A4k2x4 Teaching Responsibility Through Physical Activity

Third Edition
Teaching
Personal and Social
Responsibility
Through Physical Activity
Don Hellison
Human Kinetics
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hellison, Donald R., 1938-
Teaching personal and social responsibility through physical activity / Don Hellison. -- 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Teaching responsibility through physical activity, c2003.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-9470-2 (soft cover)
ISBN-10: 0-7360-9470-9 (soft cover)
1. Physical education and training--Sociological aspects--Study and teaching. 2. Responsibility--Study
and teaching. I. Hellison, Donald R., 1938- Teaching responsibility through physical activity. II. Title.
GV342.27.H45 2011
796.071--dc22
2010030868
ISBN-10: 0-7360-9470-9 (print)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-9470-2 (print)
Copyright © 2011, 2003, 1995 by Don Hellison
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This book is a revised edition of Teaching Responsibility Through Physical Activity, Second Edition,
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Contents
Foreword ix
Preface to the Third Edition xi
Acknowledgments xiii
p∙a∙r∙t
I
Ideas
Chapter 1 What’s Worth Doing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
What’s Worth Doing in Our Professional Lives? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Birth of Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Toward a Working Theory-in-Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
After-School, Youth Development, and Alternative
School Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Influence of Related Social and Educational Issues . . . . . . . . . . . 10
There Are No Silver Bullets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2 A Framework for Teaching Personal

and Social Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Core Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Levels of Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Program Leader Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Daily Program Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Other Aspects of the TPSR Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
iii
iv ··· Contents
Chapter 3 Levels of Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Progression of Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Cumulative Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Five Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Level Modifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Levels and Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
p∙a∙r∙t
II
Strategies
Chapter 4 Daily Program Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Relational Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Awareness Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Physical Activity Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Group Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Reflection Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter 5 Embedding Responsibility in

the Physical Activity Content . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Physical Activity Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Strategy Progression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Level I Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Level II Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Level III Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Level IV Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Level V Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Contents ··· v
Chapter 6 Strategies for Specific Problems

and Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Self-Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Reflection-in-Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Fattening Our Bag of Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Level I: Individual Discipline Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Level I: Conflict Resolution Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Level II: Teaching by Invitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Level III: Struggles With Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Level IV: Helping and Leadership Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Level V: Specific Problems Outside the Gym . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Chapter 7 Being Relational With Kids . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Four Relational Qualities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Having the Courage to Confront . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Relational Qualities and Relational Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Program Leader Qualities and Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Teaching Students With Different Cultural Backgrounds . . . . . . . 112
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
p∙a∙r∙t
III
Implementation
Chapter 8 TPSR in PE Teacher Education: One
Teacher’s Explorations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Sarah Doolittle
Teaching TPSR in PE Teacher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Apprenticeship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Site-Based Practicum or Internship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
vi ··· Contents
Conference Workshop or Short Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

One-Week Intensive Elective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Semester-Long Elective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Within a Required Activity Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Within a Required On-Site Undergraduate Methods Course . . . . 125
Required Methods Course in an After-School Program . . . . . . . . 125
Framework for a Teacher Education Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Summary Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Chapter 9 Coaching Clubs and Other TPSR

Program Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Coaching Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Cross-Age Teaching and Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
TPSR in Organized Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Responsibility-Based Fitness Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
TPSR on the Playground and at Recess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
TPSR in the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Schoolwide Adoptions of TPSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Chapter 10 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Self-Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
First Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Advanced Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Teaching as a Subversive Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Contents ··· vii
Chapter 11 Assessment and Evaluation Strategies . . . 161

with Paul M. Wright
Student Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Teacher Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Program Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Take-Aways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Epilogue 183
Appendix: Assessment Tools 185
References and Resources 196
Index 203
About the Author 209
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Foreword
Don Hellison’s career is unique in physical education teacher education. It is

most unusual in any profession to find someone who
■■ has an idea (in this case, the need to develop positive character traits
among youth);
■■ develops that idea into a beginning vision of key pedagogical strategies for
developing character among youth by helping them to, as he describes it,
take personal and social responsibility;
■■ searches for ways to put that vision into practice by implementing those
strategies with differing youth populations;
■■ is committed to examining the outcomes related to those strategies so as
to constantly modify the practices to better achieve the primary goals; and
■■ for 40 years has devoted all of his considerable talents to achieving that
vision and to sharing it with other professional educators so that they may
use some or all of his strategies in their own teaching.
Don has never wavered in his commitment to helping children and youth take
responsibility for their own behavior. He started in the early 1970s with general
goals and ideas shared in his book Humanistic Physical Education (1973); then
provided more detail about strategies for practice in Beyond Balls and Bats (1978).
I first met Don at an AAHPERD convention in California in the mid-1970s. We
had been asked to debate humanist and behaviorist approaches to physical
education. He was a committed humanist, and I was a committed behaviorist.
The primary outcome for each of us was the beginning of a strong and enduring
friendship and the understanding that, although our approaches differed, we
shared similar values and could learn from each other. We also discovered that
we had actually played high school baseball against each other in the spring of
1955 in the West Suburban conference outside Chicago.
We have done several other “debate shows” at AAHPERD conventions, but they
have typically focused on the similarities of what we do rather than the differ-
ences. Don discovered that when you attempt to effect change among students
in the real world, you have to offer students methods for gaining control over
their behavior before they can work toward developing and valuing self-control
and responsibility. I found that when you develop behavioral programs for stu-
dents, you have to understand that they all have hopes, dreams, and problems
and that behavioral management programs have to take those into consideration
to be successful.
Don’s work is thoroughly grounded in the important and relevant literature on
youth development, and his own work has served to substantially increase the
literature base in that area. Among his many admirable qualities, what stands
out most to me has been his perseverance, shown through his own field work
with troubled youth, his work to train physical educators and youth workers to
ix
x ··· Foreword
implement his model, and his unambiguous commitment to the world of practice.
This edition adds specific information for professionals who work in the emerg-
ing physical activity domains. Don always took his ivory tower to gymnasiums,
fitness centers, and playing fields as quickly as possible!
As usual, this new edition continues to show more fully developed techniques
and strategies enabling teachers and youth workers to be more successful in
their endeavors to help children and youth develop qualities of character that
substantially increase their chances to grow up successfully.
It has been my privilege to have Don as a friend and colleague. His unique
contributions to physical education have no parallel in my professional lifetime.
We all owe him our thanks.
—Daryl Siedentop
Preface
to the Third Edition
If you want to write about the truth

you must write about yourself.
I am the only truth I know.
—Jean Rhys
It has now been 40 years since the first glimmer of an idea about teaching life
skills and values through physical activity was prematurely rushed into practice
with unsuspecting low-income urban youth, an approach Daryl Siedentop aptly
called “ready-fire-aim.” Since that initial experience, the idea of teaching kids to
take personal and social responsibility (known as TPSR or the TPSR model; the
T refers to both teaching and taking personal and social responsibility) gradually
and sometimes painfully jelled, first in my work with kids, and then in my profes-
sional preparation of university students, teachers, youth workers, and coaches
in the United States and several other countries. TPSR is still jelling. This book
is the latest version of a career-long effort to develop and share whatever ideas
and insights have surfaced in this ongoing process.
This edition is updated in a number of ways. The second edition was written
specifically for in-school PE teachers, because they had shown the most interest in
the first edition. However, as I explain in chapter 1, my work in urban high schools
led to more involvement in alternative settings, particularly alternative schools
and after-school programs, and more recently the emerging youth development
movement. These forces have contributed to the recent upswing of interest in,
attention to, and available funding for helping kids in all communities meet the
challenges they now face. I have tried to address these developments and the physi-
cal education (PE) and physical activity (PA) professionals engaged in this work.
This shift in orientation required a total overhaul of the first two chapters as
well as modifications in all chapters. I asked two colleagues to fill some gaps in
earlier editions. TPSR assessment guru Paul Wright substantially rewrote the
assessment chapter (chapter 11), and Sarah Doolittle contributed a new chapter
on combining responsibility-based youth development with PE teacher education
(chapter 8). My thanks to them for strengthening some of the earlier weaknesses
in my work.
In addition to the updated kid quotes and opening chapter quotes, this edition
includes numerous vignettes called “TPSR in Action” sprinkled throughout the
chapters that were written by a wide range of TPSR users working either with
kids or in professional preparation. Each is a short story about applying TPSR in
a specific setting. Their generous contributions add very important dimensions
of reality, validity, and contextual variety to the study of TPSR.
xi
xii ··· Preface to the Third Edition
In this edition, I frequently refer to the intended audience for this book as PE
and PA professionals or program leaders, generic terms for teacher, youth worker,
and coach. I stopped short of referring to the reader as “you” to be consistent
with the spirit of TPSR, which is about empowerment and encouraging reflection
with the goal of making smart personal and social choices. The “you” who reads
this book needs to be free to say, for example, “That idea certainly isn’t for me.”
The following thought was expressed in the last edition, but it bears repeating
here. Although teaching certainly involves specific skills and strategies, it also
ought to have a spirit—a moral compass, a sense of purpose, a passion, a vision.
Ian Culpan, who spearheaded PE curriculum reform in New Zealand, told me that
he doesn’t want just a competent teacher; he wants an inspirational teacher. So
do I. I want (and kids need) imaginative, creative program leaders who, instead
of connecting the dots, can create the dots (another of Culpan’s ideas).
Other recent changes include a Web site (www.tpsr-alliance.org), thanks to col-
league Gloria Balague, and a yearly conference, now in its third year, also thanks to
Gloria. Our latest plan is to offer one-week TPSR academies in the summer to help
interested professionals bring TPSR concepts to their work with kids. Stay tuned.
Acknowledgments
There is no such thing as an individual.

We have an illusion of self-sufficiency, but actually
other people support us throughout
the entire process of our development.
—Urie Bronfenbrenner
I agree with Urie Bronfenbrenner. Almost no one works alone. Support from others
comes in many ways, and some, probably too many, go unacknowledged. In past
editions I have thanked many of the key people who directly or indirectly made
those books possible. This time around, I want to acknowledge those who have
contributed many of the insights, ideas, and examples used in this edition. It’s a
long list, yet I’m sure I’ve omitted some deserving friends and colleagues.
The work and influence of several people deserve special mention. Sarah
Doolittle and Paul Wright improved this edition immeasurably by adding (in
Sarah’s case) a new chapter or revising (in Paul’s case) an existing chapter,
both of which expand the potential use of TPSR. A big thank-you also goes to
the vignette authors, whose specific examples of TPSR in practice are sprinkled
throughout the book. Gloria Balague dragged me (kicking and screaming) to join
her in developing a Web site (www.tpsr-alliance.org) and holding a yearly TPSR
conference, which have, among other things, brought together many of my col-
leagues and close friends and introduced others, which has increased collabora-
tion and communication. It was at these meetings that I found and twisted the
arms of more than a few of the vignette authors. These recent developments also
helped to fuel the motivation to do a third edition of this book.
Nick Cutforth, Nikos Georgiadis, Tom Martinek, Dave Walsh, and Bill White
provided a number of ideas and examples in the book. Others whose work I’ve
described include Hal Adams, Kit Cody, Terary Cooper, Nick Forsberg, Barrie
Gordon, Karyn Hartinger, Pete Hockett, Aleita Holcombe, Steve Hoy, Vicki Jor-
gensen, Walt Kelly, Tim Kramer, Bobby Lifka, Jeff Walsh, Mike Reeder, Missy Parker,
Darin Kennedy, Jimmy Jones, Don Andersen, Mike DeBusk, Cynthia Luebbe, and
Kathy Woyner.
My thanks to all and to those I’ve inadvertently omitted.
xiii
p∙a∙r∙t
ideas
tpsr
C∙h∙a∙p∙t∙e∙r
1
What’s Worth Doing?
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can

change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
—Margaret Mead
What’s worth doing in school physical education (PE) and after-school physical
activity (PA) programs is a question Tom Templin and I raised over a decade ago
(Hellison and Templin, 1991). Another way of stating this question is this: What
kind of professional contribution does each of us want to make? I now realize
that this question has driven my work from the beginning, along with its follow-
up questions: Is it working? and What’s possible? Is it working? asks whether my
answer to what’s worth doing actually works for both the kids I work with and
me. What’s possible? (Lampert, 1987) asks whether my answer to what’s worth
doing explores what’s possible to accomplish, whether I have fully explored the
possibilities. These three questions are revisited throughout this book and, from
my perspective, ought to be revisited throughout our careers.
What’s Worth Doing in Our

Professional Lives?
Some PE and PA professionals find it compelling to teach kids to enjoy an active
lifestyle, others want to teach them how to be competitive in sports, and still
others want to help them take care of their bodies. Some want kids to understand
the role feedback plays in learning a skill or how the overload principle improves
fitness, or even to learn life skills such as “a sense of personal worth . . . [and]
attitudes of persistence, reflection, responsibility, and reliability” (McLaughlin,
2000, p. 4)—the list goes on.
In the in-school physical education (PE) world, many teachers and in-school
curriculum planners both locally and nationally have a simple answer to what’s
worth doing: Everything! They want development in fitness, motor skills, and
cognitive knowledge, and they want to achieve any number of affective and social
goals. In an effort to standardize these professional preferences, PE teachers have
been handed a bewildering and shifting array of purposes, goals, and standards
both local and national.
This trend raises two related questions: First, can kids really be helped to
develop in all of these recommended ways? As PE scholar and teacher educator
3
4 ··· Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity
Daryl Siedentop (2001) argued, we often turn out kids who are overexposed to
but underdeveloped in sport and fitness. The second question this trend raises
is, How can PE professionals hang on to their own values and passions—those
things that provided motivation in the first place? Pressure to align our beliefs and
values with standards or the opinions of other physical educators can become
another barrier to doing what’s worth doing. Fortunately, in their analysis of the
PE standards movement, Jackie Lund and Deborah Tannehill (2010) recognized
these issues and offered sound and flexible advice to PE teachers and supervi-
sors: “It will be up to each teacher, and each school district to interpret the stan-
dards based on values, beliefs, and philosophy, and what is ultimately deemed
important for students to know and do as a result of their physical education
programs . . . we need to continually remember that the activities we select are
not the outcomes but the means to achieving an outcome” (p. 29).
Compared to in-school PE teachers, many after-school and summer PA program
leaders have fewer standards and directives. In fact, youth development–based
PA programs are intended to occupy the intermediate space between formal
in-school instruction and free play (Noam, Biancarosa, and Dechausay, 2003).
Because these programs are not as structured as PE or as loose as recess or “the
open gym,” those who implement them have the obligation to contribute to kids’
development but are given more room to choose and may be able to follow their
passions more easily than PE teachers can. As McLaughlin (2000) reported, “each
of the [successful out-of-school] programs we studied build from an individual’s
passion” (p. 18). Her investigation offers a rationale for emphasizing what’s worth
doing. Passion is essential to answering this question.
TPSR in Action
As director of the San Mateo Police Activities League (PAL), I found myself
suddenly in the middle of a gang war in the winter of 2006. I was tasked with
intervening between two gangs at the high school. Fortunately, one half of
the combatants, the Surenos, agreed to join PAL under the assumption that
they would be learning soccer. My agenda was different. TPSR was my secret
weapon of peace. We spent two days a week on a patch of dirt learning the
games of soccer and life. Leroy, an ex-professional player, and I infused TPSR
levels into every practice. Surprisingly, they accepted TPSR with open arms,
and one later commented, “God, there’s no other adults that treat us like you,
that have taught us.” Like many on the team, Jimmy came to the program with
a 0.0 GPA and little hope for his future. Two years later, Jimmy was selected
PAL Youth of the Year over 600 others. In his acceptance speech, Jimmy
acknowledged the impact TPSR had on his life: “I learned five words . . .
that I always have with me wherever I go, and they are respect, self-control,
leadership, participation, and effort. . . . Those five words . . . have changed
my life.”
Mike Buckle, Sergeant, San Mateo Police Department, California, and graduate
student, San Francisco State University
What’s Worth Doing? ··· 5
Some PE and PA professionals turn to research for answers to what’s worth

doing, but science cannot answer this question. Research can give us some
idea of what works (see chapter 11) but not necessarily what’s best for kids and
certainly not what individual teachers and program leaders (e.g., PE teachers,
youth workers, youth sport coaches) are passionate about. It might be argued
that daily physical activity is best for kids, but is that more important than pro-
moting human decency or teaching kids how to control emotional outbursts? Is
competitive sport more important than aerobic exercise? These questions are
more appropriately the province of philosophy, not science. When research is
consulted, those things harder to measure are relegated to the end of the line.
What’s worth doing probes our beliefs and values about life, kids, and physical
activity rather than what research says. Moreover, McLaughlin reported that no
one type of program was consistently associated with youth development, that
“there are no cookie cutter practices,” (2000, p. 18) only some guiding principles.
In other words, a program must be about something, not—as Ted Sizer (1992)
reminded us—about everything.
This discussion highlights the second important question for PA and PE profes-
sionals: Is it working? Whether it is worth doing or not, if it doesn’t work, what’s
the point? It is important to ask both, What’s worth doing? and Is it working?
in professional practice. A wide range of approaches are available to address
whether something is working, from the insights of the program leader to quan-
titative assessments, as chapter 11 on assessment shows.
The third question central to professional practice is, What’s possible? Because
this question explores one’s vision and long-range plan, it is usually best to put
it on the back burner until relationships with kids and a microculture for the
program have been established.
Birth of Teaching Personal

and Social Responsibility
I entered college a history major, with no purpose other than to graduate,
and I graduated in the same state. The question What’s worth doing? began
to concern me, but work experience plus another degree (in sociology) didn’t
improve my sense of purpose, so I joined the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer
candidate to at least provide a challenge and some excitement. It did that all
right, about as much as I could handle, but it contributed something far more
important to my life. My platoon included young men from low-income urban
neighborhoods who were sometimes court-referred (i.e., go to jail or go to the
Marine Corps). I loved working with them in this highly physical environment
and, in the process, found my answer to my question of what’s worth doing, my
sense of purpose, a calling that has lasted 40 years (and counting). However, I
had not yet confronted the questions, Is it working? and more remotely, What’s
possible?
When my active tour of duty ended, I went back to school and earned a PE
teacher certification, thinking that this was the closest I could come to using
physical activity to help low-income urban kids. That’s when the “fun” started
(translation: wake-up call). I had earned a doctorate in PE along with my
teacher certification, so I took a position at a university and at the same time

began teaching part-time in an urban high school, armed with my Marine Corps
experiences and a flimsy belief in the value of building character (see Hellison,
1973). But without the military authority and not having earned “a PhD in the
streets” (McLaughlin 2000, p. 20)—that is, without much experience negotiat-
ing the low-income urban environment—I found myself defenseless in the face
of kids who were for the most part unmotivated and hostile. In short, nothing
worked.
Toward a Working Theory-in-Practice

In its earliest form, taking personal and social responsibility (TPSR) was a sur-
vival response to my first teaching situation and others like it in other urban high
schools my first few years. Giving them a few choices and some small decisions
to make reduced the adversarial climate in the gym. But I needed a much clearer
purpose and set of goals as well as some intervention strategies. I came to realize
that helping my students to take more responsibility for their own development
and well-being and for supporting the well-being of others was perhaps the best
contribution I could make, especially given the personal and social problems my
students faced. Any external control I might be able to impose would be transient
at best, and they would still have to figure out life for themselves, if they could,
without much help from social institutions. Law enforcement would do the rest,
a dubious proposition at best.
If TPSR was going to be the purpose of my program, I needed to embed it in
everything we did in the gym so that while my students were doing fitness activi-
ties or learning a motor skill, they were also learning something about taking per-
sonal and social responsibility. But TPSR was too vague to help me plan specific
lessons. I still needed a better grasp of what it meant to be responsible. I also
needed some specific strategies for putting this purpose into practice. What do
students need to take responsibility for? And how do they go about taking this
responsibility?
I couldn’t see how I could avoid teaching values, because values are central
to human relationships, decision-making, and the development of life skills
(e.g., which life skills to promote). The key, I reasoned, is to treat the values not
as absolutes but as qualities to experience and reflect on. The kids need to be
ultimately responsible for adopting, modifying, or rejecting these values in their
lives. Later, I developed the TPSR core values (see chapter 2) with the caveat
that they were values, not scientific facts, and therefore PE and PA professionals
needed to decide whether these values lined up with their own perspectives.
(This argument is further developed later in this chapter.)
In the early development of TPSR, I was just trying to identify key value-based
responsibilities for the kids. I selected two values related to personal well-being
(effort and self-direction) and two related to social well-being (respect for others’
rights and feelings and caring about others). I wanted to give attention to being
both personally and socially responsible, although this personal–social balance
can be precarious, as illustrated by the split of John Dewey’s followers into two
sects after his death, one child-centered and one society-centered (Jones and
Tanner, 1981).
Following Sizer’s less-is-more principle, I had to exclude many other possible

values. If I wanted students to remember the values, let alone become involved in
trying them out, the values had to be simply stated, concise, and few in number.
Level V, exploring the application of these values outside the gym, complicated
matters but was just a vague idea at this point. Actually, everything became more
complicated as I tried to put these ideas into practice. Gradually the concepts
were clarified and expanded in an effort to capture the essence of taking respon-
sibility (see table 2.1 in chapter 2).
To simplify my approach, I placed my chosen values in a loose progression
(see figure 1.1), referring to them as awareness levels (Hellison, 1978) or devel-
opmental levels (Hellison, 1985). Students thus learned a vocabulary as well as
a sequence, and I was able to sidestep the term values. As long as I was flexible
in its application, this progression
■■ helped me plan my lessons,
■■ helped kids focus on issues of respect and motivation right away, and
Level I
Respect
Level II
Effort
Level III
Self-direction
Level IV
Caring and helping
Figure 1.1 An early version of the TPSR values, at the time referred to as awareness
levels or developmental levels.
E5167/Hellison/fig.1.1/383781/alw/r2-kh
■■ helped them to understand that self-direction and helping others were

higher values.
Later, working with smaller groups of kids in alternative settings, I found the
levels structure less important. Just calling the “levels” the kids’ responsibilities
seemed to work, as long as the issue of respect/self-control was addressed early
and often in the program.
In short, I created my own emerging theory-in-practice, my answer to the
question, What’s worth doing? I call TPSR a theory-in-practice because it is a
framework of values and ideas that are constantly being tested in practice, even
now, 40 years after its inception.
After-School, Youth Development,

and Alternative School Programs
My career was just beginning. But after a few years in urban public high schools,
I had the opportunity to work for eight years in an alternative high school for
court- and school-referred adolescents, both as a PE teacher (sometimes as
a sex education and history teacher as well) and as the program leader of an
after-school PA program. Because it was a small school with small classes and
had faculty who wanted to work in this kind of setting, I quickly realized that my
learning was just beginning. It was there that I became aware of what’s possible.
Despite having students with dismal records academically and behaviorally, I
found that so much more was possible in a small school with small classes, and
a small, caring faculty. I knew the kids better, saw them in a variety of settings,
became a much more relational teacher, and had faculty support to try whatever
new ideas I came up with, including some bad ones! It was also here that the
potential strengths of alternative settings became clear.
After my alternative school experience, I continued to work in alternative set-
tings, both in alternative school PE and after-school PA programs. I also began
to teach younger kids as well as adolescents. This work became what was worth
doing for me while opening up opportunities for exploring what was possible
with youth. It also influenced my view of the field, not as just PE or PA, but both,
an orientation reflected in the language and organization of this book. It wasn’t
until much later that I learned of youth development as both a philosophy and
an emerging field. It fit perfectly with the intentions of TPSR, the development
of after-school PA programs, and the structure of alternative schools. See figure
1.2 for a list of the key criteria of youth development programs.
The gradual coalescence of PA, youth development, and alternative schools
was facilitated by the work of Richard Rothstein (2004), who argued for an
expanded version of schooling during out-of-school hours as part of his plan to
close the black–white achievement gap in urban communities. He promoted after-
school programs that taught life skills such as “perseverance, self-confidence,
self-discipline, punctuality, communication skills, social responsibility, and the
ability to work with others and resolve conflicts” (p. 7). Raywid (2006) pointed
out that alternative schools also teach life skills similar to those recommended
by Rothstein.
Key Criteria for State-of-the-Art Youth

Development Programs
1. Treat youth as resources to be developed. Build on the strengths they already
possess, and emphasize their competence and mastery.
2. Focus on the whole person—the emotional, social, and cognitive as well as
physical dimensions of the self.
3. Respect the individuality of youth, including cultural differences and devel-
opmental needs.
4. Empower youth.
5. Give youth clear, demanding (but not unreasonable) expectations based on
a strong, explicit set of values.
6. Help youth envision possible futures for themselves.
7. Provide both a physically and psychologically safe environment.
8. Keep program numbers small and encourage participation over a long period
of time; emphasize belonging and membership.
9. Maintain a local connection.
10. Provide courageous and persistent leadership in the face of systemic obsta-
cles.
11. Provide significant contact with a caring adult.
Figure 1.2 The 11 key criteria of youth development programs.

From Hellison, D., & Cutforth, N. (1997). Extended day programs for children and youth: From theory to practice. In
Walberg, H., Reyes, O., & Weissberg, R. (Eds), Children and youth: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 223-249).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Copyright 1997 by Sage Publications, Inc.
Youth development, which initially emerged in the 1990s as a response to the

inadequacies of after-school programs in low-income urban communities (DeWitt-
Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, 1995), has evolved to the point that life skills teaching
such as that recommended by Rothstein and Raywid is now being embedded in PA
programs. Examples include Project Coach (Intrator and Siegel, 2008), Harlem RBI
(Berlin et al., 2007), and youth development programs based on the ideas in this
book (Hellison et al., 2000; Martinek and Hellison, 2009). In particular, the exem-
plary work of Al Petitpas and his associates (Petitpas, Cornelius, and Van Raalte,
2008) has resulted in several popular programs that embed life skills teaching in
PA programs, such as Project Rebound, First Tee, and Play It Smart.
The South Carolina state legislature, spearheaded by Judy Rink’s concerns
about childhood obesity and inactive kids, passed the Student Health and Fitness
Act in 2005 requiring that each student receive at least 30 minutes of physical
activity a day. The position of PA director was created to lead the development
and implementation of PA programs to supplement the contribution of in-school
PE. PA directors were trained to work with teachers and administrators in schools
to take a comprehensive approach to school physical activity programs includ-
ing before-school programs, after-school programs, lunch programs, recess, all-
school events, and physical activity breaks in the classroom. Although motivated
by different concerns, this legislation opens the door to supporting school PA

programs that engage students in life skills similar to those described by Roth-
stein and Raywid.
Influence of Related Social

and Educational Issues
The expansion of after-school PA in the United States, the recent emphasis on
alternative and other small schools, and the emergence of youth development
have been, at least in part, a response to the “surge of social pathology” among
youth in recent years (Csikszentmihalyi and McCormack, 1986, p. 417), which is
reflected in increases in school dropout rates, drug abuse and trafficking, delin-
quency, teen pregnancy, gangs, suicide, violence, and vandalism. Although there
is some controversy over the interpretation of the data, it is quite clear that more
children and youth are at risk.
These trends have been blamed on more families becoming dysfunctional
(with increased incidences of child neglect and abuse, homelessness, and “kids
raising kids”); on the increased availability of drugs and guns; on images from
the Internet and other media; and on social, political, and economic conditions,
including poverty, racism, and joblessness, which have made war zones of the
areas in which many low-income families live.
Certainly, the growth of a disenfranchised underclass accounts for some of
the problem. Few people question that inner-city kids are growing up in environ-
ments that put them at risk. As Kunjufu (1989) observed, “We have youth who
are being killed because they stepped on someone’s shoe or brushed up against
someone in a crowded hallway between classes” (p. 48). Not all inner-city families
are dysfunctional, however, and some kids who grow up in underserved neigh-
borhoods become productive parents and citizens and distinguish themselves
in their chosen line of work and as citizens. Moreover, not all kids who are at risk
of being affected by social problems live in inner cities. A principal of one of the
most affluent suburbs in the Chicago area has estimated that 50 percent of the
families in his school district are rich but dysfunctional. Aggregated data for all
youth reflect a substantial rise in crime, violence, sex, and drug use (Lickona,
1991). As Benson (1997) observed, “These concerns cannot be dismissed as
urban issues alone. Part of the American dilemma is that these issues affect all
sizes of communities” (p. 3).
Institutions that have traditionally provided support and guidance for chil-
dren and youth often find it difficult to respond adequately to these trends. The
Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (1992) concluded that community
programs designed to serve adolescents are not reaching most of the kids who
are unsupervised after school and most likely to harm themselves and others.
McLaughlin and Heath (1993) also found that most inner-city community pro-
grams and policies do not respond to the needs of kids; the programs are, for
the most part, not developmental, not empowerment oriented, and not focused
on the whole person. In public schools, teachers face the escalation of crime,
violence, sex, and drug use as well as depression, attempted suicide, and school
absenteeism (Benson, 1997).
Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes

student Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes Kid
Kid Quotes
Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid
Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes student
student Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes
“This class helps you become a better person.”—Eighth-grader
“I didn’t change. I’m the same old person.”—Sixth-grader
Overall, American kids are receiving less support and guidance in a society
that bombards them with more choices than ever before and places many of them
at a social, economic, and political disadvantage from the start. It is no wonder
that many feel alienated and powerless and turn to withdrawal or rebellion. All
of these forces have contributed to the emergence of the youth development
movement, alternative schools, and PA programs, which have, in turn, begun to
address these issues. However, the battle is nowhere near being won, especially
in low-income communities.
Increasing Emphasis on Life Skills in PE and PA

Increasing social problems emphasized the need for teaching life skills in kids’
programs. Schools are overburdened with subject matter and standards require-
ments, but, as described previously, alternative schools and after-school programs
have stepped in. Although character development claims have been an integral
part of PE and PA historically, the actual implementation of life skills teaching in
PE and PA programs was slow to unfold.
PE and PA got a boost from well-known education scholar Nel Noddings (1992),
who pointed out the potentially holistic nature of physical activity programs:
[T]he physical self is only part of the self. We must be concerned also
with the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual self, and clearly these are
not discrete. We separate and label them for convenience in discussion,
but it may be a mistake to separate them sharply in curriculum. (p. 49)
Think about it this way: In the academic world, we can separate the social,
emotional, cognitive, and physical domains; offer courses on them; and prepare
domain-specific specialists. But those of us who work in the world of practice
have no such luxury. Kids bring all of these aspects of themselves into the gym.
Program leaders have no choice (except in severe cases) other than to deal with
the whole person.
Quincy Howe (1991), a former academic turned teacher of urban foster care
kids ages 10 to 20, agreed, noting that specialists such as social workers and
nurses can do part of the job, but only the teacher sees the whole person. This
is arguably even more the case for PE and PA professionals, who deal with kids
in highly active, interactive, and emotional environments. Helping kids develop
life skills comes with the territory.
Social-emotional learning (SEL), a programmatic approach in alternative and
some mainstream schools, is a recent response to the “surge of social pathol-
ogy.” Although definitions of SEL differ markedly, from caring and diversity to
behavioral control strategies, the SEL literature is beginning to show life skills
development, such as academic achievement and reduced discipline problems
(Hoffman, 2009).
Some, but certainly not all, PE and PA professionals have responded to these
developments. Examples include the sport-based youth development programs
cited earlier, as well as the PE and PA work in adventure education (Hattie et al.,
1997; Jim Stiehl’s chapter in Hellison et al., 2000), character development (Beedy
and Zierk, 2000), cooperation (Bressan, 1987; Orlick, 1978), moral development
(Gibbons, Ebbeck, and Weiss, 1995; Romance, Weiss, and Bokoven, 1986; Shields
and Bredemeier, 1995), good sporting behavior and fair play (Gibbons, Ebbeck,
and Weiss, 1995; Giebink and McKenzie, 1985; Horrocks, 1977), empowerment
(Ennis et al., 1999; Siedentop, 1994), and social responsibility (Horrocks, 1978;
Trulson, 1986).
Conceptualization and implementation of these kinds of programs are difficult
because personal and social development involves “soft skills,” value orientations
and intentions, and attitudes as well as specific behaviors. Personal and social
behaviors, such as working independently, helping someone, or cooperating with
a group, may be more easily identified; but attitudes, values, beliefs, feelings,
and self-perceptions matter as well. How someone feels—an intangible mix of
perceptions and intentions toward the self or someone else—may have greater
personal and social implications than more visible behaviors. Wright (cited in
Arnold, 1988) put it this way:
[A person] cannot be defined through an inventory of actions performed

[but rather] by a description of the principles that give coherence and
meaning to an individual’s behavior, and of the relatively enduring dis-
positions that underlie it. (p. 35)
It is as if both an inside self and an outside self are present in all of us, one very
visible, the other existing mostly below the surface (Thomas, 1983).
The potential and demonstrated benefits of PE and PA can be further
strengthened if they take place in a supportive setting, such as that created
by recent developments in alternative schools and youth development pro-
grams, many of which embrace a ”caring community.” A particularly promis-
ing approach is the concept of wraparound programs, in which participants
experience similar value-based ideas and strategies in all of their classes and
programs, not just in PA and PE. One community-based example is Harlem RBI
(Berlin et al., 2007), Another is the full-service schools that employ medical and
dental practitioners, social workers to assist families, and enrichment programs
after school. Yet another variation is the collaboration of a community resource
coordinator, a social worker, and a mental health worker who are assigned
to a school to work with teachers, kids, and parents (including making home
visits and providing employment assistance for parents) (Quinn and Dryfoos,
2009).
Role of Values
Because values are embedded in teaching life skills (or more appropriately, life
skills and values), teaching values cannot be avoided, despite some concerns
by parents and others regarding the teaching of values in public schools. Much
of what we do and say reflects our values. Values-based programs such as TPSR
acknowledge this up front (i.e., the TPSR core values). In fact, many alternative
schools and youth development–based PA programs openly acknowledge the
importance of values (Hellison and Cutforth, 1997). Some of the debate focuses
on interpretation. Concepts such as responsibility can be interpreted many
ways—for example, “responsibility means do as I say” versus “responsibility
means do whatever you please.” In TPSR it has yet another meaning. It can be a
slippery slope.
I was uncomfortable with the possibility of indoctrination from the outset. I
struggled in my experiences and in my mind to find ways of teaching that could
convey values without resorting to indoctrination, as I explained earlier. Fortu-
nately, others have provided support. Tappan (1992) argued that proponents
of universal conceptions of morality need to address the problem of employing
“techniques of indoctrination to transmit certain values [rather than encouraging]
students to discuss, examine, and reflect critically on values and ethical positions
within a diverse, complex, and ever changing society” (p. 387).
DeCharms (1976) argued that we must help people to become origins in their
lives. By this he meant teaching them how to set internal standards, including
doing as one must rather than as one pleases and striving for goals in the face of
opposing external forces, although this striving may not always pay off. DeCharms
believed that being an origin has a moral dimension, because it requires us to take
responsibility for the consequences of our goals and to treat others as origins
rather than as pawns to be manipulated. He demonstrated the power of these
ideas by implementing them in inner-city elementary schools and collecting data
to demonstrate their effectiveness.
Cultivating the decision-making process involves giving young people the
opportunity to share their beliefs and knowledge and to test these ideas in a con-
trolled forum. Such experimentation is good not only because it follows a demo-
cratic perspective but also because it acknowledges that students know things
that program leaders (i.e., PE and PA professionals) don’t know. In an increasingly
diverse society, in which teachers and program leaders are often of a different
subculture than their students, giving students the power to apply the special
knowledge of their world to make decisions can lead to better decisions and a
better education. As an added benefit, the process of sharing decision-making
power also raises the important question of who has the power to determine
what is of value in a diverse society.
Giving kids responsibility yields psychological benefits. As Alfie Kohn (1993)
put it: “All else being equal, emotional adjustment is better over time for people
who experience a sense of self-determination” (p. 11). Instructors benefit as well
because there is less occasion for the “I tell you what to do and you try to get
out of doing it” game that teachers and students often play.
Teaching life skills addresses the emotional and social dimensions of being a
whole person. For this reason and many others, teaching kids life skills, despite
the difficulties, makes sense. And helping students take personal and social
responsibility means sharing power with students and gradually shifting deci-
sion making to them. TPSR does not mean getting inside kids’ heads but getting
them inside their own heads.
There Are No Silver Bullets

No matter what values they promote, PE and PA programs are no panacea for the
social problems we face today. Pete Mesa (1992), superintendent of schools in
Oakland, California, outlined three levels of causes of social problems:
■■ Immediate causes, such as guns in schools
■■ Intermediate causes, including the need for skills in and a disposition
toward social competence, problem solving, autonomy, and a sense of
purpose and future
■■ Root causes, such as poverty, racism, inadequate health care, inadequate
parent education, and lack of opportunity
In Mesa’s conceptualization, PE and PA programs focus on intermediate

causes. TPSR, to the extent that it works, is one small intermediate piece of the
puzzle. Weiner (1993) persuasively argued that none of this intermediate work
will make much of a difference “unless social and economic relations are utterly
transformed, and that process will take a sustained, vigorous struggle by all who
recognize the inequality and injustice of the status quo” (p. 2). Dryfoos (1991)
agreed but argued for doing what we can:
It is too little too late, too fragmented, too categorical, too inconsistent.
. . . Child advocates are admittedly hanging on the incremental edge,
chipping away at those situations that are amenable to change, with
insufficient force to alter the social environment that generates many
of these problems. Even so, there is much incremental work that can and
must be done. (p. 634; italics added)
It is difficult but not out of reach to institute wraparound programs that
address the whole person, such as full-service schools. These efforts represent
a mini-version of systemic change. Extended-day programs are sometimes pro-
moted as being more flexible and open to new ideas, and although this is true
in some settings, Mesa’s root causes remain resistant to change in all institu-
tions.
Lawson (2005), by conceptualizing our field as SEPE (sport, exercise, and
physical education), offered his vision of an empowerment-based community-
wide change that would “contribute to sustainable economic and social develop-
ment” (p. 135). It struck me as a brilliant, if idealistic, set of “grand conceptual
frameworks” (p. 136). It is a “what’s possible” idea that would shake up the way
we do business.
TPSR stands for a set of ideas that have grown out of my attempt to help
underserved and high-needs kids take more responsibility for their personal
and social development in physical activity settings, rather than succumbing to
external forces that are not in their best interests. Although it is no panacea for
today’s social problems, providing today’s young people with guidelines for, and
practice in, taking responsibility for their personal well-being and contributing
to the well-being of others can make a difference in what they value and what
choices they make. At least it can plant a seed.
Take-Aways
Here are some key points from this chapter that you might consider taking with
you:
■■ For PE or PA professionals, What’s worth doing? is perhaps the most
important question we can ask ourselves. The question takes on added sig-
nificance if we cannot provide our youth with developmental experiences
in all the goals advocated locally and nationally. The answer is that we
can’t do everything, so we need to focus on doing something; less is more.
■■ Although What’s worth doing? is the key question in our professional
work, it is also important to ask whether what we are doing is working
and, eventually, What’s possible?
■■ What’s worth doing and what’s possible include not only in-school PE but
also extended-day PA youth development programs and alternative school
programs. This is particularly relevant in the current climate of social
problems, which often requires new approaches such as teaching life
skills and values and the principles of the youth development movement.
■■ TPSR was developed as an answer to the question What’s worth doing? so
that I could make good on my commitment to try to help kids with the social
problems they face and to facilitate their personal and social development.
■■ There are no silver bullets to solve the problems kids face today, and that
includes TPSR. The best most of us can do is plant seeds with the kids.
■■ If these ideas and strategies are worth doing from your point of view, help
yourself!
2
A Framework for
Teaching Personal and
Social Responsibility
You gotta have a system.

—Eddie Robinson,
former Grambling football coach
In chapter 1, I briefly told the story of how TPSR came into being, in part to
highlight a few of the basic ideas, but more important, to show what a human
and therefore flawed process the development of this approach has been. It
amounted to taking a few values and beliefs (less is more) and some physical
activities into a teaching situation with kids who didn’t exactly roll out the red
carpet. What followed was all trial and error (mostly error) and a heavy dose of
the three Rs—reflection, reflection, and reflection—which is why I call it a work-
ing theory-in-practice. That’s just a fancy way of saying I made it up and continue
to do so! The rest of chapter 1 discussed the rationale for TPSR in greater depth
and explored promising developments for PE and PA programs in youth develop-
ment, alternative schools, and after-school programs as possible answers to the
questions: What’s worth doing? and What’s possible?
In his first year of coaching, renowned Grambling football coach Eddie Rob-
inson attended a clinic and learned that, as a new coach, “You gotta have a
system.” Taking a cue from Eddie Robinson, I assert that the only way the mix
of ideas and values in this book has a chance of being shared is to be at least
somewhat systematic, to give it some structure, even though imposing a structure
threatens to reduce its humanity by overlooking the idiosyncratic zigzag nature
of the educational process. My compromise is to offer a framework—not a rigid
structure or blueprint—of basic values, ideas, and implementation strategies
that honors the craft of teaching (see figure 2.1). These ideas and strategies are
described in depth throughout the book, but first, this chapter offers a guided
tour of the framework.
17
TPSR Framework
■■ Core values
■■ Assumptions
■■ Levels of responsibility
■■ Program leader responsibilities
■■ Daily program format
■■ Suggested embedding strategies
■■ Problem solving
■■ Assessment
Figure 2.1 TPSR is shared through a flexible framework.
Core Values
Although the purpose of TPSR can be summarized as teaching kids to take per-
sonal and social responsibility through physical activity, which implies a values
orientation, a small set of core values underlie this purpose (see figure 2.2). Values
fall outside the boundaries of science; they are not derived from data-based find-
ings anchored in rigorous research methods.
In essence, the core value of TPSR is “putting kids first” (Hellison et al., 2000,
p. 36) and being “youth-centered” (McLaughlin, 2000, p. 9). Although this sounds
like one of those slogans such as “sport builds character” that can be interpreted
in many different ways, at least it tells us what it is not. It is not putting physical
activity or an active lifestyle or sport or fitness first and certainly not putting
oneself first (as in focusing on one’s win–loss record). But what is it? Borrowing
from Fraser-Thomas, Cote, and Deakin (2005), it is simply to help kids become
better people. That includes promoting human decency and positive relation-
ships with others. In this world we need to help each other more than compete
against each other, whenever possible supporting acts of kindness and negotia-
tion instead of acts of war, and controlling our inclination to put ourselves first.
A complementary core value is holistic self-development. Physical development
must take place side by side with emotional, social, and cognitive development
in TPSR. As Noddings pointed out, these basic dimensions of being human may
be separated for convenience but cannot be separated in practice. Viewing our
Core Values
■■ Putting kids first
■■ Human decency
■■ Holistic self-development
■■ A way of being
Figure 2.2 The core values of TPSR.

A Framework for Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility ··· 19
job as helping the whole person puts kids first. Every time I try to help some
student with her temper or ask some young man with basketball stars in his
eyes whether he’d like help improving his grades and why that might matter to
him “when the air goes out of the ball” (as Jimmy Jones, coach and professor
at Henderson State College, told his students), I am trying to promote holistic
self-development.
Later in this chapter, and more fully in chapter 3, the five levels of responsibility
are described. Level V, transfer to other aspects of one’s life, which is unfortu-
nately ignored by many TPSR users, is really the essence of the core values. In
my view, this is truly what’s worth doing.
Core values also involve a process. Nick Forsberg called TPSR not a way of
teaching but “a way of being.” First and foremost it needs to be a way of being
for us as program leaders! To the extent that we are able, it needs to be who we
are, the values that we live as we work with kids, the values we hope they seri-
ously consider as potential guidelines for their lives. (See chapter 7 for more on
living our values.)
Two examples provide another way to understand these core values. John
Hichwa’s wonderful book, Right Fielders Are People Too (1998) is not based on
TPSR, but John is a kindred spirit. Closer to home (my home), Amy and Rob
Castenada direct Beyond the Ball, a cluster of related programs for kids in a
low-income Latino community in Chicago. Beyond the Ball is not based on TPSR.
Instead, it is based primarily on Amy and Rob’s personal values and intuition,
informed to some extent by their visit to the New York City playgrounds and
their observations of some of the influential program leaders involved at those
playgrounds. When I talk with John, Amy, and Rob, I would not even begin to
suggest that they change anything, because they embrace what I believe are the
core values of TPSR. It is simply what’s worth doing for Amy and Rob, for John,
and for me and others as well.
Assumptions
Assumptions bring to our attention those often-hidden beliefs and values that
provide a foundation for our programs. Here are three assumptions that have
particular relevance for TPSR:
■■ PE and PA programs offer unique personal and social development oppor-
tunities, but it takes more than rhetorical claims to turn these opportunities
into realities. Personal and social development is not automatic: progress
requires responsibility-based goals, strategies, and teacher qualities.
■■ If PE and PA programs are to be truly developmental and holistic, they
need to be focused as well. Following Sizer’s (1992) less-is-more guideline,
a program with a few goals will have more effect on kids than one with
many goals.
■■ If physical activities are central to our programs, we must be competent
at teaching and coaching them, even if we are also teaching TPSR. That is,
we must embed TPSR ideas and strategies in the PA content knowledge,
pedagogical skills, and activities we teach and coach.
Assumptions by definition are those ideas and concepts we take for granted.
By making TPSR assumptions explicit, we can compare them to our current
practices to be certain they are indeed providing guidance.
Levels of Responsibility
When I visit gyms of PE and PA professionals who tell me they are teaching
their students to take personal and social responsibility, I am often greeted by
a wall chart announcing the levels of responsibility followed by four numbered
descriptions of specific behaviors. My knee-jerk reaction is to wince, not because
of what the program leader is doing with students—I don’t know what he or she
is doing—but because the simplicity of a four-concept wall chart does not truly
represent TPSR and omits a key responsibility.
To be fair, program leaders, especially those who work in public schools rather
than after-school programs or alternative schools, typically face large classes
and lots of students every week. Unless the school uses some form of block
scheduling or other structure to add depth to the classes, shortcuts are neces-
sary. Wall charts meet that need. Moreover, I started the same way. I created and
then whittled seven unwieldy levels down to four, later adding Level V and many
of the other ideas and strategies described in this book as I learned more from
working with kids (more making it up!). As my understanding of the complexity
of TPSR grew, I thought perhaps I had created a monster.
I continue to learn more about what becoming personally and socially (and
morally) responsible entails, which then informs and gradually transforms my
teaching practices, a process similar to that of other veteran TPSR users. In this
way, TPSR becomes a more robust theory-in-practice. However, even if program
leaders who work under severe constraints understand the complexity of TPSR,
they can only do what is possible in their settings. Depending on the setting, they
may be able to successfully lobby for structural changes (such as block schedul-
ing) or else restructure their own classes as John Hichwa (1998) did when he cre-
ated three mini-classes within his middle school class of 30 students. Fortunately,
teachers’ personal testimonies (Mrugala, 2002) revealed that some who adopted
what they thought was an approach to reduce discipline problems became more
sensitive and holistic teachers as they used the first four levels, even though that
wasn’t their intention. Because TPSR makes teaching less adversarial, they also
benefitted from having fewer problems with kids.
Wall charts listing the levels of responsibility are often helpful to students, but
both teacher educators and practitioners need to somehow communicate that
the true essence of TPSR is more than a wall chart. Table 2.1 provides a more
expanded and nuanced conception than figure 1.1. It is followed by an overview
of the other TPSR framework components to emphasize that TPSR is more than
just levels of responsibility.
Table 2.1 helps kids focus on what they need to take responsibility for. Although
taking responsibility for one’s own development and well-being and for contribut-
ing to the well-being of others is the purpose of TPSR, the five levels give students
specific responsibilities, specific targets to shoot for, within the broader purpose.
Chapter 3 explains each of these goals more fully. The point here is to introduce
a more authentic version than that shown in figure 1.1.
Table 2.1 Components of the Levels of Responsibility

Level Components
I: Respecting the rights and Self-control
feelings of others Right to peaceful conflict resolution
Right to be included and to have cooperative peers
II: Effort and cooperation Self-motivation
Exploration of effort and new tasks
Getting along with others
III: Self-direction On-task independence
Goal-setting progression
Courage to resist peer pressure
IV: Helping others and Caring and compassion
leadership Sensitivity and responsiveness
Inner strength
V: Transfer outside the gym Trying these ideas in other areas of life
Being a positive role model for others, especially younger kids
These goals are often referred to as levels because they represent a loose
teaching and learning progression from I to V. Although students don’t always
progress in a linear fashion, the levels provide specific steps to keep in mind when
planning lessons and making personal plans for individual students.
The first two levels, respect and effort, including cooperation as a dimension
of effort (as in a team effort), can be viewed as the beginning stage of respon-
sibility development; both are essential to establishing a positive learning
environment. Respect can be traced back to the core value of human decency,
whereas effort is an important component for improving oneself and others in
just about everything. The next two levels, self-direction and helping, extend
the learning environment by encouraging independent work, helping roles, and
leadership roles, thereby freeing program leaders to work with kids who need
more help while at the same time contributing to a more positive experience for
all students. Both also represent more advanced examples of human decency
and holistic development. Transfer outside the gym is the most advanced stage;
it involves exploring the previous four responsibilities in school, at home, with
friends, and so on, to evaluate whether they work better than what the student
has been doing. Because transferring positive behaviors outside the gym was
the original impetus for developing TPSR, it is unfortunate that program leaders
often exclude this goal.
PE teachers in particular often stress the behavioral nature of the levels. That
makes sense because they deal with behaviors all the time, and some of them
interfere with teaching and learning. But TPSR encompasses more than observ-
able behaviors; it also includes attitudes, beliefs, values, and intentions. In other
words, it takes into account the inside self as well as the outside self. Focusing
exclusively on behaviors, although easier, addresses only the tip of the iceberg.
Fortunately, strategies are available to make the inside self more accessible (see,
for example, the discussions of group meetings and reflection time in the Daily
Program Format section).
A number of goal modifications are available to suit a variety of teaching situ-
ations and perspectives, including the cumulative levels, which are especially
popular with PE teachers. Cumulative levels are described in chapter 3 as part
of an in-depth treatment of TPSR student goals.
Program Leader Responsibilities

Although the levels of responsibility occupy center stage for some, and perhaps
many, TPSR program leaders, the true essence of TPSR is both broader and
more nuanced. For those of us who base our programs on TPSR, daily themes
are essential to guide an authentic day-to-day implementation process. After the
first few weeks, the point is to try to make the themes a constant presence. If the
levels of responsibility are the kids’ responsibilities, the themes—empowerment,
self-reflection, integration, transfer, and our relationships with the kids—are the
program leader’s responsibilities (see figure 2.3).
Program Leader Responsibilities

■■ Gradual empowerment
■■ Self-reflection
■■ Embedding TPSR in the physical activities
■■ Transfer
■■ Being relational with kids
Figure 2.3 The TPSR program leader’s responsibilities.
Gradual Empowerment (Shifting Responsibility

to the Kids)
Lickona (n.d.) captured the essence of empowerment:
Choices determine our quality of life. You get to choose: how to treat
other people, how much you’ll learn, how you’ll handle adversity, your
character—the kind of person you’ll become. It’s an inside job. (p. 2)
I would add only that circumstances, including socialization and peer pressure,
enhance or restrict an individual’s ability to choose. With effort and guidance
some hurdles can be overcome, as the resiliency literature demonstrates. But
freedom of choice is not unrestrained.
TPSR really stands for taking personal and social responsibility. That’s why
I often use terms such as self-control, self-motivation, and self-direction when
referring to the levels. The implication is that these are the kids’ responsibilities.
The program leader’s role is to facilitate the empowerment process, gradually
shifting responsibility to students until they are doing more and adults in charge
are doing less. In actuality, this role gradually shifts from direct instruction to
guidance as necessary, somewhat similar to Mosston’s now-classic spectrum of
teaching styles (Mosston and Ashworth, 1994). Facilitating and providing guidance
means helping students learn to make wise personal and social–moral decisions
and giving them opportunities to do so, accompanied by self-reflection.
Of course, nothing is simple when it comes to dealing with the complexity of
human beings, as Joe McDonald (1992) so eloquently pointed out in his book
Teaching: Making Sense of an Uncertain Craft. Empowerment is an uneven process.
Kids in our programs may take on considerable responsibility one day and regress
the next. They may show little interest for several weeks (or months) and then
suddenly show signs of controlling their temper, learning independently, or even
stepping up to leadership roles.
A number of strategies are available to help program participants make
their way through the empowerment process. Later chapters describe these
approaches, but a specific example might help in understanding how empow-
erment might be implemented. The program leader can adjust the extent of
responsibility given to an individual student, a small group working together, or
everyone in the program based on how they handle their responsibilities.
My rule of thumb is to gradually empower the whole class and build this idea
into my planning. At the same time I know that some students can move along the
empowerment continuum faster than others—for example, by working on their
own at a station or by providing peer leadership for a drill. I also know that some
won’t be ready to assume the extent of responsibility I’m asking of the group; they
need a more structured situation. Reducing empowerment sometimes becomes
an issue—for example, when I replace student leaders who have slacked off. They
don’t always want to hear the reasons, but that too is part of their responsibil-
ity (and part of the negotiation process described in chapter 6). Confrontations
come with the territory. This process of loosening and tightening control based
on how much responsibility each youth can handle reminded me of playing an
accordion (although I’ve never touched one), so I call it the accordion principle.
Schilling, Martinek, and Tan (2001) use the following developmental continuum
for youth empowerment:
1. Students share their ideas and thoughts in the group meeting.

2. Students make decisions within the physical activity program.
3. Students engage in peer teaching and coaching.
4. Students take on leadership roles with younger kids—that is, become
cross-age teachers or leaders.
Self-Reflection
When Socrates reportedly said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” he was
referring to self-reflection. Self-reflection is also central to professional develop-
ment. What’s worth doing? and its companion questions Is it working? and What’s
possible? require deep and critical self-reflection. Is this approach and content
relevant to students’ lives? To my sense of purpose as a professional? Whether
it’s worth doing or not, is it working? Are students interacting with TPSR ideas
and strategies, learning from them, and raising questions about them? What’s
TPSR in Action
A program called the Youth Leader Corps allows youths who are veteran
members of an elementary and middle school sport club (called Project Effort)
to plan and lead other kids through values-based physical activity instruction.
The youth leaders create lessons that incorporate both sport skills and the
TPSR goals. They teach them to preschool children (Head Start) and elementary
age children from various segments of the Greensboro community. The Youth
Leader Corps runs one day each week during the entire school year. In addition,
six undergraduate and graduate students assist the leaders in planning and
teaching. They also play a vital role in evaluating the leaders’ performance.
Recently, the Youth Leader Corps has been extended to include a community
service project. The Youth Leader Corps members set up a homeless shelter
on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The shelter
was part of larger program called the Guilford Interfaith Hospitality Network
(GIHN). GIHN seeks out agencies (mainly churches) to house and feed
homeless families on one-week rotations. The Youth Leader Corps is now
part of this network. Leaders provide activities for the children, help to set up
rooms for sleeping, and provide dinner and breakfast for three families. This
experience provides the leaders with opportunities to expand their leadership
skills to a broader community. More important, it fortifies my effort to interface
leadership skills with the spirit of helping and serving others.
Tom Martinek, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
possible in my situation with these kids? Am I helping them reach beyond what
they think is possible for themselves? Am I doing the same for myself?
All of these questions and more require us as professionals to learn how to
critically self-reflect. This task is made more difficult by our ability to use defense
mechanisms such as rationalization and denial to avoid being self-critical. These
same questions, adjusted to match kids’ perspective, maturity, and circumstances,
are relevant as well, including the issue of defense mechanisms.
Self-reflection is a companion skill to empowerment. Making decisions and
choices requires thoughtfulness. Whom does this help? Whom does this harm?
What am I trying to accomplish? Is it a worthwhile goal? Will this really help me
achieve my vision for these kids? (One of my many eye-openers from kids: When I
mentioned contributing to the group, a middle school student asked, “What does
contribute mean?” Language and word definitions matter!)
Just as sport skills require practice, so does self-reflection. To ensure that
self-reflection is practiced on a regular basis, it is built into the daily program
format (discussed later).
Embedding
To be most effective, the TPSR levels and strategies should be embedded in the
physical activities of the daily (lesson) plan rather than taught separately. Those
of us doing this work therefore must be competent not only in teaching physical
activities but also in teaching students to become more personally and socially
responsible—and in integrating the two sets of content.
A popular but insufficient substitute for embedding, called the add-on, does not
tamper with the game or activity. The game is played in the usual way, whatever
that is. But afterward, the program leader tries to teach fair play, teamwork, or
some other strategy that promotes the way the game ought to be played. But
by separating the activity from the lesson, the game continues to be played the
same way, and the lessons are truly “academic.” Another type of add-on gives
information about the game or activity (e.g., a geography lesson to show where
the game originated or where it is popular).
Transfer
After using TPSR in my teaching for several years and being mindful of the
less-is-more guideline, I hesitated to add a fifth level. But when I realized that
transfer is really my ultimate goal in teaching kids to take personal and social
responsibility, I had to build it into the goals or else leave it to chance. All
along, my sense of purpose, my vision, my passion has been to help kids lead
better lives. But their lives don’t end when they leave the gym. Kids can learn
to take responsibility in PE and PA programs, but transferring those behaviors
from the activity setting to other arenas of life such as other places in school,
the playground, the street (if possible), and home is not automatic. It must be
taught just as surely as respect for others must be taught. At the same time,
the provisional nature of transfer must be honored. It cannot be a top-down
dictate. Instead, kids need to be empowered to explore possibilities and make
choices about whether to put TPSR ideas into practice in their lives—no easy
task in many settings.
There are many ways to teach for transfer. For example, program leaders
can talk with a classroom teacher about one or more of their students who
are in the TPSR program. They can ask how they are doing with self-control or
effort. Then they can tell the kids that their teachers are sometimes asked how
responsible they have been in class. They can also ask their students by a show
of hands how responsible they have been in class or on the playground. Better
yet, students can be asked to volunteer how they were responsible outside the
gym.
Being Relational With Kids

None of the other ideas matter if a certain kind of relationship with kids is not
developed. Although much has been written about this issue (e.g., McDonald,
1992; Noddings, 1992; Tom, 1984), it is still too often perceived as either a
mixture of artistry and charisma or, in contrast, a set of concrete pedagogical
skills. Chapter 7 expands this discussion, but the key in my experience is to be
able to recognize and respect the strengths, individuality, voice, and decision-
making capabilities of our students (imagine these qualities entering the door to
the gym).

Kid Quotes
“The talks were good so everything doesn’t get chaotic.”—High school
sophomore
“I’m very grateful he has you in his life.”—Mother of a high school sophomore
Strengths
Each student has strengths, not just deficiencies that need to be fixed. (Who
wants to be fixed?) Sure, we all need work to be better human beings, but by
recognizing and building on strengths, program leaders can help kids be open to
working on their issues, such as making fun of others, getting angry when things
don’t go their way, or being good team members.
Individuality
Each student is an individual and wants to be recognized as such, despite the
uniformity of attire, slang, gestures, and so on. Gender matters, of course, and
so does race and ethnicity. (Whoever said, “It doesn’t matter to me if they are
green or blue” just didn’t get it.) I’ve never met a kid who wanted to be known as
a category. She may be proud of being a girl or a Mexican American, but that’s
not all she is. And kids are not just a bundle of behaviors. They have an inside
self that contains feelings, dreams and fears, values, intentions. Of course, most
kids don’t want to stand out in ways that they or their peers judge to be uncool
(although those seeking attention are another matter), but they do want to
be recognized and respected for who they are. That’s where recognizing kids’
strengths and potentials comes in.
Voice
Each student knows things the teacher does not; each has a voice, an opinion,
a side that needs to be heard, whether we agree or not. When I first got the idea
to listen to what kids think, I only had in mind to convey to them that I cared
about their thoughts. What I found was that they know things I don’t know and
often evaluate things differently than I do. Listening to them made me a better
program leader (and person)!
Decision Making
Each student has the capacity, if not the experience, to make good decisions.
Often, they just need practice, as they do in learning a motor skill. If given the
opportunity, they will make mistakes, but that’s an important part of the process.
Self-reflection is needed to accompany decision making; it is built into the daily
program format to help students become more reflective about the choices they
make.
Putting It All Together

If we want to treat kids with dignity and promote self-development, working from
a strengths perspective shifts the focus from their inadequacies and incomplete-
ness to their positive qualities, providing a base from which to work. Recognizing
and respecting their individuality conveys to them that everyone starts in a dif-
ferent place and has unique strengths, capacities, needs, and interests. As Walt
Manning, former professor at Portland State University in Oregon, used to say,
“You gotta treat them unequal but fair.” Honoring differences among students is
what individuality is all about. Giving them a voice in the process and gradually
turning some choices and decisions over to them are central to the process of
taking responsibility. And what better way is there to treat kids with dignity?
A caveat needs to be attached to this issue of being relational (as well as most
of the ideas in this book). None of these qualities—recognizing strengths, listen-
ing, treating kids as individuals, and so on—means caving in to everything kids
want or demand. It is absolutely crucial for TPSR users to have the courage to
stand up for its core values and principles and to confront kids when necessary.
However (and this is a big however), the way we confront reflects how relational
we really want to be. The kids we are confronting still need to be respected and
valued for what they contribute positively to others and to their own development.
They still have a “side” that needs to be acknowledged and negotiated. Here is
one line I’ve drawn on multiple times: “What you did is not okay; the question is
not whether you did it, but what you are going to do about it.” That leaves room
for negotiation (which is still relational). In my experience, kids don’t like being
confronted, but in the long run, they come to understand that being relational
means something other than the program leader being a pal or a pushover.
Daily Program Format

To ensure that my responsibilities truly became themes throughout the program, I
found it necessary to create and use a daily program format—which is a daily cur-
ricular or programmatic structure for TPSR programs (see figure 2.4). It consists
of five flexible components, each intended to address one or more of the themes,
and all of them are intended to reinforce the role of the levels in the program.
Relational time takes place before the program begins or sometimes during
or after the program, during which the program leader can interact briefly with

■■ Relational time
■■ Awareness talk
■■ Physical activity plan
■■ Group meeting
■■ Self-reflection time
Figure 2.4 The daily curricular structure for TPSR programs.

some of the kids, just to recognize them, say their names, and maybe mention
something special about them (maybe just a new pair of shoes). Problems that
occurred in the last meeting can sometimes be addressed as well.
The awareness talk more formally opens the meeting, although sometimes
it helps to conduct a quick activity such as a warm-up or an icebreaker (or a
shoot-around in invasion sports) before the awareness talk. If the group isn’t
too large, students can sit in a circle with the program leader. The purpose is to
emphasize the importance of taking responsibility in this program, that it is the
first step in putting responsibility into practice (i.e., know and then do). Levels
come in handy as a way to discuss being responsible. This talk should be very
brief, at first perhaps only describing Level I or Levels I and II or sometimes just
broader concepts, such as, “Today let’s really focus on not causing problems
for anyone.” As soon as possible, kids should be invited to volunteer what they
think the program is really about (in their own words) as they understand the
basic concept. Simply choose one or two to share a sentence describing what
this program is really about. If they are even vaguely “in the zone,” thank them
and go on to the physical activity lesson.
The physical activity plan by far takes up most of the time. The principles of
TPSR such as the levels and themes need to be embedded in the physical activi-
ties during this time.
Near the end of the program, students gather in a circle again for the group
meeting to discuss how the program went that day. The discussion should include
deciding who made positive contributions and giving advice to the teacher about
what worked and what didn’t (but not all in one session).
Reflection time, in the same circle, is really a time for self-evaluation. The
levels can be a way for each student to assess his or her responsibilities that day.
Other Aspects of the TPSR Framework

Perhaps the most difficult task for a rookie TPSR user involves embedding TPSR
values and principles in the physical activity content. That’s because it requires
discarding old beliefs and habits about how to teach and trying things that one
physical educator called “turning teaching on its head.” As already stated, it
requires knowing two sets of content, TPSR and the knowledge and pedagogy of
specific physical activities, and then integrating the two. The suggested integra-
tion strategies consist of the unique contributions of different physical activities,
a strategies progression, and strategy suggestions for each of the levels. These
aspects of embedding TPSR values are explained in detail in chapter 5.
Lesson and program planning are often emphasized in professional preparation
programs, but what if something unexpected happens? What if a student says,
“That’s stupid; I’m not doing it”? Problem solving and preparing for unanticipated
occurrences are an integral part of effective instruction and of the TPSR frame-
work and are addressed in chapter 6.
Assessment, the final piece of the TPSR framework, focuses on two questions:
Do the program activities and interactions reflect the program framework and
associated activities (fidelity)? and, Is the program being evaluated for what is
working and what isn’t in relation to the impact on students? Chapter 11 offers
a toolbox of assessment ideas for evaluating these questions in TPSR programs.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ A set of core values underlies the purpose of teaching personal and social
responsibility through physical activity. But unless daily interactions with
students embody and demonstrate the principles of TPSR, the program
will not succeed as planned.
■■ Although TPSR is often interpreted as “the levels,” the levels are just one
part of the TPSR framework or building blocks (or principles) of TPSR. The
building blocks consist of a few ideas and a number of suggested strategies
and themes. To ignore these is to risk missing the point of TPSR.
■■ Basic TPSR ideas include the core values, a few assumptions, the levels of
responsibility, and five responsibilities of program leaders (i.e., program
themes). Suggested strategies include a five-part daily program format,
integration strategies for physical activity time, problem-solving strategies,
and assessment tools that address program fidelity and impact.
■■ If responsibilities are not gradually shifted to the participants, taking
personal and social responsibility becomes a slogan without meaning.
■■ Unless TPSR is integrated into the physical activity lesson, the lesson is
not likely to teach kids to take responsibility.
■■ If transfer to life outside the gym is ignored, the original purpose of TPSR
will not be fulfilled.
3
Levels of Responsibility
No philosophy, theory, or theorist can possibly capture

the idiosyncratic reality of your own experiences
as a teacher.
—S.D. Brookfield
Although teaching certainly has a “technology,” a “here’s how” to teach physical

activities, it also ought to possess a spirit—a moral compass, a sense of purpose,
a passion. TPSR is an attempt to provide that kind of vision so that interested
PE and PA professionals can help kids progress in a series of loose, zigzag quasi-
sequential steps, or levels. Table 2.1 (see page 21) describes these sequential
steps without depicting the zigs and zags.
The primary purpose of TPSR is to help kids take more personal and social
responsibility by embedding TPSR ideas and strategies in physical activity pro-
grams. The five levels facilitate this process by giving both the program leader
(i.e., PE or PA professional) and program participants a loose progression of spe-
cific goals to work toward. Because kids develop at their own pace—for example,
while some struggle with respecting others, others begin to take on leadership
roles quickly—the levels can be individualized by making brief personal plans
for individual students as necessary.
TPSR encompasses more than observable behaviors; it also includes attitudes,
beliefs, values, and intentions as mentioned earlier. The levels were formulated to
■■ reflect the core values of TPSR,
■■ be few in number,
■■ balance personal and social responsibility,
■■ indicate a progression (though not a strict one), and
■■ be provisional.
The term provisional in this context means that the values offered in TPSR are
not etched in granite. Ultimately, students are free to accept, reject, or modify
them. That’s the way it must be if they are to take responsibility for themselves.
Program leaders also have these options; rejecting a TPSR value simply means
that they prefer to base their programs on other values. It does not mean that
they have somehow gone astray.
31
Progression of Levels
Having some sense of what to do first, second, and so on, is helpful not only in
program planning but also in teaching values to kids. Respect for the rights and
feelings of others often is necessary before much else can be addressed. Partici-
pation and effort, along with cooperation, are obviously important in a physical
activity–based program, so they too need to be addressed early on. Self-direction,
which involves working independently and eventually making and achieving
personal goals, comes next in the sequence because it is more difficult for many
kids to do. Genuinely caring about and helping others is often even more difficult
because it involves going beyond one’s self-interest and becoming less egocentric.
(However, some practitioners point out that helping others is sometimes easier
for kids to carry out than self-direction.) Most difficult of all is transferring these
values and skills outside the gym, where the environment is often less supportive.
Respect for the rights and feelings of others is perhaps the least each of us can
do for others, just as putting effort into the tasks we take on is perhaps the least
we can do for ourselves. Becoming self-directed is even more helpful to personal
growth, and appropriately caring about and helping others is arguably the most
we can do for others (and perhaps ourselves as well).
A less rigid way to present the levels is as a sequence of three categories:
beginning, advanced, and most advanced (see table 3.1). The first two levels,
respect and effort with cooperation, can be viewed as the beginning stage of
responsibility development; both are essential to establishing a positive develop-
mental environment. The next two, self-direction and helping, extend the learning
environment by encouraging independent work and helping and leadership roles,
thereby freeing the program leader to work with kids who need more help and,
at the same time, contributing to a more positive experience for all students.
Transfer outside the gym is the most advanced stage and the primary goal of
TPSR (at least in the originator’s “grand plan”). It involves exploring the use of
the previous four responsibilities in the classroom, at home, with friends, and so
on to evaluate whether they work better than what students have been doing.
Unfortunately, this goal is often excluded in TPSR programs.
The order of the levels attempts to take into account both a loose teaching–
learning progression and a hierarchy of values. When Williamson and Georgiadis
(1992) worked with kids from the notorious Cabrini Green Housing Project, they
needed to spend the first few weeks exclusively on Level I to deal with issues of
violence and abuse. Respect was a minimal value that required immediate atten-
tion and therefore needed to be the first step in their instructional plan.
Table 3.1 Cumulative Levels

Category Levels
Beginning Level I—Respect
Level II—Effort
Advanced Level III—Self-direction
Level IV—Helping
Most advanced Level V—Outside the gym
Levels of Responsibility ··· 33

Kid Quotes
“The levels were good. They let you know if you were acting like a fool or
whatever.”—High school student
“In your class you could always learn something . . . about how to deal and
cope with everyday life and reality. Although your class was PE, I learned a
great deal more . . . made me take pride in myself . . . and not be quick to judge
other people. (PS If you can find time between push-ups and sit-ups, drop me
a letter.)”—Letter from a former high school student
The progression, although loose, is open to question. For example, Shields

and Bredemeier (1995) suggested moving caring to Level II and reconceptualizing
Level III as group direction. Their aim was to de-emphasize what they perceived
to be the egocentrism of the levels (see the next paragraph for a broader inter-
pretation). The Saskatchewan, Canada, provincial curriculum guide inverted the
levels so that what the committee thought was the most important level, caring
about and helping others, came first.
The appropriate caveat is to use the progression in the way that makes the
most sense in individual situations and with individual dispositions, and to be
flexible. If it becomes a rigid, dogmatic structure into which all kids must fit,
whether they really do or not, or if it is used as a weapon to punish kids when
they don’t conform, then the intention underlying the levels has been lost. If the
levels language doesn’t work very well, program leaders shouldn’t use it. Some
just refer to the levels as “your responsibilities.”
Although a balance between personal and social–moral responsibility is
reflected in the progression, the primary focus of the levels is on the individual
rather than the group taking responsibility, as Shields and Bredemeier pointed
out. However, the daily program format (see chapter 4) does address group
interaction and decision making in the daily group meeting. This is an excellent
example of how incomplete the levels are in fully representing TPSR.
Cumulative Levels
When I was in survival mode as a high school PE teacher in the early 1970s, I
began to teach the levels as a cumulative progression, as shown in figure 3.1.
Used this way, students learn that each level builds on and encompasses all lower
levels. A new level, Level Zero, represents irresponsible attitudes and behaviors.
Level I becomes respect for others’ rights and feelings without much participa-
tion in the lesson’s activities (and without self-direction or caring about others).
Students at Level I show minimal social responsibility by not being disruptive
but little personal responsibility (assuming participation is a worthwhile and not
contraindicated educational experience). Level II describes a participant who
participates under supervision, is cooperative, and respects other kids’ rights
and feelings. Level III represents someone who is respectful, participates, and is
Level IV, Caring

Students at Level IV, in addition to respecting others, participating, and being self-
directed, are motivated to extend their sense of responsibility beyond themselves
by cooperating, giving support, showing concern, and helping.
Level III, Self-Direction

Students at Level III not only show respect and participation but also are able to
work without direct supervision. They can identify their own needs and begin to plan
and carry out their physical education programs.
Level II, Participation

Students at Level II not only show at least minimal respect for others but also will-
ingly play, accept challenges, practice motor skills, and train for fitness under the
teacher’s supervision.
Level I, Respect
Students at Level I may not participate in daily activities or show much mastery
or improvement, but they are able to control their behavior enough that they don’t
interfere with the other students’ right to learn or the teacher’s right to teach. They
do this without much prompting by the teacher and without constant supervision.
Level Zero, Irresponsibility

Students who operate at Level Zero make excuses, blame others for their behavior,
and deny personal responsibility for what they do or fail to do.
Figure 3.1 The levels presented as a cumulative progression.

Adapted, by permission, from D. Hellison, 1985, Goals and strategies for teaching physical education (Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics), 6-7.
self-directed. Level IV adds helping and leadership to the traits of Levels II and
III, and Level V—when it is used—signifies that a student is practicing Levels II,
III, and IV outside the gym.
The cumulative approach has the advantage of simplicity, especially with large
classes, which is why, with 30 to 40 kids in the urban high schools I worked in,
I created it. Students can quickly set goals for themselves, such as to achieve
Level III or Level IV, and they can quickly evaluate themselves—for example,
by saying, “I was mostly at Level II today.” The disadvantage is that during the
course of one lesson, students are often at several levels. They may call someone
a name but then help someone later; they may be off task at one moment and
self-directed the next.
Some teachers have created rules for self-evaluation. For example, students
who were at more than one level that class period must evaluate themselves
at the lowest of these levels. Using that rule, any student displaying any Level
Zero behavior should be self-evaluated as Level Zero for the lesson. Students
in one of my programs invented a scoring system of their own to deal with this
problem. Each student averaged the levels they perceived themselves to be on
that particular day and came up with a cumulative level (e.g., two and a half) to
represent their various attitudes and behaviors for the day.
The cumulative approach has other disadvantages as well. Most cumulative
level users completely ignore Level V. Its inclusion does raise issues—students
need to provide evidence from outside the gym—but ignoring it minimizes the
importance of life lessons in TPSR. The other disadvantage involves the temp-
tation to use the cumulative levels to label students. It’s almost too easy—one
number will do the trick. But the point of empowerment is for kids to evaluate
themselves. Our role is to raise questions when necessary and share our evalu-
ations when appropriate but not to force our judgments on students. They are
the only ones who can change themselves (Boyes-Watson, 2001).
Five Levels
When I began to teach in small alternative schools with small classes that served
“wayward” youth, teaching became less about management and more about
building relationships. Later, in extended-day programs, again with small num-
bers, I was able to continue more relational and less managerial program leader-
ship. In the process, I abandoned the cumulative levels. However, it remains a
popular choice for many program leaders, especially PE teachers who have large
classes and see many students each day, despite its shortcomings. By necessity,
it becomes TPSR Lite.
As I dug deeper into each of the levels and began to appreciate their nuances,
it seemed best, at least in my situation, to treat each separately within a loose
progression. Some kids have great difficulty working on their own but are com-
petent leaders. Others have major temper issues, but when they manage to be
temporarily under control, they are model citizens. And so it goes.
An extended description of each level without the cumulative level structure
follows. To minimize the chance of getting lost in these details, it may help to
remember that the essence of Levels I and IV is human decency, just as the
essence of Levels II and III is holistic self-development, two core values of TPSR.
Level I
Level I, respect for the rights and feelings of others, is intended to provide a
psychologically and physically safe place for students, to respect their right to
participate without being hassled, and to confront those who need to deal with
issues of self-control and respect. Major issues include the following:
■■ Verbal and physical abuse, such as name calling and making fun of others
■■ Intimidation, bullying, and hogging equipment or space
■■ Inability to control one’s temper or to resolve conflicts peacefully
■■ Disrupting the work and play of others
Kids who struggle at Level I often deny personal responsibility and make
excuses or blame others for their own abusive behaviors (e.g., the other guy is the
problem). They sometimes acknowledge being abusive or manipulative but argue
TPSR in Action
The power of TPSR hit me during my second semester in my doctoral program
when I organized and ran an after-school Youth Sport Club for refugee boys.
There were kids from various countries who had come to America at different
ages, so I designed the club to be as welcoming and inclusive as possible.
There was one young student who did not speak, so we adapted our program
to incorporate skits, written words, and body language into the awareness talk,
group meeting, and reflection time. I and two undergraduate interns believed
that these adaptations could help the young refugees feel comfortable in the
Youth Sport Club. During the group meeting in our ninth session, as we were
pointing to our list of activities for the day to see what each student liked the
best, our silent student suddenly blurted out, “Basketball!!” Instead of waiting
for us to point to his favorite activity and nod, he found his voice in our circle.
And judging by the shocked look on the interns’ faces, they had truly grasped
the impact they can have as mentors and the difference our program can make
in these kids’ lives.
Meredith Whitley, Michigan State University
that the behavior is justified in a survival-of-the-fittest world. Interestingly, both

affluent and street kids use this kind of explanation on occasion. It is important to
listen to students’ explanations to better understand and to problem-solve, but it
is also important to say, “That’s not okay” when abusive attitudes and behaviors
are involved, followed by, “What are you going to do to fix this?” (See chapter
6.) Because being adversarial is often a protective device for urban kids, being
responsive to the context is an important skill, something called code-switching,
when the setting shifts from the street to the school (or the reverse).
Level I has three related components (see table 2.1 on p. 21). The first, self-
control, means controlling one’s attitude and behavior in a way that respects the
rights and feelings of others. I tell kids that it means controlling your temper and
your mouth, two of their major problems in my programs. Moreover, the goal is
for kids to control themselves without supervision (or policing). Self-control is
an external behavior that may not be matched by the internal value of respecting
others, a crucial but often overlooked distinction. To learn respect for others,
students can start by trying to control selfish behaviors while they struggle to
become internally more sensitive to others’ feelings and needs, prompted by a
climate that supports and expects kids to get along with others and eventually
to demonstrate leadership qualities. The relational time, group meeting, and
reflection time processes described in chapter 4 facilitate this process.
Self-control means not being controlled by what others say. It does not mean
giving away one’s rights—for example, as a response to bullying or intimidation.
When someone’s behavior does not deserve respect, the student may be able to
confront the person without creating a scene or to walk away (which sometimes
really takes self-control). Self-defense is the last resort in standing up for one’s
self, but most kids, especially those who are picked on, need basic training. If
nothing else, training can elevate their confidence enough to help them avoid
acting like victims. In many cases, the program leader will not have the training
and either needs to enroll in a self-defense or martial arts program, or else be
knowledgeable enough to refer individual students to a legitimate neighborhood
martial arts program.
Walter Mosley’s fictional detective Easy Rawlins offered this advice in the
novel White Butterfly: “I want you to promise me that you won’t never fight unless
somebody hits you or tries to hit you. ’Cause you know that some man can con-
trol you if he can drive you to fight over some [garbage] he talks” (p. 181). I’ve
seen students attempt to retaliate in the face of a verbal attack, only to be further
humiliated. Retaliation encourages more retaliation. Where does it end? All too
often these days, it ends in injury or even death.
The second component of Level I, the right to peaceful conflict resolution,
encourages negotiation and recognizes that legitimate differences of opinion can
sometimes make rights difficult to determine. This component helps students
learn the value of resolving conflicts peacefully and democratically (see chapter 6).
The third component specifies that everyone has the right to be included.
All participants deserve turns and playing time, whether or not they are skilled
and regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual preference. On teams, they
deserve to have the ball or puck passed to them. That, in turn, also requires at
least minimal cooperation from everyone, an essential ingredient in group inter-
action as well as game play.
Like the other levels, Level I is not an either–or, yes–no proposition. A con-
tinuum exists between having no respect for others to having full, internalized
respect. Students are present all along this continuum, and their attitudes may
fluctuate from day to day. Socialization into either elitist or street values becomes
a barrier to the development of Level I. In my experience, however, all kids (or
almost all) can make progress on this continuum and improve their day-to-day
consistency. If progress is not possible, the right to exit the program (or referral
to a specialist in cases of genetic or behavioral disorders) should be available.
A developmental perspective that views kids as works in progress makes these
last-resort courses of action less likely.
Level I can be viewed as the least any of us can do for others, whereas Level
IV, caring, can be seen as the most that we can do for others. Empathy, taking
the perspective of another, begins at Level I and develops further at Level IV.
Level II
Just as Level I attempts to counter socially destructive attitudes, values, and
behaviors, Level II, effort and cooperation, is intended to help kids positively
experience program content, which includes learning to get along with others,
some of whom, as one high school student told me, “aren’t so easy to get along
with.” Effort counters self-defeating attitudes and behaviors, such as the passivity
of “cruisin’ in neutral,” learned helplessness (Martinek and Griffith, 1993), and
attempts to discredit anything that appears to have meaning (Maddi, Kobasa,
and Hoover, 1979). Level II is also intended to help students better understand
the role of effort in improving themselves not only in physical activity but also
in life (a dash of Level V).
The first component of Level II is self-motivation because the intention of Level

II is to help students take responsibility for their own motivation. Embedding
small student responsibilities in skill drills and fitness activities, such as moving
to the next station on their own when they have finished a task, can assist in the
development of self-motivation. Cooperation is also needed so that participants
can be self-motivated. Being hassled, made fun of, or criticized by peers severely
hampers self-motivation except in the most confident kids.
The next component of Level II is exploring effort and trying out new tasks.
This could be called “Try it, you might like it!” Simply going through the motions
of participation is a first step past nonparticipation. Gradually, the concepts of
training and practice can be introduced, leading to development in such things
as motor skills and game play as well as physical health, physical appearance,
and strength. Tom Martinek explains effort at Level II by saying, “Try your best
and don’t give up.”
Exploration at Level II also needs to include introduction to a variety of personal
definitions of success. By being exposed to the concept that success can have a
variety of definitions, students can eventually develop internal self-standards that
work for them. Competitive achievement is initially the most popular definition
of success as well as the most discouraging for some, but improvement, achieve-
ment of personal goals, or even effort can define success. John Nicholls’ (1989)
theory of task versus ego involvement sheds light on this component of Level II.
A task-involved person defines success in terms of participation, improvement,
and mastery in a specific task, whereas an ego-involved person defines success
as being superior to others. With task involvement, success depends primarily
on one’s own effort (although there are other factors such as ability and task
difficulty), whereas in ego involvement, success depends on how others do. One
is under the individual’s control; the other is not. Kids need to understand their
options and be able to put them into practice.
Level III
Level III, self-direction, is intended to help students go beyond the lessons of
Level II as they learn to take more responsibility for their well-being. Level III
celebrates the diversity of student talents, needs, and interests by encouraging
reflective choice. Level III promotes a “complementarity of excellences” (Norton,
1976) by treating all responsible, self-direction goals as equal rather than favoring
culturally popular activities, one gender over another, or the motor elite. Alterna-
tive school PE teacher Mike Reeder reminded me that I had written about this a
long time ago (Hellison, 1978). That book, based on a year with a class of high-
school kids, described the Level III question I posed to my students: Who can I
be? They were given a little homemade booklet of personal options: health (e.g.,
cardiovascular, weight control), physical safety (e.g., learn to swim, self-defense),
appearance (e.g., muscular development, weight control), and achievement (e.g.,
being competitive, improving skills and performance).
The first step at Level III is to move from the more teacher-directed confines of
Level II to on-task independence, such as by working at a station without supervi-
sion. The next step is to begin a goal-setting progression that will depend on age,
self-motivation, and understanding of the goal-setting process.
TPSR in Action
“On belay.” “Belay’s on.” “Climbing.” “Climb on.” These calls can be heard echoing
off canyon walls at any rock climbing mecca as skilled climbers make their way
up sheer rock faces. But this is not a climbing mecca and these are not skilled
climbers. They are 12 year olds (1/4 of whom sport ankle bracelets) from an
alternative middle school at an indoor climbing wall. This is the Climbing Club!
Our charge: develop a physical education program for these students. After
a few dismal failures we decided to choose content that was “risky” (in their
eyes), leveled the playing field (no previous experience), brought them into
a new environment (the university), and allowed us to teach more than skill.
Indoor climbing was it! The youth practiced responsibility while learning to climb.
To make the “levels” more meaningful and relevant to climbing we translated
into climbing terms. Level I was the same—respecting the rights and feelings
of others. They “tied in” (Level II) by doing such things as persevering through
challenging parts of a climb. Such things as properly tying their own knots and
climbing with good technique without prompting comprised Level III, “climbing”.
Level IV, “on belay”, included assisting others with knots and harnesses and
belaying with a back-up. “Leading out”, Level V, meant being able to belay
another climber without assistance; thus taking someone’s life into their hands.
The year always ended with a day trip to a real climbing mecca where their
voices were heard echoing across the rock face.
Melissa Parker, University of Northern Colorado
Ken Hansen, California Polytechnic University, Pomona
Goal-setting principles are a staple of sport psychology (Weinberg and Gould,

1999) and include helping kids set goals that are realistic and under their con-
trol. They should also record their progress. One way to start (unless it is too
elementary) is by asking them what a goal is and whether they have any personal
goals. Some goals might be suggested until they grasp the idea. I’ve had success
asking students at the beginning of class if anyone has either a personal (e.g.,
attitude, behavior) or sport or fitness goal for the day and then following up in
reflection time by asking if anyone actually practiced his or her goal (assuming
that at least a few kids chose goals). Eventually, they should be able to make and
carry out personal physical activity plans. However, to set, achieve, and evaluate
personal goals require self-knowledge (What do I need to improve?) and concep-
tual knowledge (such as the role of feedback in motor skill improvement). These
needs can be integrated into the program using examples and one-liners. Once
again, one of my most systematic efforts to implement goal setting was back in
1978 (Hellison, 1978), but I had to employ behavior modification to make it work,
which reduced its appeal for me. As I’ve worked with goal setting over time, my
approach has loosened up, making adjustments a lot easier.
Level III also involves working toward an understanding of one’s needs, not just
one’s interests. Setting goals and self-standards and developing one’s uniqueness
(e.g., by developing a physical activity specialty) are aspects of this process. Of

course, having fun, being with friends, celebrating, and even managing stress are
important too. Although most kids are oriented to the present, learning to choose
and stay with activities that meet both long- and short-term interests and needs
in some balance is one of the hallmarks of mature self-direction.
To accomplish the kind of independence required for true self-direction, kids
must develop the courage to look inside themselves. Some of this is sensitive
work, especially for adolescents. If they can be convinced to bring perceived
weaknesses out into the open, at least to themselves, they can address the
need to look good or seek approval by making personal plans to strengthen
those weak points. Many students would feel better about themselves if they
confronted their issues and made a plan to resolve them. One way to address
these issues is self-acceptance—accepting limitations that make them less
popular or less part of the mainstream while emphasizing being themselves and
developing their unique talents. Another way is self-image actualizing (Lyon,
1971), which involves making and carrying out a plan to improve skills, game
play, strength, endurance, appearance, or whatever is necessary to feel better
about themselves.
Among the most difficult aspects of striving against external forces (deCharms,
1976) is being able to stand up for personal rights. Creating a truly personal plan
derived from one’s own needs and interests is no easy task for kids who need
peer approval. The importance of making a plan that is truly one’s own can be
addressed in awareness talks, group meetings, or relational time. Having identi-
fied their needs as something distinct from the opinions of others, students also
need to learn how to stand up for their independence and protect themselves.
A plan to do so may take the form of learning how to be appropriately asser-
tive and practicing such assertiveness in the physical activity setting (Banks
and Smith-Fee, 1989) or even learning self-defense skills as suggested earlier.
Outward Bound creator Kurt Hahn often talked about making the brave gentle
and the gentle brave (Richards, 1982). From an empowerment perspective, the
goal would not be to “make” kids anything but instead to assist them in taking
charge of these goals to the extent that they are perceived to be relevant (unless
their actions threaten to harm others). The levels attempt to meet these needs,
especially Levels I, III, and IV.
Questions have been raised about whether Level III is relevant for children.
My experience with primary and elementary school teachers is that although
some of the ideas described here are advanced, children can often do more than
we expect. Such things as goal setting may be relevant if adjusted for age—for
example, by introducing the idea or giving some choices with reflection afterward.
However, program leaders who work with young kids have a better idea than I
do of what they can handle. My only suggestion is to experiment a bit before
dismissing this level.
Level IV
Level IV, like Level III (and all levels), needs to be adjusted for age. Mature Level
IV students possess the interpersonal skills of sensitivity and responsiveness to
act out of caring and compassion for others (a process started at Level I), con-
tribute to their community, and do so without expectations of extrinsic rewards.

Working at Level IV is easier said than done. It requires the following:
■■ Interpersonal relations skills of listening and responding without being
judgmental or dogmatic
■■ An ability to help without being arrogant
■■ An understanding of the importance of helping only when the other person
wants the help
■■ Not becoming a rescuer
■■ An ability to help others resolve differences peacefully and democratically
Students at Level IV recognize that others have needs and feelings just as they
do, and they learn to see and feel things from the viewpoints of others. This is
a very tall order for those of us who do this work, let alone for kids! A first step
that reflects the spirit of Level IV might be to ask them to contribute however
they can to everyone having a positive experience during the program. The com-
plexity of helping others and taking on leadership roles convinced Tom Martinek
(Martinek and Hellison, 2009) to develop and employ a four-stage youth leader-
ship development process, beginning with learning to take responsibility and
progressing to leadership awareness, cross-age leadership, and self-actualized
leadership beyond the gym.
Despite the emphasis on sensitivity and compassion in Level IV, interpreting
it as being soft would be a mistake. Level IV requires inner strength—the cour-
age to resist peer pressure and an egocentric agenda, to step up as a leader, to
represent what’s right for the group. Leadership requires not only the skills and
qualities mentioned earlier but also the ability to give to others without losing
sight of one’s own individual needs and interests. It requires confidence but not
arrogance as well as the ability to strive against external forces (deCharms, 1976)
when necessary, including the strength to stand up for TPSR leadership principles
without being defensive or overbearing.
Interpersonal skills aside, Level IV may be a difficult achievement for young
people these days. Thanks to the electronic media, celebrities have kids’ attention
more than ever before. One teacher who includes a hero unit in her curriculum
has said that it is becoming harder to teach the unit because kids can’t distinguish
between a hero and a celebrity (Lickona, 1991). From a Level IV perspective, a hero
is someone who shows extraordinary courage and compassion in contributing
to society. Perhaps the late Kirby Puckett, who played for the Minnesota Twins
(in a subpar indoor stadium) his entire career, declined offers of more money
from other teams, and acknowledged that winning the Branch Rickey Award for
community service meant more to him than anything he had done in baseball,
clarifies the difference between celebrity and hero. Many other well-known
athletes have contributed to society not by their physical performance but by
doing genuinely good deeds. The work of Drew Brees in New Orleans is a more
up-to-date example of a hero who also happens to be a great football player. (I
have a file stuffed with such examples from Sports Illustrated and other sources.)
Whether Level IV really extends beyond self-interest in its broadest sense is a
matter of debate. Not at issue, however, is the importance of being a contributing
member of the community and society. William James argued that kids need to find
“a moral equivalent to war” as their sense of purpose (Richards, 1982, p. 24). Kurt
Hahn (Richards, 1982) and others (notably, Berman, 1990) have suggested offer-
ing students opportunities to make social contributions as this moral equivalent.
Level I and Level IV attempt to counter ego- and ethnocentrism, the me-first
and us-first orientation that inspires all the “isms”—racism, sexism, motor
elitism, handicappism, and ageism (Siedentop, 1980). Level I teaches doing no
harm and being at least minimally cooperative; Level IV teaches making a posi-
tive contribution. The emphasis of Level IV on contributing to the well-being of
others balances the self-centered goals often chosen in Level III (although some
kids do choose social goals).
Level V
Level V refers to exploring the application of the four other levels outside the
program—on the playground, in the classroom, at home, on the street. A wall
chart of cumulative levels developed by Michigan elementary PE teacher Linda
Masser (1990) addressed the transfer issue by showing students how the cumula-
tive levels might apply to various settings in their lives (see figure 3.2).
If kids are to become responsible for their own well-being as well as that of
others, they need to be the ones to decide whether and in what situations to
use the levels. This is the provisional caveat introduced in chapter 2. Level V
makes students aware of the possibility of transfer and encourages them to dis-
cuss and experiment with it. For example, Gene Washington, a basketball player
who assisted me in an inner-city program, told the kids that self-direction helps
improve both their individual basketball skills and their schoolwork.
Level V is the place to discuss the reality of life outside the gym. Within the
program, the levels contribute to a climate of respect, effort, autonomy, and
community, but these qualities are not often valued on the street and sometimes
not at home or in school (especially in the halls, in the lunchroom, and on the
playground). It is one thing to work on TPSR principles in a safe setting where
everyone is respected and has a say, but what if the group is not respectful or
is downright out of control? What if the adult leader or leaders (e.g., teachers,
coaches) do not support making decisions or are abusive adults (or just one adult
who has authority)? What if peers ridicule someone’s efforts because others are
more skilled or because the group doesn’t value doing homework, or just because
someone doesn’t go along with the crowd?
Level V can’t solve these problems, but strategies suggested in Levels I and
III can help. Level I can, for example, provide skills and guidance so that weaker
kids can stand up for their rights on the playground. However, to address Level
V, program leaders can facilitate brief discussions of these issues during aware-
ness talks, group meetings, and relational time, thereby giving kids a chance to
think about the relevance of the levels for their lives outside the gym. What small
steps would it take to begin to put them into practice? Is it worth the effort? The
students can also volunteer examples, perhaps about how they took responsibil-
ity in specific situations.
Level V ultimately means being a role model for others. This, in fact, is the
essence of Level V! Charles Barkley caused quite a stir several years ago when
he said that professional athletes are not role models. Sorry, Sir Charles, but they
What’s Your Level?
Level 0: Irresponsibility
Home: Blaming brothers or sisters for problems
Playground: Calling other students names
Classroom: Talking to friends when teacher is giving instructions
Physical education: Pushing and shoving others when
selecting equipment
Level 1: Self-Control
Home: Keeping self from hitting brother even though really mad at him
Playground: Standing and watching others play
Classroom: Waiting until appropriate time to talk with friends
Physical education: Practicing but not all the time
Level 2: Involvement
Home: Helping to clean up supper dishes
Playground: Playing with others
Classroom: Listening and doing class work
Physical education: Trying new things without complaining and saying I can’t
Level 3: Self-Responsibility
Home: Cleaning room without being asked
Playground: Returning equipment during recess
Classroom: Doing a science project not as part of an assignment
Physical education: Undertaking to learn a new skill through resources outside
the physical education class
Level 4: Caring
Home: Helping take care of a pet or younger child
Playground: Asking others (not just friends) to join in play
Classroom: Helping another student with a math problem
Physical education: Willingly working with anyone in the class
Figure 3.2 Linda Masser’s application of the four cumulative levels.

Adapted, by permission, from L. Masser, 1990, “Teaching for affective learning in physical education,” Journal of
Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance 61: 19.
are widely admired and looked up to by kids, whether you think they should be
or not. And some are exemplary role models—like David Robinson for his good
works in building a unique school, which he refused to allow being called the
David Robinson Academy (ho hum, just another humble athlete!), and former
NBA all-star Dave Bing for taking on the exceedingly difficult job of being Detroit’s
mayor. Better yet, program leaders can tell kids that rather than looking for role
models, they should be role models themselves. TPSR is one way to give them
the tools to do that.
Level Modifications
The five levels—respect, participation, self-direction, caring, and transfer outside
the program—can be represented in a variety of ways. Missy Parker’s fourth-grade
Navajo students called Level II “work and try” and Level III “just do it.” In a team
sport program, the following cumulative level substitutions were used (Hellison
and Georgiadis, 1992):
■■ 0 = Cut from the team
■■ I = On the bench (no problems but not participating)
■■ II = Player (under supervision)
■■ III = Self-coach
■■ IV = Coach
■■ V = Outside the gym
Levels can be deleted, rearranged, split apart, or supplemented. Darin Ken-

nedy, a primary school PE teacher in Falconer, New York, uses color-coded levels
including yellow for following the Golden Rule and red for having “heart.” Curt
Hinson (1997; 2001) used three levels in adapting TPSR for recess and playground
(see p. 142 in chapter 9).
The Saskatchewan provincial curriculum inverted the levels so that caring
and helping was Level I. In basketball I changed Level II, effort, to teamwork,
because the kids already showed effort but weren’t interested in passing the ball
or otherwise cooperating.
Whether other approaches similar to the TPSR levels or based on other values
are useful tools in PE and PA professionals’ bag of tricks are judgments that need
to be based on individual experiences, values, and beliefs. That’s what it means
to be a professional. John Hichwa’s wonderful book on middle school physical
education, Right Fielders Are People Too (1998), described his three Rs for teach-
ing prosocial behavior:
1. Respect (e.g., consideration of others)

2. Responsibility (e.g., obligation and accountability)
3. Resourcefulness (e.g., having the inner strength to accomplish something)
Hichwa posts the three Rs and discusses them every day. In addition, they
are an integral part of his daily lesson plan. For example, two small groups of
students play games by themselves, taking responsibility for working indepen-
dently, calling their own fouls, and including everyone. This frees John up to work
more relationally with a third small group, “giving individualized instruction and
adding variation to the activity” (p. 41). Such small-group interaction allows him
to personalize his teaching, be more relational, and motivate his students. John
doesn’t use the levels and, in my opinion, shouldn’t. What he does works for him
and his students and reflects the core values of TPSR (see chapter 2).
The guiding principles for using the levels or some other approach effectively
are to make sure that they make sense in the setting in which they are used and
that they reflect the program leader’s purpose and vision for kids.
Levels and Empowerment

The levels provide specific targets for student empowerment. Levels II and III are
aimed at having students gradually take responsibility for their own well-being,
whereas Levels I and IV focus on their contributions to the well-being of others.
Level V addresses exploring and making decisions about transfer.
The levels will remain words on a wall chart unless relationships with kids
conducive to teaching responsibility are developed. If kids feel that their strengths
as well as what needs work are recognized, if they are treated as individuals,
and if they are empowered to share their views and make decisions in line with
the responsibility they are willing to take, a number of things begin to happen.
They are introduced to Level I by being treated with respect and to Level IV by
being treated with care, sensitivity, and responsiveness. When program leaders
recognize kids’ potential for empowerment and hold them accountable, most
kids, some perhaps reluctantly, begin to accept the idea of taking responsibil-
ity. And by honoring their strengths and individuality, program leaders lay the
foundation for Levels II and III.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ The levels provide students with specific targets for taking responsibility.
■■ The levels are intended as a loose progression, both for planning the pro-
gram and for progressive steps the kids can take.
■■ Cumulative levels can be helpful to those with large groups because they
simplify a complex process. They often omit transfer, however, an espe-
cially serious flaw for an approach that aspires to teach life skills and
values.
■■ Empowerment must be linked to the levels so that students evaluate
themselves and begin to take responsibility for their own well-being and
for contributing to the well-being of others.
■■ As difficult as this is, the levels should not be reduced to behaviors.
They also represent the students’ inside selves—their values, intentions,
motives, and attitudes.
■■ The levels are social constructions, which simply means that they can be
modified in all kinds of ways as long as the underlying principles of TPSR
are honored, including the concept that less is more.
p∙a∙r∙t
II
Strategies
tpsr
4
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no

path and leave a trail.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Day-to-day consistency in the use of the program leader’s responsibilities (i.e.,

program themes) and levels of responsibility is an essential feature of the TPSR
framework. Consistency is crucial, because kids’ understanding and exploration
of these ideas grows slowly and unevenly, often with considerable backsliding.
One way to achieve some consistency in using TPSR is to adopt the TPSR daily
program format introduced in chapter 2, although as Emerson’s quote suggests,
this format is not the only way. The format facilitates the integration of TPSR
by providing a generic plan, with specifics to be filled in by the program leader,
including the age and maturity level of the kids (while keeping in mind that chil-
dren can often do more than we expect).
Initially, I created the daily program format to hold myself accountable for
putting my then-new ideas into practice. Before adopting this format, putting
TPSR into practice was a hit-and-miss affair. The format consists of five parts:
■■ Relational time either before or after the lesson or whenever possible
■■ An awareness talk to formally open the session and ensure that the
participants understand the true purpose of the program (i.e., taking
responsibility)
■■ The physical activity plan with TPSR woven into the physical activities
■■ A group meeting near the end of class so that students can express
their opinions about the day’s activities and processes and how to make
improvements
■■ A self-reflection time to close the class so that students can evaluate how
personally and socially responsible they were that day
The daily program format addresses the five program leader responsibilities
(i.e., program themes) described in chapter 2:
■■ To empower kids (or share power with them)
■■ To help kids self-reflect (e.g., How did you spend your time in the program
today? Did you help anyone? Hurt anyone? Waste the time you had?)
49
■■ To embed TPSR principles in the physical activities (Did you learn anything
about yourself while practicing and playing volleyball?)
■■ To help kids understand that what they are learning in the gym can transfer
to other parts of their lives
■■ To prioritize relationships with the kids in all aspects of the program
Empowerment is encouraged by having students actively participate in the

awareness talk, especially by leading the discussion. Empowerment is also
addressed in the physical activity plan whenever students are able to make
choices or provide some form of leadership such as coaching a team. Empower-
ment is also central to participation in the group meeting and reflection time,
because kids are asked to share their own evaluations of both the program (group
meeting) and themselves (reflection time).
Self-reflection is built into self-reflection time, whereas the group meeting
involves group reflection. Embedding TPSR with the activities is a major purpose
of the activity plan (or lesson).
Relational time sets aside a specific time for developing relationships and
having brief meetings with kids, although a relational culture needs to be nurtured
so that relational moments occur across the program.
Transfer from the program to life needs to be built into relational time, the group
meeting, and reflection time in a gradual step-by-step process as relationships with
the kids develop and they grasp a broader understanding of taking responsibility
(i.e., that it includes life outside the program). Relational time should eventually
include questions about kids’ lives outside of physical activity involvement (e.g.,
their work in school). Reflection time should evolve to the point that kids can be
asked specific outside-the-gym questions such as how their respect for others
was in school or at home since the last meeting. Goals can be set as well—for
example, giving them the option to choose a personal (nonsport) goal such as,
in my kids’ case, self-control (a huge issue) or a physical activity goal.
Relational Time
Because the relationship with kids is crucial to making TPSR work, connecting
one on one is essential. The challenge for those with large classes or groups is
doing so with little time. However, regardless of the group size, the effort must
be made to convey to each student that he or she
■■ has strengths as well as things that need work,
■■ is a unique individual,
■■ has a voice that matters, and
■■ has the capacity to make decisions.
The daily program format itself helps to reinforce these qualities—for exam-
ple, when kids are given opportunities to conduct awareness talks, express opin-
ions in group meetings, and evaluate themselves in reflection time—but nothing
substitutes for a quality one-on-one exchange with a caring adult, even if it is
brief.
Daily Program Format ··· 51
TPSR in Action
Dayson never said anything. Even when I asked his closest peers about it, they
just said, “Don’t worry about it, Coach. He don’t talk to no one.” What Dayson
did was show up. For two years in a twice-a-week program he showed the
most consistent attendance of over 100 kids. He worked harder than most but
at times seemed disinterested and was very difficult to engage in a group or
one on one.
The Team Support advisory program at the Boston English High School
uses a somewhat typical TPSR format in which after the activity we sit in a
circle and reflect. But during what we call the cool-down in this particular group
we adopted something like a Quaker meeting approach in which each person
in the circle is afforded a space to say something he is moved by. On the last
day Dayson stunned everyone. He opened up about how the program leaders
had helped him, what his teammates meant to him, and he even talked about
some of his plans for the future!
This episode helped it hit home that the nature of this sort of work is long
term. And it reminded us how exhilarating it was to witness a young person
beginning to find his voice, especially since we still have another year to work
with him before he graduates.
John McCarthy, Institute for Athletic Coach Education, Boston University
Before or after class, a quick sentence or exchange can begin to communicate

these things. Raths, Harmin, and Simon (1966) called this a one-legged confer-
ence, meaning a quick exchange in passing—“Hey, Deborah, got a new ‘do’?”
or “Jeremy, remember to pass the ball today, okay?” Conducting relational time
after class permits immediate follow-up on individual successes and problems
that day.
It is often convenient to conduct relational time when the kids first come
in the gym. Some may be playing with equipment that has been set out while
others mill around or carry on conversations. This can also be a time to take
roll if that is necessary. Elementary school PE teachers often have little time
available before or after class, so they need to make brief one-on-one connec-
tions at other times, such as during class, at lunchtime, in the halls, or on the
playground. Relational time can also be conducted during a scheduled Level III
time for all students, when they are working independently at stations, playing
games, or working on their personal goals and plans. Even if only five of these
contacts are made in a day, not counting kids chronically in trouble, they mount
up and make a difference.
In large classes or groups, program leaders should try to keep track of whom
they’ve already talked with so that, in the long run, no one is left out. One year
when I took attendance by memory, I found that I never remembered whether
this one kid was there or not. So I tried some relational time with him, and, no
surprise, he saw right through my feeble effort and walked away in disgust—it
was too little too late.

Kid Quotes
“The program teaches you the main points about life.”—Eighth-grader
“I know I have responsibility as a person and you helped me find it.”—Seventh-
grader
Four Goals of Brief Relational Encounters

In such brief encounters, what can be accomplished? If relational time is to truly
reflect TPSR and its core values, it must be about putting kids first—not only what
they do (both good and not so good) but also how they feel and their attitudes
toward others, including the program leader, as well as toward the program,
school, perhaps the police, and other aspects of their lives. Of course, it is pos-
sible to get only a glimpse of a few of these things with a few kids in one brief
relational encounter, but these snapshots add up and help to guide the relational
process. This is a multifaceted undertaking, but the four “recognize and respect”
relational goals (recognizing strengths, individuality, voice, and decision-making
ability) provide more specific guidance.
Recognizing Strengths
Program leaders can recognize and show respect for students’ strengths; men-
tion their talents (especially if these are not generally acknowledged); or com-
ment on recent efforts, improvements, or achievements. Recognizing kids who
help to make the gym a more positive place and demonstrate leadership can be
especially important. Program leaders should pay attention to outside-the-gym
improvements, such as academic progress, positive reports from teachers or
parents, or (for kids who tend to get into trouble with the authorities) not getting
suspended from school recently.
Recognizing Individuality
Program leaders can recognize and show respect for individuality by paying atten-
tion to individual kids in some positive way—for example, by checking in and
commenting on a facial expression (smile or grimace) or a new item of clothing.
Of course, commenting on their individual strengths, efforts, improvements, and
achievements as suggested earlier also recognizes individuality.
Recognizing Voice
To recognize and show respect for students’ voice, program leaders can ask
authentic open-ended questions (not questions that require a certain answer)
and show genuine interest in their answers, comments, and questions. They
may have a solution to a problem that has come up in the group meeting or
during activity time, whether or not they are involved in the problem (thereby
promoting leadership). Students may have thoughts about how to help certain
kids manage their anger, how to stop arguments in games, how to improve the
group’s motivation, or how to get leaders to step up. If a student appears to be

abusing or causing problems with others (Level I) or is slacking off (Level II), the
program leader can identify the issue but allow the student to tell his or her side
of the story and, more important, suggest ways to improve or fix the problem
(e.g., a genuine apology sometimes works wonders). Adults too often jump in
right away and try to solve the problem for the kids before they have a chance
to share their ideas. (I plead guilty, especially in my early years.)
Recognizing Decision-Making Ability

Recognizing and showing respect for students’ capacity to make decisions can
be done by noticing choices they have made and roles they’ve taken on, such
as player-coach or group leader, and asking them how these choices and roles
worked for them. Some may have helpful opinions about solving class problems,
as suggested earlier, and those who seem ready can be invited to take on a Level
III or IV task that day or in the near future.
Counseling
In previous editions of this book, the relational component of the daily program
format was called counseling time, which suggested that we might be therapists
in disguise. A TV interviewer once accused me of being a PE shrink trying to get
inside kids’ heads. I replied that I was just trying to get kids inside their own
heads. I like Noddings’ (1992) claim that all decent adults should be prepared to
educate kids morally, that it is a human responsibility. Alan Tom agreed when he
described teaching as a moral craft (1984). I also like this dictum from Quincy
Howe (1991): “Social workers can address part of the job, but a teacher can
address the entire job” (p. 3). Of course, this responsibility holds true only to a
point; professional help must sometimes be sought. If a student’s problem runs
deep or seems to require specialized skills, a referral is the appropriate choice.
So with the support of these expert opinions and a caveat or two, counseling
time continues to be an aspect of TPSR, albeit with a “softer” name.
Awareness Talk
Relational time formally opens the program, although a shoot-around, icebreaker,
or other fun activity might set a positive tone prior to holding a brief awareness
talk. The students can stand or sit, whatever works best, as they are reminded
that this program is based on taking responsibility. Gradually, the levels of
responsibility can be taught, although with older kids (and in some cases with
all kids) just informing them of their responsibilities without using the concept
of levels works better. In most situations this needs to be done very gradually,
starting with respect or respect and effort, and eventually adding self-direction
and helping, and even later including transfer outside the gym. The key modifier
is gradually, a guideline often ignored.
The awareness talk must be brief. A couple of quality minutes of talk are worth
far more than blabbering on and on. Program leaders who are long-winded, a
characteristic common among rookies, often obscure their message in a torrent
of words. Early in my career, I got a wake-up call from one of my students, who
wrote, “You talk too much” on an anonymous evaluation form. When students
start rolling their eyes or are not paying attention, the awareness talk is over! In
professional preparation, I’ve sometimes invoked the 10-word rule (which I made
up), meaning, you’ve got 10 words to explain the levels. Of course, it may take
more than 10 words, but the rule makes the point about brevity.
Another good rule of thumb for the awareness talk (as well as relational time
and the group meeting) is to monitor the questions-to-answers ratio. Both rookies
and veteran program leaders too often tell rather than ask. Telling is important
sometimes, but without genuine questions (versus answers thinly disguised as
questions), such interactions are disempowering.
Following the initial talk, the awareness talk is an opportunity to remind kids
about their responsibilities that day. The most important part of the awareness
talk, however, is to have students volunteer to tell everyone what the levels (or
responsibilities) are in their own words, or, said more simply, what this program
is about. If allowed to improvise, a participant might offer something like “We all
gotta get along” or “Don’t act the fool.” My response to these kinds of comments
might be, “Good idea for when we start the activity, which is right now!” (Less is
more! And getting to the activity quickly is important.) As this example shows,
students need not describe the levels or mimic the program leader, but what-
ever they say should indicate a grasp of what TPSR is about in at least a general
way. Kids do come up with some doozies. One third-grader said this, without his
program leader having ever uttered these words: “This class is about making the
world a better place to be!” An inner-city seventh-grader surprised his teacher
even more by saying, “It’s having a philosophy!” Who knew?
Increasing awareness was the first strategy I used to put the levels into practice.
I quickly learned that, in most cases, awareness was insufficient to promote action,
but it did provide a rationale for taking responsibility, especially when I curtailed
my long-windedness. These simple suggestions came out of my experience:
■■ Post the levels on the gym wall for easy reference. This is the all-too-familiar
wall chart, but it does help.
■■ Relate their responsibilities to current experiences in the program.
■■ Follow up, follow up, follow up!
■■ Develop one-liners (or two-liners) to explain the essence of the levels. Here
are some examples of awareness talk one-liners:
■■ “The only person you really get to change is yourself” (Boyes-Watson,
2001, p. 18; relevant for all levels, especially Level I).
■■ “If one person is out of balance, so too is the community” (Boyes-
Watson, 2001, p. 19; Levels I and IV).
■■ “If people can get to you with their talk, they can control you” (Level I).
■■ “To get better, you have to pay the price” (Level II).
■■ “You’re about to spend 40 (or whatever) minutes of your life in here;
what are you going to do (or what did you do) with that time?” (Levels
II and III).
■■ “It’s your body and your life” (Levels II and III).
■■ “You can choose what your friends are doing or make up your own
mind” (Level III).
■■ “Good idea, but can you say it more positively?” (Level IV).
■■ “Let’s see if we can help everybody walk out of here today feeling that
they had a positive experience” (Level IV).
■■ To kids whose lives revolve around basketball and dreams of the NBA:
“When the air goes out of the ball, what are you going to do?” (Level V).
■■ “How could you use the levels in your classrooms? At home? On the
playground?” (Level V).
Bill White, a Portland, Oregon, high school teacher who, in the early 1970s,
was the first professional to try to implement TPSR (and his work is still one of
the best!), encouraged Level V awareness in his program by means of a piece of
paper taped to the wall. On the paper he had drawn a line with a zero at one end
and a 70 at the other, representing ages in the life span. He drew an X on the line
to represent the approximate age of his students (about 14), and on the bottom
Bill had printed: “It’s your trip.” Bill referred to this drawing often in his aware-
ness talks to remind his students that they had not gone far in their life trip and
that the levels might serve as handy guides from this point onward.
One way to deepen students’ awareness of Level I is to ask them to help
devise respect rules for the class. How do they want to be treated? How should
everyone be treated? Does name calling matter? Should everyone on a team have
to be involved during a game? Should mean faces be allowed during a conflict?
How would you like to be treated? Students can brainstorm about these issues
and perhaps come up with some respect rules they can all agree on. The point
is to have them think about the respect issue and give their input. To reduce the
hassle of separate respect rules for different classes, Lickona (1991) suggested
one set of respect rules for all programs developed from students’ input in each
of the classes.
Nick Compagnone (1995) extended the awareness talk into the lesson by using
finger signals. When one or more students started to show disrespect, he held
up one finger as a reminder to get under control. Extending this approach, one
could use two fingers to signal being off task, three fingers to remind students
to use their independent time more wisely, and four fingers to remind them to
be more positive when helping someone.
Physical Activity Plan

Except on special occasions or during emergencies, the majority of program
time is spent on the physical activity plan. The purpose of the physical activity
plan is to make TPSR ideas come alive by embedding them in the physical activ-
ity content. Integration of TPSR with specific physical activities often means
changing long-standing patterns of teaching physical activities. Integrating the
kids’ responsibilities into the lesson will probably make teaching more difficult
at first, but when they start to work independently and provide leadership for
other students, it frees the program leader to step back, give support, and deal
with kids who haven’t understood or bought into TPSR yet.
Awareness talk reminders can also be woven into the activity lesson. Bill
White was a master at this. He once asked a student to demonstrate the bench
press, and when the student had difficulty executing a repetition, several boys
laughed. One, however, quietly went over and moved the pin so the demonstra-
tor could complete a repetition. Without missing a beat, Bill asked his students
what cumulative level the laughers were at. “Zero,” they mumbled. And at what
level was the boy who moved the pin? “Four,” several said in unison.
Although empowerment is a fundamental theme of TPSR, direct instruction can
be useful, particularly while students are still learning to take on some respon-
sibilities in the program. For example, respect for the rights of others involves,
among other things, including everyone in the activities. Because the kids with
better skills generally get the ball or puck more in team sports, thereby strength-
ening their skills while ignoring the less skilled, a temporary rule in basketball
might be that everyone must handle the basketball on offense before a shot can
be taken, or in volleyball that at least two people need to touch the ball before it
is sent over the net. The number can be negotiated and will vary with different
sports and skill levels. These tactics teach kids not only to include others but
also to play as a team, such as getting open to receive a pass or bump-set-hit.
Individual empowerment can be integrated into the lessons in many ways,
some simple and some more complex. In all cases kids need to be empowered
gradually while applying the accordion principle as needed to enlarge or reduce
the extent of choice in relation to their interests and ability to handle it. For
example, students can be asked to do as many push-ups as they can instead of
performing a set number, a traditional task that does not recognize an individual’s
developmental needs.
Group empowerment can be included in the activity by calling timeouts during
a breakdown in team play or a dispute of some sort to help the group deal with
the problem. Lost activity time can be recouped once students begin to put these
lessons into practice themselves. For example, they can be taught to call timeouts
during games for brief team huddles to deal with problems.
These and many more awareness, direct instruction, individual empowerment,
and group empowerment strategies that program leaders have used are described
in more detail in chapter 5.
Group Meeting
As Clark Power (2002) observed, “We have little experience deliberating in
common about the rules and policies that affect our daily lives, and often less
experience deliberating about the common good” (p. 134). The group meeting
gives students practice in these democratic values and skills.
Near the end of the period, a group meeting is held. The purpose of the group
meeting is to give kids the opportunity to express their views about the day’s
lesson, how their peers as a whole did, and perhaps even how effective the adult
leadership was. They can also raise issues and suggest solutions, or the program
leader can suggest a solution and ask for advice. Problems that students have
with one another can be addressed during relational time or, if handled care-
fully, during group meetings. I emphasize repeatedly that blaming others is not
appropriate for group meetings or in the program, that instead kids need to
express how they felt and how what others did affected them. Then the issue can
be discussed, and a separate conversation with those implicated can be held.
Sometimes humor works. In response to a complaint from a boy about two girls
trying to play basketball with him, Nikos Georgiadis responded: “I don’t see two
girls; I see two basketball players.”
If time is limited, it may not be possible to squeeze in many of these group
meeting strategies. One possibility is to ask for one or two volunteers to say what
they liked or disliked about the class that day, followed by a show of hands of
those who agree. In that way at least all students have a chance to share their
points of view, and the program leader gets some feedback from the group.
Meeting Purpose
An important purpose of group meetings is to give students practice in the group
decision-making process and opportunities to experience the feeling that they
can make a difference through a group process. Decision-making abilities improve
gradually with practice, so students become more competent at making group
decisions, evaluating the program, and coming up with ideas for improvement.
When I first asked students how I could improve, they didn’t understand the
question! But one time I actually got a compliment, and a special one at that:
“You don’t need to improve because you’re improved enough!”
All group meeting strategies could be new to the kids, depending on how
adults in their lives treat them. But they probably have the least experience
in formally evaluating adults in their lives, especially if the person they are
evaluating is requesting the evaluation. As students learn that their input is
wanted and that their comments won’t be judged as right or wrong, trust will
gradually build, and they will feel more comfortable in sharing their true feel-
ings and opinions.
Group meeting strategies primarily focus on Levels I and IV—Level I because
the problems addressed usually involve Level I respect issues, such as disrup-
tion, conflict, and abuse; and Level IV because the whole process can be viewed
as a contribution or service to the group, the program, and the program leader.
As one self-centered student complained, “Why do I have to do this? It’s not my
problem.” The process demands a caring perspective, caring about the program
and about others in the program. But it is also self-serving, and this point is not
lost on kids. If they want things their way, they need to lobby for their interests.
This process, often contentious, can lead to their seeing someone else’s side of
an issue and becoming more empathic, even if only slightly.
Meeting Guidelines
It often helps to have guidelines for participating in group meetings. Although
other responsibilities are involved, guidelines are mostly based on respect issues:
■■ No disrespect in the group—for example, no ganging up on (Meadows,
1992) or blaming others
■■ Inclusion of everyone in the discussion
■■ Peaceful resolution of conflicts
After experiencing TPSR for a while, participants ought to have the opportunity
to comment on the levels—to suggest modifications, additions, and subtractions.
Remember, TPSR ideas are provisional; program leaders as well as kids need to
be empowered to think about their validity and applicability and whether having
more people who believe in these ideas could influence systemic change in schools
and the community, if only by planting seeds. Of course, tradition and experience
often intrude when students analyze the levels, which is why these discussions and
students’ evaluations should come after they have had some experience in TPSR.
For example, one time a group of students decided they wanted to play trash-
talk, in-your-face basketball. This decision ignored respecting others’ rights and
feelings, but we talked about it and voted. Trash talk won by a couple of votes. I
agreed that during the next lesson they could split into groups and play basketball
their way, but by the end of the session, the groups had called timeout on their
own and decided to reinstate Level I. Such a happy conclusion was by no means
assured. If they had not made that decision, I would have had to go back to the
drawing board. When students are given the opportunity to make decisions that
matter, the decisions they make may not support TPSR. This possibility is part of
the process. The progression to full decision making, including conflicts between
program goals and student goals, is a rocky road full of potholes and barriers
and, it must be said, often not achieved. I typically struggle with how much I
can push without losing my students (the “what can I get away with” question).
Other Meeting Options

Although Level V, transfer of behaviors outside the gym, is mostly the province of
reflection time and relational time, sometimes things come up in the group meet-
ing. The “big picture” questions will be infrequent unless they are raised by an
adult, but more immediate issues often pop up, such as an upcoming exam that
has a strong bearing on whether students will move on to the next grade (in these
test-oriented times), a new dress code, a squabble in the lunchroom, or in-school
suspensions. These things are often big deals to kids and need to be acknowledged.
In some programs, teachers use workbooks or journals to give students the
opportunity to evaluate the class as well as themselves. Writing in private some-
times elicits opinions that students are reluctant to express with their peers. In
our martial arts programs, participants comment on the class, evaluate their
responsibilities, and keep track of their fitness and skill progress in a workbook.
One classroom teacher has her charges keep journals about class, but if they
don’t want her to read a particular entry, they can staple the page shut.
Occasionally, when something happens that requires the immediate atten-
tion of the whole class, a group meeting can be held on the spot. In most cases,
however, holding a group meeting just before reflection time at the end of class
is better for sharing perceptions of the class that day.
Reflection Time
Refection time follows the group meeting, usually as a continuation of the group
meeting but with the emphasis shifted from program evaluation to self-evaluation.
Whereas the group meeting empowers students to evaluate the program, reflec-
tion time is designed so that the kids can reflect on and evaluate themselves—that
is, how well they respected others’ rights and feelings and cooperated with others,
the extent of their effort and self-motivation in class activities, their self-direction
if they were given the opportunity, their contribution to others and to making the
class a positive experience for everyone, and whether they put some of these
things into practice outside the program.
Self-Evaluation Methods
A variety of self-evaluation methods are available. The simplest one, if the levels
are treated separately instead of cumulatively, is to have students point their
thumbs up, down, or sideways for each level. For example, in response to the
question, Who didn’t make a problem for anybody else since you came into the
gym? kids can point their thumbs upward (I didn’t cause anyone a problem),
sideways (I caused some minor problems), or down (I need to work on this).
Before going on to Level II, the program leader should look around to be sure
everyone is pointing their thumbs and to get an idea of how the class in general
saw themselves that day in relation to that level.
Using hands to indicate yes or no is an even simpler evaluation system,
although it is less accurate because the only choices are “good” and “not yet.”
Brief journal entries permit students to keep their self-evaluations and explana-
tions private (see figure 4.1). To validate the process, however, it is necessary
to read their comments and write something back or at least initial their entry,
and this takes time. Some PE teachers overloaded with classes have only one
class each day write in journals, thereby reducing what they have to read every
day yet offering their students the opportunity to express themselves privately
once in a while. Checklists provide a written shortcut to journals. Workbooks,
which include other self-evaluations such as fitness and skill development, are an
effective way of doing reflection time, but again, these require reading students’
entries and making comments. Karyn Hartinger in elementary school PE and Jeff
Walsh in middle school have used this approach, and so have I. Nick Cutforth
and Missy Parker (1996) wrote a useful article on journal writing in physical
education, arguing that it doesn’t need to take much time and can be beneficial
to both teachers and students.
Level III and V Self-Reflection Questions

Level III involves goal setting and requires follow-up to be effective. For example,
in the awareness talk, kids can be asked if they have a personal–social goal or a
sport–fitness goal that they want to work on that day. Then, in reflection time,
those that had a goal could be asked whether they worked on it, and if so, whether
they made any progress. Using thumbs, thumbs-up would mean that they worked
on their goal, thumbs-sideways that they had a goal but didn’t work on it during
the program, and thumbs-down that they had no goal. Thumbs-down can be
skipped if goal setting is a choice.
Level V, in which students transfer values outside the gym, calls for a slightly
different question: Did you do any of the levels outside of class since we met
last? If so, how did it work? I’ve found that the application of the levels outside
Self-Evaluation Form
Name: ______________________________________ Date: _____________
Self-Control
□ □ □ How well did you control your temper and mouth today?
Effort
□ □ □ How hard did you try today?
Self-Coaching
□ □ □ Did you have a self-improvement or basketball goal and
work on it today?
Coaching
□ □ □ Did you help others, do some positive coaching, or help
make this a good experience for everyone today?
Outside the Gym

□ □ □ Self-control?
□ □ □ Effort?
□ □ □ Goal setting?
One Comment About Yourself Today?

____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Figure 4.1 A simple self-evaluation form.

From D. Hellison, 2011, Teaching personal and social responsibility through physical activity, 3rd edition
(Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics). Courtesy of Tom Martinek.
the gym is often too general for kids to grasp. A better approach is to ask them
to volunteer examples of how they have used one or more of the levels in their
lives outside PE. One of my students recently answered, “Yeah, I’m not getting
suspended so much!” Another way is to ask a specific question, such as one of
the following:
■■ How was your self-control in the classroom so far today?

■■ How was your self-motivation in doing your homework last night?
■■ How self-directed were you after school yesterday?
■■ Did you help anybody to learn something after school yesterday or in
school today?
Kids may have difficulty understanding how to transfer the levels to other
areas of their lives. After all, the climate in many settings does not approach that
of a TPSR gym. As one student exclaimed, “Do this stuff on the street? You’ve got
to be kidding!” So we talked in specifics about whether they could do anything
related to the levels anywhere outside the program and to what extent.
For self-reflection to work, students need to be reasonably honest in their
responses, which requires trust. If they had a bad day, they need to be able to admit
it without being penalized, but they also need to understand that self-reflection
includes self-analysis of their excuses, especially when they blame others for
things that they did or did not do. They need to examine the reasons for, and con-
sequences of, their attitudes and behaviors. One way to focus their attention on
the consequences of their attitudes and actions is to ask, Did what you did today
work for you and why or why not? As with the group meeting, such honesty and
introspection don’t usually happen unless students feel trusted and supported.
Using the Cumulative Levels in Self-Reflection Time

The cumulative levels discussed in chapter 3 provide a simple and convenient
self-evaluation system for reflection time. Students choose the cumulative level
that most closely represents their attitudes and behaviors for that class period.
For example, if a student views herself as having been respectful of others as well
as a participant in the activities during the lesson, she would give herself a Level
II. If she participated but was verbally abusive to another player, she would not
have met the criteria for Level I and so would rate herself at Level Zero. Students
can call out their level numbers while sitting in a circle at the end of the lesson
or on their way out of the gym. Or they can hold up fingers to show their levels.
Another method is to ask them to make journal entries in which they write cumu-
lative levels for the day along with explanations.
Pete Hockett, a PE teacher at an elementary school outside Madison, Wiscon-
sin, painted the levels vertically on his gym wall next to the door. His students
simply touched whichever level they had as their goal for that day as they came
into the gym and whichever level they achieved during class when they left the
gym. Pete only talked with those who, upon entering the gym, touched Levels
Zero or I, because that told him that they were having a bad day. He also spoke
with those whose self-evaluations at the end of the day didn’t quite match his
observations; in such a case, he might say, “I didn’t notice you helping anyone;
what did you do?”
Kit Cody, a PE teacher outside Portland, Oregon, modified Hockett’s strategy
by displaying the levels in a target. When the target fell off the wall one day, his
kids were so used to the routine of “touching in and touching out” that they con-
tinued touching the blank wall space where the target used to be!
Tim Kramer created a tag board with pockets for his Reedville, Oregon, elemen-
tary school students. He assigned a color to each cumulative level. At the end
of class kids put a colored card in their pockets to represent their cumulative
level for that day. By looking at the tag board, Kramer could quickly check any
discrepancy between the levels students chose and what he observed. He would
then discuss this difference of opinion with the students.
Self-Reflection on Demand
Ordinarily, reflection time occurs at the completion of a lesson so that students
can evaluate their responsibility for the entire session. Sometimes, however,
reflection time is useful during the program when students need to reflect on a
particular choice they have made or a particular event that has just occurred.
For example, it’s easy for kids to make choices but far more difficult to make good
choices. Questions such as, Did that choice work for you? and, Would you choose
that again? can help students think more deeply about making wise choices.
All this group and self-reflection may be perceived as conflicting with the joy
and spontaneity of physical activity, but my experience is that kids still have a lot
of fun in TPSR programs, especially if the program leader brings a playful spirit
into the culture of the gym (see chapter 7). Moreover, most kids probably need
more reflection in their lives, not less, and these two daily bouts of reflection are
just a drop in the bucket.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ The five-part sequential daily program format provides day-to-day consis-
tency in students’ exposure to, and experiences in, taking responsibility.
■■ Relational time offers a chance for one-on-one interactions.
■■ The awareness talk sets the stage, and the physical activity plan puts
responsibility into practice.
■■ The lesson closes with a group meeting, which provides opportunities
for kids to share their ideas and thoughts, and a reflection time devoted
to self-evaluations of the levels of responsibility they achieved that day.
5
Embedding Responsibility in the
Physical Activity Content
It is impossible to distinguish between the methodology

and the message.
—John Goodlad
One of the five TPSR themes, embedding personal and social responsibility in the
physical activity content, is the focus of this chapter. The empowerment theme,
essential to teaching kids how to take personal and social responsibility, is also
woven throughout.
Physical activity time is by far the most extensive component of the daily
program format. It is also at first the most difficult to do. PE and PA profession-
als learning to do TPSR seem more able to integrate the awareness talk, group
meeting, and reflection time into their programs but less able or willing to embed
TPSR principles into the physical activities—for example, how does one embed
human decency or empowerment? It is much easier, although much less effective,
to teach physical activities pretty much as usual and occasionally talk to the kids
about being a decent person or being more responsible.
This chapter expands the brief introduction to the physical activity lesson
in chapter 4 by describing specific strategies at each level of responsibility for
integrating TPSR into the physical activity lesson plan. First, however, we need
to explore the role of the physical activity subject matter itself.
Physical Activity Content

Physical activity content is obviously integral to any physical activity program,
but I don’t want to make the mistake attributed to both John Dewey and Charles
Silberman, who claimed that their approaches not only attended to the whole
child but were superior ways to learn content. As Nel Noddings (1992) pointed
out, their approaches may not result in students’ learning content as well as they
would with other approaches, but students in programs of the Dewey-Silberman
type are more likely to become better people (which is a core value in TPSR).
Having said that, the principles of TPSR often can be seamlessly blended with
shooting a basketball, playing a floor hockey game, doing push-ups—the list goes
on. But teaching and coaching this way requires practice.
63
To teach personal and social responsibility effectively in a physical activity

setting, program leaders must be competent teachers of physical activity. In my
extended-day basketball and martial arts programs, kids don’t come to write in
journals or hold group meetings; they come to shoot three-pointers or learn a
spinning back kick. However, across my career I’ve had more competence in some
activities than others and especially struggled as a PE teacher with the typical
three-week units I had to teach. For example, I quickly learned to find a different
way to teach gymnastics, given my pathetic performance in the gymnastics course
for PE majors. I opened the unit by telling my students how bad I was and then
said, “So don’t ask me to demonstrate.” I then handed out some old copies of a
basic gymnastics textbook, opened to the section on floor exercises, grabbed the
lightest kid in class, and with book open, tried to maneuver him through the basic
routine. Then I told them to pair up and help each other learn this skill. It was a
pretty sorry excuse for professional practice, but at least it included helping each
other. Surprisingly, the students worked hard, asked questions (answers to which
I had to look up in the book), and we made it through the three weeks, culminat-
ing with a show in which the kids performed their favorite gymnastics routines.
Not every student cares about competent teaching, especially in mandatory
programs (one of the key differences between PE and PA). More than a few in my
experience couldn’t have cared less about physical activity content, and they
were at both ends of the skill spectrum. I remember Cliff, who was repeating his
high school PE requirement and could hardly walk across the gym floor without
tripping. But once he began to grasp what the program was about—that he was
respected and had a say in what went on, that the gym was a safe place to be—he
was the first student to show up and the last to leave. He volunteered to put up
the volleyball net and, by the end of the year, to do about a hundred other chores.
Then there was David, a highly skilled kid who brought a number of problems to
the gym. He wrote this in a letter to me years later:
What I really admired about going to your classes was that if you didn’t
learn anything physical, you could always learn something mental. Myself,
I learned more mental stuff, but that’s because I could learn physical stuff
whenever I wanted.
Nevertheless, had the instruction not been credible, David might have been less
likely to make this statement. Sound physical activity knowledge and pedagogy
authenticate TPSR-based experiences. For the Cliffs of the world, and perhaps for
some Davids, content is less important than how they are treated and what they
learn about life. Yet many others do come for the content, and if they believe it
to be poorly taught, TPSR is also weakened.
Depending on the setting, stakeholders—perhaps including board members,
parents, administrators, students, and taxpayers—expect the instruction to be
competent. A swimming teacher knows that people expect her students to learn
how to swim, and a baseball coach is supposed to know how to coach baseball.
The PE or PA program leader should be credible to the stakeholders as well,
which means delivering competent, knowledgeable instruction even if one goal
of the program is teaching kids to take responsibility for themselves and their
relationships with others. Of course, reality sometimes gets in the way, as my
gymnastics example vividly demonstrates.
Embedding Responsibility in the Physical Activity Content ··· 65

Kid Quotes
“We drove by the other day.”—Very limited “progress” reported by three high
school students one month after they asked for and received a recommendation
in the community for continuing their martial arts training
“I learned that it doesn’t pay to put on an image of being tough. When you feel
down and out and read this letter, it better warm you up or I might have to fly to
Chicago to beat some sense into you.”—Letter from a former high school student
“Yes!”—An eighth-grader responding to being asked whether he wanted to be
me (i.e., run the whole program) the next time our program met
Awareness talks, reflection time, and group meetings take time away from the
activity, even if done expeditiously, as do individual and group decisions that
students are empowered to make during the activity. These trade-offs are neces-
sary in TPSR, but with careful planning and guidance such as the 10-word rule
(see the Awareness Talk section in chapter 4), the trade-off can be minimized.
Do some physical activities facilitate TPSR more than others? The answer is a
qualified yes. Different forms of physical activity offer different opportunities. For
example, games and scrimmages offer many opportunities for teaching socially
responsible behavior such as leadership, teamwork, fair play, and verbal or
physical conflict resolution. Fitness activities provide opportunities to develop
personal responsibility for one’s body, individually and noncompetitively, in an
environment that supports helping others. Less feedback is required in fitness
than in skill learning, so independent work is more accessible. Volleyball is more
cooperative than most other team sports because the bump-set-hit is an integral
part of the game. Basketball and football, in which trash talk and an in-your-face
attitude have been common, and martial arts, which is sometimes associated with
violence and fancy (and fanciful) fight scenes, provide opportunities to confront
and discuss these values and choices.
People have challenged me on several occasions about my basketball coaching
club (see chapter 9) because, according to them, urban basketball is an extension
of street life (anger, violence, egocentric activity, sexism) and perpetuates the
social mobility myth of an NBA career. They have suggested cooperative games,
adventure education, and other alternative forms of physical activity as substi-
tutes. My response is that these alternative activities may be preferable in some
situations, but if an attractive activity can be offered within a TPSR framework,
initial interest will be higher, the impact on kids may be greater, and in voluntary
programs, attendance may be better. I willingly acknowledge that as concepts
such as “over-winning” (i.e., winning is not enough; humiliating the opponent is
better) become more ingrained in popular sport, it becomes more difficult to use
sport as a vehicle for teaching responsibility.
Despite being PE and PA professionals, most of us are not equally competent
at all activities, nor do we always have the luxury of choosing to teach only our
favorite activities. I ran basketball programs in Chicago for 17 years (see Coaching
TPSR in Action
Shronda was at a crossroads in her young life. Her senior year was quickly
coming to a close, and her future beyond high school was unclear. Being
a single parent of a two-year-old boy and living independently in a public
housing apartment, she had been seriously challenged by the enormous
tasks of finishing school and being a good parent. Working nights, receiving
no support from an unseen father who was in and out of jail, getting child care
to go to school, and squeezing in time to do homework were but a few of the
hurdles she faced daily. Remarkably, she managed to navigate through all
these obstacles; Shronda was able to graduate.
Shronda was also a veteran member of the Youth Leader Corps. She and
eight other high school students served as youth leaders in after-school and
summer physical activity programs for younger children. Their role was to run
a TPSR sport club to help younger children become personally and socially
responsible people. For Shronda, an important by-product in this process was
an emerging self-confidence for pursuing possible futures beyond high school.
Shronda is now a dental assistant with two more children living in a brand-new
Habitat for Humanity home.
Clubs in chapter 9), for example, because the kids wanted them and would show
up, even if I did weird things like make them pass the ball and evaluate their levels
of responsibility every time we met. Obviously, I presented myself differently in
these programs than does my colleague, Nikos Georgiadis, a former professional
basketball player. I have learned a lot from Nikos, but I can’t be him. One time
a student complained that he wasn’t getting to shoot enough because he was
required to pass to his teammates. Georgiadis asked whether the best shooter
should take all the shots. “Sure,” the student replied. So Georgiadis joined the
game on his team and proceeded to knock down about 10 shots in a row. The
kid didn’t get to touch the ball in all this time. “How do you like this idea now?”
Georgiadis asked during the group meeting. The student decided that getting
everyone involved might be a better option.
All of us in the field must find a personal style of teaching activities. Demon-
stration by the program leader is not essential; nor must the program leader play
with the students. There are other ways to get the points across, as my previous
gymnastics example, however pathetic, shows. The point is that those of us who
do this work are responsible for knowing as much as possible about the content
as well as for finding a personal style that works for us and our kids.
Strategy Progression
TPSR relies on a loose progression of strategies to facilitate the embedding
process. This process can be loosened considerably depending on the size and
maturity of the group.
The first step is making kids aware that taking responsibility for themselves
and their relations with others in the program is the top priority in the program.
It is also the first step in the progression of gradually taking responsibility.
Direct (top-down) instruction is initially useful to create a climate that supports
everyone’s right to be involved as well as to introduce the concepts of effort,
cooperation, and eventual leadership needed for a TPSR-based program to be
successful. Otherwise, the kids tend to choose games and activities that eliminate
players, do not require teamwork, and, in general, where the strong get stronger
and the weak get weaker. In this early phase, the program leader makes most of
these decisions, although with smaller groups—such as in alternative schools,
private schools, or after-school programs—this process can be more flexible.
In all situations, the goal is to shift more responsibility to the kids as quickly as
possible, taking into account variations in their interest in taking charge of vari-
ous activities in the program and their ability to do so.
At this stage, especially in in-school PE, most of the activity time involves the
activity itself interspersed with responsibility reminders and direct instruction.
That doesn’t mean a lot of talk time! It simply means holding a brief awareness
talk followed by one- or two-sentence reminders as needed. Direct instruction
can include such strategies as the all-touch rule (all teammates must handle
the basketball before it is shot, with modifications for other sports) to promote
teamwork and reciprocal coaching (two partners take turns giving each other
feedback) to introduce leadership. Kids are minimally empowered at this stage
as they learn to respect the rights of others and help others.
Gradually, individual decision making is introduced, consisting of an empower-
ment progression so that students gradually take more control of, and responsibil-
ity for, their decisions, attitudes, and actions in the sport and exercise activities.
When problems arise during the activity (e.g., a game, practice, or fitness activity),
kids can step up and call timeouts and then conduct brief talks or interactive
group meetings (or sometimes one-on-one conversations) to address conflicts
and other disruptions. Although the action is temporarily halted, such brief meet-
ings make future interruptions less likely. For this strategy to be successful, the
program leader needs to guide the process until kids get the idea and to step in
as necessary to solve difficult problems. Sometimes, a bit of specific feedback
is all that is necessary.
As the year progresses (or as several years progress, if participants continue
beyond a year), more of the program can involve individual and group decision
making and leadership with less direct instruction. As always, the accordion
principle (described in chapter 6) is available to expand or contract empower-
ment opportunities as necessary for both individuals and the group.
Level I Strategies
Kids who disrupt the lesson by disrespecting their peers—for example, by name
calling, intimidation, or losing their temper—are addressed in chapter 6, which
focuses on problems and situations that arise in class.
A different Level I issue, respecting everyone’s right to participate, can be
treated before a problem arises by changing the rules of the games. For example,
one rule that can be changed to reduce student feelings of exclusion (“nobody
wants me”) is the much-maligned but nonetheless common practice of choosing

sides. With so much criticism and so many alternatives available, it is amazing
that choosing sides has survived. If I give kids the choice, they go right back to
it, but that is driven both by habit and by the most outgoing and confident kids
for whom choosing sides works.
I give student coaches the mandate to “make the sides fair.” Because they are in
a meeting by themselves, they may choose sides or use some other procedure, but
at the end, they need to ensure that the sides are fair. If time is short, I arbitrarily
group students with comments such as “It doesn’t matter” and “If your team isn’t
as strong, take that as a challenge.” If I need to balance the teams, I might ask
a couple of kids to switch sides after the game has started, or better yet, they
can make those decisions themselves as long as there are no arguments and no
emphasis on being less skilled (e.g., who is going to take the less skilled kids).
Reminding them to make fair teams, solve problems themselves, and solve them
peacefully works wonders. Interestingly, as the program progresses, boys begin
to see the point of having girls on their team, a point strengthened by visits from
women who are former college basketball players and whose skills are better
than those of the most talented boys, with the evidence seen by all.
Another inclusion strategy is to use or adapt games that help students get the
idea that everyone has the right to participate. For example, the all-touch rule in
basketball means that no one can shoot until everyone on the team has handled
the ball. The rule can be modified so that a certain number of players on offense
have to receive the ball or puck, depending on the sport or game. One sixth-grade
inner-city boy who was required to play with and pass to girls responded in this
way to an end-of-year questionnaire that asked if he improved as a person: “I
improved because any other time I wouldn’t want girls on my team!” (However,
a few months later, after a heated argument with his girlfriend, he decided that
he didn’t want girls on his team anymore. And so it goes.)
To modify volleyball for inclusion, the rules can require at least two hits on a
side, and the server can move up if necessary to get the ball over the net. If kids
have difficulty returning overhand serves, rules can require underhand serves.
In this and other instances, rules can be tightened when students’ skills improve.
Softball can be modified so that all fielders (or a certain number of fielders)
must touch the ball after the batter hits it. If they can accomplish this before the
batter circles the bases and scores, the batter is out (thereby promoting batter
fitness as well as cooperation). The rules can be further modified so that every
batter has the opportunity to put the ball in play—for example, by giving play-
ers who have difficulty hitting a pitch the option of using a tee. If necessary, the
program leader or a youth leader can do the pitching to control ball speed and
accuracy for different batters.
The media arguments over dodgeball (e.g., the “wussification of PE”) in part
focus on the quick exit and the subsequent exclusion of players who are less
skilled. Dodgeball can be easily modified so that a player who is hit immediately
joins the other side. Eventually, one side will have fewer and fewer players, mostly
the more skilled ones, who will have their dodging skills tested by balls flying in
from all directions. (Softer balls also help.)
For many more game modification ideas, consult Stiehl, Morris, and Sinclair’s
book, Teaching Physical Activity: Change, Challenge, and Choice (2008).
TPSR in Action
The physical education leadership class is part of a leadership class whose
purpose is to help at-risk students develop skills to lead themselves away from
unproductive, maladaptive behavior choices toward choices that help them
see that no one else is responsible for their behavior and that life is, in fact,
about relationships. We use the physical discomfort and uneasiness inherent
in moving and challenging the body to create necessary settings for practicing
personal and social responsibility. The unproductive behaviors of the students
emerge when they are stressed by such things as initiatives, fitness challenges,
and cooperative modified sport games. We problem-solve as needed to relate
the activities to responsibility learning.
The class culminates in a weeklong experiential camping trip. The trip
begins the process of making the personal and social responsibility link from
class to real life, and as in class, we use meetings before and after the day
to help make that connection. Experiential challenges through backpacking,
canoeing and kayaking, primitive camping—anything that will create physical or
emotional apprehension in our students—provide individualized opportunities
at whatever responsibility level they are ready to accept. Their reactions to
these situations initiate the learning of how to handle the challenges they will
experience in their lives.
Mike Reeder, Crossroads Alternative High School, Coon Rapids, Minnesota
Level II Strategies
Level II strategies promote self-motivation as an early step in the empowerment
progression, including help for those who are not motivated to participate, try,
or attempt new things. Level II also encourages the cooperation necessary for
everyone to get turns and full participation in playing time.
Self-Modification of Tasks
In motor skill instruction, rather than using teacher-directed drills, students can
be encouraged to modify the task to challenge themselves appropriately—for
example, by moving closer to or farther from the basket or by setting the volleyball
net higher or lower (Mosston and Ashworth, 1994). Although kids will sometimes
do this on their own to increase or decrease task difficulty, direct instruction can
help them understand why this is important and get them started.
In fitness activities, the overload principle can be briefly explained, followed
by encouraging everyone to overload their abdominal muscles by choosing one
of three kinds of sit-ups, each at a different level of difficulty (crunch, feet flat
on the floor, or sit-down), and the number of sit-ups that will challenge them.
To give a bit of structure to this strategy, the program leader can pick an aver-
age number of sit-ups for the group and tell them to either do this number or as
many as they can. This empowering approach can also be used with push-ups,
aerobic activities (students select distance and pace, monitored by heart rate),
and flexibility (students stretch to the limit of their range of motion).
By making individual commitments, students take responsibility for pushing
themselves and finding their limits. Some program leaders worry that kids won’t
push themselves, that it’s the program leader’s job to set goals for students and
make them accomplish these goals—“We are going to do 20 push-ups” or, “Pass
and trap the ball back and forth until I tell you to stop.” This approach doesn’t
provide an optimal challenge for almost anyone because of the different devel-
opmental stages of the kids, but more to the point, it fails to empower them. A
better empowerment strategy is to make them aware that they are in charge of
their bodies and that their improvement depends mostly on their commitment
and effort. Of course, they can choose not to challenge themselves, going through
the motions instead. The section Level II: Teaching by Invitation in chapter 6 can
help with this problem.
Self-Paced Challenges
Self-pacing requires sequencing physical activity tasks and instructing partici-
pants to move through the progression at their own pace, accomplishing each
task in the progression before moving on to the next task. Following are some
specific implementation options:
■■ Create stations with specific goals. When a student completes the goal,
he or she moves on to the next station.
■■ Create a list of gradually more difficult tasks—for example, basketball or
soccer dribbling drills with increasingly more difficult obstacles and time
limits. When students complete the least difficult task, they move on at
their own pace through as much of the rest of the sequence as they can.
A simple example of a task that becomes more difficult gradually, and one I’ve
used with kids and in PE teacher workshops to demonstrate self-pacing, is the
volleyball underarm pass progression:
■■ Bump the ball five times to yourself. Do five in a row if you can; if you
can’t, do two plus two plus one, or whatever it takes to get five. If you are
a rookie, don’t hit the ball too high. If you’re a pro and can control the
ball, hit it almost to the ceiling (versus the typical admonition not to hit
the ball to the ceiling!).
■■ Bump the ball five times to yourself off the wall, using the same guidelines.
(This is more difficult than bumping in the air and more game related.)
■■ Get a partner and bump the ball back and forth 10 times, again trying to
do as many in a row as you can.
■■ When you have completed the tasks, you have free time to relax, volley
the ball some more, or have a conversation.
Write the list of gradually more difficult tasks for a variety of skills—for example,
dribbling, passing, shooting—on task cards and place them on the wall at differ-
ent stations or on individual cards that students can carry with them (in their
waistbands or socks) as shown in figure 5.1.
Task Card
Modified Handball
Practice hitting the ball to the wall. Allow only one bounce after it hits the wall.
ȻȻ I can hit the ball against the wall 5 times in a row without missing using my
strong hand.
strong hand.
weak hand.
weak hand.
ȻȻ I can hit the ball against the wall 10 times in a row without missing using either
hand.
Figure 5.1 A sample task card for modified handball.

Adapted, by permission, from D. Hellison, 1985, Goals and strategies for teaching physical education (Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics), 104.
Task modification can be built into these self-paced activities in several ways.
Students can be encouraged to modify some aspect of the task—for example,
by completing a certain number of successful trials but being able to adjust the
distance if a target is involved or to take as many turns as they need to be suc-
cessful. The previous volleyball example allows students to modify the challenge
of hitting five in a row as well as to choose the height of the ball’s flight. Another
way to modify the task is to have participants explore the planned progressions
and choose either to stay with them or create and perform their own progres-
sions in small groups.
If some kids struggle with these kinds of decisions, give them the choice of
belonging to a teacher-directed group, described in chapter 6. In a teacher-
directed group, the program leader makes the decisions, not to be punitive but
to provide some structure and positive instruction for those students unwilling
or incapable of making their own decisions.
Redefining Success
Losing is an important experience for all of us, but a steady diet of failure does
no one any good. That’s why task modification and self-paced challenges are
important. A slightly different approach is to help kids redefine success for them-
selves so that, with sufficient effort, success is within reach. This doesn’t mean
eliminating the opportunity to win or lose, and it doesn’t mean giving everyone
awards. Redefining success means giving students options, including but not
limited to the option of trying to be the best or the winner. At the same time, they
must learn to respect definitions of success other than their own.
The following strategies can help students redefine success:

■■ Improvement is one measure of success. Hand out a journal or workbook
so that they can record their scores for the number of push-ups done,
number of tasks completed, or percentage of time on task. This provides
self-reinforcement for their effort and progress. I’ve found that my urban
kids like to write about themselves and keep track of their progress, even
though, for many, writing is not one of their favorite activities.
■■ Use a form of self-grading so that students have the opportunity to build
in their own definitions of success.
■■ Make tournaments optional, especially if they involve eliminating par-
ticipants, or else offer alternatives, such as a competitive tournament, a
less intense recreational game, a cooperative game related to the sport,
or sport skill practice.
■■ In mandatory programs, give them an out for any activity when it makes
sense to do so—for example, by offering alternatives to game play such
as skill drills, walking or running around the perimeter of the gym, or even
a reading assignment. Forcing kids to participate is neither empowering
nor motivating, and it can create an adversarial relationship, especially
in a required class. And kids who have little to lose will refuse anyway. (In
voluntary programs, kids can usually “vote with their feet.”) My PE teach-
ing experiences with high school kids convinced me that they already
know whether they are “any good” at a particular activity, and unless I
can motivate them by using some of the strategies in this chapter, they
are better off doing an alternative program or even reading and writing a
short report on fitness or sport.
■■ Create a “crazy station” for expressive activities to emphasize creativity
as a legitimate personal goal. Nikos Georgiadis came up with this idea: “It
proved to be a popular station, and all sorts of activities were developed,
from working on Harlem Globetrotter moves to skipping and singing to a
rap beat” (Williamson and Georgiadis, 1992, p. 17).
Intensity Scale
Another empowerment strategy for participation and effort is the intensity scale.
Simply ask students to privately assign themselves a number between 10 (all-out
effort) and 0 (no effort) that best represents the effort that they are willing to give
in the next activity. This number can then be used in several ways:
■■ Give them the choice of joining one of several activity groups, each of
which has a designated minimum and maximum intensity—for example,
a group for 8 to 10, a group for 4 to 7, and a group for 1 to 3. This method
will bring together kids willing to expend similar effort, reducing conflict
over students who “don’t try” or “don’t want to win” and providing a more
supportive environment in all groups. Those who rate their intensity as
0 usually go through the motions and sometimes find out that the task is
actually fun! If they need to sit out, that is always an option (ever try to
make a kid move?), but sitting out can affect their grades, if they care.
■■ Ask them to compare their number to the minimum required for game
participation—in the preceding example, 8, 4, or 1—to determine whether
to participate. In the process, students learn that group activities require a
certain effort because others depend on them, whereas giving little effort
in an individual task affects only the individual.
■■ After the activity, ask them to evaluate their actual effort and compare
that number to their participation prediction. By reflecting, they begin to
learn not only to predict more accurately but also that they sometimes
underestimate what they are willing to do. For example, many don’t feel
motivated until they begin to participate.
Level III Strategies

An empowerment progression does not honor discrete categories such as Level
II and Level III. Lines blur because kids (and all of us) are human! Most of us
develop in fits and starts with plenty of backsliding (including many PE and
PA professionals who attempt to implement TPSR!). The levels are an artificial
construct intended to facilitate, not handcuff, a complex developmental process
that is further complicated by individual differences. Program leaders who find
the categorical nature of the levels problematic can still be a TPSR user in good
standing (if they care about that). In other words, modify the ideas in this book
as necessary so that they work for you.
Having acknowledged that, the empowerment theme is expressed in Level I
mostly as negotiation (see chapter 6), whereas Level II strategies provide limited
decision-making opportunities. Level III strategies further expand individual deci-
sion making. To fully experience self-direction, kids eventually need the opportu-
nity to create and carry out a personal physical activity plan that addresses their
needs (i.e., a plan for development or improvement) and interests (e.g., having
fun, being with friends). They may not be able to do this yet depending on their
stage of development, but at least they ought to be aware of the existence of an
empowerment progression that leads to having a personal plan.
Most program leaders have had some kind of personal plan to develop their
sport skills or fitness and to become a teacher, coach, or youth worker. If so, they
can share their plan with kids who are old enough to understand (and perhaps
let young kids reach a bit). Sharing a plan to improve a personal or social skill
can help kids see the point of having a personal plan. It can also make the pro-
gram leader more human in the eyes of kids! And it dovetails with goal setting
(described in chapter 3).
Chapter 6 addresses problems that students have with Level III.
On-Task Independence
The first step toward on-task independence is having students do independent
work without direct supervision—for example, offering independent station work
in which the physical activity tasks are predetermined by the program leader.
The kids can then progress to choosing from several stations with different tasks,
depending on their self-identified needs and interests.
The following fitness example, which I’ve used with students from seventh
grade through high school, more specifically describes one way that uses fitness
to get started in promoting on-task independence:
1. Start with a 10- to 15-minute (adjusted to the situation) fitness routine using
direct instruction. Integrate fitness concepts such as overload and aerobic
activity into the routine so that the students’ knowledge base becomes
sufficient for making Level III personal plans.
2. On a day when they seem ready, ask them to do the fitness routine on
their own and at their own pace. Those who can’t or won’t need to join
a teacher-directed group. Most just need a reminder or some encourage-
ment. If necessary, post the routine as a reminder.
3. Encourage them to develop their own fitness routine for the 10- to 15-minute
fitness period. They can reorder the exercises, skip those they don’t like,
or even spend the entire time jogging or performing some other fitness
activity that they choose.
The rationale is that by step 3, they know the fitness concepts and have had
time to experience fitness over a period of time. If a few still don’t see the benefit
or don’t like some of the activities, that is their choice. Someone usually asks,
“Can we spend the entire time stretching?” “Sure,” I respond, “as long as you do
stretching and not just talking.” Just stretching quickly becomes boring for most
students. (This is an example of testing the boundaries.)
Goal-Setting Progression
Goal setting follows on-task independence, As kids extend the progression—
whether in fitness, motor skills, or something else—they can take on more respon-
sibility for developing personal plans based on their goals. Eventually, they can
come up with ways to evaluate themselves, such as the amount of time it takes
to accomplish a specific task related to their goal, the number of times they can
accomplish a specific task compared to their last self-test, or improvement in
their mechanics based on the feedback of someone who knows the correct cues.
Goal setting, as suggested in chapter 3, will depend on kids’ ages, maturation
levels, self-motivation, and understanding of the goal-setting process:
■■ Program leaders should make sure students know what a goal is.
■■ Goals can be set for students until they get the idea, but the goal needs to
be important to them or they won’t work on it on their own.
■■ Students should set goals that are under their control and realistic—outdo-
ing others, for example, is not fully within their grasp, whereas improving
their percentage of free throws could be.
■■ Goals should be measurable, whether quantitatively (by counting) or
qualitatively (by description).
■■ Goals should be short term at first and then gradually extended to long term.
■■ Kids need to receive feedback on their progress. One way is to help them
keep track of their progress (e.g., in a workbook), whether using quantita-
tive or qualitative evaluation. Feedback can also be given to individuals, not
only by the program leader but also by student leaders if they are taught
how. Some version of reciprocal coaching, which is described later in this
chapter, can be used to get peers involved.
■■ At first, students need assistance to establish and practice strategies that
will help them achieve their goals. Eventually, they should be able to make
and carry out their own personal physical activity plans.
One way to help students set goals is to have them use the self-report shown
in figure 5.2. I have used an expanded version of this self-report that included
motor skill development to help students set goals. To set, pursue, and evalu-
ate personal goals, students need self-knowledge (as mentioned earlier) and
conceptual knowledge, such as fitness concepts if they are planning their own
fitness programs and motor learning concepts such as practice and feedback if
Self-Report
Name: _______________________________________ Date: _____________
Fitness Area Desire to Improve
Body fat: I have □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ too much
□ enough
□ too little
Cardiovascular endurance: I can □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ run 2 miles in 12 minutes
□ jog a mile
□ get out of breath easily
Flexibility: I can □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ touch my toes easily
□ touch my toes barely
□ not reach my toes
□ not reach much beyond my knees
Relaxation: I can □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ never seem to relax
□ relax sometimes
□ relax whenever I want to
(continued)
Figure 5.2 Students can fill out self-reports and then use their new self-knowledge to
help them set goals.
(Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics). Adapted, by permission, from D. Hellison, 1985, Goals and strategies for teaching
physical education (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics), 90-92.
Self-Report (continued)
Fitness Area Desire to Improve
Strength: I am □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ very strong
□ strong enough to take care of myself
in an emergency
□ too weak to take care of myself
in an emergency
Speed: I can run away from trouble □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ if my assailants have broken legs
□ in some situations
□ usually
□ almost always
Self-defense: My self-defense skills

are good enough to □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care
□ get me in deep trouble
□ help me a little bit
□ help me in most situations
□ help me in any situation I can imagine
Water safety: I can swim, float,

and tread water for □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care
□ over an hour
□ over 30 minutes
□ at least 15 minutes
□ glub-glub
My body is: □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ muscular
□ heavy
□ soft
□ light
□ just right
My posture is: □ Yes □ No □ Don’t care

□ poor
□ average
□ good
Figure 5.2 (continued)

(Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics). Adapted, by permission, from D. Hellison, 1985, Goals and strategies for teaching
physical education (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics), 90-92.
76
skill development is their goal. Teaching basic concepts simultaneously with fit-
ness and skill instruction helps prepare them for Level III. If kids know that they
must understand the basic concepts before they can work on their own, it is my
experience that they’ll learn them!
One caveat to all of these guidelines is that shortcuts, although less technical,
are often helpful in getting kids started. One shortcut is to ask them if they have
personal or sport–fitness goals, and if so, to set aside a little time for them to
practice. Then, a little feedback on how to pursue their goal might make more
sense to them. Although shortcuts promote “goal setting lite” (or very lite), they
can provide a starting point and perhaps more than that—and they are doable.
(See the discussion of oral contracts in the next section.)
For more information on goal setting, see chapter 9 by Tom Martinek in Hellison
and colleagues (2000) and Weinberg and Gould (1999).
Personal Plan
Goal setting is an important component in the development of a personal physi-
cal activity plan. A personal plan can take a variety of forms, depending on the
developmental level of individual participants, class size, and the amount of
paperwork the program leader can handle. The plan can take several forms:
■■ Checklists: See figure 5.3 for a sample.
■■ Oral contracts: A student who told me, “I need to work on shooting and
not laughing at others,” made progress in both areas without anything
other than a reminder here and there.
Checklist of My Personal Goals for Today

Do three of these activities. Check them off, fill in how many you did, and hand this
form in to me. I will announce the activity at the instructional station. If you want to
do it, come to this station first.
ȻȻ Flexibility exercises: How many different stretches did you do? ___
ȻȻ Push-ups: How many? ___
ȻȻ Laps: How many? ___ 6-second pulse rate ___
ȻȻ Ten free throw attempts: How many baskets? ___
ȻȻ Ten jump shot attempts from same spot: How many baskets? ___
ȻȻ Ten volleyball bumps to self: How many in a row? ___
ȻȻ Ten volleyball sets off the wall: How many in a row? ___
ȻȻ Volleyball sets and bumps in a row with a partner (three tries): How many? ___
ȻȻ Ten soccer passes ___
Figure 5.3 A sample personal plan in the form of a checklist.

■■ Written contracts, or records, as illustrated in figures 5.4 and 5.5.

■■ Workbook entries
Once Level III (or self-direction) time is introduced, those who are ready should
be able to put their plan into practice in the program. This time can be brief at first
but can be lengthened as they improve their knowledge base and become more
proficient at working on their own, setting goals, and evaluating their progress.
If Level III time is offered sporadically, it may not make much of a contribution
to the development of self-direction. Level III time should only be suspended for
cause on an individual basis, as a logical consequence of, for example, one or
more kids with personal plans slacking off or making fun of those who are not
on personal plans.
Level III and Children

As with everything, Level III challenges need to be developmentally appropriate.
The question is, What’s possible? Even first-graders have demonstrated consider-
able responsibility on occasion—for example, by making and carrying out written
Level III contracts in one school and planning a curriculum unit in another. Of
course, older students can take on more responsibility, but children can often
do more than we expect of them and are sometimes more open to new ideas. As
one eighth-grader told me, “We’re pretty set in our ways.” The safest approach
with little kids is to tiptoe into Level III, but give them the chance to spread their
wings a bit. Have a little faith in them, and the result may be a pleasant surprise.
Alfie Kohn (1993) gave this advice:
It goes without saying that a 16-year-old can approach a decision in a

more sophisticated way than a 6-year-old and therefore can usually be
entrusted with more responsibility. But this fact is sometimes used to
justify preventing younger children from making choices that are well
within their capabilities. Moreover, the idea that we must wait until the
children are mature enough to handle responsibilities may set up a vicious
circle; after all, it is experience with decision-making that helps children
become capable of handling them. (p. 14)
Level IV Strategies
Walt Kelly, football coach and high school PE teacher in Bozeman, Montana, tells
his students and players that for all games there is one primary rule: Be at Level
IV of the cumulative levels. That means they must cooperate, be trustworthy,
support each other, help each other, and assume their share of leadership.
Helping and Leadership Roles

To promote Level IV experiences, program leaders can integrate helping roles
into the program. Options range from such strategies as reciprocal coaching to
providing leadership outside the gym (Level V), which Tom Martinek called self-
actualized leadership (Martinek and Hellison, 2009).
My Personal Plan 1
1. Fitness
Choose at least one.
My flexibility goal is ____________________________________________________.
My strength goal is ____________________________________________________.
My aerobic goal is ____________________________________________________.
Today in fitness I did ___________________________________________________.
2. Motor Skills
Choose at least one skill from one activity.
My basketball goal is __________________________________________________.
My volleyball goal is ___________________________________________________.
My soccer goal is _____________________________________________________.
My _______________ goal is ___________________________________________.
Today in motor skill development I did _____________________________________.
3. Other
Choose one.
The creative/expressive activity I did was ___________________________________.
I spent my “pal time” with _______________ doing ___________________________.
The stress management activity I did today was _____________________________.
The self-defense activity I did today was ___________________________________.
4. During My Level III Time

My respect for others was
____ good ____ fair ____ poor
My effort was
My plan was
____ my own ____ somewhat my own ____ not my own
My self-discipline in carrying out my plan was

I helped someone else.

____ yes ____ a little ____ no
Figure 5.4 A sample personal plan in the form of a written contract.

(Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).
79
My Personal Plan 2
The First 15 Minutes
My goal: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
What I will be doing: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
How I will measure my progress: __________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
The Second 15 Minutes
My goal: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
What I will be doing: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
How I will measure my progress: __________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Figure 5.5 Another sample personal plan in the form of a written contract.
Reciprocal Coaching
Reciprocal coaching (adapted from Mosston and Ashworth, 1994) gives every
participant a chance to take the first step toward youth leadership by learning how
to give appropriate feedback to a peer when both are practicing a specific motor
skill. One of the pair coaches first, which means that she observes her partner
in relation to three specific cues (e.g., in soccer: kick with the shoelaces, not the
toe). After a few turns, they switch roles. When both have taken their coaching
turns, they get together and share how well the other person coached them. Did
she say anything? Was she positive? Was she helpful? Note that they talk about
the other person’s performance as a coach, not as a player. This strategy needs
to be set up carefully to ensure that kids know the relevant cues and are able to
give positive feedback.
Peer Teaching and Coaching

Peer teaching and coaching roles expand the Level IV concept of helping others
to include youth leadership. Traditionally in in-school PE classes, assigned
leadership roles have been limited mostly to athletes or highly skilled kids who
lead exercise routines familiar to the students in class. Being a good athlete isn’t
enough, though. It may help if the student leader brings to the experience relevant
sport knowledge or if kids have high regard for those who are athletes or are highly
skilled, but these things aren’t necessary. What is necessary, depending on the
developmental level of the kids, is at least some beginning signs of the following:
■■ Caring and compassion, which refers to the youth leader’s intrinsic
interest in helping a peer, in truly caring about his or her well-being and
development
■■ Sensitivity and responsiveness, which refers to the youth leader’s ability
to size up what other students need and can handle, and being responsive
to these needs
■■ Inner strength, which is necessary because youth leaders’ decisions and
actions will not always be popular (e.g., leaders need to be able to confront
kids who are fooling around and help them to focus)
Although these criteria are not precisely measurable (which is often the case
with the qualities we most prize), the kids need to understand what it takes to
become a successful leader. Doing this serves the following purposes:
■■ Makes it clear that everyone, not just the physically or socially elite kids,
can become leaders
■■ Helps students more fully understand what Level IV is all about
■■ Positively reinforces the preceding qualities in youths as leaders
Drill and Exercise Leadership

Kids can also provide leadership during skill drills and fitness exercises, first
by following direct instructions, and later, after being given the responsibility,
by making some decisions about what and how to teach. Leaders can be called
together to receive instructions while the others have a brief free play period
(or some activity they can do without instruction such as walking and running
around the perimeter of the gym). Brief written instructions for the leaders offer
reminders or prompts during their leadership experience, a strategy developed
and used as homework by Jay Nacu in his martial arts program with fourth-
through eighth-graders (see figure 5.6). These leadership meetings will take more
time at first but much less later on. Eventually, handing leaders a card may be
enough to get them started, and as they acquire experience and begin making
some decisions, they won’t even need that.
Student Leader Cues for Martial Arts
Front Kick With Back Leg
■■ Left foot forward fighting stance ■■ Extend kicking leg
■■ Keep your guard up ■■ Kick with ball-of-foot/toes
■■ Front knee bent ■■ Snap back kicking leg
■■ Back leg comes up in front with ■■ Step back with kicking leg
knee to chest Do the same with right leg forward
Roundhouse Kick With Back Leg

■■ Keep your guard up ■■ Kick with shoelaces/instep
■■ Step back with kicking leg
■■ Back leg comes up to the side
■■ Pivot on front foot Do the same with right leg forward
Side Kick With Back Leg

■■ Left foot forward fighting stance ■■ Pivot on stationary foot
■■ Keep your guard up ■■ Extend kicking leg
■■ Front knee bent ■■ Kick with side edge of foot
■■ Back leg comes up in front with ■■ Snap back kicking leg
knee to chest ■■ Step back with kicking leg
Do the same with right leg forward
Jab-Cross Combination
■■ Left foot forward fighting stance ■■Lead hand extends with a fist
■■ Keep your guard up ■■Back hand extends with a fist while
■■ Front knee bent pivoting off the back foot
Front Kick With Front Leg: Jab Kick

■■ Keep your guard up ■■ Kick with ball-of-foot/toes
■■ Shift weight to back leg ■■ Step down with kicking leg
■■ Front leg comes up in front with Do the same with right leg forward
knee to chest
Figure 5.6 Written cues for leaders can help them during their leadership experience.
Reprinted, by permission, from Jay Nacu.
82
Roundhouse Kick With Front Leg

■■ Left foot forward fighting stance Pivot on back foot
■■
■■ Keep your guard up ■■ Extend kicking leg
■■ Front knee bent ■■ Kick with shoelaces/instep
■■ Shift weight to back leg ■■ Snap back kicking leg
■■ Front leg comes up ■■ Step down with kicking leg
Side Kick Stepping Behind Front Foot

■■ Keep your guard up ■■ Kick with side edge of foot
■■ Front knee bent Snap back kicking leg
■■
■■ Back foot steps behind front foot Kicking leg comes down
■■
■■ Front leg comes up in front with ■■ Step back with back leg
knee to chest Do the same with right leg forward
Figure 5.6 (continued)

Reprinted, by permission, from Jay Nacu.
Player-Coaches
Kids can also assume coaching roles as player-coaches during team practices as
well as in the game, as popularized by sport education (Siedentop, 1994), with an
alternative model, the coaching club, described in chapter 9. Again, a progression
will be needed beginning with specific instructions for the practice (e.g., drills,
offensive plays, defensive formations), supplemented by cards (which become
coaching cards) to give prompts to coaches. The practice can be scripted, at least
at first, but leadership in a game is much more fluid and therefore more difficult
to coach. My early strategies for developing coach-leaders were so loose that
often kids were bewildered. I gradually added structure in trial-and-error fash-
ion, but I learned a lot from my graduate students, especially Dave Walsh, who
saw the need for more clarity in teaching leadership and created some specific
strategies. (My graduate students have always been very good at nudging me to
pick up the pace!)
Other Leadership Roles

More recently, I added other leadership roles. Kids who want to coach (some-
times as early as fourth grade) but don’t know enough about the sport or how
to step up and lead can be assistant coaches (another strategy first introduced
by Dave Walsh). If they are assigned a specific drill to teach and the participants
already know the drill, it is easy for the assistant coach to be successful. I also
created a coach mentor role for skilled coaches who wanted to teach others
how to coach.
Having students be me (i.e., take over my job as program leader for one or
more sessions) is something I did recently for the first time. At first, Michael didn’t
understand what I was asking. When he got it, he responded with a broad grin
followed by a loud “Yes!” Afterward, when I asked him to evaluate his performance
as me, he said, “I was terrible” and admitted that he was scared. He wanted to try
again and nailed it on his second attempt. In the process, he learned that if he
planned better, he could take over the program, and I learned that I should have
started doing this a long time ago! In this experience I was once again outgunned,
this time by colleague Tom Martinek, who had earlier developed and implemented
a detailed step-by-step progression for youth leadership development (Martinek
and Hellison, 2009).
One way coaches can show leadership is by calling timeouts to solve offensive
and defensive problems and issues that arise such as arguments, bad attitudes, or
selfish play. Nikos Georgiadis developed a strategy based on the two-tier system
of timeouts used in professional basketball (NBA) whereby student coaches can
call either a 20-second timeout for small problems (by touching their shoulders)
or a full timeout (by making a T with their hands) for big problems, whether the
sport is basketball or another activity.
Although the coaches are in charge, anyone can call a timeout at any time.
Sometimes a teammate steps up when the student coach has problems coaching.
However, sometimes a teammate may take over even if the coach does not need
help, requiring intervention by the program leader. To help kids get the idea, the
program leader can call the timeouts at first and take the lead in helping them solve
problems, while explaining that players have the right and the responsibility to
call timeouts to help solve these problems. Before every game I tell coaches that
if I have to step in, they aren’t doing their jobs. Some fourth-graders have shown
the ability to call timeouts in my programs and have enough skill to handle team
meetings, especially with some on-the-job training. Eventually, student coaches
may be able to head off problems such as angry outbursts, verbal abuse, and
low motivation by noticing the first signs of trouble.
Tom Martinek (Veal et al., 2002) used this helping-leadership progression for
kids:
1. Help someone one on one.
2. Provide leadership for a few students.
3. Coach a team in class.
4. Teach new students in the program the levels and class procedures.
5. Teach younger kids an activity using the levels and daily program format
(cross-age teaching).
Group Goals
Nikos Georgiadis and Bobby Lifka, when they were graduate students with me,
used group goals to promote Level IV experience. In this strategy, kids are divided
into small groups that decide on a group goal for the activity—for example,
number of sit-ups, amount of rope-skipping time, or number of volleyball sets off
the wall. Then they attempt to attain their group goal, each contributing what he
or she can during the activity. In rope skipping, for example, if the group sets a
three-minute goal, at least one person in the group needs to be skipping rope at
all times during the three-minute period. If the goal is 60 sit-ups, group members
do what they can, and then each volunteers to do more until the group reaches
the goal.
Giraffe Club
I have never done this, but creating a Giraffe Club for those “who stick their necks
out for the common good” has been used to reinforce elementary school children
who have demonstrated Level IV on a regular basis (Lickona, 1991, p. 309). The
presence of a Giraffe Club focuses attention on the value of Level IV and those
students who practice it. To add a group empowerment dimension to this strategy,
students can participate in the selection of giraffes. They can also be included
in conversations about the benefits and drawbacks of starting a Giraffe Club.
Level V Strategies
Although Level V is intended to focus students’ attention on becoming responsible
outside the gym, in-class cross-age teaching and service projects do promote
Level V involvement. Cross-age teaching, in which experienced student leaders
teach small groups of younger children what they have learned, is a powerful
Level IV experience that provides a service to younger kids regardless of setting.
My eighth-grade and high school students (as well as a few younger kids) have
demonstrated the ability to conduct awareness talks, lessons, group meetings,
and reflection time with 10-year-olds.
I have an unfortunately deserved reputation for just throwing designated lead-
ers in there and then working through the many issues raised by the situation as
well as the kids (both older and younger). My more successful cross-age teaching
experiences, as well as those of Tom Martinek (who is much more organized),
have involved providing specific daily or weekly cross-age leadership training for
a semester or more. Tom has recently expanded his program to include Level V
service projects for advanced leaders, which involve Head Start kids and other
outside-the-gym activities.
I have also conducted a quasi–student-teacher experience to prepare high
school students at an alternative school to teach elementary kids. This involved
students first practicing teaching with each other, followed by one or more
teaching experiences with an invited class of younger children. (Using video is
great because it allows them to see themselves teach.) I’ve done this a number
of times, and even when the student teachers had only one experience teaching
a group of younger kids, they talked about being teachers after class. (“Fourth
grade is just right for me ’cause they are still fun to teach,” remarked one student
who struggled to graduate from high school.) Such experiences reflect at least a
fleeting glimmer of Level V as well as a Level IV experience.
There are many other examples of service-based youth leadership. For example,
Nick Cutforth has had success inviting former middle school students to come
back and provide leadership in their former classes (Hellison et al., 2000). Any
service project the group takes on that attempts to make a social contribution
qualifies as a Level V experience. Recently, a group of seventh- and eighth-grade
students under the leadership of Stein Garcia made a martial arts video that
promoted self-control and nonviolence, and they showed it to administrators,
teachers, and other students in the school.
The strategies in this chapter are intended to help integrate TPSR into physi-
cal activities. During the program, however, problems and situations arise that
these strategies do not address. Chapter 6 does.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ Integration of responsibility-based strategies into the physical activity
lesson is perhaps the most difficult aspect of TPSR implementation,
because many of us think we already know how to teach skills and fitness
development and are reluctant to try something new and different.
■■ Competent physical activity instruction matters, even in a TPSR program!
■■ Different physical activities (e.g., soccer, dance, fitness) offer somewhat
different TPSR integration opportunities.
■■ A physical activity progression that gradually moves from direct instruc-
tion to empowerment can facilitate embedding TPSR principles into sport
and exercise activities.
■■ Each level, including Level V, has a range of possible integration strategies
that need to be tailored to the situations of interested PE and PA profes-
sionals.
■■ Younger kids are not exempt from the empowerment process, although
the process needs to be modified to fit their stage of development.
6
Strategies for Specific Problems
and Situations
My goal is to be morally strong, and I fail at every turn. But every

now and then I have a moment where there’s a little something.
—Actor Ken Howard, who played an
inner-city high school basketball coach
on the TV show The White Shadow
In PE and PA youth programs, guidelines for everyday practice can be drawn from
the program’s purpose, its curricular or programmatic goals and themes, and a
daily format or routine, all of which should reflect the program leader’s beliefs
and values (unless trumped by institutional priorities). But what happens when
something unplanned occurs, a surprising and unusual problem or situation?
Even with something that has been faced before, the solution that worked the
first time may not work again. Three general strategies can help:
■■ Self-reflection (Hellison and Templin, 1991) and problem setting (Lawson,
1984)
■■ Reflection-in-action (Schon, 1987), including a solutions bank (Orlick, 1980)
■■ Fattening one’s bag of tricks
Self-Reflection
Self-reflection is central to planning, carrying out, and evaluating a program.
Lawson (1984) suggested that to solve problems effectively, the first step is
to problem-set—that is, to clearly identify the problem to be solved. It sounds
simple, but in my experience, this step is often overlooked. My suggested ques-
tions—What’s worth doing? Is it working? and What’s possible? (see chapter
1)—are attempts to problem-set.
What’s worth doing in my professional life? This question is about the heart
and soul of the program leader’s professional practice—the personal convictions
and sense of purpose that provide motivation and drive programs. Whether
the program works well or not, is it the kind of contribution the program leader
wants to make? The second question, Is it working?, refers to what ideas and
87
strategies are working, which ones aren’t, why or why not, and what is needed
to improve practice.
The third question, What’s possible?, explores ideas and strategies seemingly
beyond the reach of the kids in the context of the program. It asks program lead-
ers to imagine a more ideal situation, an alternative vision, and then explore ways
that can head the program in that direction.
Self-reflection is particularly useful after a day of working with kids (that is,
if any energy is left to do it). Keeping a journal formalizes the process and may
provide a small measure of accountability. Critically reflecting on how unplanned
problems and situations were dealt with and what might have worked better
sharpens one’s ability to solve problems. The solutions bank described in the
next section is a variation of this approach. These strategies encourage alterna-
tive ways of thinking and in the process fatten our bag of tricks. Howe (1991)
derived an important insight from his ability to reflect on his experiences with
hostile at-risk kids:
A lot of horseplay . . . verges on a full-fledged fight, but seldom becomes

one. . . . [Students] take their stand and then allow one another to back
down with dignity (p. 24). . . . They do not really want to get hurt, so if
they must provoke a fight, they will choose the most protective environ-
ment, which is the school. (p. 30)
Self-assessment is closely aligned with self-reflection, as Camino (2002, p. 40)

made clear:
■■ Self-assessment is a process of self-discovery.
■■ Self-assessment should lead to critical self-reflection and discussion, and
then to action—otherwise, it is an empty exercise.
■■ Self-assessment and continuous improvement are not one-time occur-
rences. Each is an ongoing process—strengthening what works or is
promising, stopping what doesn’t, and making information-based decisions
that both youth and adults have contributed to.
Unfortunately, self-assessment receives less attention than both in-school stu-

dent assessment and funded program evaluation in the recent educational and
youth development landscape. This often means less attention to the program
leader’s skills and qualities, although as chapter 7 shows, “who’s doing it” (i.e.,
the program leader) is perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle, even if
it is difficult to measure or impossible to quantify. (See chapter 11 for specific
self-assessment instruments.)
Reflection-in-Action
Because working with kids is “an uncertain craft” (McDonald, 1992), self-reflection
and problem setting need to be included in PE and PA professionals’ bag of
tricks. This is especially true of TPSR. Reflection-in-action is a special form of
self-reflection. Both reflection practices (self-reflection and problem setting) can
lead to important insights but do not produce rigid formulas for decision making
or for unplanned incidents.
Strategies for Specific Problems and Situations ··· 89
TPSR in Action
I have used the TPSR model in a school for kids with emotional and behavioral
problems. I explained to the kids that there were certain expectations for
behavior. I knew these expectations, at the time, as levels, but I did not want
the kids to think that one expectation was better than another. Don encourages
users to adapt and modify the approach based on the students and the setting.
Sometimes, respect, identified as sitting and watching and not bothering or
fighting with someone else, was the best a child could give me that day and
might even be considered a caring behavior. I did not want to create any more
sense of not being as good as somebody else. I explained the expectations
as being on a continuum rather than hierarchical levels. This enabled the
students and me to identify concrete behaviors that could be used during the
day’s activities to demonstrate the expectations. The affective domain behaviors
identified became the critical elements of the expectation, and those behaviors
could be practiced, just like the critical elements of throwing. For example, kids
were asked to replay a social interaction using the correct critical element.
Gene White, East Stroudsburg University/Wordsworth Academy
Reflection-in-action is a much less contemplative process than self-reflection

and self-assessment; it’s more like making a snap judgment of what to do right
now based on a quick analysis of the situation. Even if the same situation has
been faced before, this time a different solution may be required. Schon (1987)
argued that reflection-in-action is different from knowing-in-action:
[Knowing-in-action means we] have learned how to do something, we

can execute smooth sequences of activity, recognition, decision, and
adjustment without having, as we say, to “think about it.” . . . [Reflection-
in-action, on the other hand, refers to a brief period of time] during which
we can still make a difference to the situation at hand—our thinking serves
to reshape what we are doing while we are doing it. (p. 26)
Schon described reflection-in-action as beginning with a surprise, something

unexpected, which leads to questioning the assumptions of knowing-in-action
and culminates in an on-the-spot experiment. Reflective problem solving—for
example, by keeping a self-reflection journal as described earlier—can help to
develop reflection-in-action skills. Solutions banks can also be helpful.
The solutions bank is an example of using self-reflection before working with the
kids rather than after. Learning to prepare lesson plans is a staple of PE teacher
education programs, but preservice PE teachers rarely gain sufficient experience
in preparing solutions banks. PA professionals have a much less uniform and
structured preparation, but from what I can tell, solutions banks, at least in this
form, are seldom part of their training either.
A solutions bank is simply a list of ifs and thens—as in, “If such-and-such hap-
pens, then I’ll try this.” For example, if two students start screaming at each other
while tempers soar, one solution might be to separate them, let them cool down,
and then bring them together to get the issue handled or dropped. The point is
not that a particular strategy will always work; nothing always works! Instead,
thinking about possible problems and situations as well as possible solutions is
mental preparation for these possible occurrences. It is a warm-up, a practice
session for reflection-in-action before the action. Being unprepared leaves only
one option: to spontaneously shoot from the hip and hope for the best.
Fattening Our Bag of Tricks

Developing skill at reflection-in-action as well as self-reflection can help in dealing
more effectively with problems and situations that crop up from time to time.
Although these general approaches are useful, having some TPSR strategies for
specific scenarios in one’s “bag of tricks” provides more detailed preparation
for tough situations (see table 6.1). However, having a fat bag of tricks does not
guarantee that the right one will be chosen for the situation at hand. Self-reflection
coupled with experience can provide important insights but will not yield hard-
and-fast rules for what to use and when to use it. This is one reason that, after
40 years, I still don’t feel that I ever have all (or even most) of the answers when
working with kids.
Table 6.1 TPSR Strategies by Level

Level Strategies
Level I: Individual discipline problems Accordion principle
Logical consequences
Negotiation
Sit-out progression
No plan, no play
Grandma’s law
Teacher-directed group
Five clean days
Referral
Level I: Conflict resolution Sport court
Self-officiating
Talking bench
Emergency plan
Making new rules
Level II Teaching by invitation
Level III Strategies for facilitating empowerment
Courage to resist peer pressure
Level IV Enforcing appropriate helping and leader qualities
Level V Dealing with responsibility issues outside the gym
Level I: Individual Discipline Problems

The discipline policy of elementary school principal Peggy Pastor (2002) could
easily have been written for TPSR:
What is it about schools that takes responsibility away from our students
and brings many of them to an “us against them” attitude by the time
they reach high school? . . . Discipline is not a matter of keeping things
under control by making choices for students . . . it is a matter of help-
ing students learn to make good choices and to be responsible for those
choices. [Although] we no longer believe that all children learn to read
in the same way . . . in matters of . . . discipline we still seem to think and
act as if one size fits all. (p. 659)
Pastor told the story of Robby, who was referred to her countless times for
fighting on the playground. Nothing seemed to work, so she told him that she
wanted to help him but didn’t know how. He offered to help and came up with
several ideas, some of which he immediately rejected as he talked, but three of
which he thought might work. He picked one and wrote it down. They both signed
it, and Robby—although he was still a difficult child in a number of ways—never
again got into a fight on the playground.
Despite the work of Pastor and others, “Teachers tend to think of discipline
dichotomously, as being either authoritarian or permissive, and to think of
being democratic as being permissive” (Power, 2002, p. 135). The TPSR version
of responsibility is neither “Do what I say and you’re being responsible” nor “Do
whatever you please.” It walks the fine line between personal choice and social–
moral responsibility, relying on dialogue, negotiation, self-reflection, account-
ability, and logical consequences as described by Dreikurs and Soltz (1964). In
the process, it promotes a less adversarial relationship with the kids.
Accordion Principle and Logical Consequences

Many Level I problems happen during game play, although any situation from
standing in line to doing fitness activities (including interaction in the locker
room if there is one) is fair game for disruption and abuse. A common strategy
is to expand and reduce the time allotted for game play in relation to the amount
of abusive or disruptive behavior. This is called the accordion principle, and
although it certainly sounds like behavior modification, it is also an example of
using a logical consequence—that is, what logically ought to happen.
If a couple of students are off task during Level III time, the logical consequence
is to temporarily reduce or withdraw Level III time for those two students. It
would not be logical to punish the whole group or to ignore the irresponsible
behavior. It would also not be logical to give prizes to those who were not off task
because that would be an artificial rather than logical consequence. The logical
consequence to a bullying episode might be a public apology by the bully or a
brief follow-up during relational time with both the bully and the bullied to reach
a decision agreeable to both sides over the next few weeks. One-shot meetings
are not very helpful, because bullying is not usually a single incident. It involves
a pattern and therefore requires multiple meetings to hopefully modify the
bullying, at least as far as this one student is concerned but hopefully with some
carry-over to other victims.
Negotiation; Sit-Out Progression; and No Plan, No Play

Peggy Pastor’s story about Robby is a lesson in negotiation as well as self-
reflection, accountability, and logical consequences. TPSR is often viewed as
being soft on kids, but there is nothing soft about confronting kids who violate
Level l. However, adding negotiation to confrontation sends two messages:
(1) you are out of line, and (2) we need to work it out. The sit-out progression
addresses confrontation, negotiation, self-reflection, accountability, and logical
consequences.
The sit-out progression is designed for kids who “get an attitude,” lose their
temper, or argue a lot. These attitudes and behaviors most commonly emerge
during game play, although they do occur elsewhere as well (and the same
strategies apply). Wherever they occur, negotiation, a key component of the
empowerment theme, must be built in to the sit-out progression. In brief, this
progression is as follows:
1. Choosing to sit out or get under control (stop being abusive)
2. Sitting out with the choice of returning when ready to put Level I into
practice
3. Sitting out until a plan can be negotiated with the program leader
4. Negotiating a different plan if the first one doesn’t work
5. Being referred for special help as a last resort
In the first step, sitting out can be treated as a choice if the incident is not
violent. When my students put on a mean face to show their anger, I ask them to
change their face or sit out until they can do so. Many incidents can be handled
this way unless the disrespect is flagrant or the same problem occurs repeatedly
(which means that the sit-out option didn’t work). When confronted with the
option, some students choose to sit out for several minutes, even when playing
their beloved game of basketball, but many students will never choose to sit
out. If they choose not to sit out and fail to change their disruptive or abusive
behavior, the logical consequence is to have them sit out whether they want to or
not, but they can come back in on their own when they are ready to participate
responsibly. Note that even at this stage they still retain some empowerment by
having the choice of coming back in whenever they are ready. If this doesn’t work,
a plan needs to be negotiated before they can reenter the activity.
The steps for negotiating this plan are as follows (Glasser, 1965, 1977; Raffini,
1980):
1. Agree on the problem and the student’s role in it. Level I problems of self-
control such as intimidating or making fun of others or losing one’s temper
are often compounded by blaming others or in some cases totally deny-
ing the behavior. If possible, try to get the student to understand that he
harmed or caused a problem for someone else. Agreeing on the problem
may take some work and some listening on both sides. Others may be

Kid Quotes
“I know I did wrong things, but he stayed with me.”—Eighth-grader
“When someone messes up, I don’t get mad now. I just tell them they can do
better.”—Eighth-grader
implicated during this process, but try to focus on the individual’s role. If
an agreement cannot be reached—for example, if the student denies any
involvement even though clearly implicated—move on to step 2 anyway.
(“The question is not, Did you do this? The question is, What are you going
to do about it?”)
2. Negotiate and agree on a plan to solve the problem. Any plan that addresses
the problem and doesn’t cause a new problem for someone else is okay. If
the student refuses to participate in this process (which is common if the
problem has not been agreed upon), suggest some plans and attempt to
get the student to agree to one. I often suggest some kind of restitution if
abuse toward other students is involved. It is amazing how quickly they
come up with an alternative plan if they don’t like mine!
3. Follow up to ensure compliance with the plan. The plan may need to be
in writing and signed to strengthen the commitment. Whether written or
not, without follow-through, the process breaks down.
4. If the plan is not followed, make a new and different plan. Don’t repeat a plan
that hasn’t worked. Glasser (1977) suggested using progressive separation
from the group, meaning that plans need to begin to isolate the student
from those she is hassling. This does not necessarily mean sitting out; for
example, she can still do fitness exercises or some sport skill drills alone
at a station.
5. As a last resort, refer the student for special help. He should have a right
to exit a program that doesn’t work for him or for the rest of the class
because of him.
“No plan, no play” is a shorthand variation of the sit-out progression (DeLine,

1991). The culprit is not allowed back into the game unless she comes up with
a plan to change the behavior that resulted in the suspension. The no plan, no
play strategy can also be used when two kids are involved (see the section Level
I: Conflict Resolution Strategies).
The negotiation process, like everything else in this book, is only a sugges-
tion. It offers some guidance by providing specific steps. But depending on the
situation, time might not be available to do all these steps, or they may be inap-
propriate for the situation. The key, based on the TPSR themes of empowerment
and being relational, is to involve participants as much as possible in the process.
Involvement will vary from student to student and from meeting to meeting, but
the goal is always the same: to give kids a say in their life in the gym.
TPSR in Action
Two sport stations were set up for kids to practice either by themselves or with
a partner. One group was to practice basketball skills; and the other, soccer.
Daniel, a 10-year-old club member, wanted nothing to do with the station. Daniel
also had a very short fuse, and when he found out that he was assigned to
the soccer station, he refused to participate. Out came the street face, with
arms folded. He proceeded to sit underneath a table not saying a thing while
kicking the table legs. Nudging him to participate was going nowhere, and he
was ready to “go off.” I could see that this was a battle that neither of us was
going to win. Grandma’s law to the rescue.
“Daniel,” I said, “I will make a deal with you.” When he heard the word deal, he
looked straight up at me. I said, “If you give me 10 quality minutes at the soccer
station, I will let you go over to basketball.” He looked at me for a while and,
without saying a word, went over to the soccer station. The kids had organized
a small-sided game and Daniel joined, first reluctantly, then enthusiastically.
After 10 minutes were up, I went to him and said, “You can go to your basketball
station, now.” “I think I’ll stay here,” he said. Thanks, Grandma!
Grandma’s Law
If the kids display disinterest in or disdain for an activity, one approach to encour-
age them to try something different or challenging is Grandma’s law. Grandma’s
law states that the kids must eat dinner before going out to play. Although it is
important to listen to students’ feelings about having to do the activity, a manda-
tory introductory experience sometimes wins them over. I’ve experienced this
several times, most recently in volleyball. “That’s for girls,” the boys, freshly out
of juvenile detention, told me. They were in no mood for a group meeting, so I
just used Grandma’s law spontaneously: “If you can do volleyball without grip-
ing, we’ll do basketball afterward.” Within a month they were choosing to play
volleyball! I also used it in teaching yoga to urban high school students followed
by basketball, but without the same level of success. They did the yoga without
protest, but only one student chose to do yoga when given a choice.
Teacher-Directed Group
One way to handle problems of disruption and abuse (Level I), which also works
for kids not motivated to participate (not at Level II) or unwilling or unable to
work on their own (not at Level III), is to create two groups, a teacher-directed
group and a self-directed group, whenever it is Level III time (e.g., during individual
station work). This strategy meets the need of those who want to individualize
but can’t figure out a way to do so. If some kids routinely need more structure, a
teacher-directed group can be built into the plan for the day, as long as they are
allowed to become self-directed when they are ready.
Jeff Walsh, a Portland, Oregon, middle school teacher, gave his students a
choice of three activity stations (e.g., weightlifting, volleyball, or soccer). But
students who were disruptive, abusive, or off task joined a teacher-directed group
and followed Jeff as he went from station to station. He stopped activity at each
station when he arrived to teach a mini-lesson, and the teacher-directed group
became students at this station. When the mini-lesson was over, the teacher-
directed group followed Jeff to the next station, while the Level III group went
back to doing their own program at the station. To graduate to the self-directed
group and thereby be able to choose to concentrate on one activity and station,
students had to demonstrate that they could function at Level III.
Five Clean Days

Early in my career, after several weeks of frustrating attempts to introduce TPSR
to my inner-city high school PE students (Hellison, 1978), I created a “five clean
days” strategy. Students could earn the right to devise and carry out a personal
plan for a day if they successfully completed five days in a row at Levels I and II (or
what I could get away with, which included at least going through the motions).
(Of course, it could be any number of days; we met daily, so a week of clean days
made sense.) By experiencing Levels I and II, they earned Level III.
At first, Level III was simple: Be on task in a physical activity of their choice
(provided space was available). Soon, however, it was evident that they could take
on much more responsibility. They wrote and put into practice detailed contracts,
eventually including an evaluation plan. This was a very thinly disguised form
of behavior modification, but as in the other behavior modification strategies,
a logical consequence—permission to make some choices and work on one’s
own—was contingent on being under control and motivated to participate. To
move away from this system and toward empowerment, I used open negotiation
in the second semester, which permitted all students to make and implement
personal plans provided they kept a record of their work and negotiated all Level
I, II, and III problems with me.
Referral
Does everyone live happily ever after if all these things are put into practice?
Those who have been working with kids for any length of time already know the
answer to that. Some kids are on medication or have experienced inappropriate
prenatal care or are dealing with any of a hundred other problems. Affluent kids
bring their own problems as well. Not all of these young people can be reached;
maybe someone else will, maybe not. Perhaps most frustrating are those young
people who harm others and show no remorse. They are usually hard-core cases
who require long-term specialized counseling and perhaps placement in alter-
native programs if they are to have a chance of becoming positive members of
society. Despite weak referral systems in many schools, a few students should
have the right to exit programs that just don’t work for them. Also worth consid-
ering is the fact that their presence reduces the effectiveness of the program for
others. They need special help, and it would best serve them, their peers, and
PE and PA professionals if they got that help.
Referral works differently in PE programs than it does in PA programs. Teachers

cannot just ask students to leave until they can “get their act together,” nor can
they unilaterally suspend a student for a determined period of time. They are at the
mercy of school policy and decisions made at higher levels. PA professionals, on
the other hand, often have discretion in these matters. Some kids in both PE and PA
programs need special help to reverse their downhill spirals. Whether such a refer-
ral system is in place, especially a competent one (i.e., trained professionals with
a reasonable caseload), often depends on available funds and the priorities of the
organization. Kids in low-income communities are often underserved in a number
of ways, including the availability of specialists who can address special needs.
Level I: Conflict Resolution Strategies

Sometimes, conflicts can be negotiated during the group meeting, but often it
is difficult to solve an issue with the whole class chiming in. Additionally, many
conflicts are potentially too volatile to negotiate in that setting.
Sport Court
When issues come up in class or in the group meeting, individuals can make sug-
gestions, and sometimes a show of hands will resolve the issue, but if the problem
requires extended discussion, a small team of kids may be able to discuss it and
come to a decision more easily. A sport court is such a group.
Sport court consists of three students elected by the students to make deci-
sions on difficult issues referred by the program leader. Sport court was created
when I spent a year working in a PA-based program at a day treatment center
for severely emotionally disturbed kids ages 6 to 17. The sport court seemed to
function swiftly, fairly, and effectively. You could hear a pin drop when the sport
court announced its verdict, which was almost always tougher than what I would
have done. As an example, one of the kids’ classroom teachers tried to assert his
authority during our PE program, and the kids protested that they got to make
decisions in this program. The teacher was seething, but I turned it over to the
sport court. They debated in private for maybe 10 minutes before coming back
with a unanimous rejection of the teacher’s demands, accompanied by their
rationale. Pretty gutsy, I thought.
Self-Officiating
In games, the job of officials is to ensure that players follow the rules and to resolve
disputes. Self-officiating students are responsible for resolving conflicts them-
selves rather than just trying to avoid being caught by an official. But monitoring
oneself and pointing out one’s own mistakes are no easy tasks for most kids (or
adults for that matter). Struggling through this process, while time-consuming and
sometimes rancorous, does teach kids how to solve conflicts. Who last touched
the ball? Was she safe or out? Was there a foul on that play? Does that deserve
time in the penalty box? These aren’t world-changing issues, but they matter to
the players. Working them out promotes a more democratic climate. (The coach-
ing club described in chapter 9 used a form of self-officiating.)
When I used self-officiating in the coaching club, the student player-coaches were
primarily responsible for solving problems during games. The rules were simple:
■■ Handle it!
■■ Do it without anger or disrespect.
■■ Listen to all sides.
If I have to get involved, that means you had difficulty solving the issue or man-
aging the process.
Don Andersen, an elementary school PE teacher in the Chicago area, created
a variation of this policy. He doesn’t officiate, but if he sees a student commit
an obvious rule violation and not make the call, that student is required to give
up the ball and sit out for 30 seconds, leaving the team shorthanded. This is
behavior modification, but it is at least a partially logical consequence of failing
to call a rules violation on oneself. It is also a wake-up call to start self-officiating.
Talking Bench
The talking bench strategy (Horrocks, 1978) addresses the conflict resolution
component of Level I. To resolve a conflict between two kids, the program leader
sends them to an area, such as a bench, designated for settling disputes. They
resolve the problem and report back to the program leader that the problem is
resolved (perhaps by saying, “It’s over”) before returning to the activity. They
are not required to report details. As in other conflicts, the rules were simple:
Show respect, listen to both sides, and resolve it.
One teacher requires students to “come up with one story of what happened”
(Lickona, 1991, p. 296). Participants may need help in this process, but the pro-
gram leader cannot act as a referee, which is unfortunately a common practice,
because that removes responsibility from the students for solving their problem.
Mike DeBusk reported hearing the conversation of two fourth-grade boys who
were heading to the talking bench. One said, “Let’s tell him it’s over,” and the
other agreed. They pivoted and came back to Mike, told him they had handled
it, and he said, “Okay.” As he explained, they did end the dispute.
Emergency Plan
California elementary physical education teacher Rudy Benton’s idea of creating
an emergency plan at a group meeting before games empowers students to deter-
mine a generic method for handling conflicts during the game. The group may
decide, for example, to flip a coin to decide disputes. In my experience, however,
when a dispute arises, students are often reluctant to put their emergency plan
into practice; they would rather argue! Reminders help.
Making New Rules

A variation of the emergency plan is to ask participants to make rules to help
solve the problems they are having. This technique can also be used to head off
Level I problems by asking students to make “respect rules.” They know how
they would like to be treated; they can share these things and then create some
rules for class.
Conflicts sometimes occur at stations where a handful of students are involved

in doing task sheets, a drill, a team practice, a game, or some other activity. A
challenging example from my experience involved a trampoline station (it’s an
old story!), where serious safety considerations as well as issues surrounding
taking turns and the length of a turn caused one problem after another. I reminded
the students about using the levels in resolving problems. Nevertheless, they
complained incessantly. I required that they make station rules. The rules they
made didn’t work, so they made new rules. And then more new rules. Then they
requested that I police them. I did that for a little while and then asked them to
try again. They got better—safer, happier—but it was a (very) gradual progress
with considerable backsliding.
Level II: Teaching by Invitation

The Level II strategies described in chapter 5 promote self-motivation and extend
the empowerment process begun with negotiation at Level I. They were developed
especially for required PE, with its mandated units that some students don’t want
to do, although sometimes in after-school programs kids balk at participating
for one reason or another. One of my students in a before-school program did
not want to be on a team that included his brother. I told him that team players
don’t have that option. He replied that no one else has a brother in the program.
I said good point and changed the teams! But experiencing a new activity or one
in which some have had little success in the past is a serious issue that may have
to begin with an invitation to these students to go through the motions.
In fitness activities I have invited reluctant participants to try a couple of sit-ups
or just walk to get them started. I accompany the invitation with a description of
what they need to do to get some benefit out of the activity. I also state my belief
that effort is the first step in taking personal responsibility. Another invitation that
I’ve had some success with is to say, “Try it my way for a week” (or for a certain
number of days). This invitation is really a negotiated deal: If students still don’t
want to do the activities after a week of participation, I have to come up with
something else for them to do. Fortunately, despite having many students who
often feel defeated or alienated by their experiences in PE or sport, only a few have
taken me up on my deal. When they do, we make a verbal contract—for example,
a fitness routine that includes some stretching, sit-ups, push-ups, and run-walking.
Level III: Struggles With Empowerment

At each step in the empowerment progression, some students seem to have
trouble. In the preceding fitness example, some have trouble doing the fitness
routine they have learned, and I need to take them through it again. Others can
do the posted routine on their own but then get stuck when they have to make
their own plan. Fortunately, at least some get unstuck when asked if they need
help. “Just getting started,” they reply with a smile. Still others race ahead,
developing and putting into practice a full-scale fitness program. In one of my
programs, students progressed from less than 2 minutes to 15 minutes of Level
III time without any problems, in martial arts no less!
Strategies for Facilitating Empowerment

Sometimes a relational time conversation helps kids get back on track. If a few
students have trouble creating or carrying out a personal plan, they can be given
more structure. Sometimes it takes just a slight adjustment, a push, or some sup-
port. I had one student who needed me to tell him what he was supposed to do
even though he had written out a step-by-step plan! So I went down the list and
said, “Do this; then do this . . . .” The reason? During the year he had been moved
three times to the homes of different relatives and wanted some interaction with
an adult who showed an interest in him rather than more independence. If the
entire group is struggling, address the issue in a group meeting; maybe they don’t
understand what is expected or maybe there are other hidden issues.
Kids sometimes try to get out of doing the plan they chose or devised. When
they whine about their plan, I might say, “Sure, change it and write up your
change,” while gently and then more forcefully reminding them that the point
is to stick with something so they can progress toward their goals. Sometimes
they want to achieve the goal—for example, to lose weight—but they also want
to do what their friends are doing or what they perceive to be fun at the moment.
“Change the goal,” I say. “Can I do both losing weight and having fun?” one high
school student asked. “Make the plan,” I said. She did. Her plan was to run and
then do what her friends were doing. Weeks later she asked, “Do I still have to do
this running in my plan?” “No,” I replied. “Write down the changes in your goal
and your plan.” “I think I’ll run instead!” she said, and off she went.
Kids don’t necessarily choose activities they are weak in. Choosing to work on
one’s strengths is acceptable; in fact, developing one’s uniqueness in the form
of a specialization is part of the definition of Level III. But it is also important to
address weaknesses and problems, especially those that affect one’s self-image.
To “be like Mike” (Michael Jordan) requires dribbling and shooting with the
nondominant hand, yet few kids who love basketball choose to practice any skill
that would make them appear awkward or unskilled. It sometimes helps to dis-
cuss this one on one in relational time or in the awareness talk to pick out some
of the more common weaknesses that could improve their game and suggest a
goal-setting strategy. Sometimes just a quick reminder helps.
The accordion principle can be used to adjust the amount of Level III time in
relation to the responsibility of individual students or the group, as explained
earlier in the section Level I: Individual Discipline Problems.
Courage to Resist Peer Pressure

Self-development requires that students engage in sufficient self-reflection to set
goals that reflect their unique needs and interests and, as they get older, their
possible futures (McLaughlin and Heath, 1993; Walsh, 2008). But self-reflection,
as difficult as that sometimes is, pales in comparison to pursuing one’s goals in
the face of what’s popular with other kids. Subcultural and cultural influences
are hard to sidestep, especially advertising in our electronic age.
I know of no way to place a moratorium on cultural and peer pressure. In physi-
cal activity programs in particular, what kids do is visible to others and therefore
more open to criticism. Creating a TPSR climate in the gym helps, but the climate
must be consistently respected, first on the part of the program leader and then,
with help, by the kids. It is sometimes difficult to consistently support a policy
that makes TPSR sense but is not popular in the kids’ environment, such as choos-
ing not to play a contact sport or not to promote winning over playing as well
as you can. Invoking self-control can help (“Learn to control your mouth!”), and
so can talking about peer pressure. Program leaders should bring peer pressure
up directly and challenge students to rise above it. In general, being consistent
in promoting team (group) meetings, self-reflection, and gradual empowerment
coupled with logical consequences goes a long way toward creating a TPSR cli-
mate in the gym and on the playing field.
One time I gave fifth-graders in a track-and-field unit three choices: a competi-
tive track meet, a personal-best track meet, and jogging. Before they chose, I
simply said, “If the way you choose is to go with your friends, that’s fine with me as
long as you understand that you’re not making your own choice.” You could hear
a pin drop as they went off to their choices! Sometimes a reminder is all it takes.
Level IV: Helping and Leadership Problems

Helping others can be motivated by less-than-honorable intentions. For one thing,
it can be characterized by arrogance. Some students, feeling superior, “wipe
their help” on others, whether they want the help or not. Others view helping
as a way to please the program leader or earn an extrinsic reward. That’s why
Level IV stresses caring, compassion, sensitivity, and responsiveness. Caring and
compassion come from inside oneself; they are different motives than receiving
some external reward or operating from feelings of superiority. Only someone
who is sensitive to others’ needs and wants can be responsive to them. Such
youth leaders do not “wipe their help” on anyone.
Caring, compassion, sensitivity, and responsiveness can be built into any lesson
that includes helping or leadership roles, but youth leaders must be carefully
selected, especially at first when everyone is watching the process closely. Oth-
erwise, problems will arise. Some PE and PA professionals place shy or troubled
kids in leadership roles because they believe it will help them. Instead, it often
creates new problems, such as derogatory comments by those being led, the
need to counsel or even replace the ineffective leader, and the development of
negative attitudes toward the youth leadership program. One girl refused to par-
ticipate unless she could be the coach, so I promised that she could coach once
she learned how to be a team member (no small feat). Amazingly, she shaped
up very quickly, so I let her coach the next time we met. As I suspected, she had
trouble handling the more skilled boys, although she really tried. Chaos ensued,
and I was left to pick up the pieces—angry boys, a very sad (and angry) girl, and
a leadership program at risk.
Another issue involves youth leaders who have demonstrated leadership abili-
ties but as time passes begin to slack off. The accordion principle can be used in
this situation, but reducing a student leader’s responsibility in the middle of the
session could exacerbate the problem. Sometimes standing behind the leader
and quietly giving him one-sentence feedback (e.g., “Be more positive”) can cor-
rect the problem. Sometimes calling the student aside for some quick feedback
works. Letting these issues slide is easy, but helpers and leaders who abuse their
responsibility can harm others and set another kind of bad role model example.
At times a youth leader needs to be temporarily relieved of leadership responsi-
bilities, sometimes accompanied by making a plan to improve.
Some believe that behavior precedes beliefs, that practicing being a helper
or leader, even for the wrong reasons, is okay as long as helping takes place,
because the belief will follow. My only concern is that the true meaning of Level
IV might be lost unless emphasis on the importance of caring, sensitivity, and
responsiveness is included. At the very least, program leaders should keep a
watchful eye out for abuses.
Level V: Specific Problems Outside the Gym

Level V problems do not interrupt the smooth implementation of TPSR nearly as
much as problems at the other levels. However, Level V problems can intrude.
Here are some examples:
■■ A student is suspended for involvement in outside-the-gym activities,
such as a fight.
■■ One of the kids is the target of complaints by other staff.
■■ A parent says that her child is not taking any responsibility at home (e.g.,
taking out the garbage without being asked).
In these examples, one-on-one relational time might help the student talk
about the issue, tell her side, and perhaps set specific goals. These incidents can
also be brought up in the awareness talk or group meeting (without names) to
remind all the kids of their Level V responsibility. I have met with my students’
classroom teachers as a group to get feedback on their classroom progress. My
students knew about these meetings, and I reported back in general what their
teachers said about how responsible they were in class. Of course, teachers
don’t always respect students’ rights and feelings, which tends to invalidate their
comments. That kind of behavior sometimes leads to teacher–student conflicts,
which students never win. It’s not fair, but they need to learn that confrontation
with authority figures in school doesn’t work. It often leads to suspension, which
sets them back in school and may contribute to a reputation as a troublemaker.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ Self-reflection and self-assessment are of paramount importance in fatten-
ing the bag of tricks of those who do this work to better address problems
and situations that crop up in the program.
■■ Reflection-in-action augments self-reflection by cultivating the ability to
react immediately to new and unexpected problems in the program. Making
solutions banks is one practical way to improve reflection-in-action.
■■ Level I problems and situations include a variety of discipline as well as
conflict resolution issues. To help program leaders address these problems
successfully, a continuum of strategies is available, from one-on-one nego-

tiation to the implementation of behavior modification as a last resort.
■■ Teaching by invitation can sometimes solve Level II problems.
■■ At Level III, strategies are available to help kids who struggle with inde-
pendence or with the courage to make their own decisions rather than
succumb to peer pressure.
■■ Helping others and leadership roles require specific skills as well as com-
passion for, and sensitivity and responsiveness to, others. When students
don’t possess these skills and affective qualities, problems can arise.
Awareness of what is required facilitates the kids’ development of Level IV.
■■ Even Level V issues sometimes need to be addressed in class.
7
Being Relational With Kids
It’s not what you do that matters most, but who you are.
And who you are is about relationships.
—Dave Dravecky
Dave Dravecky pitched for the San Francisco Giants. In 1989, his career ended
abruptly when cancer, diagnosed earlier, had spread and required amputation
of his pitching arm and shoulder. He now gives motivational speeches based on
the preceding quote, which is also the theme of this chapter.
Of the four TPSR program leader responsibilities described in chapter 2, being
relational with kids is the most influential. Without a certain kind of relationship,
nothing else—not integrating personal and social responsibility into PE and PA,
not empowerment, not transfer to the wider world—will work very well. “Show
me a good curriculum with a mediocre teacher,” I’ve often said, “and I’ll show
you a mediocre program.”
Four Relational Qualities

Being relational is a pervasive, never-ending series of interactions among human
beings characterized by feelings, subjective perceptions, and a whole host of
other factors. In short, it is a complex human process, difficult to grasp let alone
do effectively, full of soft truths that are difficult to measure. Some interpret this
relationship as a mixture of artistry and charisma; others argue that it requires
specific pedagogical skills.
In an effort to highlight the most important relational values and skills needed
for TPSR, chapter 2 described four student qualities that the program leader must
recognize and respect. They are repeated here in abbreviated form:
■■ Each student has strengths, not just deficiencies that need to be fixed. By
recognizing and building on strengths, kids are more likely to be open to
working on their issues, such as getting angry when things don’t go their way.
■■ Each student is an individual and wants to be recognized as such, despite
the uniformity of attire, slang, gestures, and so on. Gender matters, of
course, and so does race and ethnicity, but they want to be recognized
and respected for their individual strengths and potentials. In short, “teach
individuals, not classes [or groups]” (Dill, 1998, p. 66).
103
TPSR in Action
The use of TPSR in the Project Guard to Make a Splash program is what helps
the program to make a unique “splash.” The American Red Cross has attempted
to develop lifeguards for years, while stressing the importance of swimming
in minority communities. Programs such as this one have been in place but
have only provided participants with swimming skills. Our program has taken
something old and added something new, TPSR, producing participants who
have found meaning both in physical activity and within themselves. That is
what TPSR has done! As an instructor, I have become more reflective with
regard to my own pedagogical approach. I have learned to let go and allow
students to get involved in the process that is making an impact on their lives!
That makes sense, but trained physical educators are not often taught that way.
Using TPSR in the aquatic medium with students helps them to understand
the value of behaving in a professional manner and the importance of being
responsible for themselves and others in an aquatic environment. Students
are taught caring and leadership skills within their daily lessons and can see
the impact of being safe in an aquatic environment and how that can save a
life. As an instructor, I am able to help them connect those positive decisions
to their everyday lives and the opportunity for guaranteed employment as a
lifeguard that could open their minds to multiple possibilities.
Angela Beale, Department of Health Studies, Physical Education, and Human
Performance Science, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York
■■ Each student knows things the program leader does not; each has a voice,
an opinion, a side that needs to be heard. A colleague once asked me, “What
happened to the old-fashioned idea that teachers know something?” It’s not
that kids know more; it’s that they have views and perceptions about a lot
of things that can inform PE and PA professionals. Listening makes adults
a bit wiser. Of course, listening and complying are two different things, but
listening can offer some insights and sometimes lead to making changes.
■■ Each student has the capacity, if not the experience, to make good deci-
sions; often, they just need practice, as they do in learning a motor skill.
If given the opportunity, they will make mistakes, but that’s an important
part of the process. Self-reflection needs to accompany decision making
to help kids become more reflective about the choices they make.
Working from kids’ strengths shifts the focus from how incomplete and inade-
quate they are to a positive base from which to work. All kids (as well as ourselves)
have flaws, and some of those flaws do need to be addressed, but focusing on
kids’ deficits first sets up an immediate negative relationship. A more relational
approach is to recognize and respect their individuality, which conveys to them
that everyone starts in a unique place and has unique strengths, capacities,
needs, and interests. Giving kids a voice in the process and turning some choices
and decisions over to them are positive gestures that promote empowerment
Being Relational With Kids ··· 105
and responsibility. All of these relational behaviors—treating kids with dignity,

modeling human decency, and promoting holistic self-development—lay the
foundation for developing personal and social responsibility.
Noddings (1992) argued that “formulaic approaches [to caring are] hopeless,”
that caring is an “ethic of relation” (p. 120). Although there is justification for
warning against formulaic approaches, temporarily reducing the complexity of
the relational process to recognizing and respecting the preceding four qualities
has several benefits:
■■ It reduces to some extent the mystery of “being relational” without losing
the human qualities involved.
■■ Treating kids this ways creates a respectful climate in the gym that is
essential for TPSR to thrive.
■■ Program leaders who genuinely treat their students this way eventually
find that they return the favor, but they won’t necessarily treat their peers
the same way. That’s why Level I is needed.
■■ Although honoring these four qualities in students does not mean that
TPSR’s relational qualities have been mastered, it does provide oppor-
tunities to develop these and other qualities and skills that will enhance
relationships and kids’ lives.
Having the Courage to Confront

None of this talk about being relational means being touchy-feely or some kind of
rescuer driven by a messiah complex, however well intentioned! As Walt Schafer
(1992), quoting T.J. Hurley, wrote:
Being tender-hearted does not mean being soft-hearted. . . . Creative altru-

ists work in the most challenging situations. Those they serve—youth at
risk, addicts and drug abusers, juvenile delinquents, the mentally ill, the
homeless—are unimpressed by do-gooders and bleeding-heart liberals.
But their lives are transformed by the pragmatic intelligence and uncon-
ditional support they encounter in creative altruists. (p. 488)
Hal Adams, who works with adults in Chicago inner-city communities, added
that respect for those with whom one works is essential, that no one can be
successful with the attitude that “you’ve got problems and I’m here to fix them.”
One of the most difficult tasks for some of us attracted to TPSR (including me)
is having the courage to confront. None of these relational values and skills—
treating kids from a strength-based approach, honoring their individuality and
their voice, and recognizing their potential to make independent and smart deci-
sions—will prevent kids from bringing their own values, behavior patterns, and
developmental needs into the gym. There will still be arguments, fights, negative
attitudes, and the like. The trick, after deciding that confrontation is necessary,
is knowing how to confront. Kids should still have a voice to tell their side and
be part of finding a solution, which may require restitution or personal changes
in attitude or behavior. (For further explanations, see the discussion of Level I in
chapter 3 and the strategies to deal with problems in chapter 6.)
Relational Qualities and Relational Time

Relational time (described more fully in chapter 4) is a specific time set aside to
connect one on one with kids. I have found relational time particularly valuable
because there are many barriers between me and my students, and each one
makes our relationship harder. Differences in age, gender, education, socioeco-
nomic status, race, and ethnicity combine to form a high wall between us. I try
to poke little holes in that wall by talking to each student individually for a few
seconds as often as I can during a designated relational time or whenever I have
the opportunity. I tell them that it’s nice to have them here today or ask how they
are doing or if everything is okay, or I simply shake hands with them. I mention
something particular to them if I can, such as, “Been practicing your jump shot?”
or, “That’s a good-looking shirt.” In all cases my intention is to welcome them, to
treat them as worthy of personal attention, and to show that I care about them
as individuals.
Of course, this strategy works only if I do, in fact, care, do perceive each student
as worthwhile, and am sensitive enough to say something that dignifies him or
her. Students don’t always respond, and sometimes they look away. But so far
no one has ever outright rejected one of my personal welcomes or walked away
while I was talking, unless I deserved it (which I certainly did in the example on
page 51). A bit of courage is necessary to keep offering this gesture if a student
isn’t responsive. It helps to seek feedback to be certain that kids perceive these
interactions in the way they are intended. Specific strategies such as group meet-
ings, reflection time, and anonymous program evaluations provide feedback so
that program leaders can calibrate their perceptions.
Program Leader Qualities and Skills

Honoring the four relational qualities is fundamental to TPSR, but these four quali-
ties do not fully characterize the complexities of being relational. Let’s explore
this complexity a bit further.
The Person of the Program Leader

The program plan put into practice by PE and PA professionals, whether TPSR
based or not, is certainly important and often difficult, but it won’t matter much
if relationships with kids are flawed. In this era of subject matter standards and
accountability, Bill Ayers (1989) reminded us how important the teacher is:
[T]here is no clear line delineating the person and the teacher. Rather,
there is a seamless web between teaching and being, between teacher and
person. Teaching is not simply what one does, it is who one is. (p. 130)
A sign seen at a teacher’s conference reaffirms this notion: “We teach who
we are” (Lickona, 1991, p. 71). David Denton (1972, p. 74) shared a similar idea:
“Teaching is you, as you embody history, embody mathematics. . . . The ques-
tion is not what to teach. The question is not how to teach. The question is who
is teaching?”

Kid Quotes
“You’re proof that white men can’t jump!”—Sixth-grader to Don
“You ain’t doin’ the exercises!”—High school junior to Don
Are Ayers, Lickona, and Denton right? Partly, I think. Take the core values
of TPSR, for example. One cannot preach about putting kids first or about the
importance of human decency; one has to live (or embody) these values. What
and how we teach matters too, but as Nel Noddings (1992) wrote, “Educational
research . . . has made the error of supposing that method can be substituted for
individuals” (p. 8). Larry Cuban (1993) argued that curriculum reformers always
get it wrong, because they do not understand that “at the heart of teaching is the
personal relationship between [teacher] and students that develops over matters
of content” (p. 184). My view is that who’s doing TPSR matters a lot. A strong
program plan in the hands of a weak program leader will reduce the program’s
effectiveness considerably. A strong program leader with a weak program plan
will fare better in my experience, but the best option is both an able leader and
a solid program plan.
So the answer to the question, What kind of a person should TPSR program
leaders aspire to be? is that they need to live the levels and themes, to embody
TPSR, as Denton advised, to treat TPSR as a way of being, as Nick Forsberg does.
This embodiment has a number of dimensions, most of which support or reinforce
the four relational qualities mentioned earlier.
Sense of Purpose
Some teachers and youth workers I’ve known seem to go through the motions
without much apparent passion. They may have lost the fire. My years of involve-
ment with preservice and in-service PE and PA professionals suggest that intrinsic
interest in working with kids varies with them as well. I call this intrinsic inter-
est, this passion, one’s “sense of purpose.” Those who have it, whether working
directly with kids or in professional preparation programs, also have answers to
the questions What’s worth doing? and What kind of contribution do I want to
make? Those answers are the essence of their motivation, the source of their pas-
sion. For those who possess this sense of purpose, caring about and connecting
with the kids or pre- and in-service professionals with whom they work brings
them “fulfillment through satisfaction, through the knowledge that [they have]
been true to [their] value of enhancing others, whether or not others express
their appreciation or indebtedness” (Schafer, 1992, p. 488).
Professionally, a sense of purpose is what matters most, what is most mean-
ingful. It describes our vision and our primary values and beliefs. It’s the “moral
intention to develop a certain kind of human being” (Goodlad, 1988, p. 109). It’s
what we believe in and cherish (Greene, 1986). Only those who believe in and
cherish the core values of TPSR as the moral vision for kids can truly embody
it (see chapter 2).
TPSR in Action
Felicia has been working at Hospice where she, in her words, “helps the patients
and their families during a tough time.” Thirteen years ago she was a teenager
in our alternative school’s Leadership Mentor Program. The program’s aim was
to take TPSR into a novel setting—the outdoors. Through experiences such as
rock climbing and winter camping, students quickly realized that, when facing
the challenges of an unfamiliar natural environment, many of their usual coping
skills were inadequate. They had to make important choices with sometimes
weighty consequences. They learned new problem-solving skills as well as
valuable social competencies such as caring and effective communication.
Journal entries included: I control my language better; I like working together;
I respect everyone’s differences; I kept trying even when I didn’t meet my goal
the first time; and I trust everyone in our group.
Of course, you’re never certain whether these and other outcomes will
endure. But, almost all of the Leadership Mentor students have remained in
town, are raising families, and are contributing members of our community.
Felicia’s parting comment the other day was, “I remember you telling me that
it’s my attitude that makes the difference. That one stuck for me. Thank you.”
And thank you, too, Felicia.
Julie Trujillo, University of Northern Colorado
Listening and Caring

But sense of purpose is not enough. Kids also need to be respected as unique
individuals who have their own values, perceptions, fears, and aspirations and
who deserve to be acknowledged, listened to, negotiated with—in short, to be
cared about and treated with dignity. Gordon (1999) put it this way: “Effective
. . . teachers want to be partners with their students” (p. 305).
Listening is an important way to care and to treat kids with dignity. When we
listen, students feel as if they count, and we learn some things (which is especially
important when our backgrounds are different). One of the things we can learn
is what John Nicholls (Nicholls and Hazzard, 1993) calls the kids’ theories of cur-
riculum—for example, that physical education ought to be for playing—which
often conflict with professional theories, such as the TPSR theory-in-action.
Listening is also a necessary skill for engaging in individual decision making and
group meeting discussions, both of which require interaction.
In one inner-city junior high, students said that the teachers who helped them
were those who noticed them and asked about them, listened to them, respected
them, and gave them chances (Schlosser, 1992). Quincy Howe (1991, pp. 84, 86),
who works with low-income minority adolescents in a special education resi-
dential setting, put it this way: “A child must be convinced that the adult can
be counted on to act in his best interest. This turns out to be an enormous and
daunting piece of work. . . . At issue are his doubts, both as to whether he can do
the job and whether I will continue to believe in his abilities.” Ennis and her col-
leagues (1999) conducted extensive interviews with “disruptive and disengaged
students” in PE and concluded that they “are unwilling to learn when teachers
remain aloof . . . and refuse to spend time with students or express interest in
their lives” (p. 167).
Bill Rose says to his secondary school students, “If at any time in class you feel
you’re being abused by me, or I’m embarrassing you in front of the whole class,
you have to let me know. I don’t know how everybody feels” (Lickona, 1991, p.
73). Rose’s admission that he doesn’t know everything, that he needs some help,
encourages his students to share their thoughts with him. It also shows his desire
to listen to them, to try to understand their side of things. He wants to know how
his students are feeling, but they need to help him do so. When my students do
or say something I don’t understand, I am often afraid to ask for fear of being
perceived as living in the dark ages (which may be close to the truth!). Yet when
I do, I usually learn something and am probably a more sensitive program leader
as a result. And the kids don’t seem to mind.
McLaughlin (2000) described an incident involving a youth who blatantly
broke the community program’s rules but was not reprimanded by a nearby
staff member who witnessed the violation. When asked, the staff member said
there is violence in the young man’s home and he needed to “get it out. We’ll talk
about it later” (p. 15). That staff member paid attention, listened, and responded
appropriately.
In different ways, all of these stories highlight the necessity of listening, caring,
and being patient. In addition, Rose’s story also introduces one way to be genuine
and vulnerable when working with kids.
Genuineness and Vulnerability

Caring about kids requires more than talking and listening. It also requires being
genuine with them. Being genuine does not mean trying to be cool or being nasty
if one is in a bad mood or sharing details about one’s love affair. To me it means
being oneself (to a point), personalizing one’s beliefs rather than turning them
into generic mandates for everyone. It also means expressing one’s humanity in
appropriate ways. I am not always right. I don’t live in the gym; I have another
life. I am not always upbeat. Most of all, being genuine requires caring sincerely
about students and believing in their essential dignity and worth. Otherwise,
talking and listening to kids is an empty gesture.
Genuineness also means being vulnerable. Telling kids “I blew it,” whether
referring to receiving a volleyball serve or an attempt to solve some problem,
is an admission that I don’t get everything right every time. Students who are
potential discipline problems may at first see vulnerability as a weakness that
they can exploit. Yet when dealing with someone who is out of control and being
disruptive or abusive, I have found that asking, “Am I the problem?” calms things
down and gets us into the issue (which may be about me but often is not).
Being vulnerable works well in a one-to-one relational meeting where there is
no audience to play to, but it can also work in group meetings. The kids may be
confused at first (adults don’t share vulnerabilities), but it has never backfired
in my experience. After one lesson in which the kids were off task and argumen-
tative with each other, I asked what I was doing wrong. “You need to be tougher
on us,” one boy said. Another added, “Make us do push-ups when we’re bad.” (I
bet some PE teacher or coach planted that idea.) So we talked about my style,
the purpose of the program (i.e., that getting tough on themselves is their job in
TPSR), and how we might compromise.
Of course, it is important to be ready for the constant scrutiny of students
once they become aware of the genuineness factor. During a fitness session, one
kid yelled to me, “You ain’t doin’ the exercises!” My response? I dropped down
and started doing push-ups!
Vulnerability, like other things, makes sense to a point. Martin Buber told Carl
Rogers that Rogers was wrong about teachers and students being equal. Accord-
ing to Buber, that relationship is unequal by its very nature. The student comes
to the teacher for help. “You are able, more or less, to help him. . . . you see him.
. . . he cannot, by far, see you” (quoted in Noddings, 1992, p. 107). To balance
vulnerability, the program leader must be able to confront students, to call them
on their abusiveness, their argumentativeness, their lack of effort, their lack of
self-direction, their egocentrism, and so on. “What they really need is a teacher
who will face them, seek eye contact, deflect their jibes and evasions, and tell
them what they need to know” (Howe, 1991, p, 66). Vulnerability and confronta-
tion cannot be substituted for each other. Both are needed.
Unfortunately, TPSR is sometimes interpreted as a touchy-feely approach that’s
soft on discipline and belongs to the genre characterized by “a Disneyized view
of emotional life with happy slogans and easy answers” (Divoky, 1975, p. 25).
Yet any TPSR practitioner who has had to confront a hostile kid, especially one
who’s taller and heavier, can attest to the absence of any touchy-feely attitude
or happy, easy answers. In the same way, kids need to learn not only self-control
but also how to stand up for their rights (see chapter 3).
Intuition and Self-Reflection

Another piece of the relational puzzle is intuition, which Rubin (1985) described
as recognizing and acting on clues. Intuition seems to me to be a fancy word for
sizing up kids when they come in the door. What is their collective mood? What
individual issues are noticeable? For everything I plan, no matter what it is, I
need to ask the question, What can I get away with? That is, How much of TPSR
can I try to have these kids experience today? How much can I push or chal-
lenge them? What will they put up with before rebelling or shutting down? I try
to sense the receptivity of the group, the rhythm of the lesson. Then I apply the
accordion principle, giving more or less responsibility, longer or shorter aware-
ness talks, and so on.
Intuition needs to be reinforced with perseverance. I need to outlast the kids!
By that I mean that students (and other stakeholders) may resist the notion of
a program based on personal and social responsibility. They come in asking,
“What are we going to play today?” Self-direction? Caring? A choice of whether
to compete or improve? No referees? Talking and writing? Relational time? To
these things, they may reply, “Give us a break!” New ideas, although sometimes
attractive, are almost never easy to implement, especially with older kids. To
be successful, program leaders must resolve to hang in there, not give up, and
continue to pursue their sense of purpose. One of my ninth-grade students, a
reasonably skilled performer who was used to being able to play the whole PE
period, wrote an essay about my program for his English class titled “PE Makes
You Hate.” Ouch! Teaching anything new is provocative. Inner strength, sometimes
in short supply, really helps!
Without the ability to size up individuals and groups to determine how much
they can handle or the ability to persevere—that is, retain one’s sense of pur-
pose—the implementation of TPSR is often derailed. Sizing up is part of the larger
habit of self-reflection, which is discussed in chapter 6 on problems that arise in
the program. Here’s a sample list of questions PE and PA professionals can ask
themselves as they self-reflect:
■■ What is my mood today?
■■ What relational or pedagogical shortcomings do I need to shore up?
■■ How can I exhort students to be more reflective or responsible if I am
unreflective and irresponsible?
■■ How can I encourage students to become more responsible if I’m not very
responsible?
■■ How strong is my self-control (Level I)? My self-motivation (Level II)? My
self-direction (Level III)? My sensitivity and responsiveness to students’
rights, feelings, and needs (Levels I and IV)?
Cultivating the habit of professional self-reflection by keeping a daily journal,

by being open to criticism, and by making and evaluating personal change is
perhaps the single most effective method for improving all these qualities.
I like to talk to teachers and youth workers about their chaos threshold, by
which I mean how much chaos they can tolerate in a session. Some need to tiptoe
into the empowerment strategies. If student freedom makes them nervous, I say,
“No problem. Don’t exceed your chaos threshold, but try to nudge the boundar-
ies a bit.” Reflection helps us to recognize such problems in ourselves, to think
about solutions, and to evaluate these solutions in practice.
Georgiadis’ (1990) struggles to reconcile the values he learned as a professional
basketball player with the values that underlie TPSR provide an excellent example
of the often painful process of self-reflection. In an early experience with high-
needs youth in an after-school basketball program, he found himself screaming
at the referees (who were volunteering their time), playing only the most talented
kids, and making all the decisions. His students rebelled, and he found himself
sunk in a deeply personal struggle of conflicting values. He found that to make
TPSR work, he needed to shift some decisions to the students and listen to their
input. These strategies conflicted with the professional sport model, so it was
an agonizing process that took persistent self-reflection to resolve.
Sense of Humor and a Playful Spirit

Attempting to be a caring, genuine, empathetic, intuitive program leader has its
price. When I watched Robin Williams as a teacher in the film Dead Poets Society,
I thought, “Oh, to be able to teach like that.” But could a Robin Williams do that
period after period and day after day? Howe (1991) said no: “The trouble is that
such [teaching] performances are enormously draining and I am good for only
one or two a day” (p. 67). He found after four years of teaching in a residential
home that his willingness to share his breaks with students was “not what it
used to be” (p. 143).
A sense of humor and a playful spirit are effective guards against burnout.
Keeping kids focused on responsibility is hard work for program leaders and
for kids as well. A light touch goes a long way toward offsetting the demands of
TPSR. The essence of a healthy sense of humor is an attitude that sees the humor
in everyday life without, as kids often do, needing someone to bear the brunt of
the joke. The most important aspect of humor is to be able to laugh at oneself.
Howe (1991) often turned a serious situation into something humorously self-
critical. For example, to a student who exclaimed that she was bored, he said, “I
once had a student die of boredom in my class” (p. 27). A playful spirit involves
many things, including being upbeat and enthusiastic within one’s personality,
having fun with the kids, and celebrating with high fives or low fives or whatever
the latest fad is. Sometimes, it is necessary to fake it. Sarah Doolittle advised a
PE intern working with kids to have fun, or at least “look like you’re having fun.”
Teaching Students With Different

Cultural Backgrounds
More attention is being paid to recruiting and retaining staff whose backgrounds
resemble those of high-needs urban youth. However, many teachers (and at least
some urban youth workers) are white and middle class, unlike their students. As
a white male who has been a program leader in urban minority and multiracial/
multiethnic settings for 40 years, I can attest to the difficulty of navigating in
this terrain.
One thing I learned early on is that I will never fully understand what these
kids are going through. That insight helped me focus on what I might be able to
contribute and realize that I had to be open to negotiation and that my ideas had
to be negotiable. PE and PA professionals who grew up in these neighborhoods
(and sometimes got into trouble) bring more knowledge and often more insights
than those of us without these experiences. One exemplar is “Charles,” the sport
director of a Boys and Girls Club in Chicago, whose work with urban adolescents
Hirsch described in detail in his excellent book, A Place to Call Home (2005).
“Charles,” who earned a PhD in the streets (McLaughlin, 2000), understood the
kids’ experiences, met them where they were, talked to them in their language
about issues important to them and to the community, and was supportive but
demanding, particularly about how they dealt with themselves and others.
Don’t Try to Be Cool

Being oneself, being genuine, is crucial. Kids quickly spot a phony. I have found it
best not to worry about doing fancy handshakes or using street language. Some
of these things evolve with time, but they aren’t important. A program leader’s
sincere concern for the kids and respect for them and their culture are far more
important. Howe (1991) was the only staff member to wear a coat and tie in a
school for at-risk kids, rendering him a high-profile target for student humor. He
persisted—it is his natural style—and the humorous jabs disappeared with time.
A number of years ago I supervised two student teachers in an urban high

school, one a heavyweight wrestler, the other a skinny guy with a funny haircut
and black tennis shoes (very uncool at the time). The kids were very respectful in
dealing with the wrestler but ran all over the skinny guy. However, after a month
or so, the kids began to call the wrestler disrespectful names, just loud enough for
him to hear, and he would fly into a rage. Meanwhile, “Skinny” seemed to ignore
all the abuse he was getting and just persevered. By the end of the semester,
one PE class looked like a model program, whereas the other was in shambles.
Guess which was which!
Not trying to be popular is difficult. The fear of not being liked is always lurk-
ing in the back of my mind, but I try not to let it take control. The best antidote
I’ve found is having successful experiences with kids when I am myself. But that
takes time.
Learn About and Respect the Culture

Being oneself has limits. Having at least a general knowledge of the culture is
helpful. Delpit (1988, p. 93) compared a caring white parent who says to her child,
“Isn’t it time for your bath?” with a caring African American parent who says,
“Get your rusty behind in that bathtub!” Being prepared for and being able to
accept cultural differences is essential in becoming an effective program leader
of students whose backgrounds differ from one’s own. It is one thing to accept
cultural differences but quite another to try to emulate those differences. Yelling
at kids (as seen through my white eyes) seems to be part of the culture I have
worked in for years, although this is certainly not true of all parents, teachers,
and youth workers. But yelling isn’t my style, and the kids don’t seem to expect
it from me.
Those of us who work with kids must be wary of cultural preconceptions and
stereotypes, even those that seem sympathetic. For example, research suggests
that self-concept among African American youth is not lower than that of white
youth, though their perception of empowerment may be (Murray, Smith, and
West, 1989). As another example, some whites would be surprised to learn that
the traditional American work ethic enjoys substantial support among low-income
African Americans (personal observation). Bredemeier’s (1988) study of urban
minority teachers shows that although they recognize existing social problems,
they have not wavered from teaching hard work, perseverance, self-responsibility,
and orientation to the future. In addition, though it is regrettable, the criminal
sector often does a better job of harnessing the energy of inner-city youth than
mainstream society does, such as in the case of drug trafficking.
On the other hand, program leaders must be prepared to understand behaviors
that do not reflect white, middle-class norms. Foster (1974) described some of
these characteristics among inner-city high school students in the 1970s, which
are still around at least to some extent in my experience: style and flare as part
of the student’s performance; physical aggression and impregnating a female as
signs of manhood; and such skills as manipulating, taunting, and verbal assault
as requirements for street survival. Howe’s (1991) description of the difference
between his low-income male and female students is another example. The male
model is the “rigid jaw and unmoist eye . . . [and a] playful and evasive way of
dealing with experience,” whereas females are “more tempestuous, more ungov-
erned” and tend to “make full disclosure of the intensity of their feelings” (p. 32).
Importance of Respect
Respect for the culture and especially for the kids is key to accepting differences.
I always try to remember that I am an outsider, that I’ll never experience what
the kids I’ve worked with go through every day. But I can recognize my students’
strengths and individual selves and give them opportunities to express their
views and make decisions. The approach I have found most useful is to listen to
my students. I begin to learn their theories of PE and PA, their perceptions of life
and school, and something of their cultures. Group meetings and relational time
can help here, but an openness to ideas and perceptions different from my own
is fundamental to making these strategies work.
I sometimes need to remind myself that the in-the-moment mentality of ado-
lescents allows them to see the humor and pathos of the moment, whereas my
focus on what needs to be done gets in the way of sharing their observations
and insights. Other times I laugh in spite of myself.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ Recognizing and respecting students’ strengths, individuality, voice, and
capacity for decision making reduces the complexity of the relational
process and creates a climate in which TPSR can grow.
■■ A set-aside relational time facilitates brief one-on-one meetings to express
recognition of and respect for the preceding four qualities in kids.
■■ Specific skills and qualities that further facilitate the relational process
include having a sense of purpose, listening and caring, being genuine
and vulnerable, being intuitive (sizing things up from clues), being self-
reflective, and having a sense of humor.
■■ Teaching students with different cultural backgrounds requires the same
skills and qualities needed to teach students with similar backgrounds,
especially recognizing and respecting the four student qualities. Those
who work with students with different cultural backgrounds need to be
themselves while at the same time knowing what they don’t know, being
open to unfamiliar values and customs, and learning as much as possible
about the cultures represented in their programs.
p∙a∙r∙t
III
Implementation
tpsr
8
TPSR in PE Teacher Education:
One Teacher’s Explorations
Sarah Doolittle
In the previous editions of this book, teaching with TPSR was

presented as an alternative to conventional pedagogy that an
individual experienced teacher might choose if it seemed to be “worth
doing.” Currently, however, TPSR has become a regular part of
comprehensive teacher education in physical education and is now
becoming a standard model for the professional preparation of other
physical activity professionals and youth workers. Teacher educators,
however, have discovered that it is not a simple matter to educate
other professionals to “do” TPSR. Beyond the superficial structures
of the levels and teaching strategies, teacher educators may also
want their students to share the fundamental values and the personal
commitment to underserved youth that are the heart of this approach.
This chapter presents one teacher educator’s story of exploring ways
of educating others to Teach for Personal and Social Responsibility
through physical activity.
TPSR has been a regular topic in my curriculum and secondary methods courses
for the past 20 years, but I continually question whether students actually learn
more than the superficial outlines of the approach. I used to take satisfaction
from seeing my former students, now teachers, display the levels on a poster in
the gym, or refer to levels as a behavior management strategy in classes. I was
teaching TPSR as a theoretical model, and a few students were using parts of it,
but the predominant structure of physical education that I saw in my former stu-
dents’ classes was traditional teacher-centered sports as recreation. Their loftiest
goals for personal and social responsibility seemed to be students’ willingness
to follow directions without complaining. When finally teaching, too many of my
former students lived with the expectation that their students weren’t interested
in traditional physical education classes; the major instructional problems were
encapsulated in the students’ “lack of motivation.” Their students went through
117
the motions in their classes, especially in high school, and too many teachers
gradually gave up trying to make a difference for students, focusing their atten-
tion on after-school sports or sidelines unrelated to physical education.
My interest in TPSR took on increased significance when I began working
seriously with middle and high school teachers in low-income and minority
(i.e., high-needs) schools. My former students and their colleagues in these
schools were clear in stating that their primary goal for physical education was
for students to show positive social behavior and responsibility during physical
activities and in their daily lives. They were disillusioned with the traditional
physical education goals, and with teaching methods that suggested they should
be able to teach sport skills to large classes in poorly equipped gymnasiums, in
programs where their colleagues weren’t teaching, and where administrators
seemed not to care whether students participated, let alone learned anything
new. Too many teachers in high-needs schools were exhausted and discouraged
with trying to teach students in schools where physical education really didn’t
seem to matter, resulting too often in previously altruistic people acting like
prison wardens.
My observations and teachers’ complaints made me question how well I had
prepared my preservice teachers. Did they leave our programs with ideas, skills,
and the self-confidence necessary to design and teach secondary physical edu-
cation humanely, in a way middle and high school students might value, even in
schools with budget constraints? If not, what should I change?
I had been teaching the recommended alternatives—sport education,
adventure education, fitness education, and TPSR—but too few of my students
developed the teaching skills and confidence to change the status quo in middle
and high school physical education. While still meeting my obligations for our
NCATE-accredited program, I began to search for changes that might better pro-
vide new teachers with skills and ideas for a physical education program that
responds to middle and high school students in 21st-century schools, especially
in high-needs schools where physical education could make a genuine contribu-
tion to their lives. TPSR seemed an obvious approach. My problem became how
to incorporate TPSR into PE teacher education so that graduates could use it in
their first teaching jobs.
Teaching TPSR in PE Teacher Education

My first changes came about as a result of seeing that traditional secondary
teacher education squandered too much course time hammering home effective
planning and direct instruction teaching skills for psychomotor competency
suitable for a rigid, traditional 40-minute time structure. This emphasis seemed
to prepare new teachers for failure and disillusionment when they were hired
into middle and high schools where neither their more experienced colleagues
nor their students valued PE classes or what they might learn there. Once I real-
ized that neither affluent nor low-income middle and high school students were
responding positively to even competently taught traditional PE programs, I
began to eliminate some of the time-honored content of my secondary methods
course work.
TPSR in PE Teacher Education ··· 119
My initial course changes focused on presenting alternative curriculum choices

that had a better chance of success. I began stressing only a few principles of
effective teaching so as to have enough time to take the alternatives seriously, and
then I began concentrating on only one or two alternative curriculum approaches
(TPSR and sport education). By aiming to teach only one or two things well, I
thought my students might “get it”—understand the problem with the status quo,
feel more expert in an unfamiliar alternative, and develop more commitment to
offering something different in their secondary school jobs.
I also decided that traditional lecture and peer teaching were not a good use
of course time. Instead, I focused on designing value-added field experiences,
experiential learning, and service learning assignments to provide more powerful
experiences with essential principles in schools and to create opportunities for
novices to be successful with these principles. For example, requiring students to
design and deliver a service project in their field experience schools taught them
the real politics of innovation and change in ways that could not be taught in an
on-campus lecture. (This assignment had the added benefit of giving students
something interesting to talk about in subsequent job interviews.)
I also began seeking out and developing relationships with schools where my
students could work with real students while practicing teaching techniques
and other less familiar strategies. Doing this kind of course work in the field was
far more interesting for students and provided me, as teacher educator, with
real problems and issues to consider through a theoretical lens. As I continue
to explore and refine assignments and experiences for field-based courses, I am
also beginning to appreciate how important noncurricular time is to meeting
the goals of physical education. Physical education teacher education (PETE)
students are now seeing the value of teaching physical education outside of the
standard school time by completing a late afternoon secondary methods course
that takes place in a physical activity–based youth development program.
TPSR was my entry point for this shift in emphasis. But the way I had been
teaching it wasn’t making enough of a difference. I needed to make alternative
approaches more important, to convince students to acknowledge that too often
conventional physical education wasn’t working in either high-needs or more
affluent schools and to recognize the need for an alternative approach. I wanted
to convey the message that effective teachers do not ignore personal and social
development in favor of motor skill and fitness development, that often it is nec-
essary to reverse the usual priority of physical education of the physical (i.e.,
prioritizing skill and fitness development as the main learning goal) to physical
education through the physical (i.e., prioritizing personal and social development
through the vehicle of physical activity).
Although the TPSR ideas were compelling to me and an obvious solution to
some of the problems I hoped to address, finding a way to teach TPSR so that
students understood more than the superficial aspects required a nontraditional
course design. The literature in PETE offers some guidance, but there was
little practical advice on redesigning teacher education to prepare teachers to
recognize the value of physical activity programs in helping kids take control
of their lives. The TPSR literature and communications with Don Hellison and
his colleagues led me to believe that the best TPSR teachers were those who
had apprenticed at the master’s knee: most were graduate students, friends, or
PETE professors on leave who had taught with Hellison in Chicago for at least
a semester, and some for many years. Their depth of understanding, commit-
ment to kids, and skills of observation and on-the-spot problem solving were
unmatched by any typical PETE TPSR teacher education program. But there
had to be a way to scale up from an apprenticeship model to a larger required
methods class.
This chapter presents nine descriptions of teacher education approaches
I have used, and some others I have heard about, that help novice physical
education teachers and youth workers to learn TPSR (see figure 8.1). These
approaches are presented in the hope that teacher educators might help the
next generation move beyond seeing TPSR as just a theoretical add-on to tra-
ditional approaches.
Nine Ways to Teach TPSR

1. Apprenticeship
2. Site-based practicum or internship
3. Conference workshop or short course
4. One-week intensive elective
5. Semester-long elective
6. Within a required activity course
7. Within a required on-site undergraduate methods course
8. Required methods course in an after-school program
9. Framework for a teacher education program
Figure 8.1 Nine approaches for teaching TPSR to physical education teachers and youth
workers.
Apprenticeship
Don Hellison has taught graduate students, teachers and youth workers, and
visiting professors by inviting them to his university and into his site-based kids’
programs. Apprentices participate directly in Don’s kids’ programs, gradually
taking on responsibility for leading various parts of the lesson, until they can
take over entire lessons. Apprentices are quickly encouraged to begin their
own groups within programs or to establish new programs in other venues
with supervision and one-on-one debriefing with Don or advanced doctoral
students. Some of these apprenticeships exist for a semester; others, for several
years.
Observations, coteaching, and extensive in-depth planning and debriefing
conversations with Don and other apprentices are the pedagogical method. The
advantages are similar to those of all master teacher–directed study approaches:
focused and personal attention to shared, specific goals, problems, and issues;
help in applying the model with fidelity; opportunities to develop capacity and
commitment; the opportunity to share with Don new ideas for developing and
extending the model and designing new ways to use TPSR in the future. The
primary disadvantage is that of scale: there’s only one master teacher, and
one-on-one directed study cannot produce a large number of teachers capable
of doing TPSR.
Site-Based Practicum or Internship

Dave Walsh, Missy Parker, Paul Wright, and Tom Martinek have been among
Don’s apprentices in Chicago who have moved on to produce the next gen-
erations of TPSR leaders, repeating this one-on-one teaching approach. These
second-generation master teachers keep the fundamental TPSR principles
intact, while also developing their own new patterns and possibilities for profes-
sional preparation. For example, Dave Walsh has established a variety of TPSR
apprenticeship options for undergraduate and graduate students; Missy Parker
combines TPSR with programs for rock climbing and outdoor challenges; Paul
Wright has collaborated with his masters’ students to conduct several research
projects on his site-based programs for underserved youth; and Tom Martinek
has developed three programs to professionally prepare university students in
sport-based youth development with a focus on TPSR for underserved youth:
an undergraduate specialization, a master’s program, and a doctoral program.
He also developed and currently runs an array of TPSR-based programs for low-
income North Carolina kids of all ages.
These new TPSR master teachers and others have educated novice teachers
about TPSR through direct apprenticeship in their sport and outdoor activity
clubs for kids. The next generation of TPSR teacher educators is carrying on
this tradition. For example, Angela Beale coteaches a Red Cross Learn to Swim/
Lifeguard Certification course in a high-needs high school using TPSR as the daily
class structure. She invites Red Cross–qualified PETE students from her program
to teach with her. She takes advantage of required pre-student teaching school-
based internships to provide apprentices.
Through optional teacher education program electives, interested novice teach-
ers and other preprofessionals learn TPSR, practice using the goals and strategies
under the watchful eye of a more experienced colleague, and get involved with
students served by the programs. They also begin to notice contrasts between the
TPSR program groups and standard PE offerings, perhaps seeing the advantages
of “intermediate space” (Noam, Biancarosa, and Dechausay, 2003) programs over
PE classes, with their large sizes, 40-minute time blocks, and deep-seated culture.
The major advantage of offering a site-based TPSR apprenticeship is the ability
to bridge traditional professional preparation (e.g., Red Cross Water Safety Instruc-
tor Training, sport or martial arts instruction) with TPSR instructional methods
in a real setting with kids, in a way that facilitates focused, in-depth discourse,
authentic problem solving, planning, and debriefing. Also, experiencing PE in
after-school, summer, and alternative youth development programs provides the
opportunity to consider possibilities for future physical activity programming
at schools and camps. Again, the primary disadvantage is the limited number of
prospective teachers who can become apprentices.
TPSR in Action
It was 10 minutes before the start of the lesson as I walked across to the gym
with Sarah, a local physical education teacher who had been working with the
TPSR model for a number of months. Sarah had developed a fitness program
based around students making choices to meet their individual needs. As we
arrived, one of the year 10 (14-year-old) girls ran up to say that the walking
group was leaving. Because the fitness activities were limited to the first 15
minutes of the lesson, this group had organized to get changed during recess
so they could leave before class and get an additional 10 minutes of walking. A
second group, predominantly boys, began a strength program in the attached
weight room. The third group consisted of three boys who were not trusted to
work independently; they worked under the direct supervision of the teacher
in the gym. Fifteen minutes into the lesson, the walking group arrived back, the
boys emerged from the weight room, and the class quickly moved seamlessly
into the next part of the lesson.
The preceding is an example of a class given choices to help develop their
decision-making skills. The program worked for a number of weeks, and the
students were very positive about it. The school was a rural secondary school
in New Zealand.
Barrie Gordon, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Conference Workshop or Short Course

Don Hellison, and now his closest colleagues, often provides conference ses-
sions, half-day workshops, and weekend short courses on TPSR. This has been
an effective method of teaching the basics and inspiring large groups of teach-
ers and other youth workers. In this method, a traditional keynote introduction
sets the problem and the challenge to teachers to choose what’s worth doing.
The TPSR levels and strategies are presented as one way to teach, usually with a
personal history of their development, and sometimes with inspirational images
or video, and when possible, a hands-on workshop or master class with teach-
ers participating as students. This direct approach has been hugely successful
in familiarizing teachers and teacher educators with TPSR. It has also served to
inspire untold numbers of teachers, coaches, youth workers, and administrators
to “do” TPSR in their programs.
On some occasions, kids are brought in and Don or his associates present a
more authentic master class working directly with kids to show kids respond-
ing to TPSR strategies, activities, and interactions. Modeling the strategies and
answering questions that emerge from observing or participating in the experi-
ence via conference presentations, especially when kids are involved, has been
particularly helpful to large numbers of teachers across this country and in
Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, in terms of imagining what teaching TPSR
is really like.

Teacher Education Student Quotes
“I feel the sessions with the kids were invaluable. Sitting in a classroom and
discussing TPSR does not truly provide a clear representation of how to
implement it or the difficulty you may experience.”
“It was a wonderful experience to see the changes that occurred during their
four days. To see TPSR in action was tremendous!”
“I learned that if you give kids a chance to become leaders, they are capable
of producing some great ideas.”
“The kids really showed me important aspects of what it means to be not only
a teacher but also a mentor, a friend, and a teammate.”
The main disadvantage of the conference or short course approach is the

lack of depth. Teachers are able to post the levels in their gymnasiums, and
perhaps engage students in discussions, but most have difficulty sustaining or
developing more than the superficial elements to effect real student empower-
ment or considering more powerful or fundamental changes in their PE and PA
programs.
One-Week Intensive Elective

Recognizing the need to provide TPSR beyond single-day workshops for teachers,
Don designed and co-conducted with me weeklong three-credit intensive courses
for graduate PETE students on-site at a high-needs middle school or high school
summer enrichment program. Students met daily as a class before the children
arrived, planned and taught two physical activity classes under our guidance,
and then met again as a class to debrief and plan again. They also read TPSR and
youth development materials and, following the on-site week, wrote a structured
postexperience paper demonstrating their understanding of the model, assessing
their personal strengths and weaknesses in implementing the TPSR approach,
and commenting on any changes to their beliefs about teaching.
The advantages of the one-week intensive course are that PETE students are
immersed in TPSR in a real setting with high-needs kids and an experienced
instructor, are guided during their first attempts, and have a peer group with
whom to share failures (often) and successes (eventually). The disadvantage is
that a one-week intensive course happens fast, leaving novice teachers little time
to think, read, discuss, and generally process some powerful and challenging
experiences. Often students get stuck on barriers (“This can’t work in my tradi-
tional physical education program!”) and simply need more time to understand
the issues and the implications of teaching differently. Furthermore, because it
is an elective course, only a few PETE students who already have an interest in
TPSR or high-needs students attend.
Semester-Long Elective
To remedy the restrictive time frame of the one-week intensive elective, Don and
I cotaught a graduate PETE three-credit semester-long course on TPSR and youth
development one day per week on-site at a community-based after-school pro-
gram in a high-needs community. Students met each week as a class, taught TPSR
basketball lessons to elementary-aged children, and then met again as a class to
debrief and plan. Similar to the summer courses, students read selected TPSR
and youth development materials and wrote a structured post-experience paper
demonstrating their understanding of the approach and addressing their ability
to implement the approach and changes, if any, to their beliefs about teaching.
The advantage was obvious: the course occurred over an entire semester allow-
ing time for thoughtful engagement with ideas and informal conversation with the
instructor. Graduate students could see and work through the problems they had
implementing the approach and recognize the advantages of non-school-based
programs over traditional physical education for teaching physical activity and
personal and social skills.
Disadvantages included the frustrations of conducting a graduate course in
an after-school setting in a community center that had limited physical activity
space and no separate classroom space for planning and debriefing. Planning
and debriefing were frequently interrupted because community center space is
so limited. More important, some community center workers interfered in the
weekly program because their priorities and values, especially disciplinary prac-
tices, conflicted with the plans, activities, and interactions PETE students had
with their groups. The children were bewildered at times by two sets of teaching
styles and rules. Again, an additional disadvantage was that the course served
only the few graduate students who were already aware of and interested in TPSR.
Within a Required Activity Course

Dave Walsh (2008) addressed this problem of “scaling up” TPSR to become a
requirement in an undergraduate PETE program. His initiative involved a majors-
only activity course—a course for content knowledge, not pedagogy, in which
students were expected to polish their knowledge and skills of a variety of sports,
learning common errors, corrections, progressions, and related conditioning
essentials. To this traditional content course he added the TPSR structure, not as
theory, but as part of the day-to-day class structure for all students. He reported
that the PETE students initially rebelled—this TPSR approach wasn’t what they
believed they had to know. Over time, Walsh’s students moved from believing
they had to do the TPSR structure to beginning to buy in to the approach.
The main advantage of a required course structured in this way is that PETE
students gain an in-depth lived experience of TPSR from an experienced instructor
and participate in personal and social development strategies as students, and
then as group leaders and teachers. They are required to spend time in a TPSR
culture, which may contrast strongly with the so-called deep culture of PE. The
main disadvantage of such a required course is that on-campus class experiences
and peer teaching may not transfer well to younger students in school or youth
development settings, perhaps particularly high-needs students.
Within a Required On-Site Undergraduate

Methods Course
In an attempt to eliminate peer teaching and to provide more meaningful but
guided practice teaching experiences, I moved my secondary methods course
to a middle school PE program. I chose a high-needs middle school to provide a
positive opportunity to meet our “high-needs field experience” requirement. The
eight weeks we spend there provide enough time to get to know kids, enough
opportunities to develop some confidence, and the possibility to try out and
develop capacity for TPSR. We had previously required students to spend time
individually in field placement at high-needs schools, which resulted in some
nervous university students and parents objecting to the requirement. We also
learned quickly that many students returned from these experiences with preju-
dices confirmed and with strong commitments to leave teaching altogether if the
only job they could get was in a high-needs school. Our teacher education faculty
knew we needed to expand experiences in high-needs placements in a way that
confronted biases and provided positive instructional experiences beyond our
existing electives. All of our preservice PETE students need positive high-needs
field experiences.
The main advantage of the on-site secondary methods course was that under-
graduate students received guided opportunities to teach in a high-needs school
setting with effective and humane teachers, in contrast to placing them unguided
in high-needs schools, especially those with dysfunctional programs and teachers.
Our students also left feeling far more comfortable with low-income and minority
students, and some with a commitment to teach in such schools.
The main disadvantage of the on-site methods class was a lack of control over
the specific content and teaching approaches. Our university’s five-day schedule
contrasted with the school’s six-day schedule, resulting in working with a class
only once every other week. This lack of consistency limited our ability to get
to know the students we were teaching each week, thereby rendering a TPSR
approach (which is at its core relational) simply not possible. We could not
establish the relationships necessary to develop the trust and consistency that
underpin the approach. Instead, students taught a variety of lessons more con-
sistent with a traditional, albeit primarily positive, physical education program.
Required Methods Course

in an After-School Program
For reasons similar to those driving the on-site methods class (to eliminate
peer teaching, to practice basic teaching skills in a more meaningful way, and to
provide guidance in a high-needs placement), our PETE students meet as a class
on-site for eight 3-hour classes at an after-school community-based program.
They teach two classes, followed by debriefing and planning. Because we have
more control over content and teaching approaches in this after-school program,
our students work in groups to conduct TPSR sessions in two different sports,
while embedding traditional secondary methods lesson and unit planning, and
teacher and student assessment. Additional assignments include reading TPSR
and youth development materials, interviewing students, conducting service

projects, and researching community programs and other physical activity
opportunities.
In the after-school setting, PETE students can implement TPSR through two
different sports with kids in the real world of small, crowded gyms and limited
equipment. An additional advantage is the experience of teaching within a high-
needs community-based program that does not begin with a negative culture of
physical education. In this setting, teacher education students have control over
what they teach and are far more expert in terms of physical activity than the
youth workers employed by the agency. Other advantages are some flexibility in
timing and the fact that kids seem to like talking and playing with young adults
who clearly like to play sports and games. The teacher education students get
the opportunity to understand the differences between traditional physical
education culture and intermediary space physical activity programs in which
student participation is voluntary. They also have to come to grips with the
notion that effective teaching requires that kids be engaged in and successful
at something that’s meaningful to them. If the class sessions aren’t fun, the kids
won’t be back next week.
There are disadvantages to methods courses in after-school programs. Because
of relatively small numbers of participants and distinctly constrained facility
space, teacher education students must work in groups—sharing planning and
teaching responsibilities. Shared teaching is stressful and often seems disorga-
nized; students can have difficulty relying on each other to plan and teach their
lessons. When the more experienced teachers are asked to step back and let
less experienced classmates take over, they can have difficulty refraining from
intervening. Additionally, the drop-in nature of community-based after-school
programs leads to inconsistent attendance by program participants. This affects
middle and high school groups more than elementary groups, but the week-to-
week uncertainty of attendance exacerbates the teacher education students’
stress in planning class sessions and undermines progress in TPSR.
Framework for a Teacher

Education Program
Initiated by Ray Petracek and currently led by Nick Forsberg, the HOPE (Health/
Outdoor/Physical Education) teacher education program at the University of
Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, moves beyond TPSR as an effective teaching
option in physical education and youth development and toward TPSR as the
functional philosophy for an entire health/outdoor/physical education teacher
education program. Through the consensus of the program faculty, and over
years of development, the TPSR goals have been adopted as the basis for their
program, with the intent of weaving the TPSR terminology into their students’
lives and identities as teachers and physical activity professionals. The University
of Regina faculty asks students to be personally and socially responsible them-
selves as students first, then as professionals, and eventually as mentors to other
professionals. The message throughout the program is that TPSR is something
bigger than just the levels on a poster.
TPSR in Action
Taking personal and social responsibility (TPSR) is no less important in teacher
education programs than it is with underserved youth in community outreach
programs. The Health/Outdoor/Physical Education (HOPE) program in the
Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, recognizes and
prepares future teachers through a four-year developmental program with a
philosophical foundation built on TPSR.
I have been involved in the HOPE program for over 20 years. The program
is based on the belief that aspiring teachers need to realize that they must
become personally and socially responsible before they can ask their students
to become personally and socially responsible. Every semester throughout
the four-year program, HOPE student teachers are immersed in experiences
related to course work or teaching practica that discreetly or overtly provide
opportunities for them to engage with personal and social responsibility.
Whether it is through the HOPE coaching program in the first year, service
projects and school-based initiatives linked to outdoor education courses in
the second year, or the HOPE mentoring program in the third and fourth years,
student teachers begin to embody the principles associated with TPSR.
The hope is that as prospective teachers leave the program and enter
the world of teaching, they recognize TPSR as not simply a model ready for
implementation but as a way of being, who they are as teachers.
Nick Forsberg, PhD, Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Regina,
Saskatchewan, Canada
First- and second-year undergraduate students read Don’s TPSR book, and
discussions revolve around taking responsibility and being self-directed and
caring in their lives as university students (taking responsibility to be on time,
turn in good work, be self-directed and caring as students in class), as practic-
ing teachers and leaders in their field experiences (seeing the strengths of their
students, taking the initiative to serve the schools), and as contributing members
of their profession (serving as cooperating teachers to interns, volunteering in
professional associations). Third-year students coach first-year students in their
major and minor course selections and thus practice acting at Level IV on campus.
Fourth-year students mentor third-year students in their internship assignments.
TPSR is taught as a curricular model for physical education, together with other
prominent models. It is a natural approach for professional preparation consider-
ing the heavy emphasis on personal and social goals articulated in the educational
standards for health and physical education set by the province of Saskatchewan.
The advantages of this model of TPSR as a teacher education program phi-
losophy are too numerous to mention. Nick Forsberg, in an interview for this
chapter, could think of no disadvantages. In terms of replicating this model in
other professional preparation programs, a number of barriers seem reasonable:
achieving faculty consensus for a single philosophy is one; interpreting the Helli-
son text and applying these interpretations in a consistent programmatic way is
another. The concept, however, of framing professional preparation around this

unifying theme is inspirational.
Summary Thoughts
This chapter has presented nine ways to educate preprofessionals about TPSR.
These examples are drawn from my explorations as a PE teacher educator pri-
marily concerned with curriculum and methods for physical activity specialists
working with adolescents in schools. None of these explorations has resulted in
a perfect solution for expanding professional preparation for TPSR. Each experi-
mental configuration has distinct advantages and disadvantages, possibilities and
constraints. The issues described in the following sections are lessons learned
and issues to consider for those responsible for professional preparation.
Negotiating With Program Staff

and Dealing With the Unexpected
Experiential learning is more powerful than theoretical learning. However, each
on-site course requires detailed negotiations with the school-based or after-school
program staff. Such negotiations must result in a formal “memo of understand-
ing” that details shared arrangements, times, facilities and equipment, parking
and safety procedures, program goals, and expectations. The negotiation of such
a practical memo takes time and requires a careful understanding of the needs
and interests of both parties, as well as clear goals and commitment to essential
principles.
A major difficulty for the university instructor is learning to deal with unex-
pected events at on-site venues—changes in space allocations or cancellations
without notice, for example—and designing instant alternative activities to avoid
canceling the class. Teacher education students similarly are uncomfortable
not knowing ahead of time exactly how many students they will be teaching,
in which space, and with which partner. This unpredictability requires quick,
imaginative thinking, keeping the essential priorities in mind, and adapting to
the circumstances without taking time and energy away from the fundamental
goals of the experience. In one sense, learning to anticipate and cope with this
uncertainty is good training because such uncertainty is common in high-needs
schools and youth development programs; but in another sense, it makes for a
much more stressful course experience for all.
Addressing Course Requirements

Course instructors must negotiate with teacher education students and interns,
especially in courses that are required within their degree programs. At the
beginning of the experience, course instructors must explain and clarify course
requirements, grading policies, and professional expectations for authentically
attempting teaching behaviors that may be unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Teach-
ing in such unpredictable settings is tricky and not for those who need predictable
class activities, predesigned assignments, and rigid course calendars. In return

for dealing with unpredictable events and anxious days, both instructors and
students have an opportunity to engage in something authentic and worth doing
in the search for a better solution to a problem that has persisted for too long.
Giving Up Familiar Teaching Behaviors

In many on-site settings, students are in unfamiliar territory and challenged to
question or ignore a style of teaching that they may not consider problematic.
The most difficult challenge in my experience has been helping students move
out of the deep culture of physical education teaching or coaching and into alter-
native, less authoritarian demeanors in order to reach students accustomed to
disengaging from physical education and physical activity instruction.
Abandoning comfortable teacher-controlled lesson plans because they are
losing students’ interest is very difficult, especially for undergraduates and those
who model their teaching styles after strong competitive coaches. Helping these
students move from direct instruction to student empowerment in appropri-
ate ways is a slow and subtle process that involves failure and requires a deep
understanding of new goals and strategies and a willingness to persist when
doubtful of the results.
For some teacher education students, understanding why they might need
TPSR or other indirect method may take weeks. Some never get it. Setting the
problem of what’s not working in traditional physical education, and explain-
ing why this alternative is worth trying, remains an essential key to success for
teacher education.
Learning From Students and On-Site Staff

Instructors have to recognize the strengths teacher education students have and
learn to build on these, much as we expect our students to see the strengths,
not deficiencies, of their students. We have racked our brains to find ways to
resolve problems, only to see that teacher education students themselves have
ideas and imagination that go far beyond our own. Teacher education students
are not all the same, and drawing out their experiences as the basis of problem
solving and positive teaching is often the only way to go.
Related to recognizing the contributions of teacher education students is
acknowledging that we as instructors do not know much more than our students.
With our own primarily white middle-class backgrounds and biases, and not much
more experience than our students with low-income and oppressed minority
cultures, we are often reminded of our lack of expertise. Our best allies in these
times may be the on-site staff members who know their kids and communities
far better than we do and often have insights from prior experiences that can
help explain what has happened and help find a way forward.
Communicating With the Powers That Be

Focusing on TPSR to the exclusion of traditional teacher education content may
raise hackles among our teacher education colleagues back on campus, because
it implies criticism of existing programs. In addition, department chairs, deans,

and tenure and promotion committees are likely to have more support for the
concept of “the engaged university” than the practical realities of it, such as
the time it takes to engineer course work and service projects. Despite these
pressures, appealing to the university’s espoused values of social justice and
serving the underserved is a good way to quiet critics. We need to ensure that
publications and presentations come to the attention of the appropriate people
in power. Finally, writing successful grants can be very helpful.
Keeping Things in Perspective

Although we are vocal critics of traditional physical education and sport culture,
and the schools or other institutions that support them, we should strive to see
strengths, not deficiencies, not only in kids but also in the programs, schools,
and community-based organizations where we work. We must keep in mind that
if developing personal and social responsibility through physical education and
physical activity programs were easy, it would have been done already. If improv-
ing programs and teaching in secondary schools were easy, we’d be out of a job,
and if students were simple and easy to read, they’d ultimately be boring and
not worth our attention.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ To make TPSR come alive for teacher education students, it is essential to
arrange for experience in practice teaching with children.
■■ Teaching on-site with any teaching approach requires much planning,
negotiation, and accommodation of the unexpected.
■■ Teacher education students embody the deep culture of coaching and
physical education and sometimes have trouble imagining themselves
teaching in alternative ways. Instructors should build student awareness
and confidence by convincingly setting the problem and the need for TPSR
and drawing on the strengths students bring to the table.
■■ Teacher educators often do not have enough experience with underserved
youth to understand and work though problems. Recognizing this and
seeking help from on-site colleagues who do have such experience may
provide a way forward.
■■ Those working with TPSR in PETE programs should be prepared for univer-
sity administrators and colleagues who may not appreciate the value and
time-intensive nature of learning TPSR. They often value tangible research
articles over intangible changes in teaching perspectives. Instructors
should decide what’s most important for them and find a convincing ratio-
nale that works with their department’s agenda and university’s agenda.
9
Coaching Clubs and Other TPSR
Program Structures
No more prizes for predicting rain. Prizes only for building arks.
—Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
Daryl Siedentop (1992) admonished us to think differently about PE and PA pro-

gram development. Several PE program (or curriculum) models are available to
PE and PA professionals, including TPSR and Siedentop’s sport education. Schwab
(1971) argued that program development needs to be based on a theory, either
by drawing on the literature to find a suitable theory (which Schubert, 1986,
thought was rarely applicable to practice), by modifying that theory to fit the
situation, or, as both Siedentop and Schwab suggested, by creating one’s own
theory. It might be more accurate to call it one’s own working theory-in-practice,
signaling that a set of ideas is being tested and further refined in practice. To do
this kind of work, a PE or PA imagination comes in handy.
This chapter and chapter 10 describe various issues and opportunities in
different kinds of settings. In-school PE has one distinct advantage compared to
most other settings: It is mandated in most school districts and therefore can
exert some influence on a lot of kids (Shields and Bredemeier, 1995), although
there has been some erosion of the requirement in a number of states. Unfortu-
nately, this advantage is further diminished by funding restraints, which have
increased class size and cost some teachers their jobs, as well as the deep culture
of teaching PE (i.e., deeply rooted practices such as uniforms, whistles, show-
ers for older kids, squads, and other trappings of traditional PE that discourage
change). Although none of these practices are necessarily bad, they can hinder
the cultivation of a PE imagination.
Myriad PA settings make generalizations difficult, but that same breadth offers
countless opportunities to develop, try out, and practice innovative program
models. Of course, deep culture is not limited to PE; it can be an issue in any
well-established PA program or community-based organization. However, my
experience in a number of PE and PA programs suggests that PA has fewer con-
straints, resulting in a range from very innovative programs to those that look
a lot like free play.
Alternative schools offer both small classes and more curricular structure
than after-school programs do. However, the structure does not often resemble
131
TPSR in Action
The Career Club Possible Futures program extends TPSR’s notion of Level V—
the transfer of life skills beyond the physical activity—by helping kids envision,
explore, and contemplate meaningful possible future decisions. Career Club
has two main goals: (1) empower youth to experience and reflect on coaching
as an occupation by coaching a younger group of kids, and (2) link the skills
(e.g., goal setting, communication, organizational) acquired from coaching
to careers of their choosing. Career Club aims to balance kids’ hopes and
fears, which maximizes motivation, by consistently reinforcing the connection
between the lessons learned during coaching and what is necessary for the
realization of their futures. In addition, breaking down the tasks for coaching
and the tasks for their own future aspirations into an exercise in “procedural
knowledge” helps facilitate practical reflective discussions. They are shown as
concretely as possible that any and all careers entail a similar set of procedural
difficulties and opportunities.
Kids came to understand that coaching is much more difficult than they
anticipated and that accomplishing their own goals would also be more difficult
than they had initially thought. They learned that their own persistence, effort,
and tenacity will be the primary factors in achieving their dreams.
David Walsh, Department of Kinesiology, San Francisco State University
that of traditional public school programs, because that traditional structure is

one reason students wind up in alternative schools. But PE is not a priority in
most alternative schools and is further hampered in some schools by students
having to travel to suitable sport and exercise facilities. If PE is part of the cur-
riculum, a volleyball or soccer game or an open gym sometimes comprises the
entire program.
Coaching Clubs
Nikos Georgiadis and I created the first coaching club almost two decades ago
in a low-income, high-violence area of Chicago as an alternative structure for the
implementation of TPSR. Nikos, a former professional basketball player, returned
to Greece after receiving his doctorate, leaving me—a much less competent player
(who fortunately had some basketball coaching experience)—at the helm. Bas-
ketball’s popularity kept the kids coming to the voluntary before-school program,
despite a policy of referring kids in trouble to the program. The principal and vice
principal made this decision after observing the coaching club for three years,
and I viewed this policy change as just another challenge. In truth, I didn’t see
much difference in the kids when the referral policy was instituted. By the third
or fourth year, the coaching club had become part of the school’s culture—that
is, both kids and teachers recognized the coaching club as a legitimate part of
the school. Moreover, I began receiving compliments from the teachers and
administrators for reducing violence and developing leaders in the school. By
Coaching Clubs and Other TPSR Program Structures ··· 133
the fifth year, I was invited to the eighth grade graduation ceremony and asked
to tell the parents about the coaching club. That practice continued for the rest
of the 17-year duration of the club.
Because the coaching club structure offers a specific PA model for TPSR, it
has been adopted and adapted by, among others, Tom Martinek in Greensboro,
North Carolina, schools; James Hollins of the Southwest Youth Collaborative in
Chicago; Nick Cutforth in Denver schools; Dave Walsh in San Francisco schools
and community youth organizations; Paul Wright in a Memphis YMCA; April
Rogers in a school near Washington, DC; Frankie Giosa and Kermit Blakeley at
alternative schools in the Chicago area; and Bryan McCullick in Athens, Georgia.
It has also been adopted in Spain and perhaps in other states and countries. For
this reason, it receives considerable attention in this chapter.
What’s in a Name?
The term coaching club communicates to kids, parents, administrators, and other
teachers that this is something different from a typical sport program. A coach-
ing club emphasizes learning how to help others and become a leader. If it takes
place in a Boys and Girls Club, it becomes a club within a club! To call attention
to the specific physical activity for recruiting purposes, it is sometimes called a
basketball or soccer (or whatever sport) leadership club. Coaching clubs have
also included less competitive or noncompetitive physical fitness activities such
as aerobics, weight training, and calisthenics; adventure education; martial arts;
and tumbling. Any activity that voluntarily attracts kids will work. If the program
leader wants to serve a specific group of kids, the activity needs to appeal to
them. Basketball is a shoo-in in many urban neighborhoods, including the one
being described here. One of my favorite comments came from an anonymous
student who asked the vice principal, “How bad do I have to be to get in the
coaching club?”
Advantages
Creating a coaching club offers the following advantages:
■■ Responsibility-challenged students can be given more attention and more
practice at taking responsibility by keeping club membership small, in
the range of 10 to 15. Sometimes assistance is available from cross-age
student leaders, nearby university students, or aides, and the number
can be adjusted.
■■ Kids have something meaningful to belong to—a club in which they have
a voice, can make decisions, and can eventually become leaders.
■■ As long as the space is available and policies are not restrictive, the pro-
gram leader can create the schedule, including how many days the club
meets each week and for how long. A number of constraints have forced
some coaching clubs to operate only one day a week over several years.
However, end-of-year program evaluations suggest that clubs meeting
once a week over time have a positive effect on the kids (Hellison and
Wright, 2003).
■■ In an after-school setting, some of the usual in-school PE rules such as

uniforms can be optional, and large-class management routines such as
squads are not needed for smaller groups. Because attendance is voluntary,
it’s not essential to get it right, although attendance does indicate a small
measure of responsibility. If attendance is kept, it can probably be done
from memory as long as the group is small.
Issues
PE teachers may want to help some of their responsibility-challenged students
but may not have the time or energy to take on another responsibility. Even if they
do, getting strong administrative support is sometimes difficult for an alternative
structure such as a coaching club, especially compared with the support normally
afforded to interschool organized sports or even intramurals. A nearby university
can sometimes provide volunteer interns to assist or even run a coaching club
with minimal assistance either right away or after some experience with the kids.
My colleagues and I have had quite a bit of success getting help from university
students (Hellison et al., 2000).
Another issue is finding a location for the club if the gym is occupied by other
activities. Often, improvising is necessary. I’ve conducted a martial arts coaching
club on a stage with staggering temperatures from the stage lights and in class-
rooms by moving the chairs around. A key program leader criterion for exemplary
extended-day programs is to “provide courageous and persistent leadership in the
face of systemic obstacles” (Hellison and Cutforth, 1997; see figure 1.2 on p. 9).
An activity likely to attract responsibility-challenged students may be one in
which the program leader possesses little skill at or knowledge of—for example,
skateboarding. Of course, these skills can be learned with practice, but by being
a bit vulnerable (see chapter 7), program leaders can be open to inviting the kids
to teach them, providing an authentic Level IV experience.
Some university faculty and students desire to run club programs in schools
or youth organizations. Many of the difficulties described earlier apply in these
cases; moreover, they are outsiders working on others’ turf. Dave Walsh (2002;
2006) found that two contact people at the site can be very helpful in offsetting
these barriers. The first is the initial contact person, usually an administrator
such as the school principal. The second should be someone who has direct
contact with the kids such as a teacher or coach.
Sample Coaching Club Lesson

Because coaching clubs are so varied in content, it is impossible to offer a generic
coaching club lesson plan. In this section, I describe a basketball lesson plan; but
with a few adjustments, other team sports can become coaching clubs. For indi-
vidual sports and other activities such as martial arts and adventure education,
the program title changes to leadership club, but many of the same principles
apply. For other detailed examples, see Youth Development and Physical Activity
(Hellison et al., 2000).
Relational time at the beginning of the program can be augmented by offering
the kids free time to pass and shoot on their own when they show up. The only

Kid Quotes
“How bad do I have to be to get into the coaching club?”—Fifth-grader, to the
vice principal of an urban middle school
“Don helped me. Now I’m helping him [teach younger kids].”—High school junior
“What if them little kids don’t listen to us?”—Seventh-grader
rules are those of Level I—respect others, include everyone, and share the balls
and space. With a small number of participants, ample time is available for touch-
ing base with most of them and even having one or two in-depth talks if warranted.
Either at this time or after the awareness talk, two kids who appear to be able
to handle a limited leadership role can be invited to be coaches or assistant
coaches (i.e., player-coaches or player-assistant coaches). They are given a simple
specific practice plan written on a card and asked to make fair teams (in a private
meeting without others hanging around) based on those who are participating
that day. At first, to model good coaching, the program leader can be the coach
of both teams (or an adult assistant can take one team). Assistant coaches can be
added eventually. This is a role for younger kids or those who are unsure about
coaching but want to try. At first, their job is just to run one drill. The coaches
can sometimes invite kids to be assistant coaches.
The awareness talk, conducted with kids sitting in a circle, should be brief
and focus on being a club member, which means showing up regularly, and on
Level I as noted above. In my program, we called Level I self-control of your
mouth and temper, which addressed most of the problems faced on a daily basis.
(Remember the 10-word rule: keep every talk brief.) At the next meeting, ask if
anyone remembers what this club is about. From then on, gradually introduce
teamwork, which is substituted for effort in a coaching club, because in most
cases effort is not an issue—but passing the ball is! Eventually self-coaching (a
form of Level III, which involves goal-setting) and coaching (Level IV), and much
later outside the gym (Level V), can be added, each followed over time by asking
kids to include and explain these concepts in an expanded discussion about the
purpose of the club. The program leader’s talks should be very brief. Mostly,
kids should do the talking.
After the awareness talk and the meeting with the player-coaches, the two
teams conduct a practice based on the practice plans that the two coaches (or
assistant coaches) have received, with assistance as necessary. Because new
teams are created for each lesson, rivalries are less likely to form and shouldn’t
interfere with the purpose of the club. Players sometimes complain that they
don’t want to play with someone assigned to their team. They just need to be
reminded that everyone, including famous professional athletes, have to play
with people they don’t like. It’s just part of the game.
Before the game, player-coaches need to be reminded that they are in charge
and therefore need to call timeouts to make offensive and defensive adjustments
and solve problems that arise (with help as needed). If they cannot handle this
TPSR in Action
Project Effort, which focuses on fostering TPSR values among underserved
youngsters, is in its 16th year of operation. Throughout its tenure it has served
over 700 children and youth. Project Effort came about as part of a collaborative
between the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of
Kinesiology and a principal of a local elementary school. She wanted students
who were plagued with low grades, high office referrals, and school suspension
to have a chance to be part of an after-school program that would help them
channel negative energy in a positive way. Their school biographies indicated
that they would be highly at risk for dropping out of school in their later years.
When the Project Effort Sport Club first started, all of the youngsters in the
program lived in a low socioeconomic area of the city with one of the highest
crime rates in Greensboro. With little adult supervision during after-school hours,
a program was needed to occupy kids’ discretionary time period.
Today, participating youngsters continue to come from Hampton, where they
are recommended by teachers, counselors, and the principal. We have also
expanded Project Effort to serve kids from other public housing communities,
especially those with heavy immigrant families from Mexico, Viet Nam, and
Africa.
responsibility at some point, the program leader needs to step in to help and
sometimes to replace the leader with another club member or take over for the
time being.
Club games have several rules that differ from those of traditional sport:
■■ Both teams must be taught to use a zone defense because guarding a
zone rather than a specific player reduces one-on-one rivalries and trash
talk. Eventually, if and when they are ready, player-to-player defense can
be introduced, along with picks, two- and three-player games, posting
up, and so on. The coaches’ job at first is to teach the zone defense and
have their teams practice it, which often means the coaches must first be
taught the zone.
■■ On offense, team basketball is emphasized, using the all-touch rule, which
requires that everyone on the team handle the ball in the front court before
anyone can shoot. This is certain to generate protests and complaints, so
the all-touch rule can be modified as soon as everyone understands and
practices team basketball. For additional groans and protests, limit drib-
bling to three dribbles until players understand that this is a team game
and that everyone deserves to be involved. Surprisingly, the kids get used
to this rule (although often the program leader must first outlast them!),
but they watch the other team carefully for violations. At times, however,
the objections are strenuous, and it may take some bargaining (e.g., only
three team members have to touch the ball) to resume the game. With the
all-touch (or most-touch) rule, players learn not only teamwork but also how
to move off the ball to get clear for a pass and how to pass more effectively.
■■ Because there are no referees, coaches and players must take responsibility
for conducting a fair game. This can be a daunting task, but, as with most
things, kids get better with persistence and practice.
■■ Players and especially coaches can call a timeout at any time to deal with
problems or discuss strategy. At first, the program leader will need to call
timeouts, because no one wants to stop the game. Once they experience
conducting timeouts on their own, kids will begin to call them when a prob-
lem arises with their team or in the game or to make some improvement
in their offense or defense. When a conflict breaks out and I start toward
the group, what I want to hear is, “We don’t need you; we can handle it.”
After some practice, they don’t disappoint.
■■ The soft defense rule requires that the more highly skilled players not
overplay the less skilled players on the opposing team. The kids understand
why this rule has been created and are willing to relax their defense for
kids who are clearly low skilled. But during an intense game, the higher-
skilled players sometimes suffer from temporary amnesia.
■■ Using the term “winning” as in “we beat you” is discouraged by substitut-
ing “playing as well as you can” and “playing fair.” This is an uphill battle
because winning is so ingrained in the American culture (and in many PA
and PE professionals!), despite none of us having control over who wins,
only with improving ourselves and our team. With time the message sinks
in, at least in the coaching club.
The program leader can participate in the game if another player is needed,
which also serves as a way to role model passing and zone defense as well as
defending without fouling and playing fair.
The group meeting follows the game. Again, students sit in a circle, but this
time player-coaches (or in the beginning, assistant coaches) talk first, sharing
their perceptions of how practice and the game went and who made positive
contributions on their team. Then any player can talk about the practice or game
as long as the comments are constructive. Finally, the program leader can share
observations. It is crucial for the leader to talk last; otherwise, participants’
voices will be muted.
Club members stay in the circle for reflection time. For each level or club goal
that has been introduced, they can point their thumbs up, sideways, or down to
indicate how they did with that level in the session (e.g., I respected others or
showed self-control, I sometimes respected others, or I need to work on this). If
they had time to work on individual goals, they can be asked to rate themselves
on Level III according to whether they worked on their goal, went through the
motions, or did not try at all. Journals can be used in place of thumbs, but the
program leader must take the time to read their entries and respond to validate
the process.
Coaching clubs can augment in-school PE if the teacher has the time and energy
to start an after-school club for a popular sport. These clubs offer responsibility-
challenged kids more attention and more leadership opportunities.
Cross-Age Teaching and Leadership

Cross-age teaching and leadership has already been described in chapter 5 as
both a Level IV and Level V experience. Although the logistics of arranging for
TPSR-trained older kids to teach and provide leadership for younger kids are
challenging, it provides a unique experience for both groups and especially for
the cross-age leaders who become leader, teacher, coach, and advisor of younger
kids. Monitoring and feedback are important factors in the success of the pro-
gram. (See Hellison et al., 2000, and Martinek and Hellison, 2009, for extended
discussions of TPSR-based cross-age teaching.)
Older students can be fourth- and fifth-graders working with first-, second-, and
third-graders. Or they can be eighth- or ninth-graders either working with sixth- or
seventh-graders in their school or in a local youth organization, or working with
younger kids in an elementary school. High school juniors and seniors can work
with younger high school students or travel to the middle school or elementary
school to assist there. In all these situations, cross-age leaders need to take on
Level IV responsibilities (see chapters 3 and 5).
Some responsibility-challenged older students respond to being given lead-
ership responsibilities. In a low-income minority community in Denver, Nick
Cutforth’s (2000) cross-age leaders were junior high students initially selected
for his elementary program based on their poor disciplinary record. They came
back weekly to their old elementary school as program teaching assistants.
Terry Cooper had some of her most responsibility-challenged sixth-graders
teach first-graders, and she reported that they were great teachers! I have had
success with supposedly responsibility-challenged alternative high school stu-
dents teaching younger kids in an elementary school as well as with inner-city
students grade 7 through 12 teaching 10-year-olds from a different neighbor-
hood.
Preparing students to become cross-age teachers creates yet another adminis-
trative headache: finding the time and energy to conduct mini-preservice teaching
sessions. Here are some ways I have tried to prepare cross-age teachers:
■■ Peer teaching and coaching, being integral parts of TPSR, can help prepare
students for working with younger kids, especially if accompanied by
reflection on the experience.
■■ Students can be invited to take turns conducting the awareness talk and,
with help, the group meeting and reflection time in a class or club setting.
I’ve found that giving kids who are willing to coach and teach others a
heads-up ahead of time allows them time to prepare mentally before taking
on a leadership role.
■■ Reciprocal coaching (see chapter 5) can be extended so that kids dem-
onstrate the skills to each other, point out important cues, observe, and
give feedback as a lead-up to cross-age teaching.
■■ By developing a unit or mini-program on teaching, program leaders can
give cross-age leadership candidates practice teaching lessons that they
will use with younger kids. They enjoy watching videos of themselves in
action, and feedback can help them focus on what is and is not working.
Tom Martinek (Martinek and Schilling, 2002) uses this progression for his
students:
1. They still focus on personal needs.

2. They work on teaching skills, such as organizing and managing other kids
and giving feedback.
3. They reflect on their teaching and how it has influenced their personal
growth and knowledge about other kids.
4. They teach with compassion and teach others to be compassionate.
Tom’s elaborate after-school youth leadership program is described in Youth

Leadership in Sport and Physical Education (Martinek and Hellison, 2009).
TPSR in Organized Sport

Putting TPSR into practice in organized sport (or interscholastic athletics) is in
some ways a formidable undertaking. As I noted in chapter 1, character develop-
ment rhetoric is an integral part of organized sport, although whether sport truly
builds character is a matter of debate. These traditional programs, however, do
provide structure in kids’ lives as well as supervised places during their free time,
and they require kids to make commitments. Organized sport has great appeal in
our culture; it is a magnet for kids, who tend to develop strong ties to the sport,
their teams, and their coaches.
Then why is putting TPSR into practice in organized sport so difficult? The
primary problem is the influence of the professional sport model that has trick-
led all the way down to youth sport programs. Most organized sport programs,
sometimes even at the T-ball level, try to replicate the winning-is-everything,
elitist, spectator-driven, commercialized orientation of the big-time sport model.
Despite attempts to humanize sport for kids, including a number of rule modi-
fications, too many coaches and parents value winning over participation, fair
play, and personal and social development (hence the alternative goals of the
coaching club). And too many coaches believe in their own authority rather than
in sharing power with their players. In the inner city, the myth of playing in the
NBA too often goes unanalyzed. Occasionally, coaches even intentionally use it
as a motivator. I am always amazed when I see professionals trained as school
psychologists, social workers, or special education teachers leave their train-
ing on the sidelines when they become coaches, sometimes even with special
education kids! In short, the cultural appeal of organized sport has its dark side.
Nevertheless, TPSR has been implemented here and there in organized sport.
Moreover, former professional basketball player Nikos Georgiadis argued that
the motor elite sorely need this perspective, because they are victims of the
professional sport model and its values. Sport psychologist Gloria Balague told
me that she agreed, saying that the levels of responsibility should apply to elite
athletes as well.
Walt Kelly, a veteran football coach, and Cynthia Luebbe began to use TPSR
in their high school classes in Bozeman, Montana. Kelly then decided to try out
these ideas in football. He reconceptualized the levels, as shown in table 9.1,
Table 9.1 Walt Kelly’s Football Team Levels of Responsibility

Level Name Description
I Preplayer The first and foremost goal is to respect the rights and feelings of
teammates, opponents, coaches, officials, and spectators by using self-
control (rather than coach control). This includes controlling one’s abusive
behavior, such as put-downs and arrogance, and disruptive behavior, such
as interfering with practice. It also includes negotiating differences. This is
a prerequisite to participating on the team and requires the highest need
for direct supervision.
II Player The second level involves becoming involved in the activities of the
team, learning from failure, redefining success so that success can be
experienced (e.g., improvement as success), losing oneself in the game,
and having fun. Again, the goal is to shift this responsibility to the players.
III Self-coach The goal of the third level is to help the players manage their own
development, to be their own coach. Players face a number of conflicts at
this stage—between peer pressure and their own goals, between “looking
good” and self-acceptance, etc. The coach’s role is to help players to see
these conflicts and to experiment with solutions.
IV Coach The goal of the fourth level is to learn how to support and help others, to
extend oneself beyond one’s own needs and interests, and to become an
assistant coach.
so that being a player meant being at Level II. Level I meant that the player was
working on the qualities needed to become a player. At Levels III and IV, the
concepts of self-direction and coaching were added. He taught these levels to
his players in awareness talks and required that they do self-evaluations during
scheduled reflection times at the end of practice. This self-evaluation consisted
of written comments for each level, followed by written feedback from Kelly. He
also conducted group meetings in which players could share their ideas about
practice, game plans, and decisions.
Kelly, a former U.S. marine, reported that TPSR forced him to rethink his coach-
ing style and to shift from issuing commands to collaborating and negotiating
with his players. Walt began his TPSR journey over 20 years ago and recently
telephoned while I was writing this third edition to update me on the TPSR work
he is still doing.
Bill White put TPSR into practice with his interscholastic wrestling and gym-
nastics teams in Portland, Oregon. All his senior athletes were Level IV assistant
coaches; they helped run practice and coach the younger athletes. In addition,
certain athletes had specific Level IV roles, such as the nutrition coach who taught
everyone about healthy weight-reducing practices in wrestling. His athletes were
responsible for making decisions about whether to come to practice (Level II)
and, with assistance at first, what kind of workout to do (Level III). During group
meetings, players decided who would start. That way, the decision of whether
to come to practice became a team decision. Many of White’s athletes were con-
sidered at-risk students in school. In gymnastics competitions, officials would
regularly deduct points for their dress and “non-gymnastics attitude.” Despite
this, his team took several city titles in gymnastics and placed in the top three
in the state every year he coached. He coached wrestling for a shorter time, and
his ideas turned around a struggling wrestling team almost immediately. The
point here is not that winning is important but that a coach who employs TPSR
can win, too.
Kostas Keramidas (1991) used TPSR with his junior basketball team, which
plays in a highly competitive league in Greece. He reported that the TPSR approach
has reduced the influence of the star system imported from the United States (“Be
like Mike” or more recently, like LeBron), that most of his players have reached
Level IV, that their reflection time journals show they are thinking, and that their
basketball skills have improved. Referees and coaches praised his team for their
unselfish play and their performance. Because his team has performed so well,
other coaches in the league started using reflection time journals, not to help
their players become more responsibly reflective but, assuming this idea was
imported from the American sport model, in the hope of improving the win–loss
records of their teams! And so it goes.
Responsibility-Based Fitness Centers

Compared with some other activities, fitness lends itself more to having kids take
responsibility. The activities—stretching, weight training, push-ups and sit-ups,
running, stationary bicycle—are easy to learn and don’t require much motor skill
feedback to improve. The mechanics are simple for most kids, and once they learn
the basic mechanics of a push-up, a bench press, or jogging, improvement will
come with regular training. Moreover, fitness is easily individualized. Students
start by performing the exercise correctly, record their performance, and work
from there at their own pace.
The one obstacle to running a self-directed fitness center is developing stu-
dents’ conceptual knowledge so that they can be self-directed. They may need
to learn about warm-up, overload, intervals, aerobic and anaerobic training,
heart rate measurement, and body fat reduction. Concepts posters and a brief
multiple-choice (or other) test to screen students for the threshold knowledge
necessary to work on their own is one simple way to deal with this issue (and
something I have found to be effective). This process has the additional benefit
of being self-directed, so that students must learn the concepts on their own
and schedule their test taking. If necessary, they can be issued cards authorizing
those who have passed the test to be on their own in the fitness center. Students
who can manage only Level I would require active supervision if they are to be
allowed in the center.
Despite these advantages, a program leader must monitor students who go
to the center, unless a university student interested in fitness is available. Kids
who are willing and able to take on leadership responsibilities can, with some
training or past experience, assist at the center.
At Rock Springs High School in Wyoming, Leslie Lambert and Paul Grube (1988)
created such a center. Because they wanted to nurture students toward more
decision making and self-management, they integrated TPSR into the activities
of the center. As a result, “participation has increased, most notably in the stu-
dents’ feelings of responsibility for their learning and class involvement” (p. 72).
TPSR on the Playground and at Recess

Curt Hinson (2001) adapted TPSR for the playground and recess. Hinson wrote
that his interest began this way:
When I tried to place too much control over them I ended up in a power
struggle with kids who didn’t know how to act appropriately. That’s when
I went in search of a method that could help me to teach students to be
self-responsible. (p. 63)
Hinson adapted the levels of responsibility by reducing the five levels to three
“levels of behavior”:
■■ Unacceptable (e.g., not following directions, arguing, hitting, or pushing)
■■ Acceptable (e.g., following directions, taking care of equipment, respect-
ing others)
■■ Outstanding (e.g., cooperating with others, helping others, being a role
model)
Posters of these levels were placed where kids could see them regularly, such
as the cafeteria and classrooms, and, when possible, they were reminded of the
levels before they went to the playground—such as by asking them for examples
of the levels.
Once kids understood the levels, they could make choices about how they
wanted to be on the playground. The key to Hinson’s approach was for students
to choose their behaviors rather than for adults to tell them what to do. Ideally,
unacceptable behaviors would not make them popular playmates, but they some-
times needed some assistance to figure that out. The playground supervisor’s
job was to help students who were behaving unacceptably to identify their level
of behavior and, if it was unacceptable, to change it on their own. Some children,
however, needed help to solve a particular problem, such as an argument, or to
understand how they could change to acceptable and outstanding behaviors.
The supervisor could make suggestions, but the child needed to make the final
decision.
Kids who blame others for what is happening don’t understand self-respon-
sibility. They may need some help to shift their thinking to what they need to
do rather than what others are doing. As a last resort, the supervisor can step
in and solve the problem. If a child’s behavior is still unacceptable after other
options have been attempted, removing the child from recess may be neces-
sary.
TPSR in the Classroom

TPSR has been implemented here and there in elementary and secondary class-
rooms. Most of these initiatives have relied heavily on the levels, ignoring the rest
of the framework. In almost all cases, results of the PE teacher’s implementation
of TPSR prompted other teachers to inquire about it and request help in trying
some of the ideas in their classrooms.
Classroom Applications
Most often, the levels are posted, sometimes with students doing the artwork,
sometimes with considerable creativity. For example, Vicki Jorgensen, an elemen-
tary music teacher in Ashland, Oregon (who learned of the levels from the school’s
physical education teacher, Keith Kimball), created a four-color rainbow, with one
color for each level. She called it “Put a rainbow in your life!” and the idea spread
to most of the classrooms in the school. Teachers Tom Martinek worked with
in an elementary school used selected Calvin and Hobbes cartoons to illustrate
each of the levels.
Teachers have also modified TPSR strategies for use in the classroom. Steve Hoy,
teaching a sixth-grade class in Billings, Montana, used the cumulative levels along
with the talking bench (out in the hall) and a Level Zero table where students could
separate themselves from their classmates to cool off and make a plan to improve.
He reported that TPSR has helped his kids learn how to manage themselves.
One high school math teacher reported some success in giving his students
the choice of learning content cooperatively, competitively, or individually. Tra-
ditionally, students have been in competitive contexts—who has the best test
score, who has the right answer in class—but recently, both specific cooperative
learning and individualized instruction strategies have been made available to
teachers. From a TPSR perspective, students should probably be exposed to all
three learning processes but eventually be allowed to choose the one or two
that work best for them.
Ray Petracek (1998), teaching all subjects to his class of grade 7 students in
Regina, Saskatchewan, had his kids make journal entries at the end of the day to
rate themselves on the percentage of time during the day that they functioned
at each of his adapted levels of responsibility.
■■ No control ___%
■■ Self-control ___%
■■ Involvement with effort ___%
■■ Self-direction ___%
■■ Caring for others ___%
■■ Responsible leadership ___%
Every Monday morning Ray assisted his students in setting class goals for the
week. He also kept track of incidences of not being prepared for class, disrespecting
his right to teach, disrespecting others’ right to learn, and issuing a put-down or
threat. He used these data to give feedback to his students, to discuss the problems,
and to make plans to solve them. Finally, he gave them a written assignment from
time to time, asking them to describe a situation in which all of the levels are used.
Health Education Applications

Because some physical education teachers also teach health education, those who
use TPSR sometimes experiment with it in that area. In addition, TPSR addresses
a key issue in health education: taking responsibility for one’s physical, emotional,
and social health. Because of these factors, many of the classroom applications
have been in health education.
Bill White may have been the first to implement TPSR in health education. His
Portland, Oregon, high school health education program was a semester course
that included a number of short units, such as nutrition, drug education, sex
education, and so on. Bill began the course with a mental health unit that featured
the levels. Through awareness talks, discussions (similar to group meetings), and
reflection time, he encouraged students to see the relevance of the levels in their
lives both in and out of school. He focused on the necessity of respect in social
relations, the importance of participation and effort in learning or improving
anything, the relevance of self-direction for the many choices students face on a
daily basis, the need to be cared for and helped, and the benefit of offering these
things to others. After this initial unit, the levels were applied to subsequent units
so that students were confronted with issues of self-control, effort, self-direction
(making personal decisions), and caring about others in drug and sex education,
in nutrition decisions, and even in driver education.
Chris Hare (1998), a high school health education teacher in a Chicago suburb,
was aware that he was just “spitting out information,” but he also knew that
his students needed to learn to make health-related decisions for themselves,
based on their needs and interests, as long as no one was adversely affected.
As a result, he created his own levels of responsibility for his classes (see figure
9.1). His levels focused on the climate he was trying to establish to teach health
education in an empowering way.
I: Self-Responsibility
■■ Effort on homework
■■ Coming to class prepared with the materials they need
II: Self-Control
■■ Right to be included in class discussions, to make a positive contribution
to class
■■ Right to peaceful conflict resolution in class discussions
III: Self-Direction
■■ Participation in class, sharing one’s thoughts
■■ Becoming independent thinkers, not subject to peer pressure
IV: Out of the Classroom

■■ Health education applications in life
■■ Caring about and helping others (e.g., helping one’s family develop a fire
escape plan)
V: Self-Actualization
■■ Setting long-term goals
■■ Reaching self-fulfillment and one’s potential
Figure 9.1 Chris Hare’s levels of responsibility for his health education classes.
In her wellness course, Mary Sinclair uses the levels to help students reflect
on their personal and social wellness. Students score themselves on a 1 to 10
scale on each level, and Sinclair asks them to make open-ended written com-
ments. Figure 9.2 shows how Sinclair redefined the levels to represent wellness
attitudes, values, and behaviors.
Wellness Responsibility Levels

How would you grade yourself on self-responsibility for your wellness? Using the
responsibility levels, rate yourself by circling the number you believe best represents
your effort at each of the levels (10 being the highest rating). For Levels Zero and I,
10 represents the absence of negative attitudes and behaviors. Discuss your self-
evaluation below by elaborating and using examples to support your self-perceptions.
Self-Control and Respect

Low ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Level Zero: Abusive, destructive health behavior. No ownership of own health.
Level I: Minimal investment in personal wellness. Lack of awareness about per-
sonal needs and skills. Health behaviors not unhealthy but not necessarily
constructive.
Level II: Participation and Effort

Low ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Willing to put effort into own wellness. Disciplined. Open to ideas and experiences.
Ready to risk change. Ready to develop self-awareness. Self-knowledge (first
connection between class and personal wellness).
Level III: Self-Direction

Low ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Accepting responsibility for all aspects of own health. Owning goals and problems.
Using skills of “response-ability” to internalize and work problems out. Self-
initiated goal setting and self-evaluation. High level of personal awareness.
Level IV: Helping Others

Low ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Role model for wellness. Help others with their wellness.
Figure 9.2 Mary Sinclair’s levels of responsibility for wellness.

Leslie McBride and I taught health education and physical education as one
course to high school students using TPSR as the framework (Hellison and
McBride, 1986). We introduced physical, emotional, and social health concepts in
a format similar to awareness talks in the classroom. The students then went to
the gym to experience these concepts. Classroom group meetings and reflection
time for evaluating the effect of the experience on their health followed. The class
discussed student participation in community action projects as outgrowths of
these experiences.
Schoolwide Adoptions of TPSR

I have heard of a few schools that adopted some version of TPSR schoolwide.
Closer to home, several schools and even one school district have invited me to
conduct TPSR workshops and presentations. The impetus for these invitations
came from the success of one or more PE teachers using TPSR in the school or
district. I approach these invitations wary of across-the-board adoptions of TPSR
or any other singular approach. Although students would benefit from having
consistency across the curriculum—in some ways similar to a wraparound
approach, especially if fully implemented in the halls, on the playground, and in
extracurricular activities—such adoption may force teachers to abandon some
of the things that work well for them and substitute a value-based approach
that some teachers don’t believe in. The test score mania, which has shrunk the
margins that creative teachers work in, is a perfect example. After all, develop-
ing one’s own values and beliefs is not an objective, scientific exercise. Science
can’t prove that TPSR, or any other approach for that matter, is good for kids. It
can only show whether it works. My message in this book, as well as in any TPSR
professional preparation work I do, is best expressed by Hugh Prather (1972):
And so I am left with this belief: that there are no answers, that there are
only alternatives. . . . If my words affirm you, [take them in], but if they
cause you to distrust your own experience, spit them out.
I also relied on this quote in introducing my book Beyond Balls and Bats (Helli-
son, 1978), perhaps reflecting a lack of progress in my thinking. But I’d like to
think it shows consistency in my belief that teachers can be self-directed.
Having shared my thoughts and feelings about mandatory adoptions, it may
surprise you that I still accept invitations to discuss schoolwide adoption of TPSR.
For starters, I share with teachers my skepticism about one size fitting all, just as
I am doing now. I also teach that buy-in of foundational TPSR values—empowering
kids to take personal and social responsibility and see whether it works in their
lives plus developing the kind of teacher–student relationship that supports the
transfer of these values to life—is essential. But if some do buy in, they need to
adapt TPSR to their own setting, kids, and style and progress by self-paced suc-
cessive approximations.
One middle school librarian volunteered to direct the schoolwide operation
of TPSR. She created ID cards that stated whether the student was at cumulative
Level III or IV. Students at Level III could use their IDs as hall passes, go to the
library on their own, and enjoy other perks. Students at Level IV were eligible to
do these things as well as engage in peer mediation, peer and cross-age teaching,
and similar activities. Some teachers did not buy in, but most did, and students
were receptive to receiving perks (no surprise). I struggled with the behavior
modification involved in such a system and with definitions of being responsible
that were entirely behavioral, thereby promoting doing the right thing without
necessarily valuing or believing in it. I was involved in this implementation pro-
cess, but given the importance of empowering the teachers as well as students
who were using my value system, I kept my mouth shut. As suggested earlier,
teachers tend to interpret the levels as behaviors rather than as intentions, atti-
tudes, and behaviors. In my experience, this conflict comes with the territory.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ Alternative structures that are voluntary, such as coaching clubs, cross-
age teaching programs, and fitness centers, can offer small groups more
relational experiences, provide more opportunities for leadership, and
permit kids to specialize in activities they enjoy or want to improve in.
■■ Current structures such as classroom courses, health education courses,
and playground activities can integrate TPSR values and sometimes supple-
ment TPSR already present in the school.
■■ Integrating TPSR into interscholastic sport can modify the “winning is
everything” perspective and promote teamwork, goal setting, human
decency, and leadership.
10
Getting Started
The only person you get to change is yourself.

—Carolyn Boyes-Watson
It may seem strange to name one of the last chapters in the book Getting Started,
but readers who haven’t tried TPSR and want to do so are faced with doing just
that. As Kallusky advised (in Hellison et al., 2000, p. 207), “Start small, start smart,
start and don’t stop.”
Getting started in implementing TPSR depends on many factors. Before sug-
gesting some specific strategies for getting started, let’s review some of these
factors and their implications for TPSR.
Context
Although the TPSR core values, program leader’s responsibilities (i.e., program
themes), and the entire framework have been implemented in a wide range of set-
tings, the specific context still influences the implementation process. For example,
in-school PE differs from after-school PA, and public schools differ from alternative
schools for high-needs kids. Settings also vary within a category, such as school
(e.g., urban, rural, and the many different kinds of small schools now dotting the
educational landscape). There are also “schools within schools,” magnet schools,
block scheduling, and other structural changes within schools—the list goes on.
It is risky to generalize, but a few observations may help to clarify the variety
of ways TPSR can be employed. Public school PE is generally organized around
large classes of 25 to 50 students. (If 50 students in a PE class sounds like an exag-
geration, check the class sizes in southern California and New York City, among
others.) Management and direct instruction typically dominate the teaching styles
in these programs. TPSR is often used as a management tool to deal with discipline
in class, but authentic implementation of TPSR conflicts with teacher-directed
classroom management strategies (see McCaslin and Good, 1992). Because dis-
cipline is high on the management agenda, it’s not surprising that TPSR is often
adopted for that reason, as one data-based study found (Mrugala, 2002), and not
for its core values. Fortunately, the same study also revealed that some teachers,
after adopting the cumulative levels for management purposes, gradually shifted
their priorities toward both a more holistic view of their students and being more
relational with them. This result is supported by a review of a number of TPSR
149
programs in urban and high-needs settings, which showed kids learning to be

more respectful in TPSR programs (Hellison and Walsh, 2002).
The cumulative levels (chapter 3) address the class size issue by offering a
simplified way to have kids evaluate their level of responsibility that day. How-
ever, problems described in chapter 4 arise when adopting cumulative levels. The
intention is to give kids an opportunity to evaluate their own level of responsibil-
ity, not for the program leader to be the judge and jury or to bully students into
“behaving.” Used in a top-down way, it becomes just one more way to manage
students without honoring the TPSR framework.
In addition, if Level V is omitted because outside-the-gym behavior cannot be
evaluated in class, then TPSR becomes a less effective vehicle for life skills and
values. For some—perhaps many—PE teachers, that was never their goal anyway.
Their primary concern might be to reduce discipline problems in the gym (see
chapter 8). TPSR can reduce the adversarial relationship between students and
program leaders (in this case, PE teachers), but not without leaders respecting
kids, listening to them, giving them a say in what goes on, and very gradually
shifting responsibility to them. None of this is a problem as long as program
leaders who don’t adhere to the basic tenants of TPSR refrain from claiming to
be doing TPSR (or worse, “Hellison’s stuff”). Actually, all program leaders need
to modify TPSR to fit their needs, so they always own it. But when key concepts
and values are ignored, it is truly and fully their stuff!
Public school PE has experienced a major shift toward a standards-based cur-
riculum nationally and in many states. This effort has been led by the National
Association for Sport and Physical Education, which in 2004 promulgated six
content standards (Lund and Tannehill, 2010). My concern, expressed in chapter
1, is that standards can become rigid mandates for all PE teachers. Lund and
Tannehill were aware of this issue and suggested that a variety of options could
be provided for teachers and that perhaps districts could adopt some specific
curriculum models for guidance.
PA programs come in many shapes and sizes, making generalizations difficult.
Some are part of after-school community schools with a director and staff who
may or may not be associated with the school. Some are under the supervision
of an in-school PA director who is responsible for physical activities outside of
PE. Community-based organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs
have their own guidelines and initiatives. Micro-programs (e.g., the TPSR-based
programs in Greensboro, Memphis, and San Francisco) are often housed in schools
or community-based organizations but maintain a high degree of autonomy. In
fact, a major feature of PA programs is flexibility.
Although the No Child Left Behind policy contained specific curricular require-
ments for after-school programs receiving federal funds, the federal landscape
is changing. Many PA programs enjoy wide latitude in such areas as meeting
time (how long, how often); choice of activities, either by the program leader,
the kids, or some combination (if kids want a specific activity, that can usually
be arranged); policies on uniforms, showers, squads, and other typical PE tradi-
tions; attendance, which may or may not be required, depending on the specific
program; and discipline procedures (unruly kids can be sent home or suspended
from a program for a specific period of time without administrative red tape;
leaders just need to tell them to leave and when they can return). These PA
programs occupy intermediate space (Noam, Biancarosa, and Dechausay, 2003);
Getting Started ··· 151
they should not resemble being in school nor should they look like free play on
the playground or in the street. Despite the apparent looseness of after-school PA
programs, specific criteria for exemplary after-school programs in urban settings
have been identified in the literature (see figure 1.2 on p. 9).
Self-Assessment
Adopting a new program or curriculum model is a headache for most PE and PA
professionals because it disrupts their current practice. And because it is new,
stress escalates as problems pile up. Trying something different is often difficult
for both kids and staff. That’s why, before embarking on this journey, it is impor-
tant to decide whether TPSR is worth doing (chapter 1). The TPSR questionnaire
in figure 10.1 is designed to assist this decision-making process by asking specific
questions that reflect TPSR’s core values and the program leader’s responsibilities
(i.e., program themes). The primary issue is whether these principles are compat-
ible with the setting and the program leader’s beliefs and style (or style-to-be).
TPSR Teacher Questionnaire

1. Do you like kids, and can you relate to them?
2. Do you try to treat all kids as individuals?
3. Do you spend some time consciously focusing on students’ strengths?
4. Do you listen to students and believe that they know things?
5. Do you share your power as a teacher with students?
6. Do you help your students solve their own conflicts so that they can do so
on their own?
7. Do you help your students learn to control their negative statements and
temper, or do they rely on you to control them?
8. Do you help students include everybody in the activities so that they can do
so on their own?
9. Do you give students opportunities to work independently and on their own
goals?
10. Do your students have a voice in evaluating each lesson and solving problems
that arise?
11. Do your students have opportunities to individually reflect on how well they
respect others, put effort and cooperation into their activities, are self-directed,
perform helping and leadership roles, and try these things in their lives?
12. Do your students have opportunities to assume meaningful leadership roles
such as teaching and coaching?
13. Do you place some emphasis on transferring the levels from your class to
students’ lives outside your program?
14. Do your students leave your program understanding what taking responsibility
means and how it applies to them?
Figure 10.1 Answering these questions will help you decide whether TPSR is worth doing.
This is not a beginner’s version. The questions represent an ideal TPSR pro-
gram, but they also provide a vision to shoot for. Although sitting on a one-legged
chair doesn’t work very well, the chair needs to be built a leg at a time. It is help-
ful to envision the TPSR implementation process as a series of quasi-sequential
stages toward the complete model as described in earlier chapters. Take a step,
evaluate it (ah, self-reflection again), tinker with it if needed, and move on to the
next step in the process. During this process, the focus is primarily on the task
at hand, doing the current step in the progression as effectively as possible while
attending to backsliding and similar interruptions. Keep in mind that this is only
one stage in a developmental process and that more development lies ahead.
The TPSR questionnaire can be a compatibility check with both the levels of
responsibility and the five themes. Here are the themes and the questionnaire
items that ask about them:
■■ Empowerment: questions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
■■ Self-reflection: questions 10, 11
■■ Integration of responsibility with the physical activity lesson: questions
6, 7, 8, 9, 11
■■ Teacher–student relationship: questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
■■ Transfer outside the gym: questions 12, 13
First Steps
One of the key criteria in figure 1.2 is to “provide courageous and persistent
leadership in the face of systemic obstacles” (Hellison and Cutforth, 1997). In
my experience, that is much easier said than done. Obstacles depend to a large
extent on the setting and the leadership of the principal or site director. Kids are
not obstacles; kids are kids! They are the reason for doing this work. Of course,
as has already been stated, when introducing anything new, especially if the
process differs considerably from the familiar, a good rule of thumb is to outlast
the kids. That just means hanging in there while hanging on to what’s worth
doing. Eventually, TPSR implementation will get easier, especially as relation-
ships with kids become less adversarial and as at least some kids begin to work
independently, to help each other, and to take on small and then larger leadership
roles. These changes in turn free the program leader to work with the kids who
are “responsibility challenged” and help those who need a little push to become
more self-directed or caring.
So what are these first steps? Some suggestions are coming up, but they are
just that—suggestions. Program leaders need to create their own steps (ah,
empowerment). Sometimes early in the step-by-step process, the program leader
gets bogged down. Getting stuck in an early step may just mean that, right now,
no more changes can be made. The kids may be on the verge of rebelling, or
the program leader may be fully occupied with whatever changes have already
been made. Maybe his or her “chaos level” or comfort zone has been reached
or exceeded. Or the setting contains barriers that are too difficult to negotiate.
Slowing down or stopping sometimes makes good sense, but eventually, digging
deeper will help to make the TPSR program more authentic.

Kid Quotes
“If you want to go around musty [without a shower], it’s your choice.”—High
school freshman
“It helped me believe in myself.”—Seventh-grader
“What I disliked about this program is that we should have had it a long time
ago.”—Sixth-grader
The general rule—to start small, start smart, but start and don’t stop—was
introduced in the opening paragraph of this chapter. The safest way to begin is
to add or adjust something that will only minimally disrupt the program. If this
small change works, it opens the door to taking more steps. If the change doesn’t
work, the program leader should take a step back. PE teachers who have a number
of classes can reduce the risk further by experimenting with one class for a trial
period. If it works better than the current program, expansion can proceed. If the
trial fails, the teacher can step back. For PE teachers who choose to work with
one class at first, some select their most disruptive class, figuring they have little
to lose. Others start with one of their best-behaved classes, reasoning that if it
doesn’t work there, it won’t work anywhere.
As a cautionary note, give the change enough time to succeed or fail on its
own merits. Remember, everyone in the program will be new at this. My advice
on outlasting the kids’ initial attitudes as well as those of the critics applies here:
Outlast the initial struggle and the inevitable mistakes.
It makes sense to start at the beginning, by introducing Levels I and II in a
brief awareness talk. Respect for others and active participation are familiar
territory to PE and PA professionals, and although the TPSR framework differs
considerably from traditional practice, empowerment is less pronounced at
first and therefore less challenging for program leaders with little experience in
letting go of authority. If nothing else, the levels offer a vocabulary and a pro-
gression for talking with kids about self-control and the importance of effort in
developing skills and fitness (or, if it makes more sense for a particular group,
talking about their responsibilities without using the levels structure). Teaching
practices that don’t encourage students to take responsibility obviously will
hinder the development of personal and social responsibility, but awareness
is a beginning. Keep the awareness talks brief. Long-windedness is typical of
beginners and sometimes veterans as well.
Also, check students’ body language (are eyes rolling?) to better recognize
whether they are understanding or buying in to the message. Use language kids
understand and can relate to. The word respect might work for Level I, but self-
control might be better. Maybe another word is better yet. Or ask the kids what
words they would use. One of Missy Parker’s students suggested “Just do it” for
Level II when that Nike slogan was popular.
Fran Zavacky (1997), an elementary school PE teacher in Virginia, together
with her students, her teaching partner, and his students
wrote descriptions stating what each level would look like in the physical
education setting. Students accepted the descriptions because they resulted
from collaboration between students and teachers. The discussions
involved in developing the descriptions helped create an environment
where students had the courage to try new things without worrying
about their peers’ reactions. The students began to see how they could
fit in and still succeed at their individual developmental levels. During
the school year, we watched the students grow into cooperative, caring
young people who challenged themselves more than we as teachers
could have done, and who supported each other in ways we did not
anticipate. (p. 30)
As a variation of Fran’s process, consider having students suggest some respect

rules for the class. Ask them to share things they don’t want done to themselves,
and perhaps include them in a revised definition of Level I. In a creative twist,
elementary school teacher Aleita Hass-Holcombe has used a tape recorder in
the corner of the gym so that her children could go over and listen to the latest
awareness talk message from the secret agent!
After awareness talks are under way, adding a brief reflection time at the
end of every session is a natural follow-up because it gives students a chance
to apply the levels to themselves. It’s one thing to hear the program leader
saying something like “I want you to take more responsibility for controlling
your criticism of others.” It’s quite another to have to demonstrate self-control
in the program or else face evaluating yourself for not being under control.
A simple show of hands (yes or no) for Levels I and II or pointing thumbs up
(yes), sideways, or down (no) is quick and easy to teach and learn. This also
provides an opportunity to get some sense of how kids evaluate themselves,
how honest they are.
Occasional—and then more frequent—group meetings can be inserted into
the program. Kids can gather after the physical activities and share one thing
they liked or disliked about the program that day. Even if only two students are
called on, student voices are being acknowledged. If time permits, the rest of
the group can be asked by a show of hands who agrees with those who spoke.
That way, everyone has a small opportunity to contribute their views. Running
an effective group meeting takes more skill than conducting an awareness talk or
reflection time, although all of these strategies require some skills. The program
leader has to pay close attention to kids’ comments on the program and each
other in order to respond appropriately, including making some change that has
been suggested if it could improve the program. If no adjustments are ever made,
the group meeting process becomes meaningless to the kids.
Advanced Steps
Somewhere in this process, Levels III and IV need to be integrated into the pro-
gram. These advanced levels require that kids be empowered to practice them.
Strategies that introduce a moderate version of empowerment, such as station
choice for Level III and reciprocal coaching for Level IV, provide limited oppor-
TPSR in Action
I have discovered that TPSR crosses over into new cultures and societies
through my experiences in South Africa, specifically in the Kayamandi Township.
During my time in Kayamandi, the leaders of a local nonprofit asked me to run
two sport programs for the community children, and we were also asked to train
the facilitators from the community on how to deliver a sport program based
on positive youth development. My thoughts immediately jumped to the TPSR
model. Although this environment was completely different from anything that
I had ever experienced, we shared the fundamental belief in teaching youth
how to take personal and social responsibility. I worked with the facilitators to
fine-tune the TPSR model so that it could be effective in the Xhosa culture,
and our approach continued to evolve as we ran the two sport programs for
over 30 underserved youth. We focused on imbeko (respect) with the children,
and we watched this transfer into the soccer games, with trash cans serving
as goalposts and bare feet running everywhere. Through this experience, I
discovered that the TPSR model has the potential to effect change in the lives
of youth in countries and cultures outside of the United States.
Meredith Whitley, Michigan State University
tunities for kids to demonstrate responsible self-direction and leadership. This

process will need to be individualized and peppered with brief one-on-one guid-
ance meetings, because students differ, sometimes widely, in their ability to be
self-directed and take on leadership roles, even in the early stages. Some need
more direct instruction; some soar without much assistance. The smaller the
class size, the more individualizing and nurturing can be done (obviously). In all
cases, individual progressions will be needed (see the Level III and IV strategies
in chapters 3 and 5).
Level V can wait until at least some students show that they can handle the
first four levels reasonably well. Exploring transfer outside the gym is difficult
because the climate is usually much less supportive. Kids therefore need suc-
cessful experiences with Level V in class first (see Level V strategies in chapters
3 and 5).
For most program leaders, changing how physical activities are taught is the
most difficult part of implementing TPSR, for the following reasons:
■■ Unlike the physical activity lesson, the awareness talk, group meeting,
and reflection time are new add-ons rather than a common aspect of daily
teaching and coaching.
■■ Embedding responsibility in the activity lesson requires changing standard
practices that most program leaders have been doing for some time and
probably with considerable confidence.
■■ Integration also requires the knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach
the physical activity; the knowledge, pedagogical skills, and qualities to
teach responsibility described earlier; and the ability to integrate the two.
Except for courageous souls, it is best to tiptoe into embedding responsibility

strategies in the planned activities. Some strategies can be integrated without
disrupting the curriculum or program plan, such as the following:
■■ Introduce inclusion activities and rules (e.g., in floor hockey, everyone
must touch the puck before the team shoots).
■■ Set up stations with different tasks, and progress to students choosing
stations they want to work at.
■■ Introduce self-paced challenges, such as an individualized progression of
soccer kicking and trapping activities.
■■ Reciprocal coaching is easy to work into most motor skill drills by part-
nering students. Teach three or so skill cues to help the coach guide his
or her partner at a specific task, such as taking five shots at the basket.
Physical activity lesson strategies for discipline and motivation problems can
meet an immediate need. Consider the following:
■■ If needed, install a talking bench for arguments between two students,
although they may need guidance in how to talk to each other about the
problem.
■■ DeLine’s (1991) “no plan, no play” strategy, or sit-out progressions, could
be effective for abusive game players; both are described in chapter 6.
■■ Task modification (e.g., “Do as many sit-ups as you can,” “Get close enough
to the goal [or target] so you can be successful; then back up”) might
improve students’ motivation in drills.
Advanced integration strategies require that the program leader have confi-
dence in dealing with uncertainty and possible chaos. They also require kids who
are at least somewhat competent at the first steps in taking responsibility. The
following are examples of ways to integrate TPSR into physical activity, further
empowering students:
■■ The accordion principle can be used occasionally for the entire group,
but it is more useful for individuals and small groups when they can be
entrusted to choose from some options, officiate their own games, take on
leadership roles, or assume other responsibilities described in past chap-
ters. Many such strategies can be employed in small steps or in advanced
applications of TPSR.
■■ Instead of one game, a choice of games can be offered—for example, com-
petitive and recreational, or competitive and cooperative, or game play
versus practice, perhaps using task cards for the practice. This approach
requires a brief talk beforehand about how to choose and a brief reflec-
tion time afterward to ask students whether their choices worked for
them.
Some program leaders have deviated markedly from this progression. In New
Zealand, Barrie Gordon reported that a local middle school PE teacher, with Bar-
rie’s help, implemented TPSR and within three months had her students choosing
their own fitness activities in the first 15 minutes of class. In a surprise move, one
of the two classes in which she implemented TPSR voted to come in for physical
education on a day that school was not in session!
Jeff Walsh (Hellison, 1983) took a two-hour workshop and then called me about
three months later to say that he thought he had everything that I talked about
in place with his kids, and he did! Mike DeBusk took a TPSR class and then imple-
mented his whole program plan at once in a PA program for kids in trouble. He
followed that experience with installing the whole TPSR model in his elementary
school PE class. His program was so “by the book” that when he visited one of
my programs, he said to me, “You aren’t doing the model!” Matt Smith (1990)
started his junior high school students with awareness talks and then jumped
to the development of personal plans for Level III time. He then added reflection
time and group meetings. Chicago-area elementary PE teacher Kathy Woyner
introduced awareness talks, reflection time, and self-grading at the same time in
her upper-elementary PE classes.
As I’ve argued, TPSR program leaders can continue to advance their under-
standing and practice of TPSR indefinitely. The suggestions throughout this book
represent a buffet of choices. They need to be carefully selected, taking stock
along the way to be certain that TPSR practices already in place don’t drop off the
agenda (unless they are being replaced by more promising ideas and strategies).
It is helpful to be imaginative—“What’s possible?”—at this stage. For example,
in response to criticism of the traditional two- or three-week unit that emphasizes
exposure over improvement (Siedentop, 1991), Liz Nixon and I added a Level III
day near the end of every third unit in a Portland, Oregon, high school PE program.
During Level III time, students chose to work on selected skills in the current unit,
skills from previous units, or fitness activities offered in all units. We placed stu-
dents not willing or able to handle such independence in a teacher-directed group
and gave them a one-week unit focused on a specific activity. For this to work, the
teacher-directed group needs to be offered to everyone (some may want to do it to
be with their friends or for other reasons). Those who haven’t proven themselves
able to do Level III work should be “invited” to join the teacher-directed group
(e.g., “So far you haven’t been able to be responsible on your own, so you’ll have
to be with me until you’re ready”). Level IV student leaders can help monitor the
Level III activities while the program leader takes charge of the teacher-directed
group. Sometimes an advanced student leader can assume this responsibility.
Such scheduling depends on the teaching station and available equipment, but
creativity also helps. I’ve conducted volleyball drills in the wrestling room and
volleyball and martial arts stations in the weight room (beware of flying missiles!).
A related approach is to select one physical activity as the theme for the year
or semester. Each week, students develop further in the theme activity. Fitness
is a common theme, but a sport would work by creating a modified version of
sport education (Siedentop, 1994). I have had some success in an alternative
high school concentrating on volleyball for about half of each PE class for the
entire year, to the point that students began to see themselves as a volleyball
team rather than a class.
Before the program formally begins, Level III time—where kids work on their
goals or personal plans, or just hang out—can be offered, along with relational
time and, if necessary, role taking. If things are going well, Level III time can be
extended into the lesson.
Teaching as a Subversive Activity

When trying to make program changes, the setting matters. Conducting in-school
PE is not a walk in the park in some—perhaps many—schools. Often, there is
little support for change unless it comes top down from the administration. Many
times, colleagues (who often complain about the current state of affairs) oppose
change, and any effort to change the status quo, even in just one class, has to
take place amid a hundred other pressing duties and responsibilities. Therefore,
motivation has to be high just to get started.
In some schools, innovative teaching is treated as a subversive activity. For this
reason, new program leaders need to be careful about sharing a new approach
such as TPSR with other staff. They may not be very enthusiastic and may say
things like, “We’ve tried that before” or “You’ll learn better eventually.” The moti-
vation for these rebuffs can take many forms, including jealousy or the fear that
they may be asked to do something new. Typically, staff and administrators won’t
spend much time checking on what one program leader is doing unless they have
reason to suspect that something weird is going on. If the kids like TPSR (and
they often do because they are given choices and opportunities to share their
ideas and to lead), they can certainly tell their parents about it, but if they talk
to other students, who in turn complain to other staff members about not being
given choices and so on, look out!
Telling parents can sometimes work wonders. Walt Kelly, a high school physi-
cal education teacher in Bozeman, Montana, was called into the principal’s office
to discuss what he was doing in PE. Walt prepared himself for a reprimand, but
the principal just wanted to know what he was teaching about responsibility.
Parents had been calling the principal to share their excitement about what their
kids were learning from Walt! Jeff Walsh’s principal, a former coach and physical
education teacher, pressured him to go back to traditional PE. When Jeff told his
kids about the principal’s request, they groaned and asked what they could do
about it. Jeff replied, “Nothing, unless you want to tell your parents.” The next
day the principal came to see Jeff and said, “Jeff, we could have worked it out!”
He left Jeff alone after that.
Class size is an obstacle to doing TPSR effectively, but Jeff Walsh knew better
than to argue with his school district about how his large classes interfered with
his curriculum goals. Instead, he went to his principal (the same guy) and argued
that he needed class size reductions for safety reasons. After a month had passed
with no action, he wrote the school district. They came out, observed, and told
the principal to cut the class size! (Good thing Jeff was tenured!)
The vice principal of a large high school told Bill White and me that he had no
money to pay for videos of skills being correctly performed, which we needed
to individualize our classes. So we wrote a proposal for a small state grant for
classroom improvements. We didn’t get the grant, but when the vice principal
read a copy of the letter, he called us in and said he had no idea that we were
teaching responsibility and honoring individuality, something he, as a fat kid,
never got. He gave us the money.
Those who stay in the mainstream won’t need to confront most of these prob-
lems. But those who try to implement TPSR or some other departure from business
as usual need to be prepared to weather the storm. Fortunately, education has
become more enlightened and open to change in recent years, especially from truly
student-centered administrators and teachers, but it doesn’t hurt to anticipate
problems that usually accompany the implementation of innovative practices.
Even if the staff is supportive, kids may not be very receptive. The longer they
have been doing traditional PE, especially if they were successful or having fun,
the more difficult it will be for them to adapt to change. (Remember my story
from chapter 7 about the kid in my class who wrote an essay in English called “PE
Makes You Hate”!) Taking small steps enables students to adjust to change. One
of the program leader’s qualities discussed in chapter 7, persistence, sometimes
calls for outlasting students. Of course, persistence needs to be accompanied
by listening and observing, sizing up the situation, and making adjustments. The
goal, however, remains the same: to help kids become more responsible.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ Because TPSR is, at its heart, a way of teaching, the first decision is whether
TPSR is worth the resistance that might be encountered. The TPSR teacher
questionnaire (figure 10.1) can help, as long as it is understood that the
statements describe an ideal version of TPSR, a distant vision for most of
us. That’s okay, because implementation is a gradual progression toward
the ideal version of TPSR.
■■ The first steps usually involve the introduction of Levels I and II in a brief
awareness talk, followed soon after by a brief reflection time at the end
of the lesson.
■■ Subsequent steps involve gradually implementing the other levels and a
group meeting, and eventually introducing responsibility strategies during
the physical activity lesson.
■■ Sometimes TPSR needs to be treated as a subversive activity because the
various stakeholders—other teachers, administrators, parents, and even
students—may find these ideas too radical. In these instances, it helps
to rely more on actions and less on arguments as much as possible, but,
as an old military saying goes, be prepared to “keep your head down and
out of sight!” On the other hand, parents can be effective advocates of the
program if they notice positive changes in their children (which means
they have observed some examples of Level V, transfer outside the gym).
11
Assessment and Evaluation
Strategies
with Paul M. Wright
Those personal qualities that we hold dear are exceedingly difficult

to assess, [so] we are apt to measure what we can, and eventually
come to value what is measured.
—Arthur Wise
Assessment of in-school PE typically includes the evaluation of students’ per-

formances, teachers’ performances, and sometimes the program itself. Of these,
student assessment receives the highest priority, although the standards/account-
ability movement has influenced both teacher assessment and program evalua-
tion. Assessment of after-school programs varies considerably from site to site.
However, the need for external (and sometimes internal) funding, accompanied
by an increasing demand for assessment plans and results, has ratcheted up the
need for valid assessment procedures.
Much has been written about program evaluation in general (e.g., Greene,
2000) as well as specific applications in PE (e.g., Lund and Tannehill, 2010) and
after-school programs (e.g., Eccles and Gootman, 2002). O’Sullivan and Henninger
(2000) have even written on the assessment of “student responsibility and coop-
eration” in PE. Despite the growth of designs and procedures for program evalua-
tion and learner assessment, McLaughlin (2000) raised important concerns about
the overemphasis on measuring program impact. The reality, she argued, is that
“process is product in a quality youth organization” (p. 24). Rather than focus on
fixing specific (e.g., quantitative) deficits such as dropout rates and drug abuse,
youth programs “might be more accurately judged on interim measures such
as the development of leadership skills, emotional competencies, and attitudes
of responsibility” (p. 24). In other words, as Karen Pittman memorably stated,
“Problem free does not mean fully prepared” (Benson, 1997, p. 18).
For TPSR to work effectively, feedback must be gathered in the form of assess-
ment from a number of sources, and the assessment strategies used need to
reflect the core values and themes of TPSR thereby prioritizing human decency,
positive relationships, and the whole person as well as self-reflection, empower-
ment, and transfer. Therefore, in this chapter we share a number of field-tested
161
strategies and instruments that align with and support assessment in TPSR pro-
grams. A number of the instruments described here can also be located on the
TPSR Toolbox Group Web site (www.tpsr-alliance.org/toolbox).
Student Assessment
Student assessment ought to reflect the presence of TPSR in two ways: first, by
giving students feedback on the program leader’s perceptions of the extent to
which they are taking personal and social responsibility in class, and second,
by empowering students to share in the assessment process. Both of these
approaches are built into the TPSR daily program format as multiple chances for
reflection and discussion regarding individual and group responsibility. Informal
strategies such as program leader observations, verbal checks for understanding,
and debriefing sessions are very important in helping the program leader and
students stay focused on what is important in the program and how they are doing.
Some program leaders may want (or need) to complement ongoing informal
student assessment with more formal and systematic approaches. Although
these strategies require additional time and planning, many of us find they are
worth it because they help us document student performance, establish goals
for improvement, assess change over time, and share student work. The next two
sections provide specific examples of informal and formal assessment strategies
we have found particularly useful and easy to align with TPSR.
Informal Student Assessments

Informal assessment and feedback on student responsibility should be continual
and integrated with TPSR instruction. In this section we highlight how this can be
accomplished in the group meeting and reflection time. These parts of the TPSR
daily program format involve students in the assessment process.
The group meeting enables students to evaluate the class as a whole and com-
ment on how specific individuals acted in class that day. Sometimes in the group
meeting, students criticize other students—for example, for not cooperating or
losing their temper. These incidents must be handled carefully, but as long as
the student or students being criticized have an opportunity to respond and the
process is carried out respectfully, everyone involved receives feedback. Program
leaders also have an opportunity to share their feedback with students, not only
about the process but also about whether the criticism was justified. In addition,
student leaders and coaches need to be encouraged to tell everyone how their
assignment—their mini-lesson or their team coaching performance—went and what
positive contributions the students they worked with made to the group or team.
Again, this approach provides feedback for everyone involved (along with
the benefit of pointing out student role models of Level IV), and it gives program
leaders an opportunity to share their feedback. They must, however, share their
feedback last! The program leader is only one voice in this process, and students’
authority to share their views may be usurped if the program leader talks first.
Of course, he or she can take over—this isn’t a full-fledged democracy, although
it should be heading in that direction. But taking control is only necessary if
kids need guidance—for example, on how to talk to each other or how to focus
Assessment and Evaluation Strategies ··· 163

Kid Quotes
“Can I get back in that program teaching little kids?”—High school student
released after serving time for armed robbery
“I learned more about coinciding with people that aren’t so easy to get along
with than in another class ever.”—High school freshman
or listen more. Too much “guidance” can set back the empowerment process. A
balance needs to be achieved so that kids’ voices are respected.
Reflection time more directly addresses student assessment, because the point
is to have kids assess themselves on how well they put the levels into practice
that day. If they point their thumbs, raise their hands, hold up a number of fingers,
or tap in and out, the program leader receives feedback about their perceptions
and can make occasional comments—“Yes, I saw that,” “You’re being hard on
yourself,” “I thought that needed some work,” “Should that be a goal for you?”
Formal Student Assessments

Sometimes very little is required to make the shift from informal to formal assess-
ments. The type of reflection and processing that occurs during the group meeting
and reflection time, as described in the previous section, can be made formal
simply by having students write it down in a daily log or assessment (see figures
11.1 and 11.2 for examples).
Another option would be to periodically ask students to write reflections in
a program journal. Diane Coleman, an elementary PE teacher in Memphis, Ten-
nessee, made use of the journaling strategy to work around the time constraints
placed on her (i.e., seeing the kids twice a week for only 25 minutes in which
she had to address personal and social responsibility as well as all of the other
content mandated in the national standards; NASPE, 2004). Ideally, strategies
such as daily logs, assessments, and journals would be used in addition to,
rather than instead of, group processing. With that said, an added benefit of these
strategies is that they provide documentation of student performance and give
the program leader another mode of providing feedback (i.e., written responses
to the students’ work).
Creating and Using Rubrics

Documenting the reflective process is valuable, but some program leaders also
want assessment strategies and procedures that allow them to categorize or rate
student performance. The rubric Don developed that is shown in figure 11.3,
although “excessively general” for a rubric according to one assessment expert,
illustrates the concept of rubric use with the levels. Another example, developed
by Paul, is shown in figure 11.4. Either of these rubrics can be used, appropri-
ately tightened and worded to be age appropriate, by the program leader to give
students feedback or to grade their levels of personal and social responsibility.
Student Daily Log
Name: _______________________________________ Date: ____________
Please rate aspects of today’s program below by putting a check in the box after
each item that best represents your opinion. Be honest in your responses. Some
items are about the program leader, some are about the class in general, and some
are about you personally.
Strongly Not Strongly

Program aspect agree Agree sure Disagree disagree
Today, the program leader talked about the
importance of respect and self-control.
The program leader encouraged everyone to
participate and try hard.
The program leader let students ask
questions and make suggestions today.
In today’s lesson, students had a chance to
lead or demonstrate.
Today, the program leader talked about being
responsible outside of school.
Overall, everyone in class showed respect
and good self-control today.
We, as a class, participated and tried hard
today.
Today, several students asked questions and
made suggestions.
Today, several students had an opportunity
to lead or demonstrate.
Today, I showed respect and had good self-
control.
I participated and tried hard today.
I made suggestions and asked questions in
today’s discussion.
I was able to lead or demonstrate in today’s
lesson.
Please add any additional comments you have about today’s lesson: ______________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Figure 11.1 A sample daily log for students is a simple method of formal assessment.
164
Kung Fu Club Assessment
Name: _______________________________________ Date: _____________
Please rate the program so far (1 = Needs work; 2 = Okay; 3 = Great):

Good experience _____ Learned something _____
Good workout _____ Instructor _____
Rate your level of responsibility so far (1 = Needs work; 2 = Okay; 3 = Great):

Self-control _____ Leadership _____
Effort _____ True martial artist _____
Self-direction _____
Rate your fitness level so far (1 = Needs work; 2 = Okay; 3 = Great):

Strength _____ Flexibility _____
Cardio _____ Body composition _____
Rate your martial arts skills so far (0 = Not yet; 1 = Working on it; 2 = Good at it;
3 = Can teach it):
Attention stance _____ Block up/down _____
Bow _____ Jab _____
Fighting stance _____ Cross _____
Switch _____ Footwork with partner _____
Double switch _____ Polish the mirror _____
Slide _____ Toe fighting _____
Step _____
Describe a goal that you will work on for next week: ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Write in any other comments you wish to add: __________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Thanks!
Figure 11.2 This sample student assessment for a kung fu club allows students to easily
assess themselves and the program.
165
Responsibility Rubric
Name: _______________________________________ Date: ____________
Consistently Sporadically Seldom Never
Contributes to own well-being □ □ □ □

Demonstrates effort
and self-motivation □ □ □ □
Is independent □ □ □ □
Sets goals □ □ □ □
Contributes to others’ well-being □ □ □ □
Respects others □ □ □ □
Helps others □ □ □ □
Exhibits leadership □ □ □ □
Figure 11.3 A simple rubric illustrating rubric use with the levels.
Rubric for Assessing Responsible Behavior
Name: _______________________________________ Date: ____________
Responsible All of Most of Some of None of

behavior Description the time the time the time the time
Respect Student does no harm to others 3 2 1 0
verbally or physically; includes/
works well with others; resolves
conflicts peacefully if they emerge.
Participation Student tries every activity and 3 2 1 0
takes on various roles when asked.
Effort Student tries hard to master every 3 2 1 0
task and focuses on improvement.
Self-direction Student stays on task without direct 3 2 1 0
instruction or supervision whether
working alone or with others; does
not seem to follow bad examples or
Caring Student helps, encourages others, 3 2 1 0
and offers positive feedback.
Figure 11.4 A sample rubric for assessing students’ levels of personal and social
responsibility.
166
Although rubrics provide valuable information, they do not involve students

in the assessment process. To achieve this, student leaders could be directed
to use such rubrics to evaluate students they have worked with. Students could
also evaluate themselves using the rubric. These different uses of the rubric
can comprise a progression from program leader directed to student directed.
Yet another way to share power with students and involve them in the assess-
ment process is to ask for their input in the development of a responsibility
rubric. Who knows? They might come up with one that is not excessively
general!
Having the program leader and students fill out rubrics separately and compare
notes can also be interesting. Hichwa (1998) had his middle school PE students
grade themselves with a modified rubric: Done consistently, Done most of the
time, or Done inconsistently. They wrote their self-grades for the following on
5-by-7-inch cards:
■■ Works to personal best
■■ Follows rules and is cooperative
■■ Takes care of equipment
■■ Is thoughtful and helpful to others
■■ Improves fitness and skill scores
Hichwa also graded each student in the same way and met individually with
students whose ratings did not match his to discuss the differences. Another
useful strategy he developed was using an attendance form to record his daily
observations, as follows:
■■ 1 = Works and tries hard
■■ 2 = Follows rules
■■ 3 = Respects equipment
■■ 4 = Respects others
■■ 5 = Cares for and helps others
If the behavior was negative, he placed a minus next to the number. This system
gave him specific data to discuss with his kids.
Don created a self-evaluation approach for skill development based on rubrics.
From time to time, he hands students a list of the skills they have been learning
and practicing and asks them to rate themselves. The evaluation categories range
from a low score of 1 to a high score of 5:
■■ 1 = I haven’t tried it yet.
■■ 2 = I’m working on it.
■■ 3 = I can demonstrate it correctly.
■■ 4 = I can perform it correctly in a game or situation.
■■ 5 = I can teach it to someone so that they learn it correctly.
For rubrics such as these to work as self-assessments, program leaders must
take some time to teach kids what each category means. It is also important to
make sure they are comfortable being honest (i.e., they won’t be singled out or
given a consequence if they admit to a shortcoming). We have used this approach

with both middle and high school students, and most of them needed help to get
started. However, they often express interest in evaluating their skills this way
after they understand what to do.
The rubric examples give students the opportunity to measure themselves
against set categories. Other assessments, such as the sample in figure 11.2,
provide opportunities for students to assess themselves on the TPSR levels as
well as their development in fitness, motor skills, and conceptual knowledge. It is
worth noting for PE teachers under pressure to address all of the NASPE (2004)
standards that assessing personal and social responsibility is not in conflict with
assessing the other content you teach; it can be integrated with and even shape
the assessment of performance in other learning domains. Many of our students
who are not particularly fond of writing show interest in charting their progress
in assessment workbooks. Jerry Guthrie’s workbook Be Your Own Coach (1982)
used soccer to illustrate some creative ways for students to measure their own
progress. They are shown in figures 11.5 and 11.6.
Measuring Your Skills

Name: ______________________________________ Date: ____________
You can measure soccer skills and body fitness in several ways:
Counting: How many juggles? ________________________________________
Timing: How fast through cones? ______________________________________
Accuracy: How many accurate shots? __________________________________
Sometimes you may combine two or more of these measurements:

How many hops over the ball in 30 seconds? _______________________________
Figure 11.5 A sample from Jerry Guthrie’s assessment workbook.

Adapted from Guthrie 1982.
Record-Keeping Tips
Keeping regular and accurate records of your self-coached practice is easy when
you follow a couple of simple tips:
1. Keep your recording simple and convenient. Carrying a three-by-five index

card or notebook will allow you to make regular recording of your skill mea-
surements.
2. Transfer your measurements from the small record to a permanent chart.
A wall chart posted in a conspicuous place will allow you to see how your
measurements look over a long period.
Figure 11.6 Tips for helping students to improve their record-keeping skills.
Giving Students a Say in Grading

Although the issue of grading applies more directly to PE teachers, TPSR program
leaders in other settings may also want or need to periodically evaluate their
students’ overall performances. We suggest thinking of ways to give students a
voice in that process, too. In many of the preceding examples, rubrics were used
to rate performance on specific tasks or behaviors that should be demonstrated
along the way in a program (i.e., formative assessments). As noted, these forma-
tive assessments can be administered by the program leader or the student.
The same option exists at the end of a program or unit when it is time to make a
final determination regarding the students’ overall performance (i.e., summative
assessment). In most schools and programs that serve youth, adults make these
decisions on their own without involving their students. In a TPSR program, this
practice has serious limitations:
As long as grading is not part of the assessment process, the feedback

from assessment can facilitate the development of responsibility. However
. . . if a teacher links assessment to grading, students must share in this
process in order to be true to [TPSR]. . . . Truly authentic assessment [of
responsibility] must . . . include a gradual shift in responsibility from the
teacher to the students. (Parker and Hellison 2001, p. 27)
Giving students a say in grading, or self-grading, can be done in other ways as

well. Lambert and Grube (1988) had their high school students in Rock Springs,
Wyoming, grade themselves using the responsibility levels. The teachers sched-
uled conferences to resolve conflicts between their grades and those of their
students. The result became part of the grade. Junior high school teacher Jeff
Walsh and high school teachers Gayle McDonald and Tom Hinton created the
self-grading scorecard shown in figure 11.7 to offer students input on their grades.
They developed one-sentence descriptors for various aspects of each level. Both
the student and the teacher grade the student on each component, and the teacher
then assigns a grade after considering the student’s input.
Redefining Success in Self-Grading

Chapter 5 includes a set of Level II strategies to help students redefine suc-
cess so that, with sufficient effort, they can reach it. As it applies to PE, one
approach that makes TPSR sense is to build redefining success into the grading
system. Doing this pretty much eliminates students’ comparing grades, at least
in relation to “who’s best.” At the same time, students must learn to respect
definitions of success other than their own (i.e., not making fun of less skilled
students who have defined success as improvement or even participation).
Students may prefer to be graded by their improvement, especially if their
performance in the skill or fitness component being assessed can be improved
or, from a standards perspective, should be improved. Another approach is to
give students the choice of being graded on improvement or achievement, or
some combination of the two. This approach could be taken even further by
giving students options that assess various skills, talents, or intelligences. For
example, at the end of a volleyball unit, students could choose to be graded on
Self-Grading Scorecard
Name: _______________________________________ Date: ____________
Level Behavior Self-grade Teacher grade
I Does not call others names _____ _____

I Controls temper _____ _____
I Does not disrupt class _____ _____
II Is on time to class _____ _____
II Tries new activities _____ _____
II Listens to instructions _____ _____
III Makes and follows contract _____ _____
III Writes in journal every day _____ _____
IV Shares equipment _____ _____
IV Treats others kindly _____ _____
IV Shows good sporting behavior _____ _____
Figure 11.7 A self-grading scorecard like this one can give students a voice in the
grading process.
(Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics). Adapted from Jeff Walsh, Gayle McDonald and Tom Hinton.
improvement or achievement in either a skill test or a cognitive test on rules,

tactics, and skill analysis.
Self-evaluation forms such as the self-report in figure 5.2 in chapter 5 (see pp.
75-76) help students become aware of their own needs, thereby setting the stage
for goal setting. Gary Kuney combined several of these options in a contract he
offered to his K-8 students as shown in figure 11.8. In this self-grading contract for
fitness, he first asked students to rate their present fitness and their goal. Note
that they could choose I don’t care. We’ve found that students treat all the choices
more seriously when the full range is included. Moreover, if they truly don’t care,
we’d like to know. We want them to have the opportunity to express their low
motivation to us (rather than behind our backs); then we can negotiate. They also
have a choice of whether to participate in some competitive events. Finally, they
get to choose how they will be evaluated. Gary’s contract is complicated: lots of
choices for kids, and lots of work for him. We include it here only to broaden the
ways we think about redefining success in self-grading, and it doesn’t hurt anyone
to see a program leader willing and able to pull off something like Gary’s plan.
What About Level V (Outside the Gym)?

Jeff Walsh, Gayle McDonald, and Tom Hinton created the scorecard shown in
figure 11.7 before Don had conceived of Level V, which explains why they did
Self-Grading Contract
Name: ______________________________________ Grade: ____________
Rate Your Present Fitness Level

___ Pro ___ Excellent ___ Good ___ Okay ___ So-so
___ Could be better ___ I don’t care
Where Would You Like to Be?

___ Pro ___ Excellent ___ Good ___ Okay ___ So-so
___ Could be better ___ I don’t care
Grouping I Want to Be In
___ Noncompetitive ___ Competitive
Select Four Goals or One Lab and Two Goals

___ Goal A: Book report on fitness
___ Goal B: Pass test on fitness concepts
___ Goal C: Improve fitness
___ Goal D: Give written report on history
___ Goal E: Work with others in positive manner
___ Goal F: Give it your best shot
___ Goal G: Adhere to safety rules
___ Lab A: Aerobics development lab
___ Lab B: Strength development lab
I agree to fill this learning plan.
Student: ______________________________________________________________
Witness (teacher): ______________________________________________________
Figure 11.8 Gary Kuney’s self-grading fitness contract for K-8 students.
Adapted from Gary Kuney.
not include it. Even now, exclusion of Level V is a common practice of in-school
PE teachers, as pointed out in an earlier chapter. Although we usually view such
omissions as a flaw in the practice of TPSR, grading is about student performance
in class, so it may not be possible or necessary to assess Level V in terms of per-
formance. However, we suggest that the least program leaders can do is assess
students’ understanding of Level V. Written reflections, informal assessment
during reflection time, and student self-reports can all be used to demonstrate
how well students understand the various TPSR responsibilities and life skills as
well as their applications in other settings.
Figure 11.9 is an open response “quiz” Paul gave a group of inner-city high
school students in Memphis to assess what they had learned about life skills in
his program. Of course, student responses may not correspond with their actual
behavior in other settings, but assessments such as these at least document
how well the students understand Level V. Information from such assessments
Life Skills
Name: _______________________________________ Date: ____________

In this program we have discussed a number of life skills and responsibilities you
can develop here and apply in other places such as home and the classroom. In
the space below, write down at least three life skills or responsibilities we have
discussed, and give an example (using complete sentences) of how you could use
each skill in another setting—that is, outside the gym.
Skill 1: _______________________________________________________________
Example: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Skill 2: _______________________________________________________________
Example: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Skill 3: _______________________________________________________________
Example: _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Figure 11.9 A sample quiz used to assess student learning.

can also stimulate program leaders’ reflection, increase their understanding of

their students’ perspective, guide instructional decisions, and provide student-
generated examples to integrate into discussions of Level V.
Teacher Evaluation
Few job descriptions include the phrase effectively implement TPSR in physical
activity programming. In fact, most TPSR program leaders are using this particu-
lar approach by choice. Whether they work in youth agencies or schools, they
no doubt have a long list of responsibilities and things they are accountable for
in their professional roles. As with other professionals, they probably undergo
some form of periodic review or evaluation based on these. Our objective in this
section is to provide a set of strategies that program leaders may use to evaluate
themselves with regard to their use of TPSR. We place heavy emphasis on self-
reflection and the idea of fidelity in this section and share some tools that may
provide helpful guidelines for self-assessment.
Reflective Practice
Affective and social–moral development are not high on typical school district
priorities, so TPSR program leaders may not be evaluated on those qualities
that facilitate TPSR. Despite the fact that the current national standards for PE
(NASPE, 2004) suggest that personal and social responsibility are part of the
“content” PE teachers are supposed to deliver, we have encountered very few
programs in which this expectation is taken as seriously as developing sport
skills, improving fitness, achieving high levels of moderate to vigorous physical
activity, or simply keeping kids busy. PA programs based on youth development
principles are more likely to support staff evaluations that reflect affective and
especially social development qualities. Program leaders may have to assess
their own effectiveness in making TPSR work.
One option for program leaders is to keep a reflective journal in which they
self-grade their implementation of TPSR goals and teacher skills and qualities
(see chapter 7) on a daily basis. The first time Don tried this in a high school
class that met daily, he realized that on many of the days that the lesson was
relatively smooth, his implementation of TPSR was weak. His interpretation was
that the “good” days were good primarily because the kids didn’t give him much
trouble, not because he implemented TPSR effectively. Keeping a critical eye on
implementation and not being satisfied with random success has been part of
Don’s personal growth as a program leader and the continual refinement of TPSR.
Another way to self-assess is to provide honest answers to the TPSR teacher
questionnaire shown in chapter 10, figure 10.1. If most of the answers are positive
(i.e., Yes or I’m working on it or I want to do that), the program leader is exhibiting
the basic TPSR qualities. To self-assess more specifically, program leaders should
check one of these categories for each statement:
■■ I am doing this now.
■■ I want to implement this soon.
■■ This is a long-range goal for me.

■■ I need to think about it some more.
■■ This isn’t relevant for my situation.
Assessing Fidelity
Many TPSR program leaders are naturally great with kids, share the values we
have been discussing, and create very positive learning environments. Yet they
still wonder, regarding TPSR, “Am I doing it right?” We know this because they
ask us. This question brings up the idea of fidelity, or the extent to which TPSR is
really being implemented. TPSR cannot have much effect on students if it is not
being implemented, and this really comes down to the program leader. Buchanan’s
(1996) study is a good example of that. She spent 120 pages describing her study,
including her data and the analysis of her results. Her conclusion could have been
expressed in one sentence: The program leaders had not bought in to TPSR and
therefore did not implement much of it very successfully. Assessing the fidelity of
TPSR implementation on an ongoing basis and using this information for reflec-
tion and continual improvement may prevent situations like this.
As noted earlier, one simple way to monitor implementation is to keep a daily
journal that reflects on the extent to which TPSR was put into practice that day
and how well it worked. Five minutes can be set aside for this task, or the daily
lesson or program plan can be used for this purpose (write all over it in a differ-
ent colored ink to differentiate reflections from the original lesson plan notes). A
shortcut is for program leaders to assign themselves a letter grade for the extent
of program implementation that day (e.g., A = full implementation).
As an example of a more comprehensive approach, consider a postteaching
reflection tool that Paul uses to assess his own teaching in a community-based
TPSR program he runs for at-risk youth in Memphis. This tool was created
to match an observation tool he created called the TARE (Tool for Assessing
Responsibility-Based Education; Wright and Craig, 2009). The TARE Postteach-
ing Reflection Form can be found in the appendix (pp. 187-193) as well as on the
TPSR Toolbox Web site (www.tpsr-alliance.org/toolbox). The TARE observation
tool and the postteaching reflection tool focus on specific responsibility-based
teaching strategies that are often used by TPSR program leaders.
Of course, the strategies discussed here leave lots of things out, but they can
serve as reasonable indicators of TPSR implementation. Some of these are fun-
damental, such as modeling respectful behavior and setting clear expectations.
Others are more empowerment based and go beyond what PE teachers and youth
workers typically do (i.e., give students choices, provide leadership opportuni-
ties, discuss transfer, and even give students a role in assessment!). After rating
themselves on implementation of these strategies (from Never to Extensively),
program leaders can add comments to explain the rating or provide examples.
The next section of the TARE Postteaching Reflection Form directs program
leaders to assess their implementation more holistically relative to TPSR themes
such as integration, transfer, and empowerment. These are also rated from Never
to Extensively, and space is provided for comments.
The final section of the instrument allows for an overall rating of student per-
formance related to the TPSR levels. This helps add some context to the program
leader’s implementation ratings. Remember Don’s example about days the kids
were pretty good but he realized his implementation was weak. It can happen
the other way, too; we’ve both had days when we did everything we set out to
do and implemented TPSR strategies to the hilt, but it was just a tough day in
terms of the kids’ behavior.
As noted, Paul uses this postteaching reflection in his own work, but his pro-
gram meets only once a week. Filling one of these out after every lesson might not
be feasible for program leaders who teach multiple lessons per day. Those with
less time in their schedules for this type of reflection and analysis could complete
it just one time each week. This would still document the strategies being used
and could help establish goals to improve TPSR implementation.
An observation tool such as Paul’s original TARE tool could be useful for TPSR
research and program evaluations. However, most program leaders don’t have the
luxury of a colleague or supervisor who is familiar enough with TPSR to observe
them and provide useful feedback. For those who do have such an opportunity,
consider using the TARE or perhaps the simpler TPSR Feedback Form that Don
developed (see the appendix on pp. 194-195).
Program Evaluation
Evaluating the effectiveness of a TPSR program is no simple task. After-school
and community-based programs often serve small numbers of students and have
high turnover rates. In fact, the more committed program leaders are to working
with underserved youth, the less likely they are to have a program that lends
itself to a “clean” evaluation. Although teachers in the schools often have greater
numbers of students and more stability (depending on the school), they encoun-
ter other obstacles related to the marginalized status of PE in many schools. For
these reasons, process-oriented evaluations conducted by TPSR program leaders
themselves are common and often quite valuable.
Multiple Sources of Evidence

Depending on a program leader’s context and reason for evaluating the program (e.g.,
for research, funding, oversight, program improvement, or assessing impact), it is
usually wise to draw on multiple sources of evidence. In many cases, our program
evaluations make use of the kind of information described in the earlier sections
of this chapter. Compiling multiple sources of evidence, such as student assess-
ments, program leader reflections, and program records on attendance and reten-
tion (depending on the setting), can provide a well-rounded picture of a program
and make a case for its effectiveness or areas for possible improvement (or both).
Some version of the following evaluation procedures have been used in many
TPSR programs and usually in combination (Hellison and Martinek, 2006; Hellison
and Walsh, 2002):
■■ Include in a journal or on your daily plan observations and feelings about
this approach—whether it continues to make sense, whether this is some-
thing worth standing for as a PE or PA professional. Try to separate these
comments from whether the approach is working.
■■ Remember that no one can say much about the impact of TPSR if they
can’t first demonstrate that it was implemented. So consider some form
of periodic fidelity check whether it involves a self-assessment or observa-
tion and feedback from a colleague.
■■ Use reflection time and group meeting comments as a source of student
perceptions (write them down when possible).
■■ Keep track of relevant student behaviors, such as the amount of name
calling, on-task participation, independent work, and helping others.
■■ Describe level-related activities and incidents as completely as possible for
one lesson early in the program and then again later in the program to help
determine the extent of change (either positive, negative, or no change).
■■ Ask kids how respectful or self-directed they are near the beginning of the
year and then again near the end of the year to evaluate change.
■■ Keep track of behaviors on a regular, or even daily, basis—for example,
by marking the appropriate level number next to each student’s name.
■■ Administer anonymous student evaluations of the program. Ask them
what they learned about themselves and about relating to others, as well
as whether they’ve improved. See figures 11.10 and 11.11 for examples of
anonymous student evaluations that we have given out to our students.
■■ Consider giving out pre-and post-questionnaires. You may consider con-
structing your own, or check out two that have been published in academic
journals and are available on the TPSR Toolbox Web site (www.tpsr-alliance.
org/toolbox). These are the Contextual Self Responsibility Questionnaire
(Watson, Newton, and Kim, 2003) and the Personal and Social Responsibil-
ity Questionnaire (Li et al., 2008).
■■ Use written reflections or knowledge tests related to the levels to show
the extent to which the students understand them.
■■ Talk with the students’ classroom teachers, administrators, and playground
or bus duty supervisors to see whether they believe TPSR is having any
effect.
■■ Find out whether your students’ classroom teachers assign conduct rat-
ings. If so, you can get a glimpse into their level of responsibility outside
the gym. For example, Don’s fourth- through eighth-grade students are
rated on self-control in their classroom, so he can look for improvements
on their report cards and by talking with their classroom teachers.
When looking at the preceding list, it is important to remember that no one

we know of has tackled all of these procedures, and certainly not in a single pro-
gram evaluation. We recommend choosing just a few data sources or assessment
strategies that really address key issues, problems, or program goals.
Culminating Projects
Because of the contexts many TPSR program leaders work in, few are able to
conduct the type of program evaluations many academics are interested in
(e.g., demonstrating statistically significant decreases in violence or substance
Coaching Club Evaluation
Date: ____________
1. Why do you come to the Coaching Club? _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What, if anything, did you learn about basketball in the Coaching Club? __________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. What, if anything, did you learn about yourself in the Coaching Club? _____________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. How could the Coaching Club be improved next year? ________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. What should Don do differently? __________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Figure 11.10 An example of an anonymous student evaluation of a coaching club.
abuse). However, many of us have found that culminating activities and group
projects can yield compelling products that illustrate some of the unique and
meaningful things that can be accomplished in TPSR programs, even if they are
hard to measure.
In 1999, Amy Rome (a first-grade teacher at the time) collaborated on a project
with Paul in which the two taught yoga and tai chi movements to Amy’s first-
graders using TPSR. This program involved weekly physical activity lessons and
the integration of these lessons (including the TPSR levels) into classroom activi-
ties throughout the week. This program was conducted in one of Chicago’s public
K-8 schools in the Chinatown neighborhood. The student body was made up of
poor Chinese immigrants and poor African American students whose families
lived in the nearby housing projects. Amy had invited Paul to initiate this program
in part because of racial tensions that were an ongoing problem at this school.
Student Program Evaluation
Date: ____________
Please circle the response that best matches your thoughts about this program.
1. Have you worked on the short-term goals you set in this program?
Yes No Not sure
2. Do you think your behavior in this program has improved?
Yes No Not sure
3. Do you think this program helped you do better in school?
Yes No Not sure
4. Would you take another class like this if you had the chance?
Yes No Not sure
5. Do you think this program is a good thing for students in your school?
Yes No Not sure
Briefly answer each of the following questions.
1. What did you like the most about this program? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What did you dislike about this program? _________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Do you have any suggestions to improve this program? ______________________

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Figure 11.11 An example of an anonymous student evaluation of the program.

178
At the end of the year, Amy’s first-graders had the opportunity to demonstrate
what they had learned at a schoolwide brotherhood assembly. In the weeks lead-
ing up to the demonstration, the lessons were devoted to planning and rehearsal.
When the day of the assembly came, the first-graders (about half Chinese and
half African American) worked together seamlessly to demonstrate not only a
series of complex and elegant movements but also an extremely high level of
composure, self-confidence, focus, and effort. This student performance was an
ideal culminating experience to highlight how much the students had learned in
this program. It also gave the students the opportunity to serve as role models in
their school community for brotherhood as well as personal and social responsi-
bility. Video documentation of the event served as an effective piece of evidence
to support the overall evaluation of the program.
In 2001, Stein Garcia (at the time a master’s degree student working with Don) and
several other program leaders made a short martial arts movie with students from
a TPSR Martial Arts Club operated in the after-school hours at another of Chicago’s
public K-8 schools. This school is on Chicago’s West Side and served African Ameri-
can students who were all living at or below the poverty level. Stein, who had the
necessary technical expertise and equipment, led this film project, which spanned
several weeks. He and the other program leaders worked with the students to write
a script, sketch out scenes, and choreograph fight sequences using the skills they
had been working on in the club. Of course, the film, titled Defending the Way, had
a story line that reinforced TPSR values. The final product was a DVD that included
the slick “movie” complete with outtakes and special features such as interviews
with the school’s principal, the students’ classroom teachers, and several of the
stars (students) themselves. Although we may not be able to attribute a decrease
in dropout rates or improvements in standardized test scores to a program that
served only 10 or 12 students per semester, this group project and the product it
generated provides compelling evidence of the creativity, hard work, commitment,
and responsibility that can be part of a well-implemented TPSR program.
The final example offered in this section is a book project Paul did in collabora-
tion with Diane Coleman (the Memphis PE teacher mentioned previously) in 2004.
This project was also carried out with first-graders and extended on the work
Paul had begun with Amy Rome in Chicago. By this point, Paul had found that the
traditional TPSR daily program format was better suited for students who were
at least in the upper elementary grades. To introduce students in the primary
grades to TPSR, he created a story that incorporated yoga poses, animal walks,
and tai chi–like movements. The story is about a young tiger cub that wanted
to be a leader. The tiger cub goes on a journey that involves meeting a number
of animals that help the cub learn what true leadership is (i.e., the TPSR levels).
Paul worked with one of Diane’s first-grade PE classes for several lessons until
they not only knew the various movements in the story but also knew the story
itself well enough that they could tell it on their own. At this point, each student
was able to choose one character from the story to highlight. In each case, that
student was asked to pose for a digital photo demonstrating the pose or move-
ment representing that character (e.g., jumping like a frog). To go along with
their photos, students were asked to color pictures of their characters to use as
illustrations for the book. Finally, some of Paul’s undergraduate students helped
to interview the first-graders about what they learned from the story, what they
liked most about it, and what they liked the least.
Eventually, all the student photographs and illustrations were integrated with
the text of the story into a self-published book. Kid quotes were included as an
appendix. The students were thrilled to see themselves in print when Paul read
the book to them. A copy of the book was also given to the school’s library so
the students could show their parents and friends what they had created. The
students’ classroom teacher was willing to extend the project by having them take
one of the themes from the story, caring, as the focal point of acrostic poems they
wrote the following month. By the time it was finished, this project had integrated
TPSR instruction with authentic assessment strategies and crossed curricular
lines while doing it, from the gym to the library and into the classroom. The book
along with each student’s individual photo, illustration, poem, and interview
quotes provided rich and varied data to assess what individual students and the
group as a whole had learned along the way.
These examples highlight the potential of creative group projects to provide
culminating experiences and generate meaningful artifacts for evaluating TPSR
programs. Such projects can result in concrete products such as a performance,
a movie, or a book that convey some of the hard-to-measure but extremely impor-
tant aspects of a TPSR program. These products can augment a program evalu-
ation and provide a unique way of communicating the program’s value to stake-
holders such as principals, center directors, parents, and funders. Projects such
as these provide true authentic assessments of student responsibility because
they cannot be successful if students are not willing to engage, try hard, cooper-
ate, and be responsible. The end products often demonstrate the integration of
affective development with cognitive and psychomotor development. In fact, all
of the examples offered here show the integration of these learning domains as
well as the use of higher-order thinking skills in TPSR programs.
To make one final point regarding culminating projects, we remind you of
McLaughlin’s (2000) comment that “process is product” in programs such as this.
Although the performance, the DVD, and the book are wonderful products, the
educational value was in the process that led to their creation and the extent to
which it challenged and allowed students to be responsible.
Take-Aways
you:
■■ Whether assessing students, the program, or oneself, self-assessment and
reflection are important parts of the process in TPSR.
■■ Students’ personal and social responsibility can be assessed with a rubric,
by grading specific responsibility qualities, and in other ways. But obtaining
input from the kids in group meetings and reflection time as well as having
them fill out the rubric or responsibility grades themselves will not only
empower them (if attention is paid to their views) but also provide more
information. Student self-assessment, like all empowerment strategies,
requires a gradual progression.
■■ If students are helped to build their own definitions of success into indi-
vidual criteria for their personal goals as well as their grades, they will be
more likely to explore their unique strengths and weaknesses and expand
their understanding of self-assessment (beyond evaluating themselves on
set criteria).
■■ Program evaluation should begin with an investigation of how much and
how well TPSR has been implemented (i.e., fidelity). After that, other
strategies can be used to assess its effectiveness.
■■ Good ways to assess program effectiveness include writing journal entries,
keeping track of student behaviors and comments, asking students to
evaluate the program anonymously, and requesting evaluations of students
from outside observers such as administrators, teachers, and parents.
■■ PE and PA professionals who want their teaching and leadership to be
evaluated may have to do it themselves. This is especially true if they want
their TPSR qualities to be evaluated. One way to do this is to self-grade on
a daily basis, especially in relation to the implementation of TPSR goals
and strategies as well as the skills and qualities listed in chapter 7. Another
way is to take the TPSR teacher questionnaire (see chapter 10, figure 10.1).
■■ Program leaders should consider group projects that will be developmen-
tally appropriate and engaging for their students. If well planned, these
teach students about responsibility while also providing an assessment of
their levels of responsibility. Moreover, the artifacts that come from these
projects can add an important dimension to TPSR program evaluations.
Epilogue
A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives.

—Jackie Robinson
What’s worth doing is, in my view, the most important question that PE and PA
professionals need to ask themselves, and it’s a question that needs to be asked
periodically throughout their careers. That goes for me, and perhaps you as well.
The TPSR core values are a way of being that provides a moral compass for
the TPSR framework, a path to implementation for those who decide that it might
be worth doing. If that is you, and you do get involved, feel free to join the TPSR
Alliance (www.tpsr-alliance.org) at no cost and perhaps even attend our yearly
TPSR conference.
As I continue to ask myself, Is this stuff still worth doing? I’m forced back to the
drawing board again and again to reflect, rethink, and reimagine. So far, TPSR has
survived this process, but there are no guarantees. As many of you know, if you
take this journey, you will need to return to your own drawing board again and
again. As I said in the first chapter, there is no silver bullet. If something comes
along that in your view would work better for your kids and more accurately
represents the kind of contribution you want to make, by all means use that.
The scope of this third edition of this book has been widened to include both
PE and PA in order to recognize the growing contributions of youth development
and alternative programs and schools. The world is changing. PE has had a distin-
guished past (Siedentop, 1990) but faces an uncertain future. PA programs have
had an uneven but at times impressive history as well (Addams, 1972; Halpern,
2003) and seem to offer a promising future.
In case I have failed to convey the messiness of this process, I will close the
same way I closed the previous editions of this book and Beyond Balls and Bats
(1978), with a saying by Hugh Prather (1970):
Ideas are clean.

I can take them out and look at them.
They fit nicely into books.
They lead me down the narrow way
And in the morning they are there.
Ideas are straight.
But the world is round
And a messy mortal is my friend.
Come walk with me in the mud.
183
Appendix
Assessment Tools
The TARE Postteaching Reflection and TPSR Feedback forms contained in this
appendix are provided to support high-quality TPSR implementation. The items
contained in each of these tools focus on specific aspects of the model and serve
as good indicators of quality implementation. These tools include basic direc-
tions and could be modified to serve different purposes. For example, the TARE
Postteaching Reflection Form was originally designed to guide practitioners’
self-assessment, but it could be slightly adapted for use by an observer. The
same principle is true for the TPSR Feedback Form—it was originally developed
to support program observation or supervision but could be readily converted
to a self-assessment form.
The TARE Postteaching Reflection Form (pp. 187-193) was adapted from the
Tool for Assessing Responsibility-Based Education (TARE) observation instru-
ment. The original tool was validated and tested favorably for reliability. This
postteaching reflection variation is designed to serve as a self-report comple-
ment to the direct observation tool. The structure and content are completely
aligned to facilitate triangulation. Dr. Paul Wright, who led the development of
the observation tool, later developed and field-tested this instrument. He has
used it in his own TPSR programs to guide reflection and assess fidelity of TPSR
implementation. He has also used it as a tool to train others.
The TPSR Feedback Form (pp. 194-195) was developed by Don Hellison at the
University of Illinois at Chicago and last revised in 2007. The clear case for the
tool’s validity stems from the fact that it was created by the TPSR model devel-
oper. It aligns with specific elements included in this book such as lesson format,
student goals, and program leader goals. The tool was field-tested and refined by
Hellison as he evaluated and supported health and physical education teachers
at three alternative schools in the Chicago area. It may be useful for members of
the TPSR community who are training others to implement the model. It might
also be useful for university faculty to use as an evaluation and feedback tool
for preservice physical education teachers who are learning about TPSR or
NASPE’s (2004) national standard 5. The basic content of the form could also be
reframed and used to guide postteaching reflection or self-reporting regarding
TPSR implementation.
Program leaders could use either one or both of these tools to document
their implementation of the model over time. Setting aside time to self-assess
implementation by rating the various items after each lesson (or once a week
if that’s too much) could help practitioners document what they are currently
doing and identify areas for improvement. These same tools could be used to
structure periodic observations by a supervisor, mentor, or colleague. Provided
they understand the model and know what to look for, such individuals could lend
an outsider’s perspective on implementation. Having someone observe a lesson,
185
186 ··· Appendix
rate the various items, and then discuss with the program leader afterward can
be a useful form of feedback that stimulates reflection and program improvement.
Individuals who are conducting research or a comprehensive evaluation of a TPSR
program may want to combine these strategies (program leader self-assessment
and periodic observation by an outsider) to get a more complete picture of TPSR
implementation. Beyond record keeping and data collection, we hope these tools
will be used to promote reflection, support planning, and enhance implementa-
tion fidelity in TPSR programs.
Appendix ··· 187
Tool for Assessing Responsibility-Based

Education (TARE) Postteaching Reflection Form
Instructor and Program Information
Instructor name: _ _____________________________________________________
Date of report: ________________________ Day of week: ____________________
School/program name: _________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Setting: _____________________________________________________________
Locale (urban, rural, suburban): ________________Youth grade level/age: ________
Activity content: _______________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Instructor gender: __________________Instructor race/ethnicity: ________________
Reporting period: □ Single lesson □ Several recent lessons
□ Other___________________________________________
Student Information
Approximate number in class: _________ Participant gender(s):_________________
Race/ethnicity background(s): ____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Special education included (circle one): Yes No Not sure
188 ··· Appendix
Part 1: Brief Overview of Lesson(s)
Provide some information on the context, content, and goals of the lesson(s) being
reported.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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Appendix ··· 189
Part 2: Responsibility-Based Teaching Strategies

For the time period being reported, use the scale provided to rate your use of each
of the nine responsibility-based teaching strategies below. More explicit definitions for
these strategies can be found in part 6 of this form. After selecting your rating, provide
some comments to justify that rating (i.e., give concrete examples of things you did
and said that would serve as evidence). In cases where you realize you did not make
full use of the strategy, you may want to identify ways that you could have or that you
might in future lessons.
Teaching 4 3 2 1 0 Comments to
strategies (Extensively) (Frequently) (Occasionally) (Rarely) (Never) justify rating
Modeling 4 3 2 1 0
respect
Setting 4 3 2 1 0
expectations
Providing 4 3 2 1 0
opportunities
for success
Fostering 4 3 2 1 0
social
interaction
Assigning 4 3 2 1 0
management
tasks
Promoting 4 3 2 1 0
leadership
Giving 4 3 2 1 0
choices and
voices
Involving 4 3 2 1 0
students in
assessment
Promoting 4 3 2 1 0
transfer
Extensively: This strategy was seamlessly addressed directly and evidenced in multiple ways
throughout the lesson through your words and actions.
Frequently: This strategy was addressed directly and evidenced at several points in the lesson
through your words and actions.
Occasionally: Some of your words and actions connected to this strategy either directly or
indirectly during the lesson.
Rarely: This strategy was not generally integrated into your teaching but may have been
reflected in some isolated words or actions.
Never: Throughout the entire lesson, none of your words or actions clearly conveyed or
aligned with this strategy.
190 ··· Appendix
Part 3: Personal–Social Responsibility Themes

For the time period being reported, use the scale provided to assess your overall appli-
cation of these general themes. After selecting your rating, provide some comments to
justify that rating (i.e., give concrete examples of things you did and said that would serve
as evidence). In cases where you realize you did not address a theme very strongly,
you may want to identify ways that you could have or that you might in future lessons.
4 3 2 1 0 Comments to
Themes (Extensively) (Frequently) (Occasionally) (Rarely) (Never) justify rating
Integration: 4 3 2 1 0
The extent to
which responsi-
bility roles and
concepts are
integrated into
the physical
activity
Transfer: The 4 3 2 1 0
extent to which
connections are
made to the
application of
life skills in
other settings
Empower- 4 3 2 1 0
ment: The ex-
tent to which
you share
responsibility
with students
Teacher– 4 3 2 1 0
student
relationship:
The extent to
which you treat
students as indi-
viduals deserv-
ing of respect,
choice, and a
voice
Extensively: This theme was seamlessly addressed directly and evidenced in multiple ways
throughout the lesson through your words and actions.
Frequently: This theme was addressed directly and evidenced at several points in the lesson
through your words and actions.
Occasionally: Some of your words and actions connected to this theme either directly or
indirectly during the lesson.
Rarely: This theme was not generally integrated into your teaching but may have been reflected
in some isolated words or actions.
Never: Throughout the entire lesson, none of your words or actions clearly conveyed or
aligned with this theme.
Appendix ··· 191
Part 4: Student Responsibility

For the time period being reported, provide a holistic rating for these general areas
of student responsibility. Consider observed student behavior and interactions
throughout the lesson. Keep in mind that this rubric assesses the group overall and
not individual students.
4 0
(Very 3 2 1 (Very
Areas strong) (Strong) (Moderate) (Weak) weak) Comments
Self-control: Student 4 3 2 1 0
does no harm to others
verbally or physically;
includes and works well
with others; resolves
conflicts peacefully if they
emerge.
Participation: Student 4 3 2 1 0
tries every activity and
takes on various roles if
asked.
Effort: Student tries hard 4 3 2 1 0
to master every task and
focuses on improvement.
Self-direction: Student 4 3 2 1 0
stays on task without direct
instruction or supervision,
whether working alone or
with others; does not seem
to follow bad examples or
Caring: Student helps, 4 3 2 1 0
encourages others, and
offers positive feedback.
Very strong: All students displayed this responsibility throughout the lesson with no observed
exceptions.
Strong: Most students displayed this responsibility throughout the lesson with only minor or
isolated exceptions.
Moderate: Many students displayed this responsibility, but many did not; several exceptions
were observed.
Weak: Some students displayed this responsibility, but many did not; exceptions were frequent
or serious enough to impede learning.
Very weak: Few, if any, students displayed this responsibility, and the majority struggled to
do so; exceptions were frequent or serious enough that at least some portions of the lesson
were rendered ineffective.
192 ··· Appendix
Part 5: Additional Comments or Plans
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Appendix ··· 193
Part 6: Extended Descriptions of Responsibility-Based Teaching Strategies
Modeling respect (M): The teacher models respectful communication. This would
involve communication with the whole group and individual students. Examples include
using students’ names; engaging in active listening; making eye contact; recognizing
individuality; maintaining composure; providing developmentally appropriate instruc-
tion; talking “with” rather than “at” students; showing an interest in students; and exhib-
iting unconditional positive regard. Counter examples include exhibiting indifference;
being disengaged; losing one’s temper; and deliberately embarrassing a student.
Setting expectations (E): The teacher explains or refers to explicit behavioral
expectations. Examples include making sure all students know where they should
be and what they should be doing at any given time; giving explicit expectations for
the activity or performance; and explaining and reinforcing safe practices, rules and
procedures, or etiquette.
Providing opportunities for success (S): The teacher structures lessons so that all
students have the opportunity to successfully participate and be included regardless
of individual differences. Examples in physical activity include making appropriate
adaptations for inclusion; and providing opportunities for practice, skill refinement,
and game play. Examples in less active modes include allowing students to volunteer
answers in a discussion or succeed in a nonphysical task.
Fostering social interaction (SI): The teacher structures activities that foster posi-
tive social interactions. Examples include fostering student-to-student interactions
through cooperation, teamwork, problem solving, peer coaching, and partner drills
in which communication is encouraged. Counter examples include not engaging in
random student interactions and facilitating pseudo group discussions that involve
only teacher–student exchanges.
Assigning management tasks (T): The teacher assigns specific responsibilities or
management-related tasks that facilitate the organization of the program or a specific
activity. Examples include asking students to take attendance, serve as timekeepers,
set up equipment, keep score or records, or officiate a game.
Promoting leadership (L): The teacher allows students to lead or be in charge of
a group. Examples include allowing students to demonstrate for the class, lead sta-
tions, teach or lead exercises for the whole class, or coach teams.
Giving choices and voices (V): The teacher gives students a voice in the program.
Examples include letting students engage in group discussions, vote as a group, and
make individual choices; inviting student questions or suggestions; eliciting student
opinions; and letting students evaluate the teacher or the program.
Involving students in assessment (A): The teacher allows students to have a role in
their own assessment. Examples include self-assessment or peer-assessment related
to skill development, behavior, attitude, etc.; student-centered goal setting; negotia-
tion between teacher and student on the student’s grade or progress in the class.
Promoting transfer (Tr): The teacher directly addresses the transfer of life skills or
responsibilities beyond the program. Examples of topics include working hard and
persevering in school; being a leader in the community; keeping self-control to avoid
a fight after school; setting goals to achieve goals in sports or life in general; being
a good team player when in other contexts such as the workplace; and thinking
independently to avoid peer pressure and make good life choices.
194 ··· Appendix
TPSR Feedback Form
Date: ________________________________________________________________
Program leader: _______________________________________________________
Supervisor: ___________________________________________________________
Is it working?
What’s worth doing? (Yes, No, Somewhat) Feedback
Daily program format
1. Relational time: The teacher
shows effort to relate positively to
students.
2. Awareness talk: The teacher
reminds students of their goals
(with student participation).
3. Physical activity lesson:
The teacher integrates student
goals into the lesson and solves
problems as needed.
4. Group meeting: The teacher
listens to students’ positive and
negative comments about the
lesson, as well as suggestions to
improve the lesson.
5. Self-reflection time: Students
self-evaluate how well they carried
out their goals, including outside
the gym.
Is it working?
What’s worth doing? (Yes, No, Somewhat) Feedback
Student goals and levels
1. Respect others’ rights and
feelings, and exhibit self-control
2. Show effort and teamwork
3. Exhibit self-direction and goal
setting
4. Help others, exhibit leadership
5. Outside the gym
Program leader goals
1. Relate well with students
2. Integrate content and TPSR
3. Share power with students
gradually
4. Emphasize self-reflection
(continued)
Appendix ··· 195
TPSR Feedback Form (continued)
Additional Comments
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Index
Note: The letters f and t after page numbers indicate figures and tables, respectively.
A C
accordion principle 90t, 91-92, 100 Camino, L.A. 88
Adams, H. 105 Career Club Possible Futures program 132
all-touch rule 136-137 caring, Level IV
Andersen, D. 97 description of 21t, 32t, 34f, 40-42, 43f
apprenticeship 120-121 strategies 78, 80-85
assertiveness 40 Castenada, A. 19
assessment and evaluation strategies Castenada, R. 19
program evaluation 175-180 causes of social problems 14
student assessment 162-173 checklist of personal goals 77f
take-aways on 180-181 classroom, TPSR in
teacher evaluation 173-175 classroom applications 143
assumptions 18f, 19-20 emphasis on levels 142
awareness levels 7f health education applications 143-146
awareness talk coaching club evaluation 177f
in daily program format 27f, 49 coaching clubs
description of 28 advantages of 133-134
guidelines for 53-55 background on 132-133
Ayers, B. 106, 107 issues in 134
kid quotes on 135
B sample coaching club lesson 134-137
Balague, G. 139 typical sports program versus 133
Barkley, C. 42, 43 Cody, K. 61
Beale, A. 104, 121 Coleman, D. 163, 179
being relational with kids Compagnone, N. 55
courage to confront 105 conference workshop or short course 122-123
different cultural backgrounds and 112-114 conflict resolution, peaceful 37
four relational qualities 103-105 conflict resolution strategies
kid quotes 107 emergency plan 90t, 97
program leader qualities and skills for 106- making new rules 90t, 97-98
112 self-officiating 90t, 96-97
relational time 27f, 49, 50-53, 106 sport court 90t, 96
as responsibility of program leader 25-27 talking bench 90t, 97
take-aways on 114 contract, self-grading 170, 171f
Benson, P.L. 10 contracts, written 78, 79f, 80f
Benton, R. 97 Cooper, T. 138
Beyond Balls and Bats (Hellison) 146, 183 core values 18f-19
Beyond the Ball 19 Cote, J. 18
Bing, D. 43 courage to confront 105
Blakeley, K. 133 courage to resist peer pressure 21t, 90t,
Boyes-Watson, C. 149 99-100
Bredemeier, B.J.L. 33, 113 cross-age teaching and leadership 138-139
Brees, D. 41 Cuban, L. 107
Brookfield, S.D. 31 cues, student leader 82f-83f
Buber, M. 110 cultural backgrounds of students 112-114
Buchanan, A.M. 174 cumulative levels 32t, 33-35, 61-62
Buckle, M. 4 Cutforth, N. 59, 85, 133, 138
203
204 ··· Index
D F
daily program format fattening one’s bag of tricks 87, 90t
awareness talk 27f, 28, 49, 53-55 Feedback Form, TPSR 175, 185, 194-195
basic description of 18f, 27f-28 fidelity, assessing 174-175
empowerment and 49, 50 fitness centers, responsibility-based 141
group meeting 27f, 28, 49, 56-58 five clean days 90t, 95
kid quotes on 52 five levels of responsibility. See also embed-
physical activity plan 27f, 28, 49, 55-56 ding responsibility in physical activity
relational time 27f, 49, 50-53 content
self-reflection time 27f, 28, 49, 58-62 cumulative levels 33-35
take-aways on 62 empowerment and 45
Deakin, J. 18 in framework for TPSR 18f, 20-22
DeBusk, M. 97, 157 Level 0, irresponsibility 33, 34f, 43f
decency, promoting 18 Level I, respect and self-control 21t, 34f,
DeCharms, R. 13 35-37, 43f
decision-making ability of students 26, 53, 104 Level II, participation or effort and coopera-
DeLine, J. 156 tion 21t, 34f, 37-38, 43f
Delpit, L.D. 113 Level III, self-direction 21t, 34f, 38-40, 43f
Denton, D. 106, 107 Level IV, caring 21t, 34f, 40-42, 43f
Dewey, J. 6, 63 Level V, role models outside the gym 21t,
Doolittle, S. 112, 117 42-43, 170-173
Dravecky, D. 103 level modifications 44
Dreikurs, R. 91 progression of levels 32t-33
take-aways on 45
drill and exercise leadership 81, 82f
football, TPSR in 139-140t
Dryfoos, J.G. 14
Forsberg, N. 19, 107, 126, 127
dysfunctional families 10
Foster, H.L. 113
E framework for TPSR
assessment 18f, 28
effort and cooperation (participation or
assumptions 18f, 19-20
involvement), Level II
basic description of 17, 18f
description of 21t, 32t, 34f, 37-38, 43f
core values 18f-19
strategies 69-73
daily program format 18f, 27f-28, 49-62
embedding, defined 18f, 24-25 embedding strategies 18f, 24-25, 63-86
embedding responsibility in physical activity levels of responsibility 18f, 20-22, 31-45
content program leader responsibilities 18f, 22f-27
kid quotes on 65 take-aways on 29
Level I strategies 67-68 Fraser-Thomas, J. 18
Level II strategies 69-73
Level III strategies 73-78 G
Level IV strategies 78, 80-85 Garcia, S. 86, 179
Level V strategies 85-86 genuineness and vulnerability 109-110
physical activity content 63-66 Georgiadis, N. 32, 57, 66, 72, 84, 111, 132
strategy progression 66-67 Gerstner, L.V. 131
take-aways on 86 Giosa, F. 133
Emerson, R.W. 49 Giraffe Club 85
empowerment Glasser, W. 93
daily program format and 49, 50 goal-setting progression 74-77
gradual 22-23 Goodlad, J. 63
levels of responsibility and 45 Gordon, B. 122, 156
struggles with 98-100 Gordon, G.L. 108
Ennis, C.D. 108 Gould, D. 77
evaluation and assessment strategies grading 169-170, 171f
program evaluation 175-180 Grandma’s law 90t, 94
student assessment 162-173 group meeting
take-aways on 180-181 in daily program format 27f, 49
teacher evaluation 173-175 description of 28, 49, 56-57
Index ··· 205
guidelines 57-58 Kennedy, D. 44

options 58 Keramidas, K. 141
purpose of 57 kid quotes 11, 26, 33, 52, 65, 93, 107, 135,
Grube, P. 141, 169 153, 163
Guilford Interfaith Hospitality Network Kimball, K. 143
(GIHN) 24 Kohn, A. 13, 78
Guthrie, J. 168 Kramer, T. 62
Kuney, G. 170, 171f
H Kunjufu, J. 10
Hahn, K. 40, 42
Hansen, K. 39 L
Hare, C. 144 Lambert, L. 141, 169
Harlem RBI 9, 12 Lawson, H.A. 14, 87
Harmin, M. 51 Level 0, irresponsibility 33, 34f, 43f
Hartinger, K. 59 Level I, respect and self-control
health education applications 143-146 defined 21t, 34f, 35-37, 43f
Hellison, D. 77, 119, 120, 122, 127, 167, 175, strategies 85-86
176, 185 Level II, participation or effort and cooperation
helping and leadership problems 100-101 defined 21t, 34f, 37-38, 43f
helping others and leadership. See Level IV strategies 69-73
Henninger, M. 161 Level III, self-direction
Hichwa, J. 19, 20, 44, 167 defined 21t, 34f, 38-40, 43f
Hinson, C. 44, 142 strategies 73-78
Hinton, T. 169, 170 Level IV, caring
Hirsch, B.J. 112 defined 21t, 34f, 40-42, 43f
Hockett, P. 61 strategies 78, 80-85
holistic self-development 18-19 Level V, role models outside the gym
Hollins, J. 133 assessment and 170-173
HOPE (Health/Outdoor/Physical Education) Career Club and 132
program 127 defined 21t, 42-43
Howard, K. 87 group meetings and 58
Howe, Q. 11, 53, 88, 108, 111, 112, 113 strategies 85-86
Hoy, S. 143 transfer 22f, 25
humor, sense of 111-112 levels of responsibility. See also five levels of
Hurley, T.J. 105 responsibility
basic description of 18f, 20-22
I cumulative levels 33-35
ID cards 146-147 empowerment and 45
independence, on-task 21t, 73-74 five levels 35-43f
individuality of each student 26, 52, 103 kid quotes on 33
intensity scale 72-73 level modifications 44
intuition and self-reflection 110-111 progression of levels 32t-33
irresponsibility, Level Zero 33, 34f, 43f take-aways on 45
Lickona, T. 22, 55, 107
J life skills
James, W. 41 emphasis on 11-12
Jones, J. 19 quiz 172f
Jordan, M. 99 Lifka, B. 84
Jorgensen, V. 143 listening and caring 108-109
journal writing log, student daily 164f
for class evaluations 58 Luebbe, C. 139
in physical education 59 Lund, J. 4
for program leaders 173
M
K Manning, W. 27
Kallusky, J. 149 Martinek, T. 23, 24, 38, 41, 66, 77, 78, 84, 85,
Kelly, W. 78, 139, 140, 158 94, 121, 133, 136, 139
206 ··· Index
Masser, L. 42 framework for teacher education program

McBride, L. 146 126-128
McCarthy, J. 51 nine ways to teach TPSR for 120f
McCullick, B. 133 one-week intensive elective 123
McDonald, G. 169 required methods course in after-school
McDonald, J. 23, 170 program 125-126
McLaughlin, M. 4, 5, 10, 109, 161, 180 semester-long elective 124
Mead, M. 3 site-based practicum or internship 121
meeting, group summary thoughts on 128-130
in daily program format 27f, 49 take-aways on 130
description of 28, 49, 56-57 within required activity course 124
guidelines 57-58 within required on-site undergraduate
options 58 methods course 125
purpose of 57 Pittman, K. 161
Mesa, P. 14 player-coaches 83
Morris, G.S.D. 68 playful spirit 111-112
Mosley, W. 37 playground, TPSR on 142
Mosston, M. 23 Play It Smart 9
Power, C. 56
N Prather, H. 146, 183
Nacu, J. 81 program evaluation
negotiation 90t, 92-93 culminating projects 176-177, 179-180
Nicholls, J. 38, 108 multiple sources of evidence 175-176, 177f,
Nixon, L. 157 178f
No Child Left Behind policy 150 program leader, qualities of
Noddings, N. 11, 18, 53, 63, 105, 107 genuineness and vulnerability 109-110
no plan, no play 90t, 93 intuition and self-reflection 110-111
listening and caring 108-109
O sense of humor and playful spirit 111-112
one-liners, awareness talk 54-55 sense of purpose 107
on-task independence 21t, 73-74 strong leader 106-107
organized sport, TPSR in 139-141 program leader responsibilities
O’Sullivan, M. 161 being relational with kids 25-27
Outward Bound 40 embedding 24-25
framework of TPSR and 18f
P gradual empowerment 22-23
Parker, M. 39, 44, 59, 121, 153 self-reflection 22f, 23-24
participation or involvement (effort and transfer 22f, 25
cooperation), Level II Project Coach 9
description of 21t, 32t, 34f, 37-38, 43f Project Effort 136
strategies 69-73 Project Rebound 9
Pastor, P. 91, 92 Puckett, K. 41
peer pressure, courage to resist 21t, 90t, 99-100
peer teaching and coaching 81 Q
personal physical activity plan qualities and skills of program leader
as checklist 77f genuineness and vulnerability 109-110
goal setting for 77-78 importance of strong leader 106-107
as written contract 79f, 80f intuition and self-reflection 110-111
Petitpas, A. 9 listening and caring 108-109
Petracek, R. 126, 143 sense of humor and playful spirit 111-112
physical activity plan in daily program format sense of purpose 107
27f, 28, 49, 55-56 questionnaire, TPSR teacher 151f-152
physical education teacher education (PETE), quotes, kid 11, 26, 33, 52, 65, 93, 107, 135,
TPSR for 153, 163
advantages of 117-120 quotes, teacher education student 123
apprenticeship 120-121
conference workshop or short course 122- R
123 Raths, L.E. 51
Index ··· 207
Raywid, M.A. 8, 9, 10 Shields, D.L.L. 33

recess, TPSR at 142 Siedentop, D. 4, 131
reciprocal coaching 80-81, 138 Silberman, C. 63
Reeder, M. 38, 69 silver bullets, no 14, 15
referral 90t, 95-96 Simon, S.B. 51
reflection, importance of 17, 23-24 Sinclair, C. 68
reflection-in-action 87, 88-90, 101 Sinclair, M. 145
reflection time in daily program format 27f, site-based practicum or internship 121
28, 49, 58-62 sit-out progression 90t, 92-93
reflective practice for program leaders 173- Sizer, T. 4, 7, 19
174 Smith, M. 157
relational time 27f, 49, 50-53, 106. See also social and educational issues 10-11
being relational with kids social-emotional learning (SEL) 11-12
respect, Level I 21t, 32t, 33, 34f, 35-37 social problems, causes of 14
respect for cultural differences 114 Socrates 23
responsibility-based fitness centers 141 Soltz, V. 91
Right Fielders Are People Too (Hichwa) 19 solutions bank 87, 89-90
Rink, J. 9 sport, organized 139-141
Robinson, D. 43 sport court 90t, 96
Robinson, E. 17 starting a TPSR program
Robinson, J. 183 advanced steps 154-157
Rogers, A. 133 context 149-151
Rogers, C. 110 first steps 152-154
Rome, A. 177, 179 innovation as subversive activity 158-159
Rose, B. 109 kid quotes on 153
Rothstein, R. 8, 9, 10 self-assessment 151f-152
Rubin, L. 110 take-aways on 159
rubrics for assessment 163, 166f, 167-168 Stiehl, J. 68
student
S decision-making ability of 26, 53, 104
Schafer, W. 105 individuality of 26, 52, 103
Schilling, T. 23 strengths of 26, 52, 103
Schon, D.A. 89 voice of 26, 52-53, 104
schoolwide adoptions of TPSR 146-147 student assessment
scorecard, self-grading 170f formal student assessments 163, 164f, 165f
self-control and respect, Level I informal student assessments 162-163
defined 21t, 34f, 35-37, 43f rubrics for 163, 166f, 167-168
strategies 67-68 student daily log 164f
self-direction, Level III Student Health and Fitness Act 9
defined 21t, 32t, 33-34f, 38-40, 43f success, redefining 71-72
strategies 73-78
self-evaluation form 60f T
self-evaluation methods 59 table, Level Zero 143
self-grading contract 170, 171f talking bench 90t, 97
self-grading scorecard 170f Tan, C. 23
self-modification of tasks 69-70 Tannehill, D. 4
self-officiating 90t, 96-97 Tappan, M.B. 13
self-paced challenges 70-71 TARE (Tool for Assessing Responsibility-
self-reflection Based Education) 174, 175, 185, 187-193
daily program format and 27f, 28, 49, 58-62 task cards 70, 71f
intuition and 110-111 teacher-directed group 90t, 94-95
problem setting and 87-88 teacher education program. See TPSR in PE
program leader responsibilities and 22, teacher education
23-24 teacher education student quotes 123
self-report for goal setting 75f-76f teacher evaluation
sense of purpose 107 assessing fidelity 174-175
SEPE (sport, exercise, and physical educa- reflective practice 173-174
tion) 14 teaching and leadership, cross-age 138-139
208 ··· Index
teaching by invitation 90t, 98 site-based practicum or internship 121

teaching personal and social responsibility summary thoughts on 128-130
(TPSR). See also TPSR framework take-aways on 130
birth of 5-6 TPSR for 117-120
as working theory-in-practice 6-8 within required activity course 124
Teaching Physical Activity: Change, Chal- within required on-site undergraduate
lenge, and Choice (Stiehl, Morris, and methods course 125
Sinclair) 68 TPSR teacher questionnaire 151f-152
Templin, T. 3 TPSR Toolbox Web site 162, 176
10-word rule 54, 135 transfer outside the gym, Level V
three Rs for teaching prosocial behavior 44 assessment and 170-173
Tom, A. 53 Career Club and 132
TPSR Alliance 183 defined 21t, 42-43
TPSR Feedback Form 175, 185, 194-195 empowerment and 45
TPSR framework group meetings and 58
assessment 18f, 28 level modifications and 44
assumptions 18f, 19-20 strategies 85-86
basic description of 17, 18f teach for transfer 22f, 25
core values 18f-19 Trujillo, J. 108
daily program format 18f, 27f-28, 49-62
embedding strategies 18f, 24-25, 63-86 V
levels of responsibility 18f, 20-22, 31-45 values 7, 12-13
program leader responsibilities 18f, 22f-27 values of TPSR, core 18f-19
take-aways on 29 voice of each student 26, 52-53, 104
TPSR in action vulnerability and genuineness 109-110
in aquatic medium 104
Career Club Possible Futures 132 W
Climbing Club 39 Walsh, D. 83, 121, 124, 132, 133, 134
fitness program 122 Walsh, J. 59, 95, 157, 158, 169, 170
Grandma’s law 94 Washington, G. 42
Guilford Interfaith Hospitality Network 24 Weinberg, R.S. 77
leadership class 69 Weiner, L. 14
Leadership Mentor program 108 wellness responsibility levels 145f
Police Activities League 4 what’s worth doing 3-5, 15
Project Effort 136 White, B. 55, 56, 140, 158
school for kids with behavioral problems White, G. 89
89 Whitley, M. 36, 155
in South Africa 155 Williams, R. 111
teacher education program 127 Williamson, K.M. 32
Team Support advisory program 51 Wise, A. 161
Youth Leader Corps 66 Woyner, K. 157
Youth Sport Club for refugee boys 36 Wright, P.M. 12, 121, 133, 161, 163, 174, 175,
TPSR in classrooms 179, 180
classroom applications 143 written contracts for personal plan 78, 79f,
emphasis on levels for 142 80f
health education applications 143-146
TPSR in PE teacher education Y
apprenticeship 120-121 Youth Development and Physical Activity
conference workshop or short course 122- (Hellison et al.) 134
123 youth development programs 8-10
framework for teacher education program Youth Leader Corps 24
126-128 Youth Leadership in Sport and Physical Educa-
nine ways to teach TPSR for 120f tion (Martinek and Hellison) 139
one-week intensive elective 123
required methods course in after-school Z
program 125-126 Zavacky, F. 153, 154
semester-long elective 124 Zero, Level 33, 34f, 43f
About the Author
Don Hellison, PhD, is a professor in the college of

education at the University of Illinois at Chicago
and codirector of the Teaching Personal and Social
Responsibility (TPSR) Alliance. He has extensive
experience working with high-risk youth, was a dis-
tinguished research fellow at Adelphi University, and
has been a visiting professor at numerous universi-
ties in the United States and in Canada.
Much of Hellison’s work focuses on the develop-
ment, implementation, and evaluation of alternative
physical activity program models that teach life
skills and values, especially for underserved youth.
He has published six books and numerous articles
and book chapters. Hellison has received many
awards, including the Gulick Medal (AAHPERD’s
highest honor) and the International Olympic Committee’s President’s Prize. He
has received grant support for 25 projects, served on three editorial boards, and
was editor of Quest for two years. He has given keynote addresses, made pre-
sentations at professional meetings, and conducted workshops for teachers and
youth workers in most of the 50 states, several Canadian provinces, and Israel,
Korea, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, England, and Spain. He has also served
on numerous committees for several professional associations.
209
You’ll find other outstanding
physical education resources at
www.HumanKinetics.com
In the U.S. call . . . . .1.800.747.4457
Australia . . . . . . . . . . 08 8372 0999
Canada. . . . . . . . . . 1.800.465.7301
Europe . . . . .+44 (0) 113 255 5665
New Zealand . . . . . . 0800 222 062
HUMAN KINETICS
The Information Leader in Physical Activity & Health
P.O. Box 5076 • Champaign, IL 61825-5076

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Third Edition

Chapter 2 A Framework for Teaching Personal

Chapter 3 Levels of Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chapter 5 Embedding Responsibility in

Chapter 6 Strategies for Specific Problems

Chapter 7 Being Relational With Kids . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Teaching TPSR in PE Teacher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Conference Workshop or Short Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Chapter 9 Coaching Clubs and Other TPSR

Chapter 10 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Chapter 11 Assessment and Evaluation Strategies . . . 161

Student Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Don Hellison’s career is unique in physical education teacher education. It is

If you want to write about the truth

There is no such thing as an individual.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can

What’s Worth Doing in Our

Some PE and PA professionals turn to research for answers to what’s worth

Birth of Teaching Personal

teacher certification, so I took a position at a university and at the same time

Toward a Working Theory-in-Practice

Following Sizer’s less-is-more principle, I had to exclude many other possible

Caring and helping

■■ helped them to understand that self-direction and helping others were

After-School, Youth Development,

Key Criteria for State-of-the-Art Youth

Figure 1.2 The 11 key criteria of youth development programs.

Youth development, which initially emerged in the 1990s as a response to the

by different concerns, this legislation opens the door to supporting school PA

Influence of Related Social

Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes

Increasing Emphasis on Life Skills in PE and PA

[A person] cannot be defined through an inventory of actions performed

There Are No Silver Bullets

In Mesa’s conceptualization, PE and PA programs focus on intermediate

You gotta have a system.

Figure 2.1 TPSR is shared through a flexible framework.

Figure 2.2 The core values of TPSR.

Table 2.1 Components of the Levels of Responsibility

Program Leader Responsibilities

Program Leader Responsibilities

Figure 2.3 The TPSR program leader’s responsibilities.

Gradual Empowerment (Shifting Responsibility

1. Students share their ideas and thoughts in the group meeting.

Being Relational With Kids

Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes

Putting It All Together

Daily Program Format

Daily Program Format

Figure 2.4 The daily curricular structure for TPSR programs.

Other Aspects of the TPSR Framework

No philosophy, theory, or theorist can possibly capture

Although teaching certainly has a “technology,” a “here’s how” to teach physical

Table 3.1 Cumulative Levels

Kid Quotes student Quotes Kid Quotes student Quotes

The progression, although loose, is open to question. For example, Shields

Level IV, Caring

Level III, Self-Direction

Level II, Participation

Name: __________________________ Date: _

Name: ___________________________ Date: _

ȻȻ Laps: How many? _ 6-second pulse rate _