Welcome back Education Bloggers, and happy
2018! I hope everyone has enjoyed their Christmas! After such a long break,
let’s get back to business. Our discussion today is based on how physical
education (PE) is used to promote well-being in primary education.
Firstly, what is well-being? Oxford
Dictionary (2018) have described it as “being comfortable, healthy or happy”.
The idea of well-being is not just about physical appearance, but also holistic
education; “nurturing the broad development and focuses on their intellectual,
emotional, social, physical, creative or intuitive, aesthetic and spiritual
potentials” (Hare, 2010, p.3). PE does enable pupils to follow Hare’s factors
of holistic education because they can be creative with what activity the
children and young people partake in by being active and involved, which has a
positive impact on their well-being.
The additional factors of their physical,
intellectual, emotional and social reflect feelings and thoughts of children,
towards PE in school. This could have both a positive and negative impact on
the children’s well-being because their thoughts depend on how involved they
are within PE at school; if they feel self-conscious about their physical
appearance, then this may prevent children from taking part. We will briefly
look further into children feeling self-conscious later.
On the other hand, if the child knows they
have a strength in a particular area of PE, i.e. netball, football, athletics,
etc., it will encourage them to show off what they can do.
It has been said that PE is “the only
curriculum subject that combines body and physical competence into value-based
learning and communication” (Lynch & Soukup, 2017, p.3). Collaboration is
present within this statement, not necessarily in an educational aspect, but
towards a pupil’s well-being. The focus is on the body; how the pupil’s feel on
the inside, as well as their physical ability to maintain their well-being.
The value-based learning factor within
education is all about “promoting an educational philosophy based on valuing
self and others” (Hawkes, 2009, p.1), and is shown through physical activity
within schools because the pupils understand the idea of valuing others as well
as themselves. Furthermore, emotional development is linked in with value
because self-concept (self-esteem and self-image) is a key element within PE;
will the pupil work to the best of their ability if they have low self-esteem?
Kirk, et al. (2004, p.141) believe
that “the combination of poor body image and low self-esteem can make people
reluctant to participate in physical activities”, therefore effecting the
pupil’s ability to take part in physical education. From this statement, it is
implied that some pupils may find it difficult to show off their abilities in
front of their peers, because they are embarrassed by their appearance.
However, England’s Chief Medical Officer
(CMO) (gov.uk, 2012, p.9) stated that “physical
activity ... can enable children and adolescents to ... help to
build positive personal attributes such as self-esteem and self-confidence”, which is a way of promoting well-being in primary
education. The children will become aware that they experience of PE encourages
them to have an active lifestyle, and so creates a negative outcome of them
being self-conscious into a positive. Although this source is from a
governmental report and is bias to one opinion, the idea of physical education
benefiting children to help their self-concept it relevant to our discussion.
Do you agree with the CMO and if so, how?
I believe that this idea of promoting PE in
primary education, to help pupils self-concept should be made more prominent
because not only does it improve children’s well-being physically but mentally,
it can have a huge impact in terms of their self-concept. The expectation for
schools to focus academic testing and following the curriculum is incredibly
high, but the lack of knowledge on how children feel about partaking in PE, and
whether they feel comfortable is low. Understanding the children’s thought
process for PE, and building on their confidence is a method of promoting
well-being in primary education, but schools should be made more aware of this
to engage their pupils to perform to the best of their ability. Furthermore,
the positive outcome from promoting physical education in schools could
encourage children to “promote their own and others’ well-being and contributes
to reducing health inequalities and improving well-being more widely”
(Donaldson, 2015, p.45). Donaldson has made this statement in the curriculum
for Wales, and can be done through physical activity in schools. As other
‘others’ are involved, this could be where group work becomes more present in
terms of encouraging the children to work more as a team.
It is said to believe that “group work is an essential
component of most physical
education lessons” (Hooper, Grey & Maude, 2000, p.104), and
encouraging this could a method of promoting physical education, so the
children have that opportunity to build on their social development by
communicating with new people. Group work also enables the pupils to build on
additional skills other than communication, like teamwork and taking leadership,
and build on their self-concept the more they use these skills.
In our seminar, we experienced a group
work, physical activity by following a dance routine that was made up by one of
the students from Cardiff Metropolitan University. At first, it was quite
embarrassing because it did not come naturally to all of us, whereas some got
into it. Me and my other peer decided to use this as a good opportunity to keep
fit and to have a laugh; we managed to make some of our peers laugh in the warm
up by strutting through the indoor arena, as if we were on a catwalk…I do think
we should stick to Primary Education!
Later in the seminar, we came up with our
own routine where we had to perform in front of all our peers. As per
mentioned, the idea of working in a team, taking leadership and using
communication are factors that should be considered in primary education, so
they can keep fit and to also have fun with it.
Also, mixing dance which comes under the
creative arts category, and physical education together demonstrates
collaborative learning (mentioned in my previous blog) because two factors of
the curriculum are being used within one activity. This could be executed further
by asking the pupils to come up with a routine based on a story, linking in
with literacy and health and well-being. Doing this could be an additional way
of promoting well-being because they will be including factors from other
subjects, therefore keeping the children engaged with their learning. This
supports Donaldson’s (2015, p.44) view, as he believes that “developing
creativity provides contexts and challenges where they can work
collaboratively”. As implied by Donaldson, creativity in primary education is a
key element to success for children’s learning, as it encourages the children
to keep fit by taking control of the activity.
However, group work could have its
downfalls because in activities where teams are involved, “those children that
were picked last for a team often remain last” (Cardinal, Yan, Cardinal, 2013,
p.49). This links back to what we previously said about self-concept; the idea
of being picked last could create negative thoughts in the pupil’s mind, as
they start to think about why they were not picked first. Is it because they
did something wrong, or because they are not as fast as others? The
self-conscious feeling that pupil’s feel about this could create a negative
impact on the pupil’s emotional development; preventing them from wanting to
take part in any group activity.
Teachers could overcome this challenge by
putting their pupils into teams based on mixed abilities, so it gives the
opportunity for children to socialise with different people. This will create
less tension with the school group and this way, no one will be left out or
left last.
Today’s discussion has been a long one but
we managed to focus on how physical education can promote well-being in primary
education in many, different ways. Some relate to a pupil’s holistic
development, and some link with what can be done in the activity to maintain
the engagement from pupils.
What do you think can be done to promote
well-being? Look back at my points and share what you think about it; do you
agree or disagree with what I have said?
The next discussion will be based on how
science and technology activities can be made engaging and relevant in primary
education? In our seminar, we tested out some fun experiments, but I will talk
more about that in the blog. In the meantime, I want you to think about your
experience in science lessons when you were in primary school. Did you enjoy it
and did you feel engaged? I also want you think about the technology that was
used in that time, in comparison to what there is now.
Anisha Chauhan
Anisha Chauhan
References:
- Cardinal. B J, Yan. Z
& Cardinal. M K (2013) ‘Negative
Experiences in Physical Education and Sport: How Much Do They Affect Physical
Activity Participation Later in Life?’, Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07303084.2013.767736?needAccess=true (Accessed:
26/03/18), p.49
- Donaldson (2015) ‘Successful Futures’, Chapter 4, p.44-45
- Gov.uk (2012) ‘Our Children Deserve Better: Prevention
Pays’, Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255237/2901304_CMO_complete_low_res_accessible.pdf (Accessed:
26/03/18), p.9
-
Hare. J (2010) ‘Holistic education: An
interpretation for teachers in the IB programmes’, Available at: http://blogs.ibo.org/positionpapers/files/2010/09/Holistic-education_John-Hare.pdf (Accessed: 26/03/18), p.3
-
Hawkes. N
(2009) ‘What is Values-based Education?’,
Available at: http://www.downley.bucks.sch.uk/_files/users/3/Documents/FDF8616E95F54BE3A2E051594AD190D6.pdf (Accessed: 26/03/18), Oxford, p.1
- Hooper. B, Grey. J
& Maude. P (2000) ‘Teaching Physical
Education in the Primary School’, London, p.104
- Kirk. D, et. al (1999) ‘Senior
Physical Education: An Integrated Approach’, London, p.141
-
Lynch. T & Soukup. G J
(2017) ‘Primary physical education (PE):
School leader perceptions about classroom teacher quality implementation’, Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1348925?needAccess=true (Accessed: 26/03/18), Brunei, p.3
-
Oxford Dictionary (2018) ‘Well-being’, Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/well-being
(Accessed: 26/03/18)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello Anisha! This is a great blog and raises some very interesting points about how through P.E teachers can promote all areas of a child's holistic development and improve their overall health and wellbeing. I agree with the point you made about teachers placing pupils into mixed ability grouping since it develops opportunities for pupils to socialise with different student's but would this end up distracting and demotivating them? However, this might not be the case in P.E because it is practical and Wilkinson, Penney and Allin (2016) states that within P.E lessons mixed ability grouping helped the more able pupils to make progress and encouraged the lesser able pupils to perform more confidently in P.E. Also allowing pupils to choose their partner is likely to motivate the pupil and improve personal and social outcomes for those within the lower ability groups (Hallam, Ireson and Davies, 2013). Therefore, a method to group teams in P.E could be to get pupils to find a pair and them put the pairs into mixed ability groups in order to give children a choice but also decrease the tension and motivate the pupils.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Hallam, S., Ireson, J. & Davies, J. (2013) Effective Pupil Grouping in the Primary School: A Practical Guide. Oxon: Routledge.
Wilkinson, S., Penney, D. & Allin, L. (2016) 'Setting and within-class ablity grouping: A survey of practices in physical education', European Physical Education Review, 22(3), pp.336-354.
Hey Olivia, thank you for your comment! I do believe mixed ability groups are beneficial to children, due to the points you have provided. Research has been taken based on teacher's perceptions of the children's reactivity during physical education and it was concluded that "the child might be distracted by other children in the room" (Hawdy & Mawer, 2003), so this could imply that some children may not be able to work well with their peers, without messing around in the lesson.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as children start to get older, "the majority of both girls and boys dislike the risk of getting left out" (Fahey, Delaney & Gannon, n.d), which could be the case if children are encouraged to choose people to be in their group for PE. Although this academic piece is not from a UK source and is from Ireland, the ideas are still applicable to children in the UK because this is something that boys and girls experience in physical education. This could create a negative impact on children's emotional development; self-esteem because they may feel as if they are not good enough to be in a certain group. The Oxford Dictionary (2018) have described self-esteem as the “confidence in one's own worth or abilities; self-respect”, and the reference from Ireland contrasts this because children would feel as if they are not good enough to be in a certain group.
However, the Guardian have stated that “children do learn to be more independent if they work in groups”, which is a skill that children will benefit from in the future when they are expected to work as a team in a work environment. Although this is a newspaper article and it is not a neutral source because they are bias towards one view, the ideas from this writer are still relevant; children should be encouraged to work in a group, with different people because it can create a positive impact on their development.
References:
- Hardy. C A & Mawer. M (2003) 'Learning and Teaching in Physical Education', London
- Fahey. T, Delaney. L & Gannon. B (n.d) ‘School Children and Sport in Ireland’, Ireland
- Oxford Dictionary (2018) ‘Self-esteem’, Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/self-esteem (Accessed: 23/04/18)
- Smith. A (2006) ‘Group work benefits pupils, study finds’, The Guardian (no ed.) 31 March, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/mar/31/schools.uk2 (Accessed: 23/04/18)
Hi Anisha! Thanks for getting back to me with your thoughts! I completely agree that for some children, P.E can be viewed as an opportunity to mess around and get easily distracted by others, however with the new proposed Curriculum by Donaldson P.E is likely to link to a topic that the children have been exploring in other lessons, which is likely to increase engagement and interest for a lot of children which could improve the behaviour during these lessons (Donaldson, 2015). Another way proven to increase interest during P.E lessons is a games concept approach and is shown to add value to their learning (Fry et al, 2010).
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that P.E could have a negative impact on a child's self-esteem, but this is only during the grouping process and a lot of research has shown that P.E can benefit all aspects of a child's well-being and not only physically (Bailey, 2007; Bailey et al, 2007). Although as mentioned this drawback to choosing your own groups during P.E is mainly focused on older children, therefore within primary school P.E is likely to enhance learning rather than be an opportunity for the children to disengage (Rickels, 2014).
References
Donaldson, G. (2015) Successful Futures: Independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Available at: http://gov.wales/docs/dcells/publications/150225-successful-Futures-en.pdf(Accessed: 24th April 2018).
Fry, M., Tan, C., Mcneill, M. & Wright, S. (2010) 'Children's perspectives on conceptual games teaching: a value-adding experience', Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 15(2), pp.139-158.
Rickels, J. (2014) An investigation into the interventions used by PE teachers for female adolescents and their perceptions of female barriers to participate in P.E. Sport and Physical Education. Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Bailey, R. (2007) 'Evaluating the relationship between physical education, sport and social inclusion', Educational Review, 57(1), pp.71-90.
Bailey, R., Armour, K., Kirk, D. Jess, M., Pickup, I., Sandford, R., BERA Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy Special Interest Group. (2007) 'The educational benefits claimed for physical education and school sport: an academic review', Research Papers in Education, 24(1), pp.1-27.