Falling in Love with the Outdoors…Again

Depending on your geographical location, the fall season can be the prelude to the arrival of more harsh weather to come or just a cooler spell following a long hot summer. This month, we want to share with you some fall activity ideas regardless of the weather or temperatures you might be facing.

For many of us, the comfortable temperatures of fall provide some wonderful opportunities for expanding our physical education and extra-curricular programs. It’s a great time to encourage students and their families to be physically active and especially to get them outside and developing a love and appreciation of the outdoors.

17221 Grad Chamber Ads 9-20232

Read More

Preventing ACL Injuries: A Practical Program for Educators

With the rise in obesity and sedentary rates, and subsequent chronic conditions, it seems imperative, now, perhaps more than ever before, that we encourage children and adolescents to be physically active.  But, what if a lack of interest stems from fear of injury?

While ACL injuries disproportionately affect female athletes, accounting for 69% of serious knee injuries when compared to their male counterparts (Gomez, DeLee, & Farney, 1996), the latter is certainly not excluded from this injury pathology.  As practitioners, our role is not limited to performance improvement, we must also be able to identify, provide, and prevent potential injuries.  Running faster and jumping higher should no longer be the hub of engagement in physical activity.  Alternatively, in order to cultivate lifelong movers, we should be training proper movement strategies. Thus, reducing the risk of injury, the associated fear, and consequently increasing the longevity of a physically active lifestyle.

This article was originally published on January 3, 2020.

Read More

Physical Education Trailblazers – A Contemporary Look

By definition a trailblazer is simply a “leader or pioneer in a particular field.” If you’ve studied the history of physical education you’ll be familiar with many of our original trailblazers. These professionals, who broke away from the European influences and created the American system of Physical Education included W.G. Anderson, J.B. Nash, Edward Hitchcock, Clark Hetherington, Luther H. Gulick and the authors of “The New Physical Education,” Thomas Wood and Rosiland Cassidy. This book reshaped Physical Education in 1927 and changed the profession from a medical orientation to a comprehensive, educational approach. These first Physical Education trailblazers pursued different paths and redirected the field to help meet the ever-changing societal demands of their time in history.

This article was originally published on April 1, 2014 : https://www.pheamerica.org/2014/physical-education-trailblazers-a-contemporary-look/

Interestingly, during the evolution of a trailblazer’s work these individuals are often criticized, overlooked, or ridiculed for their different perspectives or theories. A real trailblazer, however, possesses a special sense of conviction and purpose and the ability to persevere even when others have doubted their passion for change and innovation.

Read More

Leading as a Scholar with a Physical Limitation: Just Talk to Me

(Article 5 of 5)

People with physical disabilities hold limited positions as scholars, teachers, or leaders in physical education, recreation, and sport. Perhaps the reason is that the field is flooded with able-bodied people who think they know best. But do they? Michael Oliver, imminent writer, and scholar argued that people with physical disabilities should be the only ones in the field of disability studies because they have a bodily experience with disabilities. The following five-part article series shares the perspective of a scholar in the field of disability sports who has her own physical limitations. In each article, she discusses a different issue a person with a physical disability faces in the profession of physical education, recreation, and sport.

Part V: Just Talk to Me

Read More

Leading as a Scholar with a Physical Limitation: If You Cannot Do It – Can You Teach It?

(Article 4 of 5)

People with physical disabilities hold limited positions as scholars, teachers, or leaders in physical education, recreation, and sport. Perhaps the reason is that the field is flooded with able-bodied people who think they know best. But do they? Michael Oliver, imminent writer, and scholar argued that people with physical disabilities should be the only ones in the field of disability studies because they have a bodily experience with disabilities. The following five-part article series shares the perspective of a scholar in the field of disability sports who has her own physical limitations. In each article, she discusses a different issue a person with a physical disability faces in the profession of physical education, recreation, and sport.

Part IV: If You Cannot Do It – Can You Teach It?

Read More

Leading as a Scholar with a Physical Limitation: The Power of Time

(Article 3 of 5)

Dr. Aubrey Shaw [right] with her mentor, Dr. Sharon Stoll
[5-Part Article Series]

People with physical disabilities hold limited positions as scholars, teachers, or leaders in physical education, recreation, and sport. Perhaps the reason is that the field is flooded with able-bodied people who think they know best. But do they? Michael Oliver, imminent writer, and scholar argued that people with physical disabilities should be the only ones in the field of disability studies because they have a bodily experience with disabilities. The following five-part article series shares the perspective of a scholar in the field of disability sports who has her own physical limitations. In each article, she discusses a different issue a person with a physical disability faces in the profession of physical education, recreation, and sport.

Part III: The Power of Time

Read More

Leading as a Scholar with a Physical Limitation: I Am Not an Object or Incompetent

(Article 2 of 5)

[5-Part Article Series]

People with physical disabilities hold limited positions as scholars, teachers, or leaders in physical education, recreation, and sport. Perhaps the reason is that the field is flooded with able-bodied people who think they know best. But do they? Michael Oliver, imminent writer, and scholar argued that people with physical disabilities should be the only ones in the field of disability studies because they have a bodily experience with disabilities. The following five-part article series shares the perspective of a scholar in the field of disability sports who has her own physical limitations. In each article, she discusses a different issue a person with a physical disability faces in the profession of physical education, recreation, and sport.

Read More