Today’s P.E. class left me very impassioned. Reading about how far P.E. curriculum has come over the past several decades, and then learning of its current redevelopment to include more “health” education (rather than solely “physical”) gets me excited, because I believe the future of P.E. has great potential.
To be specific, knowing that one of the foundational objectives of P.E. is to teach children how to live healthy, active lifestyles, and understanding the current context of remarkable childhood obesity and inactivity, I hope for greater integration of nutrition into P.E. curriculum.
Considering my own journey towards a healthier lifestyle–though I have always been physically active–my unhealthy habits stemed from ignorance in regards to nutrition/body sciences. I had to learn outside of school about how blood sugar and fibre work, to read ingredients, and understand how to fuel my body and prepare my own foods so that I would have the energy to support my activities.
Many kids are addicted to candy and processed foods, things that will take away their ability to focus in school, or keep up in gym class. Moreover, in the same bed as obescity lie eating disorders like anorexia and bulemia. All of these issues stem at a young age, and can not be overcome without strong nutrition education.
Though there are some whispers of “nutrition” in class readings thus far, it seems movement is currently the dominant focus of P.E. class. I believe teaching movement skills is essential in education and don’t want to take away from that. I simply mean to say that there are multiple keystones to healthly living. Perhaps future curricular models will further reflect that.
Daniella, I like your point concerning how the increased inclusion of health education into the curriculum can help us fight against the obesity epidemic taking hold of today’s children. As educators, we hold great power of influence over young minds. We are not the only powerful voices in children’s lives; there can also be parents, extended family, siblings, tutors, and child care workers, not to mention the messages coming from various sorts of media. Nonetheless, for schools to have a mandate to teach health education as a holistic balance to young sends a strong message to kids.
After learning in school, kids may even go out into their community to share their lessons and teach others. This could be something as simple as a handout on nutrition that a child brings home and discusses with their caregiver. This scenario would have a magnified effect on the child’s health, for not only is the child more knowledgeable, but the caregiver (i.e. food purchaser and/or cook) could also become more informed on how to provide healthy food to the family. Grade 3 may be an appropriate grade level for such a handout, as that is when they are starting to learn about how to balance nutrients according to the new curriculum. I would think that it would be especially prudent to teach children about affordable health food options, so that health education remains relevant to disadvantaged children and their families.
Week 2 Journal Response
Hi Daniella,
I couldn’t agree more with your point of view regarding the benefits of the health education incorporation in to elementary P.E. curriculum. I touched upon this topic in my own motion journal from last week. I wanted to expand on what you are saying here by providing my own experience as an example of how elementary P.E. as to potential to fail in instilling the importance of physical activity. When I was in elementary school I did not enjoy P.E., even though I was considered “athletic,” I was not overweight, and I was able to take part in all activities. The way my teachers presented the subject matter translated as something I was obligated to do, and was not fun. I did not understand why we had to be active and I was not motivated to explore my physical fitness. I felt embarrassed in front of my peers, and did not wholeheartedly take part. In high school this attitude towards P.E. worsened. Although I was on many of the school teams, (basketball, softball, etc.) P.E. class was torture. Today, although I understand the importance of staying physically fit, I lack the confidence and motivation to do so. Going to the gym is a daunting experience, where I am self-conscious and spend my time focusing on how un-knowledgeable I appear to others rather than the exercises I am performing. I believe this hesitant tendency stems from my elementary P.E. experiences, and how I developed a negative view on physical fitness. I now see how important it is to instill an urgency to stay fit in children early on, so that they will develop healthy habits that will carry on into adulthood.
I also want to comment on the group presentation from this past Tuesday. I particularly enjoyed Claire’s warm up activity, where she narrated a story which we acted out. What a genius activity, encompassing both physical activity and imagination. I really got into the acting aspect of the exercise, and by the end of it I was fully energized and ready to move on to the next activity. I like how Claire used that same activity at the end of the lesson to wind us down, she came full circle and it was the perfect conclusion to the group lesson. By observing the group I particularly noticed how wonderfully supportive each instructor was, and how they motivated us to do well in each section of the lesson. They engaged with us by asking questions, and looking for input. I will definitely take these approaches into consideration when preparing for my group teach.
My apologies, I am a bit late posting! I have read through the posts and your post connects closely with my thoughts on this weeks big ideas for the week, i.e. early influences and what what does it mean to be a PE teacher. I must first acknowledge how excited I was to read in chapter one how First Nations games such as lacrosse and traditional dances were acknowledged as the earliest roots in PE. I think that is to be celebrated and call me crazy but after reading that I felt more comfortable to teach PE. Perhaps it was connecting past to present and the role we played and how active our people were before and at the time of contact.
I cannot agree more about including healthy living and healthy habits into the curriculum and PE classes. Especially in First Nations communities and schools. There has been a rise in diabetes in our communities since the early 1970’s, prior to that (well for my community) there were only a few cases of diabetes in our community. It is a systemic problem as most families live in poverty with 80% unemployment rates. I think as educators we can make a difference in our classrooms by teaching proper eating and exercise we can “whisper” hey on this side there are better options.
It also reminded me about how as educators we have to take care of ourselves and be good role models for our students. In addition to your discussion I wanted to add that I enjoyed the lesson. I agree, Claire’s instant activity was a hit and a good reminder of how we can make PE fun and use various modes of delivery.
Dawn