The social tasks of learning to become a physical education teacher: Considering the HPE subject department as a community of practice

Initial teacher education (ITE) students participate in various workplaces within schools and in doing so, form understandings about the numerous, and at times competing, expectations of teachers’ work. Through these experiences they form understandings about themselves as health and physical education (HPE) teachers. This paper examines the ways communities of practice within HPE subject department offices function as sites of workplace learning for student teachers. In particular this research focused on how ITE students negotiate tacit and contradictory expectations as well as social tasks during the practicum and the ways in which their understandings are mediated through participation in the workspace. Qualitative methods of survey and semi-structured interview were used to collect data on a cohort of student teachers during and following their major (10 week) practicum experience. Analysis was informed by theories of communities of practice (Wenger, 1998), workplace learning (Billett, 2001), and social task systems (Doyle, 1977). It was evident that considerable effort, attention, and energy was expended on various interrelated social tasks aimed at building positive relationships with their supervisor and other HPE teachers at the school. The social dynamics were highly nuanced and required a game-like approach. In our view the complexity that student teachers must negotiate in striving for an excellent evaluation warrants specific attention in physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. This study raises questions regarding our responsibilities in sending student teachers into contexts that might even be described as toxic. We offer some suggestions for how PETE might better support students going into practicum contexts that might be regarded as problematic workplaces.

Becoming a health and physical education teacher: Student teacher ‘performances’ in the HPE subject department office

This study considered how physical education teacher education students ‘perform’ their ‘selves’ within subject department offices during the practicum or ‘teaching practice’. The research was framed by a conceptual framework informed by the work of Goffman on ‘performance’ and ‘front’. The findings revealed three common performances across the whole group across all sites. These were: performance of sports talk, bodily performances, and performance of masculine repertoires. Such performances were considered to be inconsistent with the coursework ideals and principles within the teacher education programme but in step with the general ethos of most PE department offices.

Creating physical education in remote Australian schools: Overcoming the tyranny of distance through communities of practice

This paper reports on a qualitative case study undertaken in a remote part of Queensland, Australia. While there is some modest agreement about the capacity of contemporary information technologies to overcome the problems of schooling in areas of extreme remoteness, generally, children educated in such contexts are considered to be disadvantaged. The experiential areas of the curriculum, which often require specific teaching expertise, present the greatest challenge to teachers, and of these, physical education is perhaps the most problematic. This research reports on a case study of three remote Queensland multi-age primary (elementary) schools that come together to form a community of practice to overcome the problems of teaching physical education in such difficult circumstances. Physical education is constructed in these contexts by blurring the school and community boundaries, by contextualizing the subject content to make it relevant, and by adjusting the school day to accommodate potential physical education experiences. Each community gathers its collective experience to ensure the widest possible experiences are made available for the children. In doing so, the children develop a range of competencies that enable seamless transition to boarding high schools.

Social processes of health and physical education teachers’ identity formation: Reproducing and changing culture

This paper examines Initial Teacher Education students’ experiences of participation in health and physical education (HPE) subject department offices and the impact on their understandings and identity formation. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and practice along with Wenger’s communities of practice form the theoretical frame used in the paper. Data were collected using surveys and interviews with student‐teachers following their teaching practicum and analysed using coding and constant comparison. Emergent themes revealed students’ participation in masculine‐dominated sports, gendered body constructions, and repertoires of masculine domination. Findings are discussed in relation to their impact on student‐teachers’ learning, identity formation, and marginalizing practices in the department offices. Implications for teacher education and HPE are explored.

Towards an evolving critical consciousness in coaching research: The physical pedagogic bricolage - A commentary

On a first reading of this article, one is struck by the complexity of language the authors use. Those of us who write in the social sciences and cultural studies are torn between the tenets of parsimony as present in the discourses of the natural sciences and the dangers of undertheorising our work. One assumes that there is a point that would be a happy medium. Finding that point often seems to be elusive. That said, I find the idea of linguistic sophistication to be appealing and in this sense the authors here have attempted to introduce new language into the world of sports coaching research through a process of reconceptualisation.

An eroding social justice agenda: The case of physical education and health edu-business in schools

In this paper we draw on current research to explore notions of a socially just Health and Physical Education (HPE), in light of claims that a neoliberal globalisation promotes markets over the states, and a new individualism that privileges self-interest over the collective good. We also invite readers to consider United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s ambition for PE in light of preliminary findings from an Australian led research project exploring national and international patterns of outsourcing HPE curricula. Data were sourced from this international research project through a mixed method approach. Each external provider engaged in four phases of research activity: (a) Web-audits, (b) Interviews with external providers, (c) Network diagrams, and (d) School partner interviews and observations. Results We use these data to pose what we believe to be three emerging lines of inquiry and challenge for a socially just school HPE within neoliberal times. In particular our data indicates that the marketization of school HPE is strengthening an emphasis on individual responsibility for personal health, elevating expectations that schools and teachers will “fill the welfare gap” and finally, influencing the nature and purchase of educative HPE programs in schools. The apparent proliferation of external providers of health work, HPE resources and services reflects the rise and pervasiveness of neoliberalism in education. We conclude that this global HPE landscape warrants attention to investigate the extent to which external providers’ resources are compatible with schooling’s educative and inclusive mandates.

Project Energise: Using participatory approaches and real time computer prompts to reduce occupational sitting and increase work time physical activity in office workers

Objectives This efficacy study assessed the added impact real time computer prompts had on a participatory approach to reduce occupational sedentary exposure and increase physical activity. Design Quasi-experimental. Methods 57 Australian office workers (mean [SD]; age = 47 [11] years; BMI = 28 [5] kg/m2; 46 men) generated a menu of 20 occupational ‘sit less and move more’ strategies through participatory workshops, and were then tasked with implementing strategies for five months (July–November 2014). During implementation, a sub-sample of workers (n = 24) used a chair sensor/software package (Sitting Pad) that gave real time prompts to interrupt desk sitting. Baseline and intervention sedentary behaviour and physical activity (GENEActiv accelerometer; mean work time percentages), and minutes spent sitting at desks (Sitting Pad; mean total time and longest bout) were compared between non-prompt and prompt workers using a two-way ANOVA. Results Workers spent close to three quarters of their work time sedentary, mostly sitting at desks (mean [SD]; total desk sitting time = 371 [71] min/day; longest bout spent desk sitting = 104 [43] min/day). Intervention effects were four times greater in workers who used real time computer prompts (8% decrease in work time sedentary behaviour and increase in light intensity physical activity; p < 0.01). Respective mean differences between baseline and intervention total time spent sitting at desks, and the longest bout spent desk sitting, were 23 and 32 min/day lower in prompt than in non-prompt workers (p < 0.01). Conclusions In this sample of office workers, real time computer prompts facilitated the impact of a participatory approach on reductions in occupational sedentary exposure, and increases in physical activity.

Ma Ma Ma Mad

Ma Ma Ma Mad is an autobiographical work, written and performed by Singaporean-Australian theatre maker Merlynn Tong. This production, presented at the Brisbane Powerhouse in December 2015, was a multi-genre work incorporating aspects of Butoh, physical theatre, cabaret and contemporary monologue. More than an experiment in mixed performative forms, however, this particular production was also an exercise in inter-cultural collaboration as well as gender in (and of) performance. Heavily influenced by the creator's experiences growing up in urban Southeast Asia, the director's specialisation in contemporary Australian theatre and experience telling uniquely Australian stories worked to manipulate the form in an endeavour to succinctly speak to local audiences, without pandering to entrenched stereotypes or diluting the underlying Chinese-Singaporean themes. The success of this production was also somewhat of a personal challenge for the creatives, after being told by some of Brisbane's most influential theatre venues and festivals that they would rather not support the work because a) it was a one woman show, and b) it was a one woman show about an Asian woman; and therefore would not sell well. One very influential local producer even said that he already had a one-woman show about an Asian person programmed, so he couldn't possibly program another. Operating in such a biased and out-of-touch artistic environment was seen as an easy challenge for the artists involved, which resulted in a highly successful and critically acclaimed sell-out run of Ma Ma Ma Mad, followed by offers to tour the work nationally and internationally. As such, this production also stands as a practical example of the ingrained and patriarchal structures of the Australian arts scene, and how art can work to break down the very barriers that it has helped to construct through a lack of vision and diversity amongst its leaders.

The tired foot. The effects of physical activity, energy expenditure and sleep on the diabetic foot population

Background The most common pathway to development of diabetes foot ulcers is repetitive daily activity stress on the plantar surface of the neuropathic foot. Studies suggest an association between different diabetic foot complications and physical activity. However, to the best of the authors knowledge the steps/day and sleep patterns of people with diabetic foot ulcers has yet to be investigated. This observational study aims to investigate the physical activity and sleep patterns of three groups of adults with type 2 diabetes and different foot complications Methods Participants with type 2 diabetes were recruited into three groups: 1. those with no reported foot complications (DNIL), 2. those with diagnosis of neuropathy (DPN) and 3. those with a neuropathic ulcer (DFU). Exclusion criteria included peripheral arterial disease and mobility aid use. Participants wore a SenseWear Pro 3 Armband continuously for 7 days and completed an Epworth Sleepiness Scale. The Armband is a validated automated measure of activity (walking steps, average Metabolic Equivalent Task (MET), physical activity (>3 METs) duration), energy expenditure(kJ) (total and physical activity (>3 METs)) and sleep (duration). Data on age, sex, BMI, diabetes duration and HbA1c were also collected. Results Sixty-Six (14 DNIL, 22 DPN and 30 DFU's participants were recruited; 71% males, mean age 61(±12) years, diabetes duration 13(±9) years, HbA1c 8.3(±2.8), BMI 32.6(±5.9), average METs 1.2(0.2). Significant differences were reported in mean(SD) steps/day (5,859(±2,381) in DNIL; 5,007(±3,349) in DPN and 3,271(±2,417) in DFU's and daily energy expenditure (10,868(±1,307)kJ in DNIL; 11,060(±1,916)kJ in DPN and 13,006(± 3,559) in DFU's(p <0.05). No significant differences were reported for average METs, physical activity duration or energy expenditure, sleep time or Epworth score (p>0.1). Conclusions Preliminary findings suggest people with diabetes are sedentary. Results indicate that patients with a diabetic foot ulcer work significantly less than those with neuropathy or nil complications and use significantly more energy to do so. Sleep Parameters showed no differences. Recruitment is still on going.

Physical activity and health in mid age and older Australian women

The US Surgeon General's report was a landmark publication in the field of physical activity and health, but was constrained by a lack of evidence relating to women. This report examines the links between physical activity and health in mid-age and older women. It includes four parts (i)recent evidence relating physical activity to the national public health priorities and reproductive health (ii)consideration of the amount of physical activity required to obtain health benefits (iii)new data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health on activity patterns, including relationships between changes in physical activity and life events, sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviours in mid-age and older Australian women (iv)new data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health on the relationships between physical activity and menopausal symptoms, stiff or painful joints and arthritis, anxiety and depression, memory problems, falls and fractures, general physical and psychological well-being, and healthcare costs in mid-age and older Australian women

Blurring the physical boundaries of the city: Media architecture and urban informatics for community engagement

Architecture focuses on designing built environments in response to society’s needs, reflecting culture through materials and forms. The physical boundaries of the city have become blurred through the integration of digital media, connecting the physical environment with the digital. In the recent past the future was imagined as highly technological; 1982 Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is set in 2019 and introduces a world where supersized screens inject advertisements in the cluttered urban space. Now, in 2015 screens are central to everyday life, but in a completely different way in respect to what had been imagined. Through ubiquitous computing and social media, information is abundant. Digital technologies have changed the way people relate to cities supporting discussion on multiple levels, allowing citizens to be more vocal than ever before. We question how architects can use the affordances of urban informatics to obtain and navigate useful social information to inform design. This chapter investigates different approaches to engage communities in the debate on cities, in particular it aims to capture citizens’ opinions on the use and design of public places. Physical and digital discussions have been initiated to capture citizens’ opinions on the use and design of public places. In addition to traditional consultation methods, Web 2.0 platforms, urban screens, and mobile apps are used in the context of Brisbane, Australia to explore contemporary strategies of engagement (Gray 2014).