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References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Oxford, UK: Prentice Hall.

Carlisle, C. & Phillips, D. A. (1984). The effects of enthusiasm training on selected teacher and student behaviors in preservice physical education teachers. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 4, 64-75.

Caruso, V. M. (1982). Enthusiastic teaching. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 53, 47-48.

Cherry, K. (2019). What Is Operant Conditioning and How Does It Work?. [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863 [Accessed 13 May 2019].

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective.Performance improvement quarterly, 6(4), 50-72.

Innova Design Group. (2015). How Effective are these Five Teaching Styles? - Innova Design Group. [online] Available at: https://www.innovadesigngroup.co.uk/news/how-effective-are-these-five-teaching-styles/ [Accessed 8 Mar. 2019].

Learning Theories. (2019). Constructivism - Learning Theories. [online] Available at: https://www.learning-theories.com/constructivism.html [Accessed 13 May 2019].

Mishra, R. C. (2007). Teaching Styles. APH Publish Corporation.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard university press.

#references

Kwik Cricket with St Michael’s PS - 02/05/19

University Of Central Lancashire - Cricket - 02/05/19

For this event I was required to prepare a session that would involve drills and games for year three and four pupils of St Michael's Primary School. This proved to be a lot trickier than expected. The original games that I proposed had to be changed and adapted with the help of Chris Gunn. The kids required more instructions to help explain each game or drill that we had for them. The drills were split into four sections with five minutes at each section. The section that I took, the kids seemed to enjoy it the most. Perhaps in the future the other games could be changed and adapted accordingly. This could be done by perhaps reducing the time of each game and adding more games for the children to enjoy. I finished off with two large ‘Kwik Cricket’ games that the kids really enjoyed. I had the challenge of keeping them interested in the games. This proved to be difficult as the girls attention often drifted and the boys all just wanted to bat. To solve this problem I kept encouraging the girls to join in as much as possible, trying to make it as fun as I could. In terms of the batting situation, I made it so that you were only allowed to have one ball each. This meant that everyone got more than one go and the teams were constantly switching from fielding and batting. This seemed to work better and was more successful. The children seemed more engaged and really enjoyed their time with me in the cricket sessions.

#cricket #kwik #games

Problem Solving Picture - 04/04/19

University Of Central Lancashire - Problem Solving - 04/04/19

I was originally assigned to take the tag rugby for this particular event. However, due to the lack of numbers of coaches available I was then drafted into leading the problem solving and decision making games. Originally feelings were mixed at this stage, today was an extremely cold and dark day. I felt that the problem solving games would be very difficult in these conditions especially with the age group of kids. After the first group had finished it was apparent to me that I had to keep the kids moving as much as possible. They often complained that their hands got cold, particularly in the ‘gutterball’ game. To help solve this problem, the next group that came I conducted a short five minute warm up to ensure that the children were warm before starting the main session. During the session I ensured that they kept moving, placing a specific emphasis on not standing still. I reduced the amount of authority style teaching that I has started off with and instead replaced it with more delegation and facilitation methods (Innova Design Group, 2015). This encouraged the kids to think more and prevented them from getting cold and bored, they really seemed to enjoy this activity and it would be something I would encourage in the future.

In the final group of children from the school there was a disabled girl that struggled to walk and use her hands. I was not aware of this happening and had not pre-planned. In order to include her in the problem solving games, I had to slightly alter the ‘gutterball’ game and the plank walking in order to suit her needs so that she could take part and not feel left out. I must say full credit to the girl as she gave 100% at all times and followed the instructions that I had given her, the other children also helped her out which was a massive help. This will aid me in the future and will allow me to suitably adapt any sessions that I coach or teach to improve the equity and inclusion.

#tag #tagrugby #rugby #fun

Handball Tournament Pictures - 08/03/19

University Of Central Lancashire - Handball Tournament - 08/03/19

Handball Tournament

This event was held in the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre in Preston. Before the teams arrived I had to assist the event organisers to set up the handball nets, posters, sponsors and signs that needed to be erected prior to the start of the first game. After this was completed, I welcomed/marshalled the players and their teachers into the sports hall and showed them appropriate changing and toilet facilities. The games started and other members of UCLan were refereeing and officiating the games. One role was to do the time keeping, this was aided by another member of my course. This required paying attention to the matches and pressing the button at the start and end of every match. With no qualifications or courses completed in handball I was unable to officiate the games. However, after lunch as there was a shortage of first year students to keep the score and report it at the end of matches, I was then requested to do this. This involved me closely watching the games and writing scores down on the scoring sheet using a tally chart. This was then given to the organiser who kept the overall scores. I managed to gain a ‘hands on’ experience in this regard and was asked to do something out of my comfort zone. In addition to the score keeping, I also helped an outside person with gaining some information on the event itself. Questions were proposed to the kids as a group that helped gain information with how the event was run, what was the most important part etc. This experience furthered my communication skills with the pupils of each school. It allowed for a more ‘informal discussion’ that they may not be able to do in the classroom or their teachers.

#fun #handball #tournament #competition

Instonians Easter Monday Tournament - 22/04/19

I arrived at the rugby club early to set up the pitch and help with preparations such as filling water bottles, gathering equipment and preparing some energy drinks and food for the breaks in between matches. I was assistant coach that helped the coach in team selection for each match throughout the day. The team had started off the competition by losing their first game in the group stage, with the other teams winning by such a large margin it was going to be very difficult for them to win the group and progress into the knockout stages. In order to maintain standards and to keep the players motivated the learning theory that I learnt to use for this experience was Constructivism learning theory (Learning Theories, 2019). The key concept to this is that ‘A reaction to didactic approaches such as behaviourism and programmed instruction, constructivism states that learning is an active, contextualised process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it’ (Ertmer and Newby, 1993). Constructivism assumes that all knowledge is constructed from the learner’s previous knowledge, regardless of how one is taught. Thus, even listening to a lecture involves active attempts to construct new knowledge. Vygotsky’s social development theory is one of the foundations for constructivism (Vygotsky, 1980). The team rallied and managed to make the knockout stage where they lost comprehensively to eventual winners and rivals Bangor RFC.

#under20 #rugby #competition #instonians

Instonians Rugby Club Mini Rugby Tournament - 06/04/19 - 07/04/19

06/04/19 - 07/04/19

Both days consisted of primary one to primary seven children taking part in a mini rugby round robin tournament located at the rugby club in Belfast. The first day consisted of primary one children to four, the second it was primary five to seven. I was aiding other coaches that had been with the ‘minis’ throughout the year. When I arrived I had to greet the players and their parents and direct them to the appropriate changing area where they would spend their time in between matches and at break and lunch. Before the commencement of the first game the pitches had to be marked out accordingly, with the size relevant to each each group. After this the first game commenced. At the start of the day the children had such enthusiasm and energy with behaviour levels being excellent. However, it was apparent that the more matches that were played and the longer breaks meant that they often became less interest and a lot of children’s attention drifted away from the rugby with behaviour levels decreased. In order to solve this I adopted a type of conditioning that was adopted from behavioural learning theory. This was originally adopted from Watson (1913). Operant conditioning was used so that bad behaviour would be punished and therefore would be less likely to occur in future (Cherry, 2019). One particular experience from the second day was that of a primary six pupil. Their behaviour and attitude had been poor in the lead up and during the first match. For the next match I pulled him from the team, starting another pupil in his place. This punishment improved his behaviour for the rest of the day and no problems occurred again.

Murdishaw West Community Primary School - 23/04/19 - 26/04/19

26/04/19

This was the final day of my placement in Murdishaw West Community Primary School. Today involved a lesson for year three and four and two rugby sessions with the year five and six children. The first two sessions were yoga. With no background knowledge or experience in yoga, I again observed most of the lesson. There were a few occasions that I had to aid the teacher and the children in explaining how to achieve certain ‘movements’ or ‘poses’. The lesson focussed on relaxation techniques that could be used by the children in everyday life outside of the classroom.

From observing I learnt how to effectively deliver a safe and relaxing yoga lesson, one that the children can gain enjoyment from. I was particularly surprised as to how much the kids enjoyed it. I assumed that they would find it boring and start messing around, however, this was far from the case.

Year five and six took part in the rugby sessions that were run during the school day. In these lessons I aided and assisted an outside coach from Widnes RFC. Various drills and games were set up for both the year groups. The coach from Widnes RFC focused mainly on enjoyment. Some of the rules of rugby were too complicated and complex for the children to grasp. These were simplified to make it easier and more enjoyable for the children. The main focus on rugby is the contact aspect and the stereotype that you have to be huge to play it. The coach maintained a saying that ‘anyone can play or all shapes and sizes’. This was backed up with his enthusiasm of coaching and you could see the kids react to him positively. Upon reflecting on this, I realise that in future I would need to be more enthusiastic when talking to the kids when delivering the lesson or coaching session. According to Carlise and Phillips (1984) teacher enthusiasm has been identified as a prominent teacher behaviour that can effect the student learning. "Enthusiasm affects student learning and attitudes" (Caruso, 1982, p. 47).

#primaryschool #Pe

Murdishaw West Community Primary School - 23/04/19 - 26/04/19

25/04/19

An outside teacher (self employed) called Jess was taking judo lessons all day for different age groups. Again like this first day, observation of Jess was carried out with particular attention on how she delivered safe and fun activities for the kids to enjoy. Jess focused on a warm up and then a basic beginners session for the children. This included things like grappling, pinning down, and various games. Mirsha (2007) argues that there are three styles of teaching; Instructor centred, discipline centred and student centred. From the observation I could see that Jess was adopting a instructor centred teaching style. This meant that all focus was on her and the students remained silent and good behaviour was expected at all times. Upon further reflection on this I realised that she had used this style to allow the children to remain safe when performing throws and sparring. I can now realise that in future, in order to minimise safety risks, I could also use this teaching style. The after school club ran again with the same children as the previous day. Today I was much more confident in my delivery to the children as I felt more comfortable around them, learning the majority of the names. The session was dodge-ball, where I split up the children into four teams, with a tournament based system adopted. This was a major success with the children as they were constantly playing each other, with teams being changed if one was too strong or weak.

Murdishaw West Community Primary School - 23/04/19 - 26/04/19

24/04/19

The second day of the placement consisted of a foundation physical education lesson and an after school club. This was the foundation classes second ever PE lesson, so I recognised that this could be potentially the most challenging task of the week. At first, I was extremely nervous and for me this would not usually happen, however, looking back I believe it was because it was my first time taking the children for a lesson and I was not sure how they would react to me.

This time, I decided to take the children in their warm up, playing a game that challenged their minds whilst also exerting them physically. When progressing onto the main session which involved different games and races (preparation for their sports day) I asked the children to split into groups of four or five. However, this resulted in chaos as the children struggled to organise themselves into the groups and the children that did chose their friends resulting in the groups being uneven. Acknowledgements were made for future, in terms of dividing the children up into groups, particularly children of younger age in order to help avoid this problem.

The after school club consisted of children from the year three right up to year six. As the weather was nice this allowed me to take the children outside and play a game of rounders. The rules I implemented were slightly different to what the kids were used to playing. In the best interest of both parties, I adapted my rules to theirs to ensure that confusion was not caused. This was a success as the children really engaged in the session, thankfully the warm weather aided my session.

Murdishaw West Community Primary School - 23/04/19 - 26/04/19

23/04/19

This was the first day at the placement at the Primary School. A visitors pass was given upon entry at reception and a copy of the The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was provided to the secretary. Greetings with the headteacher and deputy headteacher was made, with my role being explained for the week of the placement.

The first class was a gymnastics lesson for Year one and two pupils of the school. For this session observation of the teacher was made throughout the lesson. Using Bandura (1977) which focuses on learning through observation. This allowed me to retain information that was given by the teacher that included the instructions given to the children and the way the teacher delivered the session to the children. Furthermore, this helped me then to potentially be able to replicate the behaviours and styles that were being observed.

The lesson consisted of a warm up, risk assessment (e.g. explaining to the children that they must stay in the coned area), the main session and finally evaluation and improving.

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