Ann Vibert introduced the topic. Today I am going to think about how the larger themes apply to an Adapted Physical education.
I loved Dr. Greg MacKinnon's story about the child who wanted to show him a game and assumed that he had never seen a computer before because he got the wrong key or button in the game. I thought of how we may sometimes make wrong assumptions about our students when we see their misconceptions. It is important to ensure that we get the facts about the children's perspective before we make a decision for them.
Dr. Micheal Corbett spoke about how There are notions of constructive knowledge vs. structural knowledge. These two theories need to be balanced. In the constructive side there is a cultural influence to this, and I would argue it is in the structural side as well. The space in between is improvisational. Wolfensberger's studies were about students with severe intellectual disabilities. There was a Theory that they would be affected by the social norms, and they would also affect people who had not been labeled as disabled.
Dr. Corbett asked why the classrooms have not changed much in the past 50 years. He suggested that it may be a "safety" or comfort thing. He believes that we actually want to foster an independence of thought. Constructing our own "melody" of improvisation. He uses "improvisation" as a metaphor. The term is about creativity. Bullying is a part of "improvisation". In order to improvise, we need to be in a position of power. Human capital is that we are all assets and the more we pour into education the better our society will be. In Finland, they will proudly say they are in a "welfare state" and they feel empowered by it. Unlike here. Foucault said, "the market does not regulate the state, the state regulates the market." When we look at our government regulation we see that measurement is considered the way to ensure success. I feel as if I buy into that in many ways. Dr. Corbett argues that we are too regulated by "big government." This its into the rural education in the following way;
There are both signs of rural decline and also rural successes. Many think the solution is to empty rural areas and move to urban areas. In 2013, the Education report was positive. He noted that if the government sends us a message about our schools being "broken" then public opinion polls will reflect that line of thinking.
The money we put into the system, the better our system can perform, and he argues that Nova Scotia is doing quite well, at 9% below the average for Canada. He argues that the small rural schools work. I agree that see small schools work and we need to keep money going into these schools. This goes along with what we learned in class. He encourages us to think radical thoughts and to improvise to look for better more creative ways to teach.
Johanne Syms, was an administrator who built the school. She was well qualified to talk about Inclusion. She had a brother with Cerebral Palsy and she and her sister are both gay. She spoke about LGBTQ. The "t" stands for transgendered which is when we don't feel as if our gender matches the gender typically attributed to our sex. The"q" she mentioned has been thought of as part of "queer" culture.
There is a lot of gender policing. We unknowingly send gender messages about. What is accepted as "normal". Suicide rates go up for people who are gay. A large survey of Trans youth showed that 83% of the time lived in the felt gender. This showed they lived healthier lives during those times. Students in the LGBTQ students are among our most vulnerable. She believes that teachers do not feel comfortable "coming out" publicly.
I wonder what types of adaptations need to be made to help support our LGBTQ population in Phys. Ed. Are the GSAs really given power in our schools? It helps to have the Principal as a part of the group and they have a seat on the student council. All groups in the school was given a chance to get an award for their group. Each group was given a chance to choose what the award would be. This is inclusion. Perhaps a GSA Olympics would be a way to make the Phys. Ed connection. At only five years old a child born male, identified as a girl. The Principal immediately labeled the child "transgendered". The child became more anxious and more resistant with parents and staff. The child wanted to be dressed in a dress at the Christmas concert. The family left the school and moved to a different community. The power of gender roles is more strong than we realize. We need to be more sensitive about this topic. The Vital Statistics Act has been amended to change the way that names are written on Report cards. It still requires a male/ female designation and it still requires a letter from an outside agent (Doctor or Councellor, etc.) The gender roles are also becoming a more important factor in sports. There was a child who identified as a boy was eventually allowed to go into a boys changing room. She showed that this issue is not just for LGBTQ students, but also for any student. As I become tired of sitting, I wonder if we should make movement, not the break but the activity, and make sitting the break. Radical, I know, much like the thinking that is taking place here about gender roles.
Johanne Syms encouraged us to show as much compassion and support for all as possible. She finished with a poetic reminder that it that compassion that we will remember and carry with us.
The panel in the afternoon, spoke about turning the system upside down. They are trying to get Medical professionals to work directly in the schools so we don't have to wait for our students to be seen. There was a lot of resistance and fear about these changes. We need to find a way to communicate. We also have to have a system for information sharing given confidentiality components. Cultural considerations must be made. We must collaborate.
Collaboration must be goal oriented and a schedule is essential. Planning for a collaborative meeting comes from preparing the parents so they understand and feel less anxious. It takes courage to be reflective and make changes in how we do things.
They impressed upon us how important collaboration is in our system.
A question was asked about why schools plus only services students with the highest needs. Rola said it actually offers programs for all of the school community. It is hard to get students serviced in some areas because of rural areas not having the same resources.
Brenda mentioned how a lot of the decisions made about how the school day looks can be about the bus schedule. It isn't always about the students. She also mentioned that not everyone has had medical procedures done, but everyone has gone to school, so we all come with a notion of what schools should look like.
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