Panelists for the second segment included Brian Culp, Victor Ramsey, and Luis Sanchez-Martinez. The discussion focused on recruiting, training, and retaining diverse students and faculty into PETE programs. Each panelist offered a unique perspective and centered the conversation and chat around three vantage points:
University-level systems and administration.
Voices and lived experiences of prospective students.
Faculty and professional advocates have stepped up and into the gap for those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
Positioning the topic of recruitment and retention of diverse PE teacher candidates through the lens of higher education, university-level systems, and administrators, Culp cautioned against limiting our view of diversity to solely race and ethnicity. Instead, expand this view to celebrate the range of identities that our students (and faculty) possess and express, such as first-generation, non-traditional career-changers, sexual orientation, linguistic, geographic, and beyond. Culp described recruiting diversity, in terms of race and ethnicity, as an issue of geography. He noted that in Atlanta, where several prominent programs reside, recruiting and enrolling Black students is not an issue - whereas elsewhere, it may be a significant challenge. He further noted that if programs and universities strive to increase diverse enrollments, we must recognize the possible dehumanization of students in the process of recruitment.
Specifically, we must ensure that university cultures/climates and faculty themselves are prepared to welcome, embrace, and attend to the range of student needs once admitted. Some of the work that lies ahead includes: addressing institutionalized whiteness in our curricula and experiential learning opportunities, abolishing systemic racism, microaggressions, color-blindness, overt or covert racism, and removing policies that impede BIPOC from thriving in higher education and professional fields. Victor Ramsey highlighted the importance of engaging in critical conversations related to racial and social injustices in our universities and K-12 schools. Ramsey challenged all to examine implicit biases to acknowledge and remediate the omission of BIPOC leaders in our state and national organizations.
A faculty development and training example was provided to address the issue of welcoming all students and focused on an equity-minded syllabi review workshop. This training was offered at the University of Northern Colorado and challenged faculty to rethink the terminology used, textbooks required, and policies outlined on course syllabi.
It is also clear that we must center the voices and identities of prospective students. Luis Sanchez-Martinez shared his experiences and steps taken to enter a PETE program; his role as a PETE student hosting high school students’ on-campus visits; and now his role as a current PE teacher who can encourage his students to go to college. He expressed how important his mother was in encouraging him to get a college degree.
Sanchez-Martinez shared how it was up to him to reflect on his skills, interests, and career aspirations to determine how his interests and passions lined up with possible career options and degree programs from potential colleges and universities. Based on this approach/mindset, PETE faculty need to consider the cultural relevance of program and university messages and communication that families and students receive. Both Victor and Luis described how important it is for students to see and hear themselves in messaging - one strategy used to address this was to create a Spanish-language promotional video for teaching physical education.
Once Luis settled at the University of New Mexico, he realized just how important it was to be part of other students' recruitment efforts who might have a passion for Physical Education. He took part in sharing his story, delivering non-traditional PE lessons (e.g., Sepak Takraw and Korfball), and talking to high school students about what a ‘day-in-the-life of a PETE student would look like. Here is an example of the on-campus prospective student visits from the University of New Mexico.
As an in-service PE teacher, Luis recognizes how influential he is in his students' lives and the potential impact a little ‘nudge’ could be in encouraging BIPOC students to enter college and maybe even a career in physical education. Crystal Williams (TOY) affirmed the value of a ‘nudge’ from a coach and other professionals in her life who saw something special in her and encouraged her to pursue a career in teaching. These affirmations of students and BIPOC emphasized their value and the potential impact in education and as a teacher.
This spurred a rich discussion about the role of in-service teachers and trusted others in young people’s decisions to enter PE. The strategy described by Michelle Mooseberger at Springfield College, as framed within Occupational Socialization emphasized the value-added role and relationship of teachers and school counselors on a student’s decisions to enter college/university. Peter Stapleton indicated that his dissertation research examined this connection between prospective students and current teachers, and it would be of interest to further explore this - perhaps from a Social Capital lens or framework.
Yet, how we encourage and support in-service teachers to see their role as agents of recruitment into the field remains an important question to answer. And if a pipeline is generated, how are negative socializing agents managed (e.g., teachers who emphasize the negative realities of teaching)?
Faculty were encouraged to connect with university-level admissions and recruitment offices to integrate their efforts with existing efforts to strategically utilize resources, systems, and expertise to recruit. Culp mentioned the challenge associated with the highly competitive nature of enrollment, even within the university where multiple programs housed in the same School or College are vying for the same students. Knowing the type of student you are looking for can help streamline communication with prospective students.
Since faculty are most knowledgeable about their programs and professions, be sure the information shared with prospective students about your program, and the Physical Education profession is accurate, relevant, and highlights what distinguishes your program from others. It is important, perhaps now more than ever, to define (or re-define) the collective impact that physical educators have in schools and communities. Hal Lawson suggested that systems-building efforts may be necessary to design mutually beneficial school district and higher education pipeline partnerships or “feeder systems” for diverse student/teacher recruitment. Hans van der Mars offered a link to a public commentary about the competition among universities and what future initiatives may require/look like.
Collaboration with school partners or cross-campus colleagues can be valuable in trying new and innovative strategies to recruit. Yet, you are urged to be systematic in determining the value of individual efforts over others. One way to do this is to borrow strategies from business/marketing colleagues where customer profiles are developed and used to better understand needs, anticipate future needs, address questions, (re)mediate pain-points, create responsive programming or products suited for the consumer, and proactively recognize geographic or demographic gaps that need to be addressed.
Given the nature of higher education as a service-based industry, an approach such as this can drive conversations around recruitment, inform resource allocation for recruitment initiatives, and build stronger, more robust, and responsive programs to enrolled students and the changing landscape of schools. Phil Ward and others noted the value in understanding why students choose not to enter your program. This valuable information can shed light on gaps or areas of needed growth.
Check out the new recruitment resources for HPETE faculty that have been developed by the SHAPE America Recruitment and Retention Task Force here.