INvolved 2020 - Inclusive Health Promoting Schools

Today I went to a professional development event called "INvolved - Inclusive Health Promoting Schools" hosted by the University of Winnipeg. It is a physical education student-driven conference that originally started in Brandon about six years ago. A friend of mine, who is a U of W early years education student, invited me to go. Though neither of us are physical education teachers, we thought it would be beneficial for us to learn more about inclusivity, adaptations, and about teaching health class. This friend and I have been friends since our early elementary school years and our general classroom teacher was the one who taught us health, and in case we found ourselves in a similar situation, we thought this would be a good experience.

Keynote

We began the day with our keynote speaker, Heather Rootsaert from Edmonton Catholic Schools. She is the physical education and wellness consultant and has been a physical education teacher for over twenty years. Her topic was "Sharing is Really Caring". She spoke of how schools needed support from community members, parents, etc. to truly reflect health promoting schools and that it is not only the teacher's job to promote this.




Heather talked about physical literacy, a concept that was very unfamiliar to me. Many skills fit into physical literacy, including social, cognitive, psychological, and physical. These benefits help improve confidence, classroom performance, and stronger social connections. How can we use these skills to promote inclusion?

First Session: IEPs

Our first session was about IEPs and a physical education teacher's role in their creation and implementation. Honestly, we did talk about IEPs but much of the presentation was about building student relationships and the struggles of being a specialist teacher which felt relatable. As specialist teachers, we often have to defend our program (though, I think this is more of a problem for music than it is phys. ed, but maybe that's just me...) and defend that we too, are educators. It is not just "gym class" and it is not just "music class". We have curricular goals to meet too. The presenter told stories of how often he would have a classroom teacher say "oh, John didn't finish his spelling test so he's not going to gym today". What if phys. ed was the class where John felt confident, and he really felt like he could get away from his troubles in school?

Even in my few teaching placements (meaning, I am not even fully in the field yet) and I have had similar experiences. One classroom teacher told me, that she told a student that they could make missing cat posters, and her friend can go with her, during my class. I was appalled, but as a student teacher there's no option but to go with the flow. The presenter today said that when a student was kept from P.E. for a general classroom reason, he would go to their classroom later and ask to have that student in the gym because they missed the curricular outcomes met that day. Absolutely, I think I would be doing the same. Had I not been a student teacher, I would have done that as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this session despite it not being about IEPs, like I signed up for. It helped me see the phys. ed teacher as someone who shares similar struggles to myself, as specialist teachers.

Second Session: Sex Positive Sexual Education

Our second session was hosted by the Sexuality Education Resource Centre MB (SERC) about sex positive health education. Out of all the sessions I saw today, I think this was one of my favourite ones. We began the session with an anonymous agree, maybe, or disagree exercise. We each selected a spot in the room to be an agree, a maybe, and a disagree spot. We kept these spots to ourselves, only we knew which spots meant what. We were then shown twelve statements about sexuality. Did we think monogamy was natural? Would we feel comfortable referring students for birth control pills? Did we think that people with disabilities could be good parents? There were many statements and questions that made us think. I think doing this activity anonymously helped keep me honest about my opinion, since I wasn't anxious about having to try to defend my stance. Instead, I felt reflective and had to think to myself "what do I really think?". No one would judge me, so I may as well answer as honestly as I could.

We then had discussions about what sex positivity means and how our language influences what students think. Someone in our session said that silence speaks, and I agree. By not acknowledging something, it can imply shame, even if that is not the teachers intention. The presenter also spoke of how, when teaching sexual education, we need to remove ourselves from our own experiences related to sex and teach sexual education in a way that is inclusive and sex positive. After, we were given slips of paper with made-up questions, as if they were from students that were put into a question box, and we had to think of how we would answer the question. These questions brought up ideas around consent, stigmas, and gender bias (ex. "if you're not ready to be pregnant, you shouldn't be having sex" shames women, if you ask me). Overall, I enjoyed this session also. It can be hard to remove any of your biases especially with a topic like sexual education. But, by teaching sexual education in a sex positive way opens up the doors to inclusivity of all genders, attractions, and abilities.

Third Session: Adaptability in P.E. Class

Our third session was put on by University of Manitoba physical education students about adaptability in the P.E. class. Though it was entirely for a P.E. setting, there were still some valuable takeaways. We discussed the things you can adapt for students in your class, such as the lesson, equipment, time, and space. We tried to play volleyball, where two students closed their eyes to be visually-impaired. We were shown a volleyball wrapped in a garbage bag with bells inside, so the ball would jingle as the game was played. I think a more durable option is out there, but for a quick budget-friendly fix, this is an idea. But, this session had me thinking about how I could adapt my equipment for different people of different abilities.

Fourth Session: Panel Interview

Our last session was a panel of two principals, three divisional phys. ed consultants, and an accessibility services employee of the U of W. Questions included what they look for in new grads, what they thought to make inclusivity a bigger part of physical education, among other things. Something that came up in this panel had me thinking about the kind of world education is, and if it should be that way. One of the panel members talked about going above and beyond our job contract. Sure, the contract says you get a fifty-five minute uninterrupted lunch, but never expect to have that. The panel member even mentioned with how much work educators really do (phys. ed educators specifically), they are making "$2/hr", and as if that was okay.

I understand needing to put the extra hours in in order to get things done. Phys. ed teachers have coaching, intramurals, etc. Music teachers have concert preparations, extra-curricular music classes that don't fit in the regular timetable, etc. General classroom teachers also have committee commitments that are outside of their job contract. But why is it fair to expect people to go above and beyond? I think these kind of expectations, especially as new teachers, is what causes such a high rate of burnout in new educators. Again, understanding that extra hours need to be put in, some could say this is the life I signed up for. To be fair, having summer holidays off likely balance out the extra hours put in during the school year. But again, why are these commitments expected? How many other jobs or careers give you a contract that is just broken time and time again? These are the thoughts I was left with at the end of the conference.

Conclusion

Generally speaking, I did enjoy INvolved 2020. It was neat to see another perspective of education that I was not familiar with, and learn of all our similarities. Today was a lot of reflection and thinking about my role, as a music educator, but also just as an educator. To be inclusive includes a lot of flexibility. Whether it's a specialist teacher needing to ask "what does this IEP look like in my classroom", letting go of prior biased experiences, or thinking creatively about how to better include students in the classroom, educators need to change how they regularly run their classroom. It may feel uncomfortable to some, but it is important that all students feel welcomed and included, no matter the setting. My friend and I both learned a lot, though we were not the target audience of the presentation. Moral of the story is, do not be afraid to leave your comfort zone and explore topics other than your own specialty or stream. Likely, you'll make connections to your own experiences and you will gain a better understanding of your colleagues.

Thanks for reading!