Media and teaching.

I thought I had finished my reflection for this assignment, but today I read a very interesting article in The Age (here).

After reading the article, I reflected on a few points that I found could potentially relate to my teaching practices.

What would I do differently? Is the response of 'you will get a detention if you don't participate' justified? Probably not. It is well acknowledged that PE teachers always have a struggle with participation, especially with repeat offenders who fake notes from parents or miss class to avoid the subject. So what would I have done? Most likely, I would have ensured that the student had a note from home explaining the situation and I would have got her involved in a more stationary duty, such as scorer. After class, I would have followed up with the assistant principle to compare the stories that had been told.

What strategies do schools have in place when dealing with this type of situation? Some teachers say if there is a note, then they get the student to sit out of the PE class for the whole lesson whilst others will say that they will get them involved in some way possible. Do schools have a set guideline to follow when a student either brings a note from home or states they can't participate? Or is it left up to the teachers judgement? Maybe Parkdale Secondary College needs to support their teachers, in particular PE teachers, and develop some direction to follow in these circumstances.

Lastly, the media can obviously be intense. Coming from a Physiotherapy background, I know that an ankle injury can have no impact on the rupture of a ligament in the knee. It's the equivalent of saying, 'I dislocated my shoulder because I had an ankle injury'. Did Steve Butcher (the author of the article) get a recommendation or supporting material to confirm what he had written is true? I doubt it. What it shows is that the media just wants a story, regardless if the information is correct or incorrect. Especially when the government is involved. Do I want to be in the media in regards to my teaching ability? Absolutely not. Thus, I will ensure that I will get very familiar and teach to the professional standards and VIT code of conduct.