Do we need a name change

This week-end Dr Ratey was back to Naperville as a national spokesperson promoting the value of physical education. After he finished speaking one of my best friends approached me and was concerned that Dr Ratey referred to our profession as “gym” teachers. I felt Dr Ratey affectionately and respectfully talked about “gym” teachers reading neuro-science articles trying to improve their program. He was impressed and excited that PE teachers were reading about brain research. My friend was concerned that his message would continue the use of the degrading term “gym” teacher. This prompted me to write this blog. My friend demands to be called a physical education teacher, but there are a few in the profession that want to change the name away from physical education because they feel that name is not respected. Let the debates begin………………………………………………

 

My thoughts on the name change:

 

What is in a name? In the business world they call it branding? There are brands and there are big brands. A few examples of big brand names that are part of our cultural history are Cheerios, Pillsbury (doughboy), and the current symbol of a big brand GEICO and their little green animal.

 

Another major brand is Kodak. They dominated the market for years. Every household in the country used Kodak film, Kodak cameras, and everyone captured that special “Kodak moment” with a Kodak picture. Times change and sometimes big brands need to change. Kodak almost went under a few years ago because the world changed and they did not. The new technology that almost put Kodak under was digital camera technology. Kodak survived because they finally changed with the time.

 

What do these scenarios have to do with 21^st century physical education? As physical education is being removed from the educational landscape nation wide, we need to ask why.

 

Many people feel we should simply change our name to change our image. The other debate, can we change our image without changing our name? There is another group in the school setting that changed their name to change their image, and were they successful? You answer that question. That group started out being called janitors, then many changed their names to custodians, and many of those employees now call themselves building engineers. When you see a person in a blue uniform in a school pushing a broom, what name comes to your head? More importantly, does your respect for the person change because of the title. Another important question has the delivery of their services changed or just their name.

 

Now let’s us take a look at how this name change relates to physical education. We started out as janitors (gym teachers), we became custodians (physical education teachers) and we not want to change our names to building engineers (kinesiology – Kinetic Wellness – Wellness – Personal trainers are a few names that have been recommended.)

 

The question is, do we need to change the name or change the product (or service to the public) or both.

 

Maybe we are a little like Kodak. Gym class is an icon (big brand) in the educational world. Like Kodak for years, we were part of the school culture, we thought we would always remain, and we also thought we were very successful, just like Kodak. We are now in the “digital world” of gym class so to speak. The bottom line is, if physical education was a business (like Kodak), we went bankrupt about 15 years ago. One very important rule in business, the customer is always right. Kodak was stubborn, they saw no need to change, and they almost went bankrupt. Many of our “Kodak” physical education leaders do not want to change (product or service). Everyone is afraid of change, especially when you have been successful. Kodak made the change, but did they really change. They still provide cameras, and they still capture that special “Kodak” moment with pictures.

 

Some people say there is no such thing as “NEW PE”, in some ways they are right. PE will always be about children moving. Do we change our name or our service? Personally, I think the focus on children’s health is the same as the “digital” change Kodak experienced. We will always play sport games in physical education. Years ago we did not know about “digital technology”, years ago, we did not have children totally sedentary, we did not have the “gamer” generation spending over 5 hours a day on screen time, we did not have latch key kids, we did not have an epidemic of childhood obesity or on-set diabetes. We need to change our product just like “Kodak” but in the end our product in many ways will stay the same.

 

What about the name change? Is it possible to change our brand name that is so embedded in our society?  My feeling about the name changed has varied back and forth over the years. I was recently interviewed by a news broadcaster.  Before the interview, I asked her if she could refrain from calling me a “gym” teacher in the story. She asked me why? After I explained my objection, she responded, that is interesting. As a public reporter, I do not associate a negative image in the term “gym teacher”. Maybe because when I thought of “gym teacher”, my image was about all the great experiences I had in that class. I had the utmost respect for my ‘gym teachers” but that is what I always called them. It is not just me; the majority of the people in our country refer to physical education teachers as “gym teachers”. Is the name gym teacher a negative image in our society or just a negative image in our profession? Now people in our profession want to drop the name of physical education teacher.

 

In our community we have changed the name of our program. The brand name is PE4life. Parents have rated physical education the number one curriculum for satisfaction above science, math, and reading. Physical education is now treated with the same respect as every other subject area in our district. Physical education has become part of the culture in our community. We made changes just like Kodak. I was a physical education teacher for 35 years. It warms my heart when I run into students 30 years later, when young men and woman approach me and say, you won’t remember me, but you were my “gym” teacher years ago. I had great memories of gym class. You will be happy to know, I still exercise today.