SAIIER 2016:Physical Education Teacher Training

Aurolympics		Future School
Physical Education Teacher Training A project of Dehashakti School of Physical Education

Introduction

With this teacher training program we strive to research the best methods to be applied in the integral physical education program at Entity::Dehashakti.

“The perfection of the body, as great a perfection as we can bring about by the means at our disposal, must be the ultimate aim of physical culture. Perfection is the true aim of all culture, the spiritual and psychic, the mental, the vital and it must be the aim of our physical culture also.”

Sri Aurobindo

Description of project

Four young adults who had just passed out of Auroville schools and were keen to learn about teaching physical education were selected to participate in this venture of working, teaching, learning and self-discovery.

Daily from 2:30pm to 6pm the trainees were engaged in helping and supporting the Dehashakti teachers during the physical education classes. And once a week after the lessons we sat to share our experiences and observations.

Here is a description from one of the trainees:

“Since more than a year now a few of us young teachers have been meeting once every week with Rajeev for a session called 'The Dehashakti Action Group'. These meetings as a training have been very useful and interesting for me since our aim is to evaluate our physical education program, find and implement new ideas and ways to improve our program. I feel that sharing in a group is very important since we can each share the different challenges we face as teachers and come up with solutions. These weekly sessions involve a lot of discussions and feedbacks from each of us teachers, looking into the aims of physical education as envisaged by The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, all of this has helped me evolve a lot as a sports teacher since I learn of new methods and ways of teaching, organizing my classes and giving my maximum effort on the sports ground with the children.”

Outcomes

This training was initiated in 2014-15, it has completed a cycle of two years with the team of 4 teachers trainees. The team of trainees is of mixed ages and yet has over a very short time came to understand each other. They work as a team to bring in new possibilities and changes to the program. This process will continue as it is needed to keep the evaluation as a regular habit. For the benefit of the team as well as the Dehashakti program, such brainstorming and sharing of ideas is essential. The teacher training program has brought to Dehashakti more enthusiasm and focus.

Reflections

Here is what one of the trainees had to say about his experience:

“My year was challenging since the group I was taking care of was big and had different ages and levels in sports. I enjoyed working with the kids since they were not lacking in energy and enthusiasm although it was difficult at times to make them channelise it. I learnt that being a teacher on the sports ground means reinventing myself regularly, i.e changing the training methods, doing something completely different, playing new games and finding ways to motivate the children to do better. This last point about motivating the children to do all the activities with the same energy and joy was the hardest job, since each child has his or her preference. I noticed that as they grow older many actually begin to understand the importance of an integral physical education program as was the case with some in my group.”

Conclusion

Physical education is challenging and needs a methodical program to help children develop a strong body. For physical education instructors / teachers / coaches it is essential to keep inventing new ways of conducting trainings and motivating children to progress and overcome their disinterestedness for various activities on the field.

The Dehashakti team and activities have gained greatly from the teacher training program. We hope that it will have a long term impact as the trainees continue to evaluate their progress and slowly evolve into creative and inspiring teachers.

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