I as soon as wrote a weblog publish in regards to the worth of revisiting saved social media posts and screenshots as a result of typically “the most effective inspiration is already in your pocket—actually.” Like many lecturers, I’m a collector of nice concepts. I hit save on Instagram posts that encourage me. I pin classroom methods and attention-grabbing infographics to Pinterest boards I haven’t visited in months. I bookmark tweets that I do know is perhaps helpful sooner or later, I flip my favourite sleep articles to Flipboardand I’ve a digital camera roll stuffed with screenshots from all method of sources. It was one such screenshot, a message from Australian educator Andy Hair, that inspired me to take a deep dive into the Filipino tag sport Patintero to be able to introduce it to my junior and senior Lifetime Actions class.
Patintero is a standard road sport from the Philippines, performed for generations by kids in neighborhoods, schoolyards, and aspect streets, usually within the early night below streetlights. No tools. No fancy setup. Simply chalk traces and a gaggle of youngsters able to compete. I’ve even seen a video the place the traces are ‘drawn’ on a dusty road utilizing water fastidiously poured from a bottle. The sport actually is that fundamental…and but, the technique wanted to play the sport is extra complicated that one would think about.
Decolonizing the PE Curriculum
Introducing this sport aligns with one other goal of mine, once more the topic of one other weblog publishthat of decolonizing the bodily schooling curriculum. In that weblog publish I requested “Why is it that my PE curriculum is dominated by North American and European workforce video games and actions? What’s it that I’m hoping to show my college students once I ask them to take part in PE and may I obtain those self same outcomes, or extra, by a brand new sport or exercise from one other a part of the world?“
Decolonizing bodily schooling means increasing past a slender set of Western, sport-dominant traditions and recognizing that motion cultures exist all around the world. By introducing video games like Patintero, we acknowledge that worthwhile bodily practices come from Southeast Asia simply as a lot as they do from Europe or North America. This shift broadens college students’ understanding of world cultures and challenges the concept that solely sure sports activities or traditions are worthy of examine in colleges.
Once we introduce college students to video games from different cultures, we’re doing greater than diversifying actions. We’re broadening views. We’re saying motion isn’t owned by one nation, one sport system, or one custom. It’s international. It’s inventive. It’s communal.
Patintero options communication, workforce technique, risk-taking, spatial consciousness, and an entire lot of pleasure. And it does this with none tools.
How the Sport Works
The court docket is an oblong grid, sometimes organized 2 squares extensive by 3 squares lengthy. Every sq. could be about 2–3 meters per aspect relying on age and area.
Groups
- One workforce are the runners.
- One workforce are the tagged.
Tags – Taya in Tagalog, which means tagger.
- 4 gamers stand on the horizontal traces.
- 1 participant stands on the middle vertical line.
- Taggers should maintain not less than one foot on their assigned line always.
- They might solely transfer alongside their line to tag runners.
Runners – operating in Tagalog, which means “one who’s operating”.
- 6 runners start behind the beginning baseline.
- On the sign, they try to maneuver by the grid to the far finish.
- In the event that they attain the far baseline safely, they earn some extent.
- In the event that they return safely to the beginning aspect, they earn extra factors (relying on scoring format).
- If tagged, they’re out for that spherical.
Rounds sometimes final about two minutes earlier than groups change roles.
Patintero is quick. It’s tactical. It rewards teamwork over dominance. And maybe most significantly, college students find it irresistible. It was noticeable how swiftly the strategic component of the sport developed. Preliminary makes an attempt at enjoying the sport seemed like 6 people attempting to cross the grid with out getting tagged. Realizing that this methodology meant that the workforce have been all tagged shortly, college students got here collectively and despatched groups of runners in an try the cut up the taggers. In flip, the taggers realized that with higher communication, they may entice runners, making it not possible for them to attain their aim.
Patintero and Significant PE
Patintero naturally aligns with Significant PE as a result of it elevates social interplay, problem, and pleasure unexpectedly. Success is determined by communication, anticipation, and collective technique somewhat than particular person dominance. Runners should determine when to take dangers; taggers should coordinate and browse motion patterns. The result’s a sport the place college students really feel competent, related, and emotionally invested. I seen that it wasn’t at all times my most athletic college students having probably the most success. When college students encounter a sport they’ve by no means performed earlier than, everybody begins on the identical place. Prior expertise issues much less. Standing hierarchies flatten. It was certainly one of my extra disengaged college students who exclaimed “Wait, don’t we get another sport?” once I determined that it was time to complete the lesson. Introducing unfamiliar actions like Patintero retains curriculum recent and indicators that PE is an area for exploration.
Ideas From My College students
Following on from the success of my volleyball lesson and asking college students reflection questions and recording their responsesI did the identical on the finish of our Patintero lesson.
Query 1: Describe this sport in 3 phrases.
I heard Distinctive. Strategic. Aggressive. Enjoyable. Quick. Teamwork. Fast.
Query 2: What made this sport enjoyable (or irritating?).
Enjoyable: It’s completely different, we haven’t performed something like this earlier than. You must use drawback fixing abilities, and technique abilities. I like the way it’s enjoyable when you’re the runner and likewise enjoyable when you’re the tagger. It’s huge on teamwork.
Irritating: You may get annoyed if you’re trapped by the taggers. It’s arduous when the opposite workforce strategizes in opposition to you.
Query 3: How is that this sport completely different (or related) from American playground video games?
It’s a little bit just like Pac Man, however I can’t consider every other sport that it’s just like. It’s extra partaking than the tag we performed once we have been youthful. Patintero requires extra focus. Yeah, you’re centered the entire time. I just like the quick rounds, and the factors make it clearer who’s the winner. There’s extra mind energy concerned and fewer dominated by athletic means.
Query 4: Why ought to PE embrace video games that don’t originate from America or Europe?
College students struggled a little bit with this query. I prompted them by sharing that I can deliver cricket and Rugby from my tradition, but additionally that I’ll introduce them to Toes, from New Zealandin a couple of weeks time.
We are able to see how different children have grown up. Helps us perceive completely different cultures, and be extra empathetic.
Word: One scholar pulled out her telephone, and texted her Fillipino mother to ask her if she ever performed Patintero as a child. Her mother texted again to verify that not solely did she play the sport as a toddler, however that she was really superb at it too! I believe that second in itself highlights the connections that may be made once we make our curriculum extra numerous.
Query 5: Would you modify any guidelines to make the sport higher?
I acknowledge that it won’t be a terrific look – a British trainer encouraging his American college students to search out methods to enhance a sport from one other tradition however…..my college students have free license to switch all video games to make them go well with their wants. Our modifications sometimes make our video games extra inclusive – permitting second serves, a number of bounces and so on.
Initially we performed Patintero with two meter squares, however they have been too small. It was far too simply for taller taggers to succeed in the runners. In at present’s lesson we elevated the squares to 3 meters, however some college students puzzled if we may make the squares even greater subsequent time.
Some college students felt that the center tagger, the one who moved alongside the middle line, wasn’t as engaged as the remainder of the taggers, and possibly could possibly be eliminated. That mentioned, in a single sport, the central tagger coordinated with two horizontal taggers and successfully shut down the sport by trapping 3 runners.
We performed with a rule that awarded one level for passing by the taggers, and a second level should you returned. Runners got the choice to cease after the primary level. They may financial institution the purpose, but when they took the chance of attempting to return by the taggers and have been caught, they misplaced all of their factors. In hindsight this wasn’t a terrific rule and college students puzzled if the purpose could possibly be ‘cashed in’ to free a tagged participant.
College students additionally didn’t just like the elimination facet of the sport and contemplated thr introduction of a ‘jailbreak’ choice.
Query 6: In the event you have been explaining Patintero to somebody who had by no means performed it, what would you say makes it value enjoying?
It’s enjoyable and energetic, however you additionally should suppose and use technique. It’s a terrific workforce sport, encouraging workforce bonding. It’s energizing.
I wished to write down this weblog publish for a lot of causes. Clearly I like to characteristic my college students voices, and I get pleasure from sharing new video games with PE lecturers. I additionally struggled to search out many assets that defined the sport in a manner that I fully understood. I’ll share a number of the movies I checked out, and likewise acknowledge that Chat GPT helped reply my many inquiries to get to a degree the place I felt comfy introducing a novel tag sport to my college students. If I’ve misrepresented any parts of the sport I welcome suggestions.
Pair this weblog publish with the next: