Overcoming Marginalization of Physical Education in America's Schools with Professional Learning Communities

Abstract

In an era of high-stakes educational reform, physical education has been marginalized and deemed to be academically irrelevant. However, research has shown that quality physical education makes a vital and unique contribution to students' education and that healthy children learn better. Unfortunately, this message gets lost because it often comes from a lone voice, a teacher on the periphery, laboring in isolation — the physical education teacher. For the past decade, teachers from all disciplines have been joining together in professional learning communities (PLC) with the specific goal of promoting a focus on learning rather than teaching, promoting best practices, and collaborating in professional development. This article describes what a PLC is and how it can be used to overcome the conditions, forces, and barriers that have marginalized physical education.