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Jai Ganesh

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Physical Education

Physical Education

Gist

Physical education provides cognitive content and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for physical activity and physical fitness.

Summary

Physical education is the foundation of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program. It is an academic subject characterized by a planned, sequential K–12 curriculum (course of study) that is based on the national standards for physical education. Physical education provides cognitive content and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for physical activity and physical fitness. Supporting schools to establish physical education daily can provide students with the ability and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime.

There are many benefits of physical education in schools. When students get physical education, they can:

* Increase their level of physical activity.
* Improve their grades and standardized test scores.
* Stay on-task in the classroom.

Increased time spent in physical education does not negatively affect students’ academic achievement.

Details

Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys. Ed. or PE, is a subject taught in schools around the world. PE is taught during primary and secondary education and encourages psychomotor, cognitive, and effective learning through physical activity and movement exploration to promote health and physical fitness. When taught correctly and in a positive manner, children and teens can receive a storm of health benefits. These include reduced metabolic disease risk, improved cardiorespiratory fitness, and better mental health. In addition, PE classes can produce positive effects on students' behavior and academic performance. Research has shown that there is a positive correlation between brain development and exercising. Researchers in 2007 found a profound gain in English Arts standardized test scores among students who had 56 hours of physical education in a year, compared to those who had 28 hours of physical education a year.

Many physical education programs also include health education as part of the curriculum. Health education is the teaching of information on the prevention, control, and treatment of diseases.

Curriculum in Physical Education

A highly effective physical education program aims to develop physical literacy through the acquisition of skills, knowledge, physical fitness, and confidence. Physical education curricula promote healthy development of children, encourage interest in physical activity and sport, improve learning of health and physical education concepts, and accommodate for differences in student populations to ensure that every child receives health benefits. These core principles are implemented through sport participation, sports skill development, knowledge of physical fitness and health, as well as mental health and social adaptation.

Physical education curriculum at the secondary level includes a variety of team and individual sports, as well as leisure activities. Some examples of physical activities include basketball, soccer, volleyball, track and field, badminton, tennis, walking, cycling, and swimming. Chess is another activity that is included in the PE curriculum in some parts of the world. Chess helps students to develop their cognitive thinking skills and improves focus, while also teaching about sportsmanship and fair play. Gymnastics and wrestling activities offer additional opportunities for students to improve the different areas of physical fitness including flexibility, strength, aerobic endurance, balance, and coordination. Additional activities in PE include football, netball, hockey, rounders, cricket, four square, racing, and numerous other children's games. Physical education also teaches nutrition, healthy habits, and individuality of needs.

Pedagogy

The main goals in teaching modern physical education are:

* To expose children and teens to a wide variety of exercise and healthy activities. Because P.E. can be accessible to nearly all children, it is one of the only opportunities that can guarantee beneficial and healthy activity in children.
* To teach skills to maintain a lifetime of fitness as well as health.
* To encourage self-reporting and monitoring of exercise.
* To individualize duration, intensity, and type of activity.
* To focus feedback on the work, rather than the result.
* To provide active role models.

It is critical for physical educators to foster and strengthen developing motor skills and to provide children and teens with a basic skill set that builds their movement repertoire, which allows students to engage in various forms of games, sports, and other physical activities throughout their lifetime.

These goals can be achieved in a variety of ways. National, state, and local guidelines often dictate which standards must be taught in regards to physical education. These standards determine what content is covered, the qualifications educators must meet, and the textbooks and materials which must be used. These various standards include teaching sports education, or the use of sports as exercise; fitness education, relating to overall health and fitness; and movement education, which deals with movement in a non-sport context.

These approaches and curricula are based on pioneers in PE, namely, Francois Delsarte, Liselott Diem, and Rudolf von Laban, who, in the 1800s focused on using a child's ability to use their body for self-expression. This, in combination with approaches in the 1960s, (which featured the use of the body, spatial awareness, effort, and relationships) gave birth to the modern teaching of physical education.

Recent research has also explored the role of physical education for moral development in support of social inclusion and social justice agendas, where it is under-researched, especially in the context of disability, and the social inclusion of disabled people.

Technology use in physical education

Many physical education classes utilize technology to assist their pupils in effective exercise. One of the most affordable and popular tools is a simple video recorder. With this, students record themselves, and, upon playback, can see mistakes they are making in activities like throwing or swinging. Studies show that students find this more effective than having someone try to explain what they are doing wrong, and then trying to correct it.

Educators may also use technology such as pedometers and heart rate monitors to make step and heart rate goals for students. Implementing pedometers in physical education can improve physical activity participation, motivation and enjoyment.

Other technologies that can be used in a physical education setting include video projectors and GPS systems. Gaming systems and their associated games, such as the Kinect, Wii, and Wii Fit can also be used. Projectors are used to show students proper form or how to play certain games. GPS systems can be used to get students active in an outdoor setting, and active exergames[clarification needed] can be used by teachers to show students a good way to stay fit in and out of a classroom setting. Exergames, or digital games that require the use of physical movement to participate, can be used as a tool to encourage physical activity and health in young children.

Technology integration can increase student motivation and engagement in the Physical Education setting. However, the ability of educators to effectively use technology in the classroom is reliant on a teacher's perceived competence in their ability to integrate technology into the curriculum.

Beyond traditional tools, recent AI advancements are introducing new methods for personalizing physical education, especially for adolescents. AI applications like adaptive coaching are starting to show promise in enhancing student motivation and program effectiveness in physical education settings.

Additional Information

Physical education is training in physical fitness and in skills requiring or promoting such fitness. Many traditional societies included training in hunting, ritual dance, and military skills, while others—especially those emphasizing literacy—often excluded physical skills.

The spread of literacy in the West between 1500 and 1800 coincided with a new awareness that fitness helps the mind. Gymnasiums opened across Europe, the first in Copenhagen in 1799. The German Turnverein movement grew, expanding to the United States with immigration. Per Ling developed a teaching system for physical education in Stockholm in 1814, and Otto Spiess (1810–1858) popularized another system in Germany. As public schools in Germany, Denmark, and the United States tried these systems, physical education joined baccalaureate curricula, becoming a major at Columbia University in 1901 and elsewhere later.

Japan’s schools have linked physical and mental training since the 17th century. Public schools with compulsory physical education were founded in 1872; the trend since 1945 has been toward individual physical and mental development. The Soviet Union, after 1917, placed great emphasis on physical education, both in schools and in special physical education institutes.

Today, physical education is a required course in many primary and secondary schools in countries with compulsory education. Most teaching takes place inside gymnasiums or other facilities built specifically for physical education activities, although outdoor sports are also emphasized.

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