Why or in what ways is writing important to your discipline/field/profession?
Writing in health and physical education is vital in communicating with students, colleagues, families and the community. Writing is an essential skill in building health and physical literacy in PK-12 students. Health and physical educators use writing to describe their school community context and to create rationales for units they need to teach. Health and physical educators use writing to describe unit and lesson plans, to create assessment and evaluation tools and to craft reports of student learning outcomes. Writing is used to communicate between teachers and their professional organizations when presenting research and pedagogical strategies. Writing is used between teachers and administrators for many types of professional communication tasks.
Which courses are designated as satisfying the Writing in the Discipline (WID) requirement by your department? Why these courses?
The Health and Physical Education Program has designated the following as its WID courses:
- HPE 200: Promoting Health and Well-Being in Schools
- HPE 301 Methods in Teaching Physical Activity
- HPE 414 Practicum in Secondary Physical Education
- HPE 418: Practicum in Secondary Health Education
- HPE 423 Seminar in Health and Physical Education
- HPE 425 Student Teaching in Health and Physical Education
HPE 200 is taken in the first year and is a required course for admission into the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development (FSEHD). It is a WID course because students must practice and show competence in writing skills that are a foundation for their work in future courses and their teaching profession (National Health Education Standards [NHES]), and in order to be accepted into the FSEHD. HPE 200 provides these writing opportunities.
HPE 301 is taken in the student’s second year and is a required course to move on into the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development (FSEHD). It is a WID course because teacher candidates must practice and demonstrate proficiency in writing skills that are a foundation for their work in future courses and their teaching profession (Society of Health and Physical Educators [SHAPE]) and is a prerequisite for all practicum courses.
HPE 414 is a WID course because teacher candidates are required to research and report on a variety of elements related to the district they were assigned as well as write a comprehensive unit plan. This is the Teacher Candidate Work Sample (TCWS) and it is a requirement for the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development Preparing to Student Teaching Portfolio for entrance into student teaching. The TCWS is a teaching unit plan and is composed of multiple parts that must be implemented in a school, and since HPE 414 is a practicum, teacher candidates must use this course for this applied writing assignment.
HPE 418 is a WID course because in this course teacher candidates are required to write a comprehensive unit plan applied in the school setting. This is the Teacher Candidate Work Sample (TCWS) and it is a requirement for the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development Preparing for Student Teaching Portfolio for entrance into student teaching. The TCWS is a teaching unit plan and is composed of multiple parts that must be implemented in a school, and since HPE 418 is a practicum, teacher candidates must use this course for this applied writing assignment.
HPE 423 is a WID course because student teachers must demonstrate competence in writing in several genres associated with teaching in order to be successful in student teaching and their future profession. The course requires teacher candidates to implement their writing skills with K-12 students, families and administrators, therefore this student teaching course is appropriate for WID.
HPE 425 is a WID course because student teachers must be in the field in order to write a comprehensive unit plan once again, showing growth in their writing from when they first wrote it in parts in HPE 413 and 417 to the first full writing in HPE 414 and 418, to HPE 425 when they demonstrate mastery of all parts of the TCWS.
What forms or genres of writing will students learn and practice in your department’s WID courses? Why these genres?
In our WID courses teacher candidates will learn, practice and implement various types of writing. Genres include persuasive writing (rationales in HPE 200 and 425) procedural writing (lesson and unit plans in HPE 301, 414, 418 and 423), reflective writing (observation and teaching reflections in HPE 301, HPE 414, 418 and 423), analytical writing (the TCWS and video analysis in HPE 414, 423 and 425) and professional writing in all the WID courses (letters to families, administrators, creating a resume, cover letter, presentations, etc. HPE 423 and HPE 425). These genres align best with skills the teacher candidates will need in the health and physical education teaching field and provide depth and breadth to best prepare them for tasks in the profession.
What kinds of teaching practices will students encounter in your department’s WID courses?
The Health and Physical Education Program recognizes that writing is an on-going process that is practiced using both low- and high-stakes writing assignments. We prepare teacher candidates using best-practice models in the following ways:
- in-class demonstrations and practice, with examples of both the sources and the process of where and how to find and use information in written work
- in-class demonstrations, with examples of completed work samples
- provision of in-class and homework practice of writing tasks
- provision and explanation of exemplars
- writing with multiple iterations (revise their work)
- peer and instructor feedback
- multiple forms of feedback including rubrics, qualitative comments and discussions
- revision opportunities
- reflection of own writing
- encouragement and, when necessary, added support from RIC’s Writing Center
- explicit prompts aligned with the evaluation tool
When they’ve satisfied your department’s WID requirement, what should students know and be able to do with writing?
Upon completion of WID courses, teacher candidates will use writing to:
- demonstrate accurate knowledge of health and physical literacy
- communicate effectively to families and to the professional community
- write in a way that clearly communicates lesson and unit plans
- develop habits of analysis and reflection to drive instruction
- demonstrate an understanding of developmentally appropriate content utilizing proper progressions
- demonstrate communication of student growth
- reflect on the strengths and areas of ongoing growth
- develop professional skills essential for teaching, learning and advocating for health and physical literacy
- seek opportunities to share writing with professionals in the field of health and physical education
