This year at the SHAPE America Convention and Expo in Minneapolis, MN I found myself finally swayed toward accepting SHAPE America’s commitment to 50 Million Strong by 2029. I had previously feared for the vitality and longevity of the Physical Education (PE) profession in the face of the inclusion of Physical Activity (PA). I worried, as did some of my peers, that the broad acceptance and adoption of PA would spell the cheaper and less regulated end of PE in districts where school boards seem to be ever looking for ways to save a buck. But I have since turned over a new leaf.

I’m hoping that the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which ushered in the inclusion of PE in a “well-rounded education” (a definition which includes PE along with traditional subjects like mathematics and English found on p. 298 of the ESSA), will encourage regularly scheduled, professionally led PE in all schools across the nation in the near future. As a result, I now see PA as an integral sub-section of PE that should be embraced as a kind of “supporting structure” through which PE is strengthened outside of the school grounds and instruction hours.

I have come to this conclusion on the heels of a good deal of reading and conversational exchange among PE professionals. Therefore, my idea for this article is to share resource materials for easy access along with a commentary on their use or inclusion.

On the SHAPE America website 50 Million Strong by 2029 is described as follows:

 “SHAPE America wants to ensure that by the time today’s preschoolers graduate from high school in 2029, all of America’s students are benefiting from the skills, knowledge and confidence to enjoy healthy, meaningful physical activity.”

I like that our national organization has set a long-term goal that benefits all of America’s youth and requires a commitment from all physical educators across our nation. We live in exciting times where we have the opportunity to make an impact on future generations. So, “Count me in, SHAPE America – I’m planning to do my part toward succeeding with 50 Million Strong!“

As classrooms in the United States have become increasingly diverse and multicultural, it’s become more important for teachers to have cultural competency skills. Culturally responsive pedagogy in physical education supports engagement and learning among diverse learners (Weinstein, Curran, & Tomlinson-Clarke, 2003; Weinstein, Tomlinson-Clarke, & Curran, (2004).

Culturally competent physical educators acknowledge the cultural background of their students, advocate for ethnic groups, and make connections between students’ homes and school experiences. Moreover, culturally competent physical educators set high expectations for their students and utilize various teaching strategies to support multiple learning styles (Gay, 2000).

In their behaviors and methods” culturally competent physical educators exhibit an underlying “caring moral.” For example, both caring and culturally competent teachers have high expectations for their students despite cultural differences; they recognize students’ needs and are capable of developing close connections with their students. They create warm, encouraging classroom environments that emphasize learning. In this article I’ll explain how a “caring moral” is the underlying force guiding and supporting cultural competencies among physical education teachers.

The school year may be almost over and although you will certainly need a break from the noise, kids and administrative chores, hopefully you’ll find time to take stock of the year just finishing – how it was, what worked (and why), what needs changing (and why), and if you met your professional goals or need to set new ones. Among other things, this means figuring out why some classes were a joy to teach and why others less so! Why? And more importantly what can you do to improve next year?

Part of the reason some things did not go as well as you hoped might relate to facilities, equipment, time, or curriculum. But perhaps the explanation is related to something harder to clearly point to such as difficult relationship with some of your students? What might be called for is finding more effective ways to address the physical, social, and emotional needs of all of your students.

A good starting point is to remind yourself that all of your students are different. You undoubtedly have some great athletes, some creative thinkers, some social butterflies, some kids who comply with your directions because they’ve learned that moving is good for their health or because they like you, some who hate competition though they love to move, and some who show up because they have to and have no other motivation.