Dan Timm, Ed.D.
Department of Kinesiology
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Background
Teach in the physical education teacher
education (PETE) program at the
University of Wisconsin
 The “Act 31 person”
 Apply Act 31 to physical education
 What can I do to make the Act 31
training better?

 Helpful to know what other PETE programs
were doing
Literature Review
Maurer (1994) found no positive results of
including Act 31 into a high school
curriculum
 Johnson (1996) and Smith (1997) found a
lack of compliance and understanding
on the part of school district
administrators

Literature Review

WIEA/WTEDA/UW-Extension (2000)
indicated 2/3 of colleges of education
reported being in compliance with Act 31
 Data from all teacher education programs
were grouped together
 Not known if any PETE programs responded
to the survey
So…
If I wanted to know what other PETE
programs were doing, I would have to
find out myself
 Initial thought was to examine all the
PETE programs in the state

 Advisor quickly changed that idea to
something more manageable
 Case study of one program
Research Question

How does a Wisconsin university
include Act 31 in the PETE teachertraining curriculum to attain
transformative learning regarding values
and social justice for American Indian
people in Wisconsin?
Purposeful Sampling
Wanted the participant PETE program to
be doing a “good” job
 Informally contacted UW institutions that
offered a major in PETE

Purposeful Sampling

Eight universities were contacted; how
many responded?

Of the universities that responded, how
did they indicate they were including Act
31 in PETE curriculum?
Purposeful Sampling
Five universities responded
 Received a variety of responses

 “Dance class but that instructor is now gone”
 “I know we’re not doing a good job”
 “I think that’s covered in Education but I’m
not sure”
Purposeful Sampling
One university responded in the
affirmative
 The participating university for the study
had been identified

Methods

Qualitative grounded theory design
 Grounded theory would help explain the
practice of how a Wisconsin university
included Act 31 in its PETE teacher-training
curriculum

Participants
 Four instructors of the “human relations”
course
 Five PETE preservice teachers
Data Collection

Artifacts
 Course syllabus, assignments, and readings

Interviews using open-ended guiding
questions
 Instructors
 PETE preservice teachers
Data Analysis

Artifacts
 Coded to discover the underlying meaning

Interviews
 Transcribed and coded to discover the
underlying meaning
Data Analysis

Draft Summary
 Themes were identified

Story Draft
 Pulled together themes and detailed
information from artifacts, instructor
interviews, and PETE preservice teacher
interviews
Critical Pedagogy Analysis

Findings of the study were examined
from a critical pedagogy perspective
(Freire, 1970/1970)
 Identified themes as a schooling or
education approach to teaching Act 31
(Kanpol, 1998; McLaren, 2003)
 Schooling is similar to a
technical/managerial approach to teaching
Act 31 (Leary, 2007)
 Education is similar to a historically situated
approach to teaching Act 31 (Leary, 2007)
Findings – Five Themes
Factors affecting the teaching of Act 31
 Instructors’ teaching of Act 31
 Instructors’ thoughts on the teaching of
Act 31
 Act 31 and PETE courses
 PETE preservice teachers and Act 31

Findings – Five Themes

What are some “sub-themes” that were
revealed under each of the five themes?
Factors Affecting the Teaching
of Act 31

Overall course content was extensive
 Act 31 was one of 12 topical areas in a 15-
week course

Time spent teaching Act 31 was small
 Three instructors spent one week
 One instructor spent two weeks
 Basic information; could not go into detail
Factors Affecting the Teaching
of Act 31

Preservice teachers’ prior knowledge of
Act 31
 Most preservice teachers knew nothing
about Act 31 prior to the human relations
course
 Instructors no longer expect preservice
teachers to know anything about Act 31
 Service learning project
○ Director of curriculum, principals, and
teachers did not know anything about Act 31
Factors Affecting the Teaching
of Act 31

Preservice teachers’ perceptions of
American Indians
 Treated poorly in the past but now things are
OK
 Very separate from the lives of preservice
teachers
 Either “a deficit model” or “they have unfair
rights model”
Factors Affecting the Teaching
of Act 31

Addressing methods in the human
relations course
 Instructors of methods courses were
resistant to include anything about race or
culture
 Resulted in a big split between methods and
content
 Many preservice teachers did not know how
to apply Act 31 to their content area
Factors Affecting the Teaching of
Act 31

Critical pedagogy perspective
 Schooling approach to training preservice
teachers so they will have met requirements
to become licensed teachers
 Technical/managerial approach to teaching
Act 31
○ Instructors were limited to be solely in
compliance with Act 31 and satisfy a
curriculum requirement
Instructors’ Teaching of Act 31

Instructors’ approach to teaching Act 31
 Attempted to have preservice teachers
attain transformative learning regarding
values and social justice for American Indian
people in Wisconsin
○ Develop greater awareness, examine own
value systems, think critically
Instructors’ Teaching of Act 31

Instructors’ approach to teaching Act 31
 Three instructors took a gradual, cumulative
approach (O’Hara, 2006);
 One instructor took a direct, in-your-face
approach
Instructors’ Teaching of Act 31

Learning activities used to teach Act 31
 Minimal lecture
 Discussion
 Large and small group work
 Question and answer sessions
 Preservice teacher presentations
 Guest speaker presentations
 Readings, videos
Instructors’ Teaching of Act 31

Perspectives from which Act 31 was
taught
 Historical
 Political
 Social
 Contemporary
 Educational
 Social justice
Instructors’ Teaching of Act 31

What preservice teachers are expected
to learn and achieve from their Act 31
training
 Be better prepared as teachers
○ Content knowledge
○ Able to integrate Act 31 into their teaching and
curriculum; not in a superficial manner
Instructors’ Teaching of Act 31

How instructors know if preservice
teachers have successfully completed
their Act 31 training
 No formal assessment
 Evaluation of in-class activities
 No indication if preservice teachers “could
really do it” or were just in compliance with a
state requirement
Instructors’ Teaching of Act 31

Critical pedagogy perspective
 Instructors took an education approach to
teaching Act 31
○ Attempted to go beyond a superficial level and
attain depth of understanding and
transformation
 Historically situated approach to teaching
Act 31
○ Taught from various perspectives
○ Attempted to foster development of values
and social justice
Instructors’ Thoughts on the
Teaching of Act 31

Being in compliance with Act 31
 Instructors questioned the validity of being in
compliance with the Act 31 requirement
○ One instructor felt she was just checking
checkboxes when teaching the human
relations course
○ “I just think it’s really a joke that this class can
count as covering…even if we do it great, it’s
still not OK” (Instructor Helen)
Instructors’ Thoughts on the
Teaching of Act 31

Building partnerships
 As a group, the instructors had not built
partnerships with American Indian entities
on-campus or off-campus
 Preservice teachers were told to build
partnerships
 One instructor had individually built
partnerships
Instructors’ Thoughts on the
Teaching of Act 31

Critical pedagogy perspective
 Instructors thought they were schooling
preservice teachers on Act 31
 Factors affecting the teaching of Act 31
limited instructors to a technical/managerial
approach to teaching Act 31
Act 31 and PETE Courses

How Act 31 was currently included in
PETE courses
 Was not included
 Possibly included as an underlying tone in a
methods class discussing culturally relevant
pedagogy
 “I don’t know if I’m that comfortable even
including it in my classes” (PETE preservice
teacher Colleen)
Act 31 and PETE Courses

Suggestions for including Act 31 in
future PETE courses
 Introduced in humans relations course and
reinforced in PETE courses
 PETE courses needed to address more
diversity issues
 Opportunities for professional development
for PETE instructors are limited because of
teaching loads
Act 31 and PETE Courses

Critical pedagogy perspective
 Act 31 not being included in any PETE
courses represented a schooling or
technical/managerial approach to teaching
Act 31
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

PETE preservice teachers’ prior
knowledge of Act 31
 All grew up in Wisconsin
 None recalled Act 31 being included in
elementary or secondary education
○ Taught whatever textbooks stated
 Realized textbooks were wrong after taking human
relations course
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

PETE preservice teachers’ retention of
Act 31
 Minimal retention of Act 31 from human
relations course
 Remembered only bits and pieces of
information; no connected thoughts
 “Can you review what Act 31 is?” (PETE
preservice teacher Mike)
 No preservice teacher mentioned Act 31 in
any of three portfolios
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

Difference in self before and after being
taught about Act 31
 Greater awareness and sensitively toward
American Indians
 One thought he grew as a teacher; another
felt more mature
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

Views on social justice for American
Indians in Wisconsin
 Public needed to be educated more
○ Act 31 not being taught enough or stressed
enough
 American Indians sometimes
misunderstood; shed in a negative light
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

Thoughts by PETE preservice teachers
regarding the Act 31 instruction they
received
 Excellent course but difficult to apply the Act
31 material
 Could have been better
○ Stressed more
○ More time given it in the human relations
course
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

Including Act 31 in future teaching
 Readiness: talk about history if play a Native
game
 Told to be creative and make content
relevant to students
○ Not sure how to do that with Act 31
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

Including Act 31 in future teaching
 “I would say very poorly. I don’t think I’ve
been prepared to any extent to include it in
my teaching. The instructors had really no
idea how to include it in as a phy ed teacher”
(PETE preservice teacher Colleen)
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

Recommendations for future teaching of
Act 31 to PETE preservice teachers
 More direct, more emphasis
 Should be its own class
 Incorporated into PETE curriculum
PETE Preservice Teachers and
Act 31

Critical pedagogy perspective
 Thoughts represented a schooling or
technical/managerial approach to teaching
Act 31
○ Lack of retention of Act 31
○ Few differences in selves after Act 31 training
Grounded Theory

Compliance Theory
 Administrators at a Wisconsin university did
what was needed to be in compliance with
the Act 31 requirement
○ PETE preservice teachers did receive
instruction in the history, culture, and tribal
sovereignty of the federally-recognized tribes
and bands in the states
Grounded Theory

Compliance Theory
 Administrators at a Wisconsin university
placed secondary importance on the quality
of Act 31 training provided to preservice
teachers
○ Act 31 was included in only one course
 One of 12 topical areas
○ Act 31 was not included in methods courses
○ Act 31 was not included in PETE courses
Recommendations

A Wisconsin university
 Reevaluate how it addresses the Act 31
requirement
 Act 31 needs to be included in methods
courses
 Remove some of the content from the
human relations course
Recommendations

Instructors of human relations course
 Move some content to a history, philosophy,
and law of education course
 Build partnerships with campus and
community groups
 Develop a way to assess preservice
teachers’ knowledge of Act 31
Recommendations

PETE Program
 Incorporate Act 31 into its courses
○ Reinforce what is taught in the human
relations course
○ PETE preservice teachers have opportunity to
apply Act 31 content to physical education
Recommendations

Wisconsin Department of Public
Instruction
 Reconsider the concept of compliance
Thank You
Dan Timm, Ed.D.
 Faculty Associate
 Department of Kinesiology
 2000 Observatory Drive
 University of Wisconsin
 Madison, Wisconsin 53706
 608-262-7714
 dtimm@education.wisc.edu

Full Text of Study…

Timm, D. J. (2012). Raising awareness
regarding American Indian issues in
physical education preservice teacher
training. (Walden University). ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses, 302.