“Why must we learn this sport?”
One of the most difficult questions to answer
“All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year”
(Sinek, 2011)
As a beginning teacher, I struggled to answer the “Why must we learn…?” question. I asked myself, too, because Physical Education (PE) is about developing fit and healthy students. When the students are not good at sports, wouldn’t the activity level be low?
Therefore during my first two years of teaching, I insisted that my classes do fitness and conditioning, such as push-ups, sit-ups and running, before they start learning the sport because they would not put in the effort to run during the games. However, the more I ask them to do fitness and conditioning, the less time they have to learn the sport. And I would ask myself, “Then what is the purpose of learning when they are not improving?”
I am not suggesting that starting the lesson with fitness and conditioning is wrong. I have seen teachers using only five minutes to get students to lead in short fitness and conditioning as the teachers take attendance. The problem is, if I could not convince myself of the purpose of teaching different sports, how am I going to have them motivation to teach?
The purpose of teaching different sports
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery”
(Mark Van Doren)
Unlike academic teachers, PE teachers can not explain to students, “Because it is in the ‘O’ Levels and if you do not do well in this subject, you would not be able to choose the course you like.” PE teachers must convince students that PE is not a lesson about enjoying themselves while becoming fit (although the joy of learning is important). The phrase “Physical Education” means students must be educated.
To start investigating how to answer students, we can start looking at the aim of education.
“We aim to help our students discover and make the best of their talents, to help them realise their full potential, and develop a passion for lifelong learning.”
Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore
Looking at the aim of education, the role of PE teachers is to help students learn a variety of physical activities (including values) to become physically competent and confident people. We should also help students realise the joy of learning various physical activities to enjoy a lifetime of active and healthy living.
Delving deeper into understanding the students’ resistance to learning new sports
“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”
(Malcolm Forbes)
Before we go straight to saying to them, “You need to learn this sport because the aim of education is to….” we need to delve deeper to understand why students resist learning certain sports.
Firstly, students may have poor experiences learning new sports before. The students could take longer than others to acquire skills, which could be due to learning needs. As such, they received negative feedback from peers and teachers, which led to anxiety and lower motivation to learn (Weidinger et al., 2016). They may also not have learned much the last time they learned the sport, possibly due to poor teacher competencies (Yong, 2020).
Secondly, they do not think they will do well in the sport, which leads to fear of failure and embarrassment. For example, students who have never played football might find it challenging to handle the ball using their feet. As such, they might worry their peers will make fun of them. The students’ low perceived competence leads to low learning motivation (Williams & Gill, 1995).
Thirdly, the students might think certain sports do not interest them (CEHD, 2023). For example, some students enjoy playing territorial-invasion games such as football and basketball for various reasons such as social interaction and teamwork, so when they find physical activities such as net-barrier and striking-fielding games not enjoyable. On the other hand, some students do not like team sports because they see the game as too competitive (CEHD, 2023).
Lastly, the students may have heard that learning the sport is not fun or have seen others struggle to learn or play it. Although they have not had negative experiences learning the sport before, they could also develop a fear of learning the sport just by seeing or hearing from others (LoBue, 2020).
Fight or flight — The amygdala response
“Fear is the enemy of learning. It’s the negator of joy, the preventer of play, the inhibitor of trust and love. Fear just gets in the way, slows things down, and causes unnecessary pain.”
(Karen Pryor)
Putting them all together, students resist learning something new because they worry they will have a poor learning experience. As we are always rushing for time to give students ample time for practice, many of us do not like to answer the “Why must we learn…” question. And I always find students disrespect us when they ask the “Why must we learn…” question.
To explain the students’ reaction using neuroscience, a frontal cortex in the brain governs one’s reasoning ability to problem-solve, plan, and control impulses. When the frontal cortex is fully developed, it helps a person think before he or she acts (Pacific Teen Treatment, 2021).
To put it in context, if the students’ frontal cortex is developed, they will think first before asking the “Why must we learn…” question. However, the frontal cortex of teenagers is still developing, so when they sense the fear of learning the sport, they might disrespectfully ask the question without thinking how the teacher would feel.
It is not about how we respond but what we do after responding to the question
“When someone is taught the joy of learning, it becomes a life-long process that never stops, a process that creates a logical individual. That is the challenge and joy of teaching.”
(Marva Collins)
I attended a coding workshop recently as part of professional learning in my organisation. While I was doing the first task, there was a syntax error which I could not figure out. I asked the assistant trainer to help me, but he also could not find the problem, so I told him I would figure it out myself, thinking many other colleagues might have issues. After staring at the codes for 20 minutes, I got frustrated because the syntax error was still there, and even if I found the mistake, I would not be able to catch up with the rest.
Frustrated by my progress, I turned to the colleague who sat behind me and asked, “Why are we learning coding when we have so much work to clear?!” Five minutes later, the assistant trainer came to check with me and helped me to find the error. We finally found the mistake, and he guided me to complete task 1 and start with task 2. Task 2 was simple for me, and I could even try out the more challenging codes. All of a sudden, I felt I was enjoying learning coding.
Just like my coding experience, when students see themselves learning the sport, they will enjoy the process of learning the sport (Brower, 2021). Whatever ways we respond to their “Why must we learn…?” question is not important. The important thing is how we will help them learn and ensure they have learnt. The best way to answer the question is not through words but through actions.
What can we do next
“Great teachers empathise with kids, respect them, and believe that each one has something special that can be built upon.”
(Ann Lieberman)
A way to respond to the question could be to ask them, “Why do you not want to learn?” or “Why don’t you try first, and then I will ask you again later?” After that, we have to commit to helping them learn so that they will change their perspective on learning new sports.
If we look on the bright side, students ask the “Why must we learn…?” question because students want to learn but are afraid they will not learn. Therefore, we must commit to improving our craft so that students can learn and see the joy of learning. When that happens, we will see our students enjoying a lifetime of active and healthy living.
It may look like a tall order to help everyone find joy in learning the sport. As such, we should work as a community to help one another grow. My job scope now allows me to collaborate with many teachers; hence, writing daily is a way for me to consolidate the good practices I observed.
The good news is, I am hearing fewer “Why must we learn…?” questions and I am hearing more “Can we learn more…?” questions!
References
Brower, T., PhD. (2021, October 17). Learning is a sure path to happiness: science proves it. Forbes.
CEHD. (2023, March 3). Why some students dislike physical education. https://cehd.gmu.edu/features/2023/03/03/why-some-students-dislike-physical-education/
LoBue, V. (2020, October 12). How We Learn to Be Afraid. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-baby-scientist/202010/how-we-learn-be-afraid
Sinek, S. (2011). Start with why: The Inspiring Million-Copy Bestseller That Will Help You Find Your Purpose. Penguin UK.
Pacific Teen Treatment. (2021, May 28). Making sense of the teenage brain. https://pacificteentreatment.com/teen-health/brain/
Yong, B. (2020, November 14). Reason Students hates certain subject. TFI. https://student-activity.binus.ac.id/tfi/2020/11/reason-students-hates-certain-subject/
