Table of Contents
Introduction
This assignment is about the value and purpose of physical education for young children. In this assignment, there are literature reviews, physical education, and its meaning, characteristics of quality health and physical education in school, barriers in implementing quality physical education, and a conclusion.
Health and physical education is one key subject in the Maldives new national curriculum which promotes the health of almost all students. In physical health education classes, the students are taught the right nutrition, also aware of common diseases and disorders. Additionally, students will understand how to make the right decisions, things that affect their health and fitness.
So the students will be aware of health-related topics. Physical education helps students to develop their self-confidence, creativity, critical thinking, and communication. Together all these bring up good values and attitudes it is also a good foundation for students.
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Literature Review
Offering high school students a more diverse curriculum can lead to a higher level of physical activity (Mears, 2008, Curriculum; Jacob M. A., 2011).
High school and middle school curriculum should be geared more toward lifetime activities that are individual or dual activities such as golf or tennis, recreational or outdoor adventure activities, and fitness activities such as walking or inline skating (Lambert, 2000; Jacob M. A., 2011).
The role fitness testing plays in PE In Promoting a healthy lifestyle and physical activity is questionable and cannot be taken for granted. (Cale, 2016) For example, little evidence was found to support the notion that fitness tests promote healthy lifestyles and physical activity, motivate young people and develop the knowledge and skills that are important to the sustained engagement in an active lifestyle.
A balanced diet and physical activity are vital to academic performance. A healthy diet has a direct link to increased cognitive function and memory skills, decreased absenteeism from school, and improved mood. These advantages can help students stay focused and complete their coursework. (cartwright)
Many schools are now motivating students to maintain a balance between their school work and physical education. Physical education is an essential part of healthy living for people of all age groups, especially those going to school. This is because school life is full of stress and anxiety at every stage. (Sam, 2017)
Physical activity and exercise can reduce stress and anxiety, boost happy chemicals, improve self-confidence, increase brain power, sharpen the memory and increase our muscles and bones strength. It also helps in preventing and reducing heart disease, obesity, blood sugar fluctuations, cardiovascular diseases, and Cancer. (Elmagd, 2016; Graham, 2008) Physical education programs in school are increasingly being designed to develop positive attitudes toward physical activity based on research suggesting that students’ experiences in physical education influence their attitudes toward voluntary physical activity.
In Health and Physical Education students develop the knowledge, understanding, and skills to support them to be resilient, to develop a strong sense of self, to build and maintain satisfying relationships, to make health-enhancing decisions in relation to their health and physical activity participation, and to develop health literacy competencies in order to enhance their own and others’ health and wellbeing. (Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2012 Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority. (2012).
The shape of the Australian Curriculum: Health and physical education. Sydney: Author. [Google Scholar], p. 2). (Lynch, 2016) During ancient times, PE was given considerable emphasis by the Spartans, where PE was state-regulated, the age determined and involved similar experiences for men and women, boys and girls (Phillips & Roper, 2006Phillips, M., & Roper, A. (2006). History of physical education. In D.Kirk, D. Macdonald, & M. O’Sullivan (Eds.), Handbook of physical education (pp. 123–140).
London: Sage Publications.10.4135/9781848608009 [Crossref], , [Google Scholar]). (Lynch, 2016; Rogers, 1930) Physical education is not athletics, nor the daily dozen nor any single subject of various elements that contribute to bodybuilding and health, but rather the combined program that gives the great percentage of boys and girls of today an opportunity to become physically fit, healthful sturdy men and women of tomorrow.
Physical Education in Maldives New Curriculum
Health and physical education is a subject that provides students with knowledge, skill, capacities, values, and enthusiasm to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It promotes the potential for lifelong participation in physical activity through the development of motor skills and movement competence, health-related physical fitness, and sports education. It’s a core subject from primary till lower secondary.
The subject is designed to promote physical fitness, develop motor skills, and to instill values. This domain is unique in having the potential to impact on the physical, social, emotional, and mental health of students. Students will have opportunities to participate regularly in a variety of physical activities. They will develop age-appropriate knowledge and skills for participating productively, safely, and responsibly in a range of physical activities. Hence students will develop the attitudes that enable them to attain and maintain a healthy lifestyle and value a healthy, active lifestyle.
Health and Physical Education promotes intrapersonal development by helping children to recognize, understand, and accept themselves as unique individuals who feel valued and loved. It provides particular opportunities to nurture self-worth and self-confidence, helping the child to set and assess his/her own goals and to be able to manage his/her own behavior. H&WS enables the child to build a sense of self-efficacy which in turn can increase his/her sense of personal control, promote self-awareness, and enable self-directed learning. Health and Physical Education particularly contributes to the development of personal attributes and skills, such as learning how to manage feelings, how to resolve conflicts, and how to cope with new and demanding situations.
Health and Physical Education can significantly contribute to interpersonal development by helping children to acquire a range of communication skills and to understand the ways in which they can show respect, care, and consideration in their dealings with others. In school, children can learn how to develop and sustain relationships based on mutual respect and responsibility and can begin to understand the importance of trust and honesty in human interactions.
As children progress through Health and Physical Education, they will encounter a wide range of issues. These will include substance abuse and misuse, relationships, sexuality, child abuse prevention, and resilience to peer pressure and in growing ages to the unwonted forces of the society. The H&PE is structured in such a way that these issues are not explored in isolation; rather the emphasis is on building a foundation of knowledge and understanding, skills, values, and attitudes relevant to all these issues, with specific information provided where necessary.
For the purposes of this curriculum, health includes physical, mental, emotional, and social wellbeing. The curriculum focuses on developing, reinforcing, and refining the knowledge and skills of children on health and wellbeing as they progress from grade to grade. The depth and breadth of this knowledge and skills will be captured by:
(a) Increasing the complexity of the knowledge and skills;
(b) By increasing the specificity of the knowledge and skills; and
(c) By increasing the diversity of contexts where the learning is applied.
Health and wellbeing are structured and built around three dimensions of health which focuses on what is important for students to know, understand, and be able to do in order to maintain a balanced life. The three strands of the learning area are as follows.
Physical Wellbeing
This strand focuses on factors that contribute to the effective functioning of the body and its systems. These include the nutritional needs of the body, participation in physical activity, preventive health care, and physical safety, sexual and reproductive health.
Social Wellbeing
This strand is about how people behave in relationships with others. It includes social skills that are necessary to build strong relationships and live in harmony. These include creating a sense of self-awareness, caring, empathy, compassion, and feelings of belonging.
Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
This strand focuses on factors that influence the mental and emotional wellbeing of a person and how to have a balanced life. These include the ability to use cognitive and emotional capabilities to understand and manage emotions and how to respond to the demands of everyday life in a constructive manner. There is also an emphasis on discovering one’s own capabilities and living a productive life amid the challenges of the modern world. (health and physical education in the national curriculum, 2015)
