A 5-point plan to promote a physically active and healthy school

 

Schools play a far greater role in shaping healthy, active lifestyles than many people realise. In 2006, my first published article Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Schools [available click here] at the beginning of my academic career, I argued that schools, and particularly physical education teachers, are uniquely positioned to help children develop the habits, skills and attitudes needed for lifelong health and wellbeing.

Has anything changed since 2006? At the time of writing the 5 point plan there were growing concerns about childhood obesity, declining physical activity levels and increasingly sedentary lifestyles. Research cited in the article shows that many children spent significant amounts of time engaged in screen-based entertainment while physical activity levels had declined. At the same time, health authorities recommend that children participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day and limit recreational screen time which most children and youth were not meeting. 

I argued that simply increasing the amount of physical activity in schools is not enough if the objective is the promotion of the habit of physical activity puruit now and in the future. While initiatives that provide more opportunities for movement are valuable, meaningful change requires a broader educational approach. In 2006, I suggested the physically educated person being understood from the perspective of “physical literacy”. Physical literacy made sense to me at the time as multi-literacy theory was in vogue in Australian schools as a lens through which to understand the functional use of knowledge, skills and understanding attained from a learning (subject) area. The functional use of knowledge would see physical education focus on developing the whole child, including their physical, social, emotional and cognitive being. The goal being to help students understand the relationship between their decisions, their health and their overall quality of life. [This idea led me to the PE as Praxis model I published in 2007 and blog about here]. 

In the publication Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Schools, I advocate for programs that encourage lifelong habits of activity and personal responsibility for health. Schools through physical education can provide such a program to influence students’ physical competence that underpins confidence to be active, while also targeting development of the attitudes, confidence and willingness to remain active beyond the school years. This is because physical education is meant to educate across the physical, cogntive social-emotional domains of learning. In Australia, the basis of this is education in, through and about movement which structures a three dimensional curriculum framework through the sub-strands of the Movement and Participation Strand of the AC:HPE.

To support this vision, I proposed a practical five-point strategy for schools that I believe is still relevant.

1.Schools should increase opportunities for physical activity throughout the day, making movement a normal part of school life.

2. Physical activity should be integrated across the curriculum, linking movement with subjects such as mathematics, science and english.

3. Schools should focus on individual student needs as that which is available to them 'beyond the school gate' by community clubs and local council facilities.

4. Schools should actively engage families and community organisations to strengthen opportunities for participation beyond the classroom.

5. Schools should invest in professional learning for teachers so they can implement innovative and effective programs.

Research is clear, physical activity supports, rather than competes with, academic achievement. Appropriate time allocation for physical educationn does not detratct from academic attainment in other subject areas. Evidence suggests that physical education programs can positively contribute to learning outcomes across the curriculum, challenging the perception that time spent being active detracts from academic success.

Ultimately, I argued that schools are one of the most important settings for promoting lifelong health. By creating engaging, inclusive and relevant physical activity experiences through physical education and other opportunities during the school day, schools help young people develop the knowledge, habits and confidence needed to lead active, healthy lives well beyond their school years. The development of the habit of being active is the "key".

Twenty years on from proposing the 5 point plan, physical literacy has emerged from Australian sport efforts as an orientating narrative. I find it intriguing the narrative push didn’t emerge from physical education. The irony of its push into physical education being other subjects have moved on from multi-literacy theory to a focus on teaching for effective learning, meaning in Australia if physical education adopts the expanded notion of physical literacy (see image below) developed by Australian sport then it is using a "different language" to explain iteslf to that being used by other subject/learning areas - which is not a good thing.

Image from a 2019 ACHPER International Conference Presentation - Australian physical literacy: anything new or simply a new way of describing being and becoming physically educated?

Back in 2006, I was an early advocate of physical literacy. But the way it has developed, particularly in Australia, the definition demarcations between being physically literate and being physically educated are increasingly blurred as advocates of PL seek justification for their push of physical literacy. I discuss this is more detail see here).

We know physical literacy is a 'nice story', but we have nearly 40 years of research to tell us what is needed for schools to return to be part of the promotion of a more active and healthy Australia. This research is summarised by the 5-point plan. In my time in education (I started teaching in the late-1980s), we have lost school sport for all in public schools, we have lost DailyPE, we have lost the promotion of physical activity during the school day where teachers would tell students to "get up and move around, you have been sitting in class for the last two hours" during recess and lunch. And, we have lost children using active transport (like walking and bike riding) to get themselves to and from school. Children and youth need to be encouraged and socialised into physical activity when they arrive at school, at recess and lunch, and during the period of the day when children and youth were historically most active - between the time school finishes and the time of being 'called in to to tea' at night. "Back in my day" as a student, it seemed that what we did in PE had a direct connection to what was available through school sports and clubs and what was available in the local community. 

What is being taught in PE must have a connection to what is possible in the lives of the students - it must connect to what is available for them to be involved in through school teams and clubs or in the communities they live. 

Teachers must have the skills, knowledge and ability to 'bring to life' what is possible for young people 'beyond their school gate' - which may mean that some things the teacher really likes or is good at aren't part of the curriculum relevance. I also believe it is as Siedentop suggested, about teachers deciding what school PE programs 'stand for' and being consistent with it as time in PE is limited, and so it can only ever be a context for developing to competence so that young people have the confidence to be active, some things. 

Thanks for stopping by and reading this post. If you would like to connect with me about a project to do with this blog or any of the other ideas that I have blogged about, you can contact me by the email link available here 

Reference

Pill, S. (2006). Physical activity and health in schools Professional Educator, 5(3), 36-41.

Related blogs

The active school model click here

Does physical literacy depart from what it means to be physicall educated? click here