A Multicultural Approach to Physical Education: Proven Strategies for Middle and High School » (1st Edition)

Rhonda Clements, EdD, is the author of eight books on movement, play, and games. She is the president of the American Association for the Child's Right to Play, a UN-recognized association composed of experts in play, games, and sports in 49 other countries. The program's primary purpose is to protect, preserve, and promote play and leisure activities throughout the world.

Dr. Clements has written more than 70 articles related to physical education (including 20 on sport and play factors) and has been interviewed by more than 200 journalists regarding children's right to leisure and physical play. She is also a consultant for numerous toy manufactures that use her expertise in physical activity and manipulative playthings. She has presented at 20 international conferences on topics related to cultural understanding though play and sport.

Dr. Clements is a professor and the coordinator of graduate physical education at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, where she conducts research and teaches about historical and sociocultural issues in sport and physical education. In her leisure time, she enjoys world travel; historical museums; race walking; and collecting antiquarian books on teacher training, games, and sport. She lives in New York City.

A licensed physical educator with experience in both the public and the private sectors, Suzanne K. Kinzler, MS, has taught in a multicultural environment for more than 12 years. She was a key writer on the assessment portion of the New York City Board of Education Physical Education Committee and is a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; The American Association for the Child's Right to Play; and the Women's Sport Foundation.

Kinzler is a physical education and health instructor at Queens Gateway to the Health Sciences Secondary School in Jamaica, New York. The mother of two boys, Kinzler is an avid reader who enjoys curriculum development, creative movement, dancing, and fitness walking. She lives in Woodmere, New York.

- Boost self-esteem and promote understanding of other cultures
- Teach responsibility, social skills, and respect for differences through fun activities
- Hold students' interest with fresh content—even with large groups

If you teach physical education at the middle or high school level, you know that holding students' interest can be a challenge. Teens don't want to repeat the same old games they've been playing since grade school. What if you could introduce new activities that would renew your students' interest, improve their self-esteem, and help them gain a better understanding of other cultures?

A Multicultural Approach to Physical Education enables you to do just that. This book offers the following:

- 70 games and activities from 24 cultures
- The authors' new teaching strategy—a step-by-step process that tells you exactly how to teach games and sports from other countries
- Activities that don't require any special equipment, so you can implement them even if you're on a limited budget
- Easy-to-use assessment strategies

This book is the result of extensive field testing. You'll find it especially helpful if you teach classes of large group sizes, where it is often difficult to provide a quality physical education experience. The activities are intended not only to help your students become more active physically but also to increase their interactions with other students and to teach them to work together to reach common goals. The activities encourage responsible personal and social behavior and help students develop understanding and respect for differences among people—two important NASPE standards for physical activity.

The first section of the book is devoted to teaching strategies. You'll find everything you need to adopt a multicultural approach: implementation processes for individual and group activities, teaching practices designed to increase participation, and tips for presenting skills, concepts, and activities.

The second section presents the two types of games and activities: those for increased individual interactions and those for increased group interactions. An Activity Finder makes it easy to select the activities that fit the needs of your class size and agenda. You can choose games according to the country you're studying or the desired outcome.

The book's final section presents ideas for assessing outcomes and expanding the curriculum. You'll find three sample rubrics that you can use to assess each lesson's multicultural outcome. You'll also find a variety of ideas and techniques that you can use to enhance the students' learning environment—for example, the NASPE content standards and charts listing common English words and their foreign-language equivalents.

No other book offers a multicultural approach that explains how to teach older students in multiethnic physical education settings and how to expand all students' understanding of international games and sports. Use this integrated teaching approach to enhance your students' knowledge and ability in sports and their understanding and appreciation of other cultures.