Assistant Professor Won Seok Chey, PhD, uses traditional Korean games鈥攆rom gonggi to tae kwon do鈥攖o support culturally responsive teaching and learning.
From catchy K-pop tunes and the Oscar-winning film Parasite, to hit TV shows like Squid Game and Beef and martial arts like tae kwon do, Korean popular culture has taken this country by storm.
Won Seok Chey, PhD, who joined the Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences as an assistant professor of physical education (PE) this past fall, draws on his Korean heritage to demonstrate culturally responsive teaching.
In November, three Korean games鈥�gonggi, jegi chagi, and tae kwon do鈥攚ere central to his presentation 鈥淟earning Culturally Responsive Activities Through Korean Traditional Games,鈥� at a New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (NYS AHPERD) conference in Verona, New York.
鈥淚 think being culturally responsive in teaching has become essential, since the paradigm has shifted from being teacher-centered to student-centered,鈥� Dr. Chey explained. 鈥淪tudents show greater interest and often learn more readily when content is more personally meaningful.鈥�
An Introduction to Culturally Responsive Teaching
Dr. Chey鈥檚 hourlong presentation to elementary and secondary school physical education teachers covered gonggi, a popular children鈥檚 game involving competitive rounds of tossing and catching small stones or pebbles; jegi chagi, a Korean game similar to hacky sack; and a half-hour tae kwon do martial arts demonstration.
While Dr. Chey physically demonstrated tae kwon do during his presentation, his focus was on the bigger picture: the context and meaning of the martial art. 鈥淭ae kwon do is made up of three separate Korean characters and embodies each of their meanings,鈥� he explained.
鈥�Tae means 鈥榝oot,鈥� which is used to strike targets. Kwon means 鈥榝ist,鈥� which is also used to strike a target. Do means 鈥榙iscipline鈥� or 鈥榓rt.鈥欌��
For Dr. Chey, gaining a fuller understanding of the discipline and art of tae kwon do, with its insistence on respecting elders and peers and of communicating with others, is of critical importance for teachers.
More Than Physical Education
According to Dr. Chey, there鈥檚 more to teaching a sport or activity than simply demonstrating physical skills. His emphasis is on reminding preservice teachers that it is just as important to explain the meaning behind a sport or activity鈥攆rom history, safety rules and etiquette to tactics and movements, from knowing how to construct multiple tasks starting from simple to complex, and knowing how to explain or demonstrate skills and tasks considering the context (i.e., grade-level, gender, ethnicity), to knowing how to detect and correct student errors. Without this deeper understanding, teachers who focus on how to perform a sport or activity鈥攚hether soccer or tae kwon do鈥攚ill be less effective teachers.
With the support of physical education colleagues Assistant Professor Christopher Mellor, PhD, and Professors Paul Rukavina, PhD, and Kevin Mercier, EdD, Dr. Chey is preparing future teachers with a more complete and contextual knowledge of physical activities.
In his first semester as an 成人影片 physical education professor this fall, Dr. Chey鈥檚 graduate course in Curriculum and Methods in Physical Education focused on the pedagogical aspects of teaching PE.
This semester, Dr. Chey is teaching Technology in Health and Physical Education, which will cover technologies鈥攆rom apps and videos to Excel data analysis鈥攗sed by physical education teachers to assess and improve student performance.
Meeting Student Needs
鈥淚 always tell my students that they need to know content to meet students鈥� different needs,鈥� he stated. 鈥淚 always try to be a mentor for my students and to communicate and be flexible. Even if a student is absent, I try to find out what was going on.”
This philosophy informed his experience as a mentor as a doctoral student teaching assistant at Ohio State University before he joined the 成人影片 faculty and will continue to shape his mentoring of 成人影片鈥檚 future physical education teachers.
It鈥檚 also an outlook that defines his goal as a professor. 鈥淚 want to help students go out and teach physical education better.鈥�