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Exit Permits to Encourage Students’ Agency
ImagePE PYP Job Alike – Constructing a Learning Community and Enhancing Learning Through Collaboration
The Physical Education programme at Arab International Academy is adding strength to the educational values of our institution by placing emphasis on learning through play and focusing on purposeful learning. Our physical education teachers are curriculum designers and we are employing the Teaching Games for Understanding pedagogical approach, which emphasizes play, where tactical and strategic problems are posed in a modified game environment, empowering students’ agency in making decisions.
With the purpose of promoting and establishing high-quality of learning and creating a culture of collaborative planning, the Primary PE Department at Arab International Academy organized a job-alike event focused on Invasion Games.
Physical education teachers from the main IB schools in Doha attended, participated and collaborated in a grade 5 practical session that involved students in inquiry, play, critical thinking and problem solving. Group interaction and communication skills were practiced in a meaningful way by students who inquired into the invasion games category by playing, comparing and contrasting 4 different games. The students’ PE session concluded with an exit permit in which they expressed the outcomes of their learning in a written form by using a ‘Traffic Light’ strategy.
In the second part of the event, teachers planned and reflected on a comprehensive range of assessments and opportunities for learners to take action upon their learning. Developing conceptual questions that spark students’ interest was another key element of the session that supports the Teaching Games for Understanding pedagogical model. We have analyzed the strengths of our programmes and brain-stormed different ways to extend our collaboration beyond this event.
We are looking forward to promote collaborative practices at all levels and to co-construct learning, therefore we invite you to strengthen our learning community so that all its members benefit individually and collectively and contribute to our global success.
What is Physical Education? Why Physical Education?
We start the year with enthusiasm and we get ready with engaging and fun games. We all do it with passion and our students benefit from this play and fun. But… is this enough?
As Pill (2018) mentioned in his article, physical education doesn’t include just the physical nature, but the relations of physical training to attain a complete education and the making of it as a integrative part of individual’s life. The dimensions of physical education we emphasize are social, emotional, physical and cognitive and this is what the PSPE in the IB framework is concerned with: the individual’s well-being and the understanding of self, through the promotion and development of knwoledge, concepts, attitudes and skills.
Physical education is commonly perceived and described by students and parents as play and fun, so I decided to inquire with my cohorts into the meaning of our subject and for a better understanding of the ‘whys’. Defining ourselves as a team of learners we construct the believe that physical education is more than games and sports and we purposefully transfer the skills we learn, we encourage present and future choices and we promote cultural understanding.
Together, we identified the meanings of physical education and we formulated our learning goals that will keep us engaged and motivated throughout the entire year. It is an ongoing process and I find it essential in the transformation that we all undergo in the upcoming year.
Singh (2017) suggests in his article that fun, by its nature, does not create learning and is mostly a by-product. He proposes instead the theme Learning for Joy, which, together with Play with Purpose (Game Sense Approach), have become purposeful mantras for myself, as an educator.
Our students should enjoy the PE sessions through play and the fun must be connected to it. If this play is connected thoroughly to the planned learning we just make one step further in this becoming adventure and we are setting the bar high. Can we keep it up there?
References:
Pill, S. 2018. What IS Physical Education? A Siendentopian Answer. Available: https://learningthroughsport.blogspot.com/2018/12/what-is-physical-education-siedentopian.html
Singh, B. 2017. Understanding, Appreciation, Learning and Fun – How Do They Connect In Physical Education? Available: https://reinventingthegame.wordpress.com/2017/11/13/understanding-appreciation-learning-and-fun-how-do-they-connect/
PE Assessment with Padlet
VideoThese are a few steps of how to use the Padlet app with and educational purpose in mind. It can be a quick and effective tool for a pre-assessment, formative or even summative assessment, if well designed in advance. It only takes a few short minutes to colllect information and create evidence of learning in the same time.
- Make a Padlet at https://padlet.com/
- Formulate and insert your question(s) for the students.
- Generate the padlet’s QR code and make it visible on your screen/board.
- Encourage students to scan the code and input their responses.
- If time allows it, asign students to make a comment on a colleague’s answer.
- You now have a digital learning evidence that you can share with your students, teachers and parents.
- Inform your planing and teaching according to these findings and enjoy a more meaningful learning with your team!
‘Stay Curious!’
Last November I have attended Kath’s Murdoch workshop at SEQ Qatar, Doha, an event prepared and highly recommended by my mentor Ali Ezzeddine. I am thankful to my school, Arab International Academy, who supported me to attend the workshop.
As a specialist teacher who employs the Teaching Games for Understanding pedagogical model this learning opportunity was a fantastic way to deepen the art of questioning, to encourage students’ inquiries through different techniques and strategies and mostly to acknowledge the essentials of the inquiry from the planning moments to the assessment and action stages.
Why inquiry in PE?
Our students are genuinely motivated to learn and practice when they follow their interests and the process of inquiry allows us to tap into their natural curiosity. By using it, learners can magnify the transfer of skills when setting goals, think of resources or demonstrate organisation and communication skills. Futhermore, as inquiry teachers, we can make informed choices about students’ interests and learning needs and better shape our planning and assessments processes.
How do you see your thinking shaping?
As we have progressed into what Murdoch engaged us with, I was constantly thinking about my thinking. Being prepared to challenge your own thinking and to observe it as it shapes through the interaction with different perspectives, is an essential trait that I am willing to be aware of and keep it at high metacognitive level in my profession.
How can we encourage students’ agency?
‘Pause to allow time for thinking and use questions as learning intentions’, says Murdoch. Through the quality of our questions and by engaging the students in the learning process we deepen their understanding. Hearing learners’ voice and choice in the inquiry process is a great way to better know the students. I do this by video provocations, oral discussions recorded on the white board (mind maps) or exit permits to find more about their prior knowledge or skill interest like I did in this post.
Group inquiry outcomes
Video provocation 
Smiley Faces exit permit
How can we spark their curiosity?
Given the stretch of time we have in PE, I often post a picture on the board and I encourage students to write their questions as the session unfolds. At the beggining of the health unit, in grade 3, I left a foam roller on a mattress in one of the gym’s corners. Some students asked questions, some others started to do push ups with it or peak at each other holding it like a big lense. A Mistery Box as suggested by Murdoch (2015) can do wonders. During the striking and fielding unit I use a red bag with 7-8 baseball balls in it. We inquire about their different sizes, materials they are made of, texture and more important, their purpose. I invite students to anticipate and make predictions about the use of these balls and the quality of the discussion is growing visibly.
Is your learning context authentic?
The backward planning model (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998) allows students to demonstrate understanding through their performance by using
GRASPS scenarios! This is a strategy I have been exposed to in
Erickson’s (2009) book and workshop and I first put it in practice during my collaboration with a fantastic educator, my Head of PE in Singapore: Mark Williams. Our students love to play and like to impersonate the roles we assign them with. The more they inquire about these roles the better their responsibility increases, and consequently, the learning outcomes. Find bellow an example of one of the most succesful GRASPS, designed for an adventure challenge unit in grade 5, as well as some examples of posters made by grade 3 students as part of their role to recruit players for the school’s baseball team.
GRASPS G5 Adventure Challenge
How transdisciplinary is your programme?
As Nicolesco (1999) emphasised, transdisciplinarity’s goal is understanding the present world and it can be achieved by exploring content within the context of inquiry. My students experienced the action of resistance and friction by working with parachutes or swimming with tshirts on while their performance was measured. With this approach we scaffolded their learning about forces acquired during classroom time. In another experiment, students came with the class teacher and measured the volume of the swimming pool. They made the calculations to find out how many elephants will fit in our school’s pool!
Measuring the pool’s volume 
Swimming with parachutes
How to construct a meaningful culture of curiosity?
Creating a culture of inquiry by using powerful resources and strategies is essential in our activity, therefore, building a community and connecting with students is key. I write personal notes for students to express the appreciation for their efforts and establish a line of communication and trust that makes them feel comfortable in their environment. Our essential agreements that we establish at the begining of the year are posted on the board and we often refresh them and reflect upon. For my grade 5 students I built a fitness website that we used during the unit and encouraged their collaboration through it. Furthermore, Murdoch (2015) suggests to allow students to get to know you! As soon as I returned to school I reiterated the fact that I learned during the weekend with other teachers and I shared an example of my learning together with the workshops’ certificate.
Fitness Website
Notes for students 
Enhancing students’ capacity of questioning?
At the beginning of our units I use Question Starts strategy as an illustrative and encouraging way for students to formulate questions, starting from their own interests. This Visible Thinking routine is one of my favourite and most effective during PE sessions, along with the Smiley Faces or Traffic Light exit permits.
Traffic Light exit permit 
Powerful Questions related to PE
In her book – The Power of Inquiry – Murdoch (2015) proposes great questions: How does your gym nurture curiosity? How do you know if you’re healthy? What makes you who you are? How do we care for ourselves? Students’ answers were fantasticwhen I used some of them and I have compiled their suggestions in a grade 3 wall display and a grade 5 end of the unit reflection, on paper chart.
Students’ reflections in G5 
G3 Students suggestions
I summarized a few thoughts and learnings that were inspired by Murdoch’s workshop. Find amazing resources on her website, from where, as an educator you can build a stronger understanding of what inquiry represents in today’s education. I hope you find this helpful and, as Kath Murdoch wrote in her autograph: ‘Stay Curios!’
References:
Erickson, L. H and Lanning, L.A. 2014. Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction. Sage, CA.
Murdoch, K. 2015. The Power of Inquiry. Seastar, Australia.
Nicolescu, B. 1996. La Transdisciplinarité. Paris, France: Rocher.
International Congress What university for tomorrow ? Towards a transdisciplinary evolution of the university. Locarno, Switzerland. Available: http://perso.club-internet.fr/nicol/ciret.
Visible Thinking Routines. Available: http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03d_UnderstandingRoutines/QuestionStarts/QuestionStarts_Routine.html
Sports Day – Trilingual Students’ Posters
I have encouraged our students to create their own posters in preparation for the Sports Day. They worked in groups and they were supported by the class teachers when highlighting their understanding of essential sports values that we are emphasizing in our units. These posters were displayed in the gymnasium and around the playing areas during the event. I am really happy with the outcomes of this action, especially with grade 1 students who insisted to have their voice heard and their posters displayed in specific places. How do you encourage students’ agency at your school during the Sports Day?
Never Give Up (G3) 
Je respect mon adversaire (G5) 
Les verts sont super (G4) 
We shake hands after competition (G1) 
Sportsmanship (G2) 
Les rouges sont les plus forts (G3) 
Ways to praise (G2) 
Help your teammates to remember when is their turn (G1) 
Spectacular (G2) 
TM means Team Work (G3)
Students’ Notes for a Balanced Emotional Environment
Image Murdoch (2015) emphasized that constructing the emotional environment is key when educators aim to nurture quality relationships. When feeling trusted and part of a connected community, our students feel safe and take risks in their learning.
I write student notes and put them in their cubbies, lunch boxes, or their bags; I leave them on their tables when they’re not in the room or simply pass them directly with an additional feedback.
‘It is worth putting time into. Like all relationships, the connections we have with our students needs regular attention – it’s not just something to attend to at the beginning of the year’ (Murdoch, 2015).
References: Murdoch, K. 2015. Power of Inquiry. Seastar Education. Australia
