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Reflection Essay

David Carver

Professor Jaime Tigue

PHYE 160 Introduction to Physical Education

Online Course: Fall, 2015 Reflection Essay

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Reflections Essay

The physical education profession has had some major changes recently. It is at a crucial

part and is still changing continuously. There will likely be quite a bit more changes coming in

the near future. As a future member of this profession, my job is to ensure that the future is

bright. In order to do this successfully I must know about the history, the philosophies, the

current state of the profession, and about my goals and what it is going to take to achieve those

goals.

Historical Practices, Philosophies, and Trends

Early years of physical education were mainly gymnastics. Gymnastics did not mean the

sport, but it meant exercises that were done in a gym (Freeman 5). Schools were finally noticing

just how important physical fitness was to the entire education of a student. Schools started

adding these programs in the late 1700s to increase the overall education experiences. It started

primarily with private schools in Europe (Freeman 10). By the late 1800s even more teachers and

schools were realized the importance of physical fitness on a students education. The focus was

primarily on the fitness aspect. Then by the 1920s, physical education began incorporating sports

and games. The thought was that the more fun the students have, the better the students will go

(Freeman 10). Then in the 1970s, we started playing more games that could be played for a

students entire life. There would be more low tone games like golf and tennis. They thought that

it would be better to help all students by doing lighter exercises that will help people live a

healthy life rather than just developing sport skills (Freeman 11). Throughout all of these shifts

through ought our field, there was a constant shift back and forth between a focus on education,

to a focus on fitness.
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After World War II, 45% of the first two million men that were trying to go into the

military were rejected for physical or mental motives (Freeman 197. The government, all of the

sudden was very focused and interested in physical education. They immediately created several

programs and groups in an attempt to improve physical education. Physical education programs

took a shift into fitness tests and programs for the military (Freeman 197). One of the biggest

changes since that is how physical education has gone from a field filled with teachers to a

scientific field. It is now longer all about teachers but includes quite a bit more scientific

emphasis (Freeman 200). I look at physical education in the complete broad subject that it is. It

applies to the teachers, the athletic trainers, the coaches, the sports agents, the scientists, and so

much more. I do not think the field needs to be switched up or split up at all. I think it is fully

capable of covering all of the broad areas to the field. I think it can be all that it is and more. I do

think that the field needs to come together more though. We are kind of split into our different

emphasis of physical education. We need to unite as one and become a field and then we will be

able to fully improve our field.

Changing Philosophies in Physical Education, Fitness, and Sport

The philosophies of the physical education field has gone through major changes

throughout its history. By 1989, a survey found that our field had over 100 different titles used by

colleges (Freeman 3). This has been a huge discussion throughout our fields history. What

should our field be called? Some thought that we should focus on the academic side of the field.

Others thought that physical education should involve a lot of the physical side. Some even

though the field should be split into two. It has been a debate since our fields beginning. Some

of the many possible names that have been brought up are gymnastics, exercise and fitness,

exercise science, sport, and even just keeping the physical education name. There are positives
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and negatives to each of these possible names. Physical education has been one of, if not the,

longest lasting name for the field. It had always been seen as a great way to include the physical

and the intellectual side. Then the theory of holism was discovered. Holism is when the mind and

body work together as one. It had always been thought of the mind, body were two separate

things, and that the body was inferior to the mind. Well now, it is largely accepted that they are

not separate and that they are equal and constantly work together (Freeeman 11). Now physical

education is not enough. However, I believe it is even a better name now. Jesse Feiring Williams

described physical education as a physical education becomes education through the physical

(Freeman 6). In my opinion, we should stick with this name. That is exactly what our field is. It

is education through the physical. We need to stick with this name as our field moves forward.

Another philosophical theory in physical education is naturalism. Naturalism means that

we want a natural learning environment for students. We want to make a system of teaching that

will fit to each individual student rather than expecting him or her to adapt to our system

(Freeman 2350. I whole-heartedly agree with this. We see this in sports everywhere. In football,

if a wide receiver is expected to play in a system that he does not fit in, he will not play to the

best of his abilities. This is a very smart strategy. If we choose to teach every student to their

strength and use multiple varieties of teaching styles, we set up the students to succeed in their

education. Too often teachers use one style and expect students to learn that way no matter what.

This is a great philosophy of our field.

Past Experiences in Physical Education, Fitness, and Sport

My personal experiences from physical education has always been great. In PE, class was

great. We did workouts and satisfied the people that wanted to work out hard. We did not

however, do super hard workouts so if somebody was not an athlete, they could still workout,
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without dying. I really liked how we did this. It was always fun. My teachers were fun and we

played many fun sports. Both of my teachers that I had were also coaches of multiple sports.

They would really teach a lot and would make people better at all sports as well.

If there was one thing that I am going to do different from my teachers, it is paying

attention. As much as I enjoyed having them as my teacher, this was a huge flaw. They would not

pay attention and mess around with another teacher too often. This presented many problems.

Many students would cheat on their workouts. This would limit the students cheating as well as

aggravate the people that would work hard for their grade. I wish they would have motivated

these students rather and pushed them to a different level. The other bad part of them not paying

attention were the games. Students would also cheat during games. This would make competitive

students like me very angry. This even caused a couple of fights during some games. It really

limited their grasp and control of the class. The other thing that it affected was their rules for the

games. They would make requirements like having to pass it to a girl every three passes or make

us have to sub out. Competitive people always talked about how bad it is that we are losing

because players that did not want to play were being forced into the game. However, they did not

force them to actually play so they would be lazy and hurt our team. These are all necessary

changes that I am making when I teach PE.

The other area that influence me in physical education was interscholastic sports. This

was the best experience of my life. I played football and loved every second of it. I did not get

the support of the school that I feel like a school team should, but my coaches and teammates

were all great. My coach was awesome. He was smart, fun, and cool. He pushed us to do the best

we could. I want to become a coach like him. He would also teach past the game of football. He

would help us grow up to be great employees, men, and members of the community. He also
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gave me a chance of starting my career. Upon graduating, I receive an offer to coach out at a JV

team. This was an awesome experience and started my on my future career already. I am going to

help again next season and I hope I can increase my experience even more.

Professional Opportunities

I plan to eventually go into coaching. I have many opportunities with this career. I also

plan to be a physical education or a weights teacher. I want to keep my opportunities open. With

coaching, I can go into high school or junior high and be a teacher as well. If I plan to coach in

college, then I will most likely not have to teach and would be hired more on a part time basis

(Freeman 310). There are three big skills I need to develop. The first is leadership. Whether I am

a teacher or a coach, I need this. I need to be able to lead and inspire my team to victories or lead

students to learn what they need to. The other thing I need is speaking skills. This involves

teaching, motivating, and so much more. I need to be able to motivate and inspire both students

and players. I also need to be able to teach with both jobs. The last skill I need is people skills. I

need to be able to understand and relate to both players and students. This is one of the most

important skills I need.

I think I already have a strong base of these skills. I definitely need to develop and

improve them. However, in coaching this season I was known as being able to teach things well

as well as for having a good relationship with the players. I was a lot of players favorite coach. I

really still need to improve how I understand the kids though. I think I am fully capable of

getting there. I also need to get more comfortable with motivational speaking and teaching. I

think this will come with more time. Most of the players I coached were high school friends and

some were even teammates. When I see a little more difference between the players and me, I
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think this will become a lot easier. I need more experience to increase my skills and develop the

skills I already have. I know that I will be able to achieve that.

Professional Goals

My most important and most attainable goal is to just simply improve as a coach every

season. I have already begun coaching and I have a job next season as well. I am getting very

important experience. However, I do not know about after CSI. When I leave Twin, I will no

longer be able to coach there. I hope to find another coaching job wherever I go. I would like to

at least help on a high school team, rather than a junior high. Upon graduating with my

bachelors, I would like to initially go back and coach in Burley for at least a season or two while

being a substitute teacher. I would like to really get experience in both areas at this time and

increase my football smarts. After that, I will try to look for a coaching job or a teaching job.

I am mixed about my long-term goals. For sure, I want to be a head high school coach. I

would like to coach somewhere around Burley, but I also would like to travel a little bit, so I

would not mind going somewhere else. After that, I am not sure where I want to progress. I

would not mind coaching in a high school until I retire. I do not know if I ever want to do the

work it takes to be a college coach. It is a full time job with recruiting and watching film all year

long. I may move on to college after my kids leave to college, but I do not want to be the dad

that is never with his family.

I have definitely learned a ton of useful things in this class. I learned about the history

and the future of my major. I also learned a lot more about what my major is and the

philosophies of my major. I also learned how important it is to support my field and help

improve it for the future of the field. I never realized how important it is to know all of this about

your field. I also never knew how important it is to support my field. I know also know more
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about what I want to do after college. I am completely sure about this. This has been a great class

and my most useful by far. I am now ready to go out and pursue my career after taking this class.
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Works Cited

Freeman H., Williams. (2015). Physical Education, Exercise and Sport Science. Burlington,

Massachusetts: Jones & Barlett Learning.