Martial Arts Program Helps Reading School District Elementary School Children Stretch Their Minds and Bodies
By: Lisa R. Weidman
Third grade students in the Glenside Elementary School gym are seated on their yoga mats while their parents are waiting with anticipation in the bleachers. Today is the last day of the Yoga and Taekwondo after-school program, and the children will be showcasing what they have learned this spring.
Although they may not realize it, they have learned more than Yoga poses and Taekwondo techniques. The after-school program, developed by Penn State Berks faculty members Valerie Cholet, Instructor in Kinesiology, and Dr. Jessica Schocker, Assistant Professor of Social Studies, is actually a vehicle to teach physical education and social studies in a unique and authentic way.
Together with Penn State Berks Childhood and Early Adolescent Education majors, Cholet and Schocker visited the elementary school once a week during the spring 2012 semester and led the children in an hour-long program with a twist; each week focused on a different positive theme such as courage, respect, and community. In conjunction with the theme, the children were given corresponding positive affirmations to say, such as “I am courageous.” Each week’s activities were based upon meeting standards in social studies and health/physical education.
After an introduction and warm-up, the children were given the theme of the week. While practicing their Yoga poses, the theme was reinforced. Then, the children learned some basic Taekwondo techniques, giving them a cardiovascular workout. At the end of each session, while cooling down, they had the opportunity to discuss the theme and share how they will continue to use it beyond the session. For example, one week the students focused on safety. While practicing Yoga postures, they learned correct form and the value of paying attention to detail in all tasks. During Taekwondo, safety involves practicing self control when demonstrating appropriate kicks and punches. This theme also required the students to listen and work together as a community of learners.
In addition to helping the children at Glenside Elementary School learn essential life skills outside the classroom, the after-school program provided valuable experience for the six Penn State Berks student teachers who helped facilitate the program. When reflecting on their experience, the pre-service teachers indicated a deeper sense of management skills and interdisciplinary curriculum development, while fostering a stronger sense of connectedness with fellow pre-service teachers, college faculty, and children. Research in education has indicated that teachers with a strong ability to reflect are more likely to develop stronger teaching and management skills.
When asked how the idea for the program originated, Cholet and Schocker, who both teach in the College’s education program, explained that they believe education needs to teach the “whole child.” Whole child education focuses on developing skills such as reading, math, and writing in authentic social contexts rather than in a vacuum. Using physical education serves as an appropriate platform for which to integrate academics and social skills for the development of positive, participatory citizens of the community and world. In disciplines such as Yoga and Taekwondo, practitioners are encouraged to work on developing a strong self-esteem. Further, the basic philosophical grounding of these Eastern-influenced practices stresses an awareness of community and the way our actions impact others.
Research has indicated that a sense of community is particularly important for children in urban schools who are subject to transience and poverty. Since the Reading School District serves an at-risk student body, it seemed to be a perfect fit. Additionally, all funding for after-school programming at Glenside had been cut, so this program offered the only opportunity for an organized after-school activity.
“A program emphasizing fun while being active created a safe and welcoming environment in which the children could interact,” explains Cholet. “Using Yoga and Taekwondo provides a one-of-a-kind way to engage students in physical activity and also exposes them to types of exercises that they may never have the chance to experience otherwise.”
Schocker adds, “As a social studies educator, I saw this as an opportunity to teach students about culture, history, and most importantly, community–one of the most important concepts the National Council for Social Studies stresses for elementary-aged children. Yoga and Taekwondo are rich with tradition and provide a real-life example of how cultures influence one another and can bring people together in the local community and from around the world.”
The children were very enthusiastic about the program, and their teachers and guidance counselor reported that the children used the affirmations they learned in the program in the classroom before tests.
For the purposes of research, Schocker and Cholet were interested in exploring how this program would provide pre-service teachers with an additional practical experience with children. Two research questions guided the development of this program. First, does such a program encourage pre-service teachers to value and incorporate social studies and health/physical education (typically marginalized subjects in the era of standardized testing) into their teaching? And second, do they develop more sophisticated philosophies of teaching and management as a result of participation?
The medium for collecting data for these questions involved critical written self-reflection essays by the pre-service teachers, as well as weekly debriefing sessions with their supervising faculty members. As a result, a third research question emerged: How is teacher education improved by fostering a triad of connectedness among faculty, pre-service teachers, and children? Research in teacher education has indicated that faculty tend to be disengaged from the actual K-12 classroom, and experiences such as these help to bridge the gap between the “trenches” of public education and the ivory tower of college classrooms.
Preliminary results of the program indicate that the participating Penn State Berks students have a deeper understanding of the value of teaching social studies and health/physical education.
At the conclusion of the program, one student wrote, “Developing a community goes way beyond teaching anti-bullying. If students feel that they are part of a community, that they are important, they will want to come to school and look forward to it, which in turn benefits their academic achievement.” Another said, “We built a community. At first I was uncertain of social studies and how to teach it; now I know how and know why it is so important.”
The pre-service teachers reported feeling more prepared for the management aspect of teaching–something difficult to teach out of the real-world context of an elementary school. All participants reported that they would use skills learned in this program to improve transition times between subjects and make use of wasted time during the school day with physical activity that promotes health and community building.
Schocker and Cholet are currently writing a paper on their research, which includes a model for teacher education programs to consider implementing to improve the connection between faculty, pre-service teachers, and community children, which involves working together in programs such as these.
Cholet and Schocker plan to return to Glenside Elementary School in the spring of 2013 to continue the martial arts after-school program. Future areas of focus will include refining the reflective practice of the pre-service teachers and working to better bridge the gap between faculty and local elementary children.