Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity

Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity, now entering its third edition, attests to author Don Hellison’s ability to shape and develop character and responsibility in children. Perhaps the success of Hellison’s book can be attributed to his status not only as a highly respected scholar-activist but as a teacher who worked in the trenches with inner-city kids.

Kids in any situation will benefit from the thoroughly updated material in this edition, which presents practical, proven, easy-to-implement ideas for teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) in school, after school, and in alternative settings. It also supplies direction in teaching affective and social moral goals, an in-depth look into teaching character development and values, and a method for helping students develop personal and social responsibility.

Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity offers much new material:

• Strategies for alternative schools, afterschool programs, and the emerging youth development movement

• Vignettes sprinkled throughout the chapters, written by TPSR instructors in various settings

• Several chapters that have been completely overhauled

• An expanded assessment chapter to help readers evaluate the impact of TPSR on their kids and apply the strategies

• One new chapter on combining responsibility-based youth development with teacher preparation in physical education

In addition, the book features “Kid Quotes” to help readers understand how kids respond to the TPSR approach, as well as forms and charts to help readers put the ideas and strategies to use.

The result is a field-tested book that is the accepted curricular model in the field—and a resource that will enable teachers to help their students grow into solid citizens both personally and socially.

Don Hellison, PhD, was a professor in the college of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and codirector of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) Alliance. He worked extensively with high-risk youth, was a distinguished research fellow at Adelphi University, and was a visiting professor at numerous universities in the United States and in Canada.

Much of Hellison’s work focused on the development, implementation, and evaluation of alternative physical activity program models that teach life skills and values, especially for underserved youth.

He published numerous books, articles, and book chapters. Hellison received many awards, including the Gulick Medal (AAHPERD’s highest honor) and the International Olympic Committee’s President’s Prize. He received grant support for 25 projects, served on three editorial boards, and was editor of Quest for two years. He gave keynote addresses, made presentations at professional meetings, and conducted workshops for teachers and youth workers in most of the 50 states, several Canadian provinces, and Israel, Korea, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, England, and Spain. He also served on numerous committees for several professional associations.

Don Hellison passed away in 2018.