Honestly, I didn’t understand exactly recall what P.E Literacy meant at first, forgetting about the definition of ‘literacy’. In re-learning from Steve and classmates through discussion what it means. I knew it was understanding physical educational language, in the beginning of the discussion, I was thinking that I wasn’t a PE literate person. My perception was the old school ways of PE. In reflection of the readings it highlighted how important it is to create a safe learning environment for all students. Whitehead stated the importance of teaching the movements to promote healthy living versus run, jump, and be competitive because that could come later. In discussion of what teachers can do is help motivate by teaching about healthy living is a ‘building block’ (Steve words) to give tools of confidence to students. They will be competent and therefore will have a better understanding and have the knowledge to make healthy choices for oneself. “Teachers provide the experience of P.E. literacy” (Whitehead, 2014). Also, another interesting part of this article is that I was able to better understand about the art of flow, as in Case #1, “Timid Timmy”, how PE had a negative impact on him as he didn’t have a desire to run however he was interactive with people online from all over the world who had the same interests as he did for the art of flow, juggling. Physical literacy is life long learning, I am happy to learn more about it.
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What always sticks in my memory when thinking about the idea of PE literacy is the word “lifelong”. The purpose of PE isn’t to get better at playing basketball or soccer or to do the most pushups. Our responsibility as educators then is to provide students with the basis for which students can then explore a range of physical activities and determine what works for them and their individual journeys. However, this isn’t always the case in how PE is taught. Thinking back to my high school days, I agree that my perception of PE was the “old school ways”. I was only focused on doing what I needed to do to get the grade – practicing my dribbling or passing or shooting enough to meet the criteria for good or outstanding performance, or even doing 25 pushups and stopping just because I knew that that was the minimum I needed to achieve an A. I wasn’t thinking or directed by my teachers to think about how these activities would be helpful or important to me in the long run.
Now that we have this idea of PE literacy rather than just physical education alone, I feel as though I am better equipped to help my future students understand the purpose of physical education as more than just learning a sport or getting a grade. It is about promoting confidence in our students to live active and healthy lives and giving them the tools to determine what that means for them as individuals.