Inclusion+in+Physical+Education

The [|Australian Sports Commission](ASC) has some wonderful resources for including students with a disability in physical education.

There are many resources available for free download. For example:
 * Activity cards with inclusive game ideas. They are easy to use and provide examples of modifications to cater for all skill levels. Four separate sets of these activity cards are currently available: Disability Education Program Activity Cards, Sports Ability Activity Cards, Sports Ability Activity Cards 2, and Indigenous Sports Ability Activity Cards. One of these files has been attached to this posting for example purposes.
 * ‘Teachers Talk About …’. This resource explores the day-to-day experiences of teachers who provide sport and physical activity programs for children. The teachers’ stories offer solutions, useful information and a critical understanding of inclusive practice and the needs of individuals with a disability. There are 3 sections to this manual - Getting Started, Planning for Inclusion, Running Inclusive Activities, and ‘Teaching students with …’ which includes case studies specifically focused on physical disability, intellectual disability, sensory impairment and health conditions.
 * A range of information sheets (e.g. Golden rule of inclusion, Promoting positive attitudes, and Adapting and Modifying which includes a valuable discussion of the TREE model discussed below).
 * Webinars – a series of seminars posted on-line. For example: ‘How do we do it – adapting and modifying for individual difference’.
 * Videos demonstrating how students with a disability can be involved in sport.

In addition a wide range of resources are available in relation to Sports Ability. Sports Ability is an inclusive activities program which concentrates on ways in which teachers can adjust, adapt and modify the way in which an activity is delivered rather than focus on individual disabilities. There are three elements of the Sports Ability inclusive games program: equipment, resource materials (some materials have been mentioned previously), and hands on workshops where participants are provided with the opportunity to learn about all the activities and how they promote inclusion.

Pre-service teachers may find that Sports Ability kits are already available at many schools. It may be worth navigating to the ASC website to see what the kits look like so that they will stand out when looking through the PE equipment at a given school. If a school is in possession of a kit, then there are additional resources on this site that will be useful. For example an area is devoted to organising a Sports Ability gala day, with templates and helpful hints to make it a fun and successful day for all.

All of the inclusive resources on the Australian Sports Commission site discuss modifications using the TREE model. Pre-service teachers may already be familiar with this model, particularly those who have already completed one of the Health and Movement Education units. The TREE model can be used as a practical tool and a mental map to help teachers to adapt and modify game situations to be more inclusive of people with wide range of abilities. The information sheet ‘Adapting and Modifying’ provides valuable information on the TREE model. It has been attached to this posting.

[|Sports_Ability_Activity_Cards.pdf] [|Factsheet_adapting_and_modifying.pdf]
 * Attachments: **


 * Inclusive PE activities**

Learning takes place not only in a classroom setting but it also evident through social interactions in the playground and through various sports. Physical education is an integral part of life-long learning along and promotes a fit and healthy lifestyle. //Youth Sports Trust// was established in 1994 as a way to introduce and engage individuals of all ages and abilities to the benefits of sport. Students with physical disabilities often find themselves at a disadvantage when participating in team sports with their classmates. However, I found this site to have a wealth of information to help teachers familiarise themselves with sports that are inclusive of all abilities and able to be used in physical education lessons. The website has a section dedicated to inclusion in sport (link 1). The sporting activities and descriptors (Link 2) allow for teachers to also assess students motor skill abilities and monitor their progression. Students who have wheelchairs would benefit greatly from these games and other students may too understand how sport can be altered to incorporate all ability levels. For example, the game //Zone Hockey// has been devised so that it is suitable for children in electric or manual wheelchairs to participate. It details every aspect of the game from the how the game is played to what the objectives are. These however may be altered at the discretion of the teacher to be age and content appropriate. The site also contains a case study on the success of the integration of students with a disability into physical education. It can offer teachers some guidance as to how they can implement this in the class and what outcomes they may expect to see (link 3). Having said this, some of these activities may still be hard for those students with intellectual disabilities to understand. Again, making modifications where necessary reiterates the importance of content appropriateness. The following link explores various activities from a literacy perspective and how a teacher can develop these skills through a physical and sensory approach (link 4). Furthermore, the Youth Sport Trust provides an extensive monitoring and progression system which targets different competencies (link 5). They are mostly for the use of teachers and teacher’s assistants in helping recognise existing skills and thus understanding areas that require attention. I would highly recommend teachers to take advantage of this document as it can be used and modified to different age groups and content as desired.
 * __References:__**

1) []

2) []

3) [])

4) []

5) []

MPowerdome offers 'After school sports ability for students with disabilities' at $90 per term. All equipment supplied, trained facilitators and sports officers. They also have an inclusive sports 'Free come n try' - sounds terrific!! www.mpowerdome.com.au

Reference:

Malkara Newsletter - 'm' games advertisement [|www.mpowerdome.com.au]

__**Inclusive Physical Education**__

As a teacher, it is important to recognise the significance of physical activity in the lives of all children, including those with physical and intellectual disabilities. Joseph P. Winnick has produced a useful book for teachers which takes a comprehensive look at providing high quality physical education and sport experiences for people with disabilities. Readers can learn up to date practices and applications for easy inclusion of students with disabilities and, with this information, discover how to develop individualized education programs for all children up to the age of 21. The text comes with a DVD and has a companion web site with an instructor guide, test bank, and PowerPoint presentations. However, the book can also be viewed online through Google books online via the link bellow: []

I suggest using the book as a reference point to improving inclusive experiences of students of all ability levels in a range of physical activity situations in the school setting, including, but not limited to:
 * Introduce quick and easy warm-up or ‘free time’ games that allow students of all abilities to practice and improve their movement skills, these could also be played during recess or lunch without a teacher needing to watching over students or referee the game
 * Introduce one of the many games/modified sports suggested which focus on strategy and skill development which can be easily modified to include students with disabilities during a physical education class
 * Setting challenging but appropriate physical tasks using the techniques suggested, ensuring that individual students capabilities in the class are being adequately balanced

References:

Winnick, J. (2010). //Adapted Physical Education and Sport//. Fifth Edition. Human Kinetics

As a keen sports player I know first hand how sports and working as part of a team can be one of the most rewarding ways to spend your leisure time. Therefore I also have a keen interest in physical education at schools and know how a good experience here can translate into a lifetime of enjoying sports. However, the opposite is also true and if children are made to feel inadequate or not as capable as their peers then PE time can be the most dreaded time of week. For students with disabilities, particularly those with physical impairments such as being wheelchair bound, PE is often the time when they feel most excluded from their classmates. For teachers this means that they need to choose activities which the disabled student can take part in, or an activity with which the student has a meaningful helper role to play. Adapting games to better suit students with disabilities is also a viable option. For example, adapting basketball so that everyone must remain in the same position and pass it between one another will mean that the student can participate in the same capacity as their peers. Physical education is also a very social time for the students and the link below identifies some issues that may arise in the PE setting. As was said before, including special needs students into the lesson can be difficult but often these difficulties can be as a direct result of the teacher. The report says that a lack of teacher effectiveness, high transition times and an excessive waste of instructional time are all issues which can be easily fixed, but which will increase the participation and the enjoyment levels of the students with special needs. Physical education has the potential to be a fun and enjoyable time where students can get to interact outside of the classroom setting. The report belows states that while the interactions between the special needs students and their peers were mostly positive, they were also infrequent and as a result the special needs students still felt excluded from the task. As teachers we need to realise that PE is a time for learning but also for socialising and the physical education teacher needs to make sure that the interactions between students are positive. Choosing games that make students work together and stopping any negative behaviour in its tracks will lead to the PE classroom being a fun, social time for all students, regardless of disabilities.
 * __Inclusion in Physical Education__**

[] This is a link from the Speical Ed Wiki and highlights the main points of the report below.

Butler, R. S., & Hodge, S. R. (2004). Social inclusion of students with disabilities in middle school physical education classes. Research in Middle Level Education Online, Retrieved 26/7/2011, []