This study is sought to explicate some of the sensitive engagement that the teacher should make with the students when taking them through Physical Education (P.E). In this dictum, it is imperative to point out that motivating the learners in a physical education class through active engagement should focus on two important elements, which include feedback and enthusiasm. According to studies by Casey and Jones (2011), students in one way or another wilfully or unconsciously develop an attitude of their teacher, and this has an outstanding bearing on the way they perceive the class. That is why the teacher should maintain a positive engagement and motivation to the students in order to meet the objective of the learning process, and this is applicable in other subject areas.
As pointed out here, the teacher should be more enthusiastic when handling his or her students. This improves the rapport and the relationship that exist between the teacher and the students in the classroom. This should be coupled with an active engagement with the students, which entails feedback. The teacher needs to be supportive and encourage his or her students in the classroom environment (Garn, Ware & Solmon, 2011). He or she should show care, fairness, respect, and humor. He or she should encourage a safer environment for learning.
The teacher should ensure that proper feedback exists in the learning environment, and it should be two way, meaning that the teacher and the students should provide their distinctive feedbacks. For the realization of this, the teacher should provide opportunities for students to be successful in whatever they do. He or she should focus on supporting the teachers to master the skills they learn in the physical education class as opposed to outperforming the others (Subramaniam, 2009). The students should be supported to set their goals and be helped to meet them. Similarly, it is necessary to state that there are two types of feedback in this regard. The feedback might be descriptive or prescriptive. Descriptive feedback tends to be general and comments on the general performance, such as terms like excellent, good job and others. On the other hand, prescriptive feedback is specific, and to perfect this, the teacher would use words like “follow through, turn sideways” and others.
- Casey, A., & Jones, B. (2011). Using digital technology to enhance student engagement in physical education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 2(2), 51-66.
- Garn, A. C., Ware, D. R., & Solmon, M. A. (2011). Student engagement in high school physical education: Do social motivation orientations matter?. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 30(1), 84-98.
- Subramaniam, P. R. (2009). Motivational Effects or Interes on Student Engagement and Learning in Physical Education: A Review.