Implementing PBL in Physical Education

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach for launching project-based learning (PBL) initiatives.

Schools have had success starting small, like focusing on a single grade level or a particular subject area and scaling from there. Others have found success with implementing a more elective approach where they build buy-in and identify early adopters through choice. Some schools decide to go all-in right away and make PBL a shared endeavor with universal commitment from the start. If you choose this approach, then it’s especially important that you be aware of your responsibility to make sure that everyone at your school feels equally included and supported. Then, PBL will be a true team effort.

Sadly, many professional development resources and PBL planning efforts focus on teachers in self-contained classrooms or those who teach core academic subjects (especially literacy and math). As a result, teachers in career and technical education and visual and performing arts—and especially physical education—are often left out.

Where Professional Development Goes Wrong for PE

All-staff development workshops are a mixed bag for PE teachers. The topics and resources tend to focus on academic performance, not the athletic or physical health goals that PE curriculum revolves around. Having worked for quite a few professional development (PD) companies and with PE teachers in multiple states, I can attest to the fact that PBL resources focused on PE teachers aren’t nearly as detailed or numerous as those focused on core subjects, which is a real disservice to schools looking to make PBL a universal instructional approach.

The half-hearted attempts to include physical education colleagues in these workshops are almost worse than being excluded from PD completely—like asking them to adopt additional pencil-and-paper tasks such as a “sportfolio.” While this can be a welcome addition in some spaces, some of the physical education teachers I’ve worked with have expressed misgivings about the approach. “My class is the one chance that most students have to get up and move around all day. I don’t want to give up that time just so I can add research or writing where it doesn’t fit.”

To help ensure that PBL is truly all-inclusive of content areas, here are some suggestions and project ideas that you can consider for physical education classes.

How to Apply PBL to Physical Education

Implement common PBL tools. At its core, high-quality PBL uses content to teach, build, and assess skills that promote future success. Many of these “future ready” skills are natural fits for PE class, like building collaboration through team sports or the problem-solving involved in planning a tailored physical fitness plan. You can also still use common PBL tools like rubrics and self-reflection to help provide strategies and track mastery of these skills.

Collaborate in other performance-based subject areas. To counter feelings of isolation, PE teachers can interact with teachers in visual and performing arts, media center educators, or industrial arts and maker lab classrooms. These partnerships provide a space where resources geared toward other subjects can be discussed and connections can be made in a cohort-type of setting. A school I worked with in Ohio used this approach with such success that the professional learning community formed by “the other subjects” proudly dubbed themselves “The Island of Misfit Toys” and designed several successful PBL projects together.

Reduce pencil-and-paper task time in PE. Partner with teachers in the core content areas. For example, if the English language arts classes are working on expository writing, you may be able to coordinate a project with the ones who understand that your assignments are evidence of student mastery. PBL always works better when teachers collaborate. You can also be flexible with documentation and the evidence of learning that students submit, keeping to more “authentic” formats like video, statistics, or verbal interviews.

PE-Focused PBL Ideas

Field day: Students work together to plan a field day for another school or grade level. They begin by learning about the different components of fitness (cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, etc.) and come up with possible events that focus on and test each domain. They try out each other’s activities and provide feedback on how to make instructions clearer, how to accommodate students with special needs, and the final list of events. Literacy can play a part in the form of written directions, flyers, or invitations sent to other schools. If your secondary school is within reasonable distance of a primary school, this is an especially good project.

Personal trainer project: There are a number of careers open to students who are drawn to athletic pursuits. One of the most common is personal training for athletes looking to improve their performance. If your school has sports teams, individual students or pairs of students can work with coaches and student athletes to develop physical fitness and nutrition plans to help improve the performance of student athletes.

Project components can include individual interviews, data gathering and tracking, and presentations on healthy eating and exercise routines that optimize things like speed, strength, or agility. You can also adjust the final product and make it an individual fitness plan for an adult or senior citizen who is in their lives.

“Show me how” videos: Youth sports programs are found in most communities and often rely on parents who volunteer to coach. Many of them have little experience in helping young players improve their skills, so creating reliable resources is a great idea for a community-focused project. Units in your PE curriculum can become the focus for students to create a series of instructional videos that help explain and demonstrate the basics to volunteer coaches.

As students learn and practice different skills like passing a basketball or throwing a football, they can turn those skills into demonstration videos that explain the mechanics behind building the skills in early athletes. Students can even incorporate the feedback of pee-wee league coaches or players to improve the video tutorials they have uploaded.