Analysis of Task Systems in Elementary Physical Education Classes

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana L. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Systematic Observation ◽  
Instructional Task ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Elementary Physical Education ◽  
Task System ◽  
Task Systems ◽  
Observation Strategies ◽  
Events Data

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze task systems in elementary physical education classes. Two elementary physical education specialists were observed during 34 classes. Systematic observation strategies were used to describe and analyze classroom events. Data supported the existence of managerial and instructional task systems along with an informal social task system. Students complied with managerial tasks; modifications were not evident. Students’ responses to instruction were either (a) on the stated task with success or little or no success, (b) upward or downward task modifications, or (c) off-task. Primarily, students stayed on-task whether they were successful or not. Relationships among tasks within lessons indicated that the teachers used a pattern of informing, extending, and applying tasks. A less formal accountability system was evident as children were not involved in the formal exchange of performance for grades. Managerial, instructional, and social task systems did not operate exclusively but interacted with one another.

A Study of Task Systems and Accountability in an Elite Junior Sports Setting

1992 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Hastie ◽  
John E. Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
State Level ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Elite Sport ◽  
Match Play ◽  
Instructional Task ◽  
Task System ◽  
Task Systems ◽  
Similar Task

The concept of academic work has been developed as a means of examining the curriculum used in classrooms. Tousignant’s study of secondary school physical education classes was the first to apply this concept to teaching physical education. This paper reports on a study that examined the program in action in a junior elite-sport setting (a state-level volleyball squad). The conceptualization of instructional, managerial, and transitional task systems developed in physical education classes was found to be relevant in this setting. In addition, a further task system, the match-play task system, was identified. A subset of the instructional task system identified as role-specific instructional tasks also emerged. The paper concludes that similar task systems operate in physical education and coaching and that the concept of accountability is important in understanding both teaching and coaching processes.

Take Your Partners: A Description of a Student Social System in a Secondary School Dance Class

1996 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Hastie ◽  
Andrew Pickwell
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Social System ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Accountability Systems ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Dance Class ◽  
Instructional Task ◽  
Task System

This study examined the operations of a student social system within an elective physical education dance class. Its methodology is based on the findings of Allen (1986), who determined that students have two main agendas in classes, namely, to give teachers what they want while having fun and socializing with classmates. Consistent with previous findings, many students in this study were particularly adept at finding ways to minimize work and have fun while still doing enough to pass the course. These findings are explained in conjunction with the task structure and accountability systems put in place by the teacher. That is, the teacher seemed to be content to trade off lower levels of participation in the instructional task system for at least nondisruptive behavior, thereby allowing a relatively unimpeded achievement of the students’ social objectives.

The Relationship between Subject-Matter Expertise and Accountability in Instructional Tasks

1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Hastie ◽  
Nik Vlaisavljevic
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
Instructional Task ◽  
Subject Matter Expertise ◽  
Task System ◽  
The Relationship

The ecological model was used to examine the relationship between subject matter expertise and the conduct of a teacher’s instructional task system. Nine teachers were studied when teaching activities with which they self-reported as having higher or lower levels of subject matter expertise. The findings suggest that higher levels of expertise by teachers in certain areas result in two specific changes in the academic work of physical education. The first is a provision of more tasks, and particularly more extending tasks, while the second is an accountability focus centered more so on the quality of the performance than a level of participation or effort.

Instructional Ecology of a High School Volleyball Team

1998 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda L. Griffin ◽  
Daryl Siedentop ◽  
Deborah Tannehill
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Systematic Observation ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Match Play ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
School Sport ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Observation Strategies

This study describes the instructional ecology of a high school sport setting involving 4 players from a 10-player team and their coach. Systematic observation strategies were used to detail 44 practices. Post-season focus group interviews were conducted with the team and, individually, with the coach. The managerial, instructional, and student social systems in this volleyball setting interacted intimately. The quiet practice expectations, the posting of fast-paced practice tasks, and the coach clearly “in charge” all speak to orderly management. This system supports the explicitness and specificity of tasks and the clear, differentiated expectations of players by role and responsibility within the instructional task system. Both systems were interwoven and operated jointly to increase player cooperation and practice involvement. Complex levels of the accountability system related to a player’s position and role on the team. Practice effort and quality of match play time produced a secondary accountability system related to competition.

Effects of Holding Students Accountable for Social Behaviors during Volleyball Games in Elementary Physical Education

1998 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig A. Patrick ◽  
Phillip Ward ◽  
Darrell W. Crouch
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Unit Activity ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Multiple Baseline ◽  
Good Behavior Game ◽  
Baseline Design ◽  
Public Posting ◽  
Elementary Physical Education ◽  
Task Systems ◽  
Appropriate Social Behaviors

This study investigated the effects of a semiformal accountability intervention (a modified version of the good behavior game) on the occurrence of appropriate and inappropriate social behaviors, and appropriate skill attempts during a 20-lesson volleyball unit. Participants were 67 students in Grades 4, 5, and 6. Following the collection of baseline data, students received intervention consisting of (a) differential awarding and removing of points for appropriate and inappropriate behavior, (b) public posting of team points, (c) the establishment of daily criteria, (d) a special activity for teams that met the criteria, and (e) an end-of-unit activity for teams that consistently met the criteria. A multiple baseline design across students showed that the intervention was effective in reducing inappropriate social behaviors and increasing appropriate social behaviors, but did not affect the number of correct volleyball skills performed. Results are discussed relative to task systems and social skills.

Developing Cultural Competence in Elementary Physical Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-45
Author(s):  
Edward B. Olsen ◽  
Emi Tsuda ◽  
Masanobu Sato ◽  
James D. Wyant
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Elementary Physical Education

Under a growth-centered accountability system: A job demand and resource perspective for physical educators

2021 ◽  
pp. 1356336X2110031
Author(s):  
Tan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Physical Educators ◽  
Teacher Accountability ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Sampling Procedures

The purpose of this study was to reveal the work life of physical educators who were experiencing a teacher accountability system in the US. A combination of stratified and purposeful sampling procedures was adopted to select a sample of schools that served communities with various socioeconomic backgrounds. The schools were recently incorporated in a state teacher accountability system that used student learning growth for teacher evaluation. A group of 51 certified physical educators was selected from the sampled schools. Data were collected from three sources: an online survey, in-school observations, and semi-structured interviews. The survey and observations cross-validated data related to job description, workload, general working environment, and demographic information. The interviews detailed the teachers’ accounts about their work life, perceptions of the job demands, and resources under the teacher accountability system. Inductive analysis revealed that the lack of critical job resources, especially curricular supports, equipment, and professional development, limited the teachers from promoting student learning that the teacher accountability system required. Teachers were subjected to immense job demands, specifically a large body of content knowledge to teach with shrinking instruction time and ambiguous role. They also felt pressured to incorporate reading, writing, and mathematics in physical education lessons with little or no curricular support. For teachers to teach physical education successfully in this accountability context, systemic changes are needed to provide teachers with adequate professional development and curricular resources to promote learning in physical education.

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