We just returned from a successful weekend road trip.  I say successful because of the 5 hours that I personally drove; I only missed one exit, resulting in a short 10 minute detour from our destination.  For those of you that know me, this is a huge accomplishment.  In recent years, I rarely make it to a destination without multiple U-turns.  The worst was when my husband woke from a nap in the passenger’s seat to find that I had traveled three quarters of the way around the Washington D.C. loop and was heading back north on our trip from New York  to North Carolina!  I emphatically insist that if the co-pilot were to stay awake during the entire trip, these things wouldn’t happen, however, the truth is that once I get on the highway and point my tires between the dotted white lines, the driver in me goes on auto-pilot and my mind travels inward toward solving the problems of the world.

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating.  Truthfully, I could be thinking about grocery shopping, my next bulletin board, or our new puppy, but over the last 2 years I have also had a recurring philosophical debate with myself- “What geometric shape best represents physical education in today’s society?”

This internal discussion began after reading Knowledge/Skills and Physical Activity: Two Different Coins, or Two Sides of the Same Coin? ( Blankenship,2013). The article discusses the direction of physical education.  It referred to physical education and physical activity as being two sides of the same coin.  The image of physical education as a coin with two sides got me thinking about my beloved Springfield College Triangle and the Humanics Philosophy.

“It starts with Humanics, the age-old Greek ideal of the balanced individual. We believe, as did the ancient Greeks, that a person’s emotional, intellectual and physical lives are interconnected. The Humanics philosophy calls for the education of the whole person—in spirit, mind, and body—for leadership in service to humanity.”

This quote was taken from the Springfield College website. It is the institution from which I received both my masters and my bachelor degree. With the philosophy comes Dr. Luther Hasley Gulick’s inverted equilateral triangle, the symbol that represents the ideal. Dr. Mimi Murray, Professor of Exercise Science and Sport Studies, recently interpreted the triangle for me as follows: The sides of the equilateral triangle represent the emotional, intellectual and physical aspects of a person; the spirit, mind and body.  “Gulick also believed that through the equal and harmonious development of the body and mind, which lead up to and support the Spirit across the top of the triangle, one would also develop spiritually.  The circle around the triangle is probably as important if not more because it symbolizes the whole person ... a circle is complete with no beginning or ending ... consequently one cannot separate mind and body, as we have vainly tried to do for centuries in education!”

I have used this triangle as a model for teaching physical education for my entire career.  While our educational system has created a category in which we are teaching to the physical domain, I have always attempted to do so by educating the whole child; their spirit, mind, and body.

When the new NASPE standards (Couturier et al, 2014) were launched last summer, I began to contemplate how they fit into the triangle.

Standard 1 - The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.

Standard 2 - The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.

Standard 3 - The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.

Standard 4 - The physically literate individual exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others.

Standard 5 - The physically literate individual recognizes the value of physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and/or social interaction.

The first standard belongs to the physical domain (body). The second standard would fit in the cognitive domain (mind). The third asks for knowledge and application of skills which would suggest both cognition and physical movement.  While the fourth and fifth domain would be classified as social/emotional domain (spirit).  As I grow as an educator, and not just a physical education teacher, I appreciate the concept of balance more and more. As an educator I embrace the inverted triangle as it is, however, because our educational system demands that we departmentalize, I feel the need to create a physical education specific depiction of Gulick’s philosophy.  First, I would expand his two dimensional triangle representation into a three dimensional inverted pyramid.  This pyramid would depict the balancing of our physical education standards in an attempt to support the development of a health conscious physically literate active adult.

I contend that if our goal is to develop lifelong healthy physically literate active adults.  We must educate them in the principles of health and fitness, teach team the skills needed to move in variety of activities, provide them with the social rules and guidelines to participate effectively, and create situations that result in positive emotional experiences.  If we fail to provide this balanced approach then the chance of our students continuing to move past their required years of education is surely diminished.

Likewise, I would  change the two dimensional circle that represents the whole child into a three dimensional animated sphere representing how physical education teachers roll, spin, and bounce from one domain to the next in order to educate the whole student.  The sphere may come to a rest periodically for a cognitive activity, and then bounce into a physical challenge.  The teacher may roll out a social situation and then slow things down to assess student emotional response.   Teaching to the whole child is never a static, rote application of a written lesson plan but a constant assessment of student needs and reassessment of what domain needs to be focused on to address those needs.

While there is certainly no need for a geometric shape to represent physical education, the intellectual journey I took to make one has helped me come to terms with where I stand in the evolving field of physical education.  While we as a society may not be following in the ancient Greek philosophy of Humanics exactly the way they intended it to be implemented, I hope they would appreciate my attempt to adhere to the overlying principle of balance.

Now, maybe, I can focus on the exit signs!


Blankenship, Bonnie. “Knowledge/Skills and Physical Activity: Two Different Coins, or Two Sides of the Same Coin?” Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, Volume 84, (Issue 6), 2013.

Couturier, Lynn, Stevie Chepko, and Shirley Holt/Hale. National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for k-12 Physical Education. Illinios: Human Kinetics, 2014. Print.

“Humanics Philosophy.” Retrieved from http://www.springfieldcollege.edu/welcome/humanics-philosophy/index#.VKnQCyvF-So)

I am writing this blog in response to Mel Hamanda’s blog Sharing Our Failures and @Sportacus’s response Sharing Our Failures #1.  First, I must say that I find it ironic that the rest of the world is criticizing social media for the abundance of negative comments and we in the PE world are concerned about being too positive!  What a great problem to have!

Honestly…. I love the positive vibe I get from the dedicated professionals that I have connected with on Twitter.  Before Twitter, I felt like I was alone on an island.  I was passionate about what PE should look like and only knew a handful of educators in real life who shared my passion. 

The truth be told, in my own district, I don’t share very much with my colleagues out of fear of what they will think of me.  Twitter and Voxer has saved me professionally.  I suppose I am a lot like my students, say something positive to me and I’ll work harder.  Had my initial foray into cyber socializing been filled with criticism, I would not have continued to participate in the forum; never mind aspire to create new platforms for professional development.   The back slapping “favorites” and “retweets” make me and others like me feel safe to share.

However, just like in teaching, when a valued friend gives me constructive criticism, delivered in a professional manner I am similarly motivated.  In Sharing Our Failures , Mel asks the question, “How do we go about critiquing work or offering suggestions when we don’t know the person that is sharing?” My answer: I believe we need to be very careful with the written word.  It is very difficult to understand what a person is saying when you can’t hear their intonation or see their body language.  Personally, I don’t think I would give negative feedback to a social networking colleague until they became part of my PLN.  Even then, I would probably Direct Message or Side Vox to do so.

With that said, I have been a Tweeter for over three years now and feel like Social Media is my oasis.  A place that I feel happy to have visited and rejuvenated once I have left.  I also feel that the people I connect with can help me with my failings.  So here goes….

While I am sure that I have failings in the classroom, my biggest failing is outside the gym.  At conferences, staff developments, on social media and in my own building, I am confident and prepared to advocate for my profession, but outside of my school and my program when confronted by a parent, an acquaintance, and even with other colleagues, I become insecure and rambling when standing up for my profession.  Here are some of the statements I have come up against and wish I had done a better job answering:

1.  My son is a football player; he should get a 100 in PE.  He only got a 90 because he doesn’t put any effort in. (Not my student)

2.  High school students shouldn’t have to take PE.

3. Students that play sports shouldn’t have to take PE.

4.  If my child is trying their best, they should get good grade.

Please, help me by posting answers to these questions and any other similar experiences you may have had.

Finally, thank you all for your support and virtual friendship.

Sincerely,

@lynnhefele