Description

Talking Circles offer an opportunity to meet other delegates with similar interests and concerns. Delegates self-select into groups based on broad thematic areas and then engage in extended discussion about the issues and concerns they feel are of utmost importance to that segment of the Research Network. Participation is open, encouraged, and supported.

How Do They Work?

The Talking Circles are grouped around each of the conference themes so discussions can focus on the specific areas of interest represented by each theme.  

How to Begin:

Allow members of the group to briefly introduce themselves. 

The facilitator should encourage open dialogue and ensure a collegial and respectful conversation. 

Starting Questions to Assist Discussion

Talking Circle: Who are we?

What is the territory, or scope, or landscape of this thematic area?

What are the burning issues, the key questions for this theme?

What are the forces or drivers that will affect us as professionals, thinkers, citizens, and aware and concerned people whose focus is this particular theme?

What are the future directions (in research, in theory-building, in practice) for this thematic area?

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Special Focus: Teaching & Learning Physical Education

Expanding social horizons requires a modernization of the education system, and this is just as much the case for Physical Education as every other area of the curriculum. Physical Education is a way of promoting sporting and related social values in students from an early age. Recent methodological trends in Physical Education teaching focus on the role of student interests in developing motivation and engagement. They point to pedagogical models as the primary tool for achieving these goals, supported by productive peer relations, self-discipline, or personal autonomy. Hybridizing multiple pedagogical models allows teachers to adapt their teaching methodologies to the ever-changing school context. In these ways, Physical Education is now brought closer to students' needs and interests. Additionally, competence-based teaching has become established in educational policy around the world as a means to set and evaluate pedagogical goals. In these ways, an interdisciplinary subject such as Physical Education meets our society's social and educational requirements.