If I was introducing Meaningful PE for the first time...

This is one of those ‘in hindsight’ posts, or as the cliche goes, "if I knew then what I knew now, then I would do things differently". Over the past seven years of playing around with MPE in my own practice, and more recently listening to others share their approach through the Meaningful Podcast Experience, there are many things I wish I had done differently. This post is meant to outline a process that if I was introducing students to Meaningful Physical Education for the first time, I wish I would have used (and will use in the future), and while you could use it as well, it doesn’t mean that is the 'only' or 'best' process. There is no timeline for how long this process would take, but over a course of several weeks or months feels better to me than a matter of days. ​

1. Develop a Shared Language of Meaningfulness
Three Questions

• What does it mean, when something is meaningful? 
• What is meaningful about an activity you currently engage in? 
• For your PE experience to be meaningful, what are the essential ingredients? 

With each of these questions, the primary purpose is to help build a language around meaningfulness, which includes understanding what the term meaningful means as well as what features contribute to a meaningful experience. By establishing this common language, it builds a foundation through which we can guide further reflection. Additionally, if done early in the year / semester, asking such questions helps establish reflection as an essential component of PE. Furthermore, as a teacher, it allows me to find out what is important to my students, data which I can help facilitate positive experiences with my students. 

2. Unpack Features using Anchor Charts
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In the previous step, you would have likely realized that much of what students say is meaningful or important may directly align with the features of Meaningful PE (challenge, social interaction, motor competence etc.) but students have their own language for each feature. For example, students might say "improving" or "getting better" rather than 'develop motor competence'.  With each of the student-generated features, I would unpack these further with anchor charts. What does social interaction look like? Sound like? Feel like? I would leave these up on the wall for us to comeback to later on. A credit to Mel Trojanovic for this step! 

3. Reflect on Features using Equalizer 

Regardless of the unit or activities, I would continue to guide reflection related to the features established earlier. To do so, I would use Alex Becky's equalizer metaphor, which I like because it helps students consider that at different times  some features are more prominent than others, but perhaps likely all features are present at different intensities. At this point, I would also aim to guide discussion on how individuals can experience the features in different ways. 

In the photo on the left, the student is using an equalizer to share with his classmates what is an "ideal" class for him. The language here is from the Beni et. al (2017) article and not student vocab.

4. Consider the Interrelated Nature of Features
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At some point, I would make the transition between understanding that several  features are often present to the ways in which features are interrelated. To do so, I would use Dr. Tim Fletcher's clock mechanism or a gear metaphor. The longer I've gone on with MPE, the more convinced I become that the social dimension really drives the others, but features that are more powerful could also be determined through reflection with students.  I see the understanding the interrelated nature of the features as a necessary precursor of how we get to joy. 

In this image, students have determined that creativity, and competition are also features they find important. The reflection is related to which features they feel are most present in a parkour lesson. 

5. Introduce Joy 

If I could make one amendment to Fletcher’s clock mechanism, I would suggest that the gears are not a part of a clock but rather of a vault door. A door to what? To what Kretchmar often refers to as “the kingdom” or a "playground", a metaphorical place of  joy, meaningfulness and desire for continued engagement. In the quote below, Kretchmar outlines a process of how a participant comes to enter the kingdom / playground. 

"They begin to take the first steps, ideally with someone who is familiar with the playground as their guide [...] Eventually, the playground begins to talk; it starts to come alive. Almost, magically, it begins to morph into a special, personal playground for this individual. Such converts can hardly believe that this vibrant playground is the same one to which they were first introduced. And, in truth, it is not"
​- Kretchmar (2005, p. 155)

While others might see joy differently, I believe that through attunement of the other features, that we can help students recognize joy when it presents itself and enter various 'playgrounds' (which doesn’t mean to suggest it can be done on a whim).  In terms of defining joy with my students, I like Arnett's (2023) definition of joy as a product of elation and relation. 

"An intense and temporary heightened positive emotion (elation) as a consequence of a just right fit between our identity and the moment we are experiencing (relation)" "

Arnett outlines how joy can sometimes be conflated with happiness. In which case (considering I teach Middle School students), I would probably use  a meme to help them understand the difference. 

If you're looking for specific tools and strategies, this Google doc contains an on-going list of strategies from other educators interested in the ideas of Meaningful Physical Education. 

References
Arnett, J. J. (2022). Joy: An integrative theory. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2022.2053878

Kretchmar, R. S. (2005). Practical philosophy of sport and physical activity (2nd ed.). Human Kinetics.