A Multicultural Approach to Physical Education: Proven Strategies for Middle and High School

- 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 Educationenables 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.