A new kind of P.E. begins to evolve in local middle schools

A new kind of P.E. begins to evolve in local middle schools

By Bill E. Brock

Special to the Acorn

Part II of two parts

Physical education isn’t necessarily viewed as education and P.E. teachers are rarely treated as colleagues by their peers.

Educators concede that overcrowded P.E. classes can sometimes become free-for-alls with little guidance. However, to reduce class size, the number of P.E. teachers would have to be doubled–and that’s highly unlikely with today’s tight budgets.

Budget crunches eliminated showers after P.E. classes, turning shower space into storage rooms.

"Most P.E. department budgets are appallingly low. The overwhelming percentage of money is spent on team sports that encompasses about 15 percent of a student body," said A.E. Wright Middle School P.E. instructor Jean (pronounced John) Flemion. The remaining 85 percent of students must share no equipment, little equipment or broken equipment.

It’s taken a major downsizing and erosion of classes for P.E. teachers to get smart. Their creation to counter the negativity and adversity is "The New P.E."

Its acceptance ebbs and tides across the country but awareness is evolving that physical activity is a necessary component of a kid’s educational experience.

Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) is a leader in school districts embracing the new P.E.

In 1994, California devised a Physical Education Framework (The New P.E.) that isn’t a law; it’s not even a part of the Education Code; it’s really a compilation of suggestions that school districts are encouraged to implement.

The framework emphasizes three major goals for physical education courses: movement skills, self-image and social development.

Whereas the three Rs of the "old P.E." were take roll, roll out the ball, and relax, the "New P.E." might ideally reveal a student in a gym complete with health club equipment, including heart rate monitors.

Critics say it costs too much. Proponents counter that it’s the same cost as a computer lab and it’s not obsolete in two years.

Kids do participate in activities such as golf, dancing, fencing, circus skills, handball, tennis, archery and rock wall climbing—a far cry from the days of dodge ball and running laps.

The premise is that a physically educated person should master the necessary movement skills to participate in many different physical activities and not be limited to just mainstream team sports, which dominate many P.E. programs. This variety enables the I, we and team concepts to join together and take on added meaning.

Dennis Ritterbush, Agoura High School P.E. Department Chairman, said, "P.E. today—compared to yesterday—is much broader in its objective. Teachers are more involved with the kids as individuals. Playing football is not our emphasis because the kid is not going to be playing football at age 21. We work on lifetime skills they can use."

The framework also addresses athletes skipping P.E. classes because of participating in a school sport. Specialized sports are an inadequate substitute because 99 percent of varsity athletes don’t continue with their sport and thus don’t receive a lifetime benefit.

Winning or losing is not the crux of the new P.E. As a matter of fact, it conflicts with stated goals. The competition comes from a kid making the most of his or her capabilities.

The reward isn’t winning but providing a kid with an intrinsic accolade from doing his or her best.

According to the California Department of Education, it’s a common mistake to excessively emphasize competition when children are too young.

At only about the age of 11 are kids ready physiologically, socially and emotionally to participate in intense levels of competition.

John Crow, Agoura High P.E. teacher said, "Kids learn competition more in the youth programs offered outside school rather than in the middle schools. Wright and Lindero (middle schools) have good programs that shy away from straight competition."

Wright and Lindero middle schools do few traditional sports in traditional ways. Games such as basketball are modified to three-on-three to encourage participation. This creates a non-threatening environment in which a youngster is never humiliated from lack of physical prowess.

"An effective P.E. program balances and contributes to academic learning and should not be separate and distinct from the school’s core curriculum," said Flemion, a former national Physical Educator of the Year.

"Grades are not based on a kid’s skill ability but on their involvement, willingness to learn and self-improvement," Flemion said. "Wright P.E. students are assigned homework to maintain passing grades."

The new P.E.’s focus is to teach kids how to become lifelong learners because lifelong learning is as relevant to physical education as it is to other courses.

But the learning process often stumbles in high school. The middle schools transgress and try to offer more than what the kids will get in high school because the learning experience at the next level can be mediocre.

"I agree by all means that high school P.E. should be more effectively teaching lifelong skills. The problem is we can’t get the state, the district and the school in line to make that happen," said Ritterbush. "You can’t teach the learning skills to 60 kids in a class. There’s a shortage of teachers, time and equipment."

Flemion echoed that opinion. "Wright has an award-winning program, but my class size is in the low 40s. Our class size should not be any larger than any other class, but they aren’t. The district doesn’t support reducing class size."

Regardless of the crowded conditions, the vision is that if P.E. is motivational for an individual, he or she will value physical fitness and understand its intimate relationship to overall health and well being, and make it a part of their normal daily routine, like brushing teeth.

In the new P.E., games and sports are means to an end, not an end in themselves.