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The next generation of teachers will be tasked with showcasing their advocacy skills to promote the educational value of quality health and physical education (HPE) programs. Th e new Initial Standards for Teacher Preparation drafted by SHAPE America

– Society of Health and Physical Educators include advocacy and promotion as key profes-sional behaviors (Krause et al., 2015). Advocacy skills include eff ective communication with education stakeholders (e.g., administrators, parents and students) and assertive negotiation for the interests and rights of the K–12 students in their care. Th ese skills assist educators in promoting the profession as a key contributor to the youth education experience. Th is change to the teacher preparation standards will prompt HPE teacher preparation programs to provide opportunities and activities that facilitate advocacy skill development and practice (Hurley, 2016).

By Kimberly S. Hurley

CHEERLEADING PRACTICE:

ADVOCACY IN ACTIONADVOCACY IN ACTIONADVOCACY IN ACTIONColumn Editor: K. Andrew R. Richards

Community Outreach for Advocacy Skill Development

48  Strategies

Aspirant and veteran HPE professionals share the respon-sibility to cheerlead their efforts in developing health-literate and physically literate youth (Bryan & Sims, 2011). Ball State University’s HPE teacher education seniors complete a com-munity service project focused on sharing the message of qual-ity HPE with the most powerful educational stakeholders: parents! Our students craft a presentation that clearly outlines quality HPE practices and market the message to parents and administrators. The message is science- and practice-based and highlights current trends and professional guidelines for the HPE profession (see http://www.shapeamerica.org). The pur-pose of this article is to outline this outreach project and the way in which it is used to develop professional advocacy skills. We break the project down into five components using a sport performance metaphor: establishing your fan base, organizing your team, developing the game plan and honing skills, game night, and postgame press release.

Establishing Your Fan BaseAs the project coordinator, I begin to establish our “fan base”

very early in the school year. Because many school districts begin their academic year earlier than the university calendar, I begin perusing community school websites to find parent–teacher organization (PTO) information. Contact information is sometimes challenging to secure, but school calendars will often highlight meeting dates and times. Additionally, phone calls to the administrative office can yield a name and email for the PTO president or other parents/guardians in leadership positions. Attendance at the first meeting of the year gets me on the agenda where I briefly introduce and describe the ad-vocacy project. I market the presentation as “practice” in shar-ing with parents, colleagues and administrators the value of our profession and current trends in quality HPE. I also identify a late-semester meeting date for my students to present the information they develop throughout the semester. Groups welcome the opportunity to hear from our students; all PTO groups that have been approached have accepted our request and have formally invited us to present to their parents, teach-ers and administrators.

Organizing Your TeamsOnce the PTOs have been identified and dates established,

I begin to place our students into presentation groups, assign them to community schools, and establish a timeline for the project. I typically get teams together within the first month of classes, and because this advocacy activity is completed dur-ing their senior year, I am able to organize teams according to student strengths and weaknesses to maximize team effective-ness. Teams complete an accountability contract highlighting each member’s strengths and weaknesses and a team-generated conflict resolution plan. All members sign the contract and accept consequences of contract breaches (e.g., project point deductions, group dismissal). I also try to match the strength of student teams with current physical education programs at

the community schools. For example, I might place my stron-gest team at a school that has recently reduced or dropped the physical education requirement. In one situation, a PTO parent president with concerns that their junior high requirement had been dropped without parental knowledge approached me and invited our students to present the value of our discipline to parents and administrators.

University library professionals equipped with project re-quirements conduct a workshop where students are guided to multiple knowledge-driven resources, including scientific and scholarly databases. Teams brainstorm a variety of current top-ics for inclusion in the advocacy presentations and have flex-ibility in presentation design while adhering to a science-based framework. Teams are required to secure professional sources (e.g., .org. or .gov web resources, scholarly research and practi-tioner-focused publications) as they craft their advocacy mes-sage.

Developing the Game Plan and Honing Key Skills

Teams are required to complete five formal meetings and submit their meeting minutes using an electronic course-man-agement system. Each team assigns presentation sections, such as introduction, content and conclusion, to each member ac-cording to presentation strengths and preferences. Teams are provided with opening information that introduces the HPE university program while highlighting their charge to advocate for the value of HPE in K–12 education. I emphasize the im-portance of tailoring the message so that it clearly resonates with the parents, administrators and teachers in their specific school community. Groups are guided to school websites where they learn about each district’s mission and vision. Students access teachers’ websites to gain knowledge of the assigned school’s climate for academics, student values and administra-tor presence. I encourage them to showcase the science linking HPE and academic achievement, along with holistic wellness outcomes for physically literate youth, and to gather resources from professional websites, such as the one maintained by SHAPE America (www.shapeamerica.org). I discourage nega-tive health messages (e.g., childhood obesity), as they may be perceived as stigmatizing and blaming (Puhl, Peterson, & Lu-edicke, 2011).

This message is considered “high stakes,” so student teams complete two required peer-practice sessions. Two weeks from their presentation date, teams receive critical feedback from peers on presentation style and content. Final presentation practices are approximately one week before the PTO meeting dates, and students practice streamlining speaking transitions and clearly conveying the “take-home” message within the 20-minute timeline.

Game NightStudent advocates dress professionally (e.g., collared shirts

and dress clothes) and arrive at their community school early

Volume 30 ∙ January/February  49

for logistical orientation and setup. University teams bring all presentation materials, including information flyers (see http://www.shapeamerica.org/advocacy/upload/5278-shape_ AdvocacyFlyer_Update50ms_WEB.pdf ), an LCD projector, portable screen and laptop, as bringing this equipment expe-dites on-site preparation and eliminates the need for adminis-trative passwords and technical support often unavailable after school hours. Typically, the PTO agenda sets our presentation as first business. We thank the PTO for their hospitality and provide an overview of our advocacy message. As the HPE faculty member, I conclude all presentations with a brief re-view of education policy and engagement points for the school community (SHAPE America, 2016). This message highlights parents as the most powerful education stakeholders and the administrators’ commitment and contributions as pivotal to the community educational experience and success.

Postgame Press ReleaseApproximately 40 preservice educators have engaged in ad-

vocacy outreach to approximately 12 schools and 100 parents and administrators in Central Indiana. In reflecting on their experiences, students have noted:

• “The project helped build my advocacy skills . . . conveying our message about the importance of a quality [physical education] program.”

• “Once I started my presentation, and saw people actually in-terested in my data and facts . . . I became comfortable and talked from the heart about my passion for my field.”

• “I felt valued and listened to . . . parents were very engaged — even surprised.”

Outreach to parents to promote HPE as a valued discipline in K–12 students’ well-rounded education excites young profes-sionals’ interest in advocacy.

Effective advocacy continues to be paramount for the HPE profession. Preservice HPE teachers should be exposed to a variety of community advocacy opportunities. The project de-scribed in this article aids this generation of educators in devel-oping the cheerleading skills necessary for continued promo-tion of our discipline.

ReferencesBryan, C., & Sims, S. (2011) Advocacy in action: K–12 and university

partnerships: Bridging the advocacy gap. Strategies, 25(1), 36–37. doi:10.1080/08924562.2011.10592132

Hurley, K. S. (2016). Grassroots efforts: If you plant them they will grow! Strategies, 29(1), 47–49. doi:10.1080/08924562.2016.1113911

Krause, T., MacDonald, L. C., Pietz, B., Santiago, J., Smail, K., Uhrich, T., & van der Mars, H. (2015, October). Draft of SHAPE Amer-ica 2016 PETE Initial Standards. Paper presented at the SHAPE America PETE & HETE Conference 2015, Atlanta, GA.

Puhl, R. M., Peterson, M. A., & Luedicke, J. (2011). Parental percep-tions of weight terminology that providers use with youth. Pediat-rics, 128, e786–e793. doi:10.1542/peds.2010-3841

Society of Health and Physical Educators. (2016). Getting started with ESSA: A guide for health and physical educators (PowerPoint slides). Retrieved from http://www.shapeamerica.org/advocacy/ essa.cfm S

Kimberly S. Hurley (kshurley@bsu.edu) is an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology at Ball State University in Muncie, IN.

Submissions Welcome!Readers are encouraged to send “Advocacy in Action” submissions to column editor K. Andrew R. Richards at advocacy@shapeamerica.org.

The purpose of the Strategies column “Advocacy in Action” is to provide tangible, real-world examples of grassroots and national-level advocacy activi-ties taking place in the fields of physical education, health education and physical activity. Submissions should be written in a conversational, practical tone. Columns should be 1,000 –1,300 words, or roughly four typed, double-spaced pages.

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