separate teaching license or credential specializing in
adapted physical education. Some states
have already made this mandatory, however, being a student at The College of
New Jersey I hope that the state of New
Jersey will soon follow their lead. In addition, physical educators should be provided with proper equipment that allows
them to create appropriate modifications
for students with disabilities. Another
way to prepare physical educators for
teaching students with disabilities would
be to have them meet with the students
every Monday before the start of classes
for 1520 minutes. The teacher can then
briefly inform the students of what sport
or skill they will be practicing that week.
When it comes time for their physical
education class, the students will feel
more comfortable and less overwhelmed
since they are better prepared and were
provided with prior knowledge. Overall,
better preparing adapted physical educators can lead to significant student success and positive educational outcomes.
Carly Setaro, student,
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

ollege preparation programs

could better prepare future
physical education teachers by
requiring students to complete an internship before their student teaching. The

internship would consist of a student

following a current adapted physical
education teacher for 8 weeks. While
following the teacher, students would be
required to complete meaningful assignments that would better prepare them
for future teaching.
Jenny Watkins, adapted physical
education teacher, Gwinnett County
Schools, Lawrenceville, GA.

ypically, physical education

teacher education (PETE) programs offer one adapted physical
education course during preservice
education. I am confident that a more
comprehensive approach is the way to
go. Adapted physical education should
be woven into every course during
preservice physical education studies. Additionally, service learning and
community outreach would provide a
more authentic experience for preservice
teachers and better prepare them to meet
students needs who have a diverse range
and severity of disabilities. A more applicable base of laws affecting students with
disabilities, and the IEP process, are necessary. Consequently, preservice teachers
will be adequately equipped to serve
their students with the support of other
professionals such as classroom teachers,
PTs and OTs. A General Teachers Guide
to Teaching Students with Disabilities in
General Physical Education is a great text
and PETE professors should adopt this
book to prepare preservice teachers on
least restrictive environments and how to
learn about families hopes and dreams
for their children. In taking a more
comprehensive approach to adapted
physical education, PETE graduates will
successfully support all students physical
literacy journey.
Amanda Stanec, founder of Move
Live Learn, St Louis, MO.

ducators have to look at the different ways of learning and teaching,

and understand that not every
individual learns the same way or even
at the same rate. They must know how to

encourage students and be very patient

with them. Just because a student has a
disability does not mean they cannot be
physically active. Preparing appropriate
lesson plans, evaluating and assessing
the performance of students to identify
their strengths and needs, and promoting a positive attitude regarding all
students in the classroom or gymnasium
are all things preparation programs can
teach their students. They must also be
aware of all federal, state and local laws
regarding physical activity, and stay up
to date on all professional organizations
and journals. Professional preparation
programs can help educators understand
these methods, approaches and laws in
order to provide quality physical education to students with disabilities.
Sierra Kuno, student, Laramie
County Community College,
Cheyenne, WY.

Issues

strengths and weaknesses. For instance,

if a student has a physical disability, it is
important to adapt games so they can
practice their strengths without feeling
inferior based on their weaknesses. If a
student has a mental impairment, breaking down the rules and emphasizing the
feelings of others would help compensate
for their impairment.
Roisin Dougherty, student,
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

he classroom is an environment
that is always changing, and because of that educators need to be
taught how to adjust when things dont
go as planned or as expected. Programs
often do a good job at teaching educators
how to adapt to most problems involving equipment, space to teach, weather,
and many other variable factors, but do
not necessarily touch on how to adjust
to a student with disabilities coming into
the classroom unexpectedly. I believe
that professional preparation programs
should also focus on how to integrate
students with disabilities by accommodating their lessons to the needs of the
students.
Theodor Chomyszak, student,
The College of New Jersey, Wharton, NJ.

ociety has finally come to an

understanding that people with
disabilities have valuable skills and
talents, which are simply different from
those without disabilities. Just because a
child has a disability, does not mean they
should not have the same educational
opportunities. This is where teachers
who participate in professional prepara-

JOPERD 59

Issues

tion programs come into play. Physical

educators who participate in such programs will learn to highlight knowledge
and skills for a lifetime of physical activity, and provide many different physical
activity choices to meet the needs of
students with disabilities and all other
students. Professional preparation programs will also help teachers introduce
students with disabilities to cooperative
as well as competitive games, develop
self-confidence, eliminate practices that
make students feel uncomfortable or excluded, help students set and reach goals,
teach self-management skills, teach
fair play and much more. Professional
preparation programs will ultimately
help physical educators optimize the
education they provide to all students,
especially those with disabilities.
Zack Vasilenko, student,
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

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ectures, discussions, panels and

observations are all beneficial to
physical educators to understand
how to interact with students with disabilities. However, none of that will be
effective in the field as a hired physical
educator if they do not interact with
these students in a realistic setting. It
is difficult to describe what it is like
to work in such a unique situation as
teaching students with disabilities. Each
student is unique in their own beautiful
way, but without specific experience,
there should be no surprise if educators
are discouraged when they finally are
exposed to real-life teaching experiences
not because they fail to see the beauty
in these students, but because they were
not prepared.
Kyle Anderson, student,
The College of New Jersey,
Woodbridge, NJ.

believe my program addresses the

subject of students with disabilities
in a tremendous way. We have a
course called Adapted Kinetics devoted
to learning how to teach students with
specific disabilities. Students can learn
about ways to modify lesson plans,
special equipment they can purchase to
include every student in every lesson,
and how to teach students with disabilities in ways that they can understand
and perform better.
Dana Bianchi, student,
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ.

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60 Volume 86Number 6 August 2015

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