The Importance Of Physical Education

The purpose of Sports and physical education is to teach the whole student, not just their body and movement. Sports provides the opportunity to teach students about movement, strategies, teamwork, problem solving, health and skill related fitness. Exposing students to various physical activities, sports, and methods of fitness can better provide enjoyment of physical activity, as well as build social, psychomotor, and cognitive skills. I strive to safely provide the means for students to enjoy physical activity, become more confident with their abilities, increase their knowledge of health related fitness, and help them find ways to continue to be physically active.

A person’s level of physical activity is directly related to their physical literacy making it an extremely important topic. Canada’s Active for Life Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Model studies a variety of factors regarding the physical activity levels of Canadians. The topics that are studied include, the relationship between physical literacy and exercise behavior and adherence, developmental age, sensitive periods, mental, cognitive, and emotional development, competition, system alignment and integration, and continuous improvement. There are many other resources for finding information regarding people’s physical activity levels, including Statistics Canada; this source has an array of figures, from the annual census, regarding the populations of specific areas. For example, the Moncton, New Brunswick, 2016 census can be used to determine exercise behavior and adherence among local residents by using the figures presented along with other statistics from sources such as Weinberg and Gould’s book Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

Across the country schools have been cutting out gym or recess from their daily schedules. Teachers and school districts desire better test scores from their students. Therefore, they want to have their students study and practice more. But in fact, studies suggest that adding a physical activity program or increasing the amount of time students have physical activity may be more beneficial to students and their test scores. There have been thousands of studies on this topic. Some involve recess, others gym, and new studies are centered around taking breaks in class. All this research has shown that activity can help kids with their test scores. In most studies, more than 50% of students’ test scores were positively impacted by increasing the amount of activity during the school day (“Association” 6).

The national curriculum states that ‘PE develops pupils’ competence and confidence to take part in a range of physical activities that become a central part of their lives, both in and out of school.’ (QCDA, 2008)

All the foundation subjects have a place on the National Curriculum; however, for the purposes of this essay we will be focussing on the reasons for PE being an important part of the National Curriculum.

Health and Physical Education is a mandatory learning area in the school curriculum which provides opportunities for all students to live healthy and active lifestyles. Schools are recognised as primary settings for developing health-related knowledge and skills. Health and physical education supports students to enhance their own and others’ health. HPE is a learning area of Australian curriculum through which students can make healthier choices. It focuses explicitly on developing movement skills and encourage students to participate in range of physical activities. Therefore, Health and Physical Education is a vital learning area in the school curriculum.

Many students go to school excited on the days they have PE on. Physical education is an important class and should be in every school curriculum. It should not be dropped from a school because of the variety of choices in the classes. PE is important for three main reasons; it relieves stress, helps form teens’ muscles, and also helps the kids learn teamwork.

Christina shared the last article that we will look at and it was called “Elementary-Aged Students’ Perceptions Regarding Appropriate Instructional Practices in Physical Education.” With PE being looked at as “glorified recess or playtime,” by not only parents, but the public as a whole; it is easy to understand why people don’t see a benefit in offering students PE as a class (Barney, 2014). Therefore, it is important to point out the benefits of PE to help reassure those who are skeptical about it. This article explains the importance of teaching in a way that allows students to grow, to learn and to understand underlining goals, especially at a young age. 2,479 elementary students 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders (1,277 males and 1,202 females)

It is important to note that expected outcomes were established with broad outcomes. These outcomes can be advantageous as it allows flexibility for a physical educator. The curriculum set by the provincial government is important as it stresses physical literacy and health literacy. Physical literacy is defined by the Ministry of Education of Ontario (2015) as “individuals who are physically literate move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person” (p. 7). In lecture, it was stated that “physically literate” means not just focusing on type of content taught in PE but also consider holistic, physical, mental, and emotional development of the physically active child. This means that educators should consider multiple angles of development and consider how their actions will affect each angle in childhood development. As stated in

Currently, kids in high schools are becoming fatter, slower, less intelligent and less motivated than past generations. We know that many teenagers would rather be sitting in front of a television than be doing something physically active. Teenagers believe they do not have enough time, opportunity and freedom to engage in physical activities. I believe the first way we can solve this issue is by starting in the high schools themselves, as students are able to receive an adequate among of exercise as well as receive guidance from instructors. In our society, physical education is only mandatory for one year, and I feel if the situation were reversed, fewer kids would be lacking physical exercise and our society of teenagers would be more active. Therefore, I feel that every student should be required to take a Physical Education class every year of high school because it promotes healthy living and makes students more well-rounded physically, mentally, and spiritually. Primarily, in our growing world, obesity is becoming more prevalent, and mandatory Physical Education classes would solve these problems and teach kids better strategies for living healthy lifestyles in both the present and future. In addition, Physical Education gives us more energy and increases our brain function which is known to help us in other subject areas. Finally, physical education is able to give teenagers skills necessary for social function such as valuable skills like communication and

A person might remember in elementary school a certified physical educator instructing the class, for example, on learning to run, balance, stretch, and climbing rope. Then, in spring, a big relay event would happen, and all the students were able to race, or show off the skills they learned through the year. At these events, every student won a prize, whether, first, second, third, or recognition of achievement for each race. Today, many people still have all of their ribbons to remember the achievements during physical education class in grades kindergarten through sixth. Today, children should have an opportunity to learn fitness in grade school, additionally, when physical education is paired with a healthy diet children will be able to develop into adulthood making essential life choices about fitness and wellness intuitively. Physical education is extremely important for our children in grades kindergarten through sixth in public schools in California, specifically, the effects it has on psychological development, the effects it has on physical development, and the benefits into adulthood.

Should physical activity be required in secondary schools regularly? I would say so, physical activity helps with almost everything someone can imagine from health, sports and even learning. Physical activity may be tough for some people but it will always help out in the long run. Physical activity and physical education not only about playing sports as you will see in this essay.

Many people are failing to realize that in todays changing world, our physical health is stagnating as society is advancing . As the prevalence of video games increases, the amount of outdoor activity decreases. As iPads and television and cell phones reach the younger ages, children are too preoccupied with technology to be physically active. As the towns get more crowded and the streets less safe, access to an outside space to run and play becomes increasingly difficult to find. In todays society, the opportunity for physical activity is decreasing. Today, for children who do not do extracurricular sports, Physical Education in school is the only form of exercise they experience. To take that away would be a tragedy for children’s development. Contrary to popular belief, P.E. exercises more than just the body; having a significant influence on five developmental domains: physical, lifestyle, affective, social and cognitive. As changes and advances occur within the community and school systems, our children’s health cannot be taken as collateral damage. Physical Education must be continued in the schools in order to promote physical fitness and heathy living, good mental health and positive social interactions.

Thesis: There are coexisting links between physical education in a school environment and the rising health concerns of our society.

The effect of physical education on elementary students is noticeable through all types of skill development. From personal experiences, people can conclude that there is more to games and activities than just expending energy to relieve and calm younger children. The main focus of my ideas is mainly directed towards motor skills, relationships and how they contribute to student learning, and setting and achieving goals as well as the five areas to which I set beliefs, theories, and assumptions.