Experiential Learning in a Canadian Physical Education Class - A Comparative Perspective from Pre-service PE Teachers in Canada and China

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

The article provides a comparative analysis of traditional physical education games and experiential learning experiences among teacher candidates enrolled in an Ontario Faculty of Education and a faculty in Southwest China. Funded through a Canada-China reciprocal learning partnership, a qualitative study interviewed ten preservice teachers. Emergent themes include risk-taking and resilience, openness to implementing foreign practices, division of sport-related skills, and daily physical activity. Results indicate daily physical activity is overlooked in Canadian classrooms, while Chinese teachers more readily adopt foreign practices and show more uneven game-based skills development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

Introduction

Literature review

Experiential Learning in a Canadian Physical Education Class: A Comparative Perspective from Pre-service PE Teachers in Canada and China Sydney Hector and Geri Salinitri University of Windsor ECNU Review of Education 2020, Vol. 5(3) 509–519 ª The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/2096531120960152](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120960152)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120960152)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Highlights 􀀂 This article focuses on a comparative analysis of traditional Physical Education games and experiential learning on the part of teacher candidates enrolled in an Ontario Faculty of Education and one in Southwest China. 􀀂 Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) partnership grant for research on Reciprocal Learning between Canada and China, the researchers conducted a qualitative study interviewing ten teacher candidates from the reciprocal Faculties of Education. 􀀂 Emergent themes included risk-taking and resilience, willingness to implement foreign practices, division of sport-related skills, and daily physical activity (DPA) . 􀀂 Findings suggest that DPA is overlooked in Canadian classrooms; Chinese teachers are more likely to implement foreign practices, and skills development in traditional PE games is disparate between Canada and China. Corresponding author: Geri Salinitri, Faculty of Education, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4. Email: [sgeri@uwindsor.ca](sgeri@uwindsor.ca) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Keywords Canadian, Chinese, daily physical activity, games comparison, pedagogy, physical education Date received: 12 June 2020; revised: 5 August 2020; accepted: 16 August 2020 Introduction Reciprocal learning projects (RLPs) in schools are proven to be beneficial as both parties “can benefit from participating in networks in many ways, such as learning new organizational forms of education, new teaching and learning strategies, justifications of the new knowledge, informal leadership and educational innovations” (Huang, 2016, p. 14) . The unique perspective of this specific RLP between the University of Windsor in Canada and Southwest Normal University in China helped field an inquiry into experiential learning of preservice teachers in both Canada and China while investigating the nature of physical education (PE) in both countries. The lack of accessible and relevant data in the Western Hemisphere surrounding Chinese PE activities is especially concerning. The field of research investigated in this article shines a light on traditional Chinese PE activities through a comparison to traditional Canadian games. For this study, we will define traditional as common and long-established (Lexico, n.d) . This unique comparison of Chinese and Canadian PE demonstrates the broad range of games in the profession and analyzes the differences in qualities of the two countries’ practices. The growing statistics of childhood obesity in Canada and the Western world exhibits an expanding need for new practices. The contrasting lower (but still growing) rates of child obesity in China may present a valuable opportunity to examine their PE practices. Also, this article explores the perceived lack of resilience in Canadian children. The Chinese participan

FAQs

What is the main focus of the study?

The study compares traditional physical education games with experiential learning experiences reported by preservice PE teachers in Canada and China.

How was the research conducted?

A qualitative approach was used, interviewing ten teacher candidates from the reciprocal Faculties of Education in Canada and Southwest China.

What key differences were found between Canadian and Chinese classrooms?

Daily physical activity is reported as overlooked in Canadian classrooms, while Chinese teachers are more likely to implement foreign practices and show more uneven skills development in traditional PE games.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk