Introduction
In the Elementary Physical Education Curriculum Guide, a wide variety of physical activities are grouped into five activity areas. The Physical Education Curriculum recommends that we provide opportunities for students to engage in a variety of movement experiences related to each activity area every year. It provides a recommended yearly range of time to be allocated to each activity area.
The five activity areas are:Each activity area provides opportunities for the development of students that the other activity areas do not provide or do not provide as effectively. For example, activities associated with the Rhythmics and Dance area provide opportunities for the development of expressive and rhythmic movement skills and concepts that the other activity areas do not offer. Gymnastics activities provide opportunities for the development of upper body strength and flexibility that the other areas do not provide. Games provide opportunities for learning certain game strategies that are not available in the other activity areas.
Activities within each area also vary in terms of what they contribute to the development of students. Within the Educational Gymnastics activity area, for example, Springing activities will contribute more to the development of leg strength than Swinging activities. Swings, however, contribute more in terms of upper body strength and flexibility. Within the Educational Games activity area, bat and ball games provide opportunities for learning strategies that are different from those learned when playing territorial/invasion games.
The time allotments suggested for each activity area are an attempt to ensure that students are provided a balanced program.
Teachers are encouraged to provide opportunities for students to engage in:
The Saskatchewan Physical Education Curriculum emphasizes the importance of enjoying a variety of physical activities. Participating in a variety of physical activities associated with each activity area increases the likelihood that:
Participating in a variety of physical activities associated with each activity area decreases the likelihood that:
Rationale for Classification
The five activity areas are groupings of physical activities that share certain common characteristics, objectives and Basic Movement Patterns.
1. Alternative Environment Activities are similar to one another in that they take place primarily in aquatic and outdoor environments away from school. A shared objective of aquatic activities is that of having students learn drown-proofing skills. Most outdoor activities share the common objective of having students develop an appreciation for the natural environment and awareness of the potential for physical activity in the out-of-doors.
Alternative Environment Activities incorporate a wide range of Basic Movement Patterns.
2. A common characteristic of Rhythmics and Dance activities is their focus on rhythmic and expressive movement.
The Basic Movement Patterns that are most common in Rhythmics and Dance activities are Locomotions and Accompanying. Rhythmics and Dance often involve step-like locomotions and accompanying a rhythm, partner or group.
3. Most Educational Games involve at least two people and the manipulation of an object. They usually are played according to rules and strategy is important.
Sending, Receiving, Accompanying and Evading are the Basic Movement Patterns that are most common in Educational Games. Accompanying in the context of games involves accompanying an object (e.g., dribbling a ball with the hands or the feet) or another player (e.g., passing a puck or a ball while moving toward the opposing team's goal).
4. Educational Gymnastics activities generally involve moving one's entire body in a controlled manner in relation to fixed equipment such as mats, bars, ropes, boxes, etc. Educational Gymnastics is sometimes referred to as "body management" because the activities provide opportunities for students to learn to manage their own bodies. A major contribution of Educational Gymnastics to the physical education program is the development of the components of physical fitness-muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility.
The Basic Movement Patterns most commonly associated with the activity area of Educational Gymnastics are Locomotions, Landings, Statics, Rotations, Swings and Springs.
5. Individual and Dual Activities are alike in that they are performed alone or with a partner.
As with Alternative Environmental Activities, the range of Basic Movement Patterns that can be developed in and through Individual and Dual Activities is broad.
Suggested Time Allotments for the Physical Activity Areas
Each of the five activity areas provides children with particular and sometimes unique developmental opportunities. It is important that we as teachers appreciate these categories and recognize that a balance of movement experiences leads to the development of physically educated persons. The following diagram illustrates the recommended time allotment for activities in school physical education programs.
The 15% optional time allotment may be used to increase the time devoted to one or several of the other activity areas. For example, the entire 15% may be added to the Rhythmics and Dance area, thus increasing the percentage of time spent in this area to 30%. Another possibility would be to add 5% to the Individual and Dual Activities area, 5% to the Rhythmics and Dance area and 5% to Alternative Environment Activities.
The 15% optional time allotment may also be used to provide learning experiences that will contribute specifically to the attainment of the objectives of the Active Living and Personal-Social-Cultural perspectives.
Three Examples of Curriculum Adaptation
The three graphics illustrate how the physical education program may be adapted to meet the needs of students by varying the emphasis placed on each perspective.
Incorporating the Physical Activity Areas
Alternative Environment Activities
Physical education in many schools is restricted in scope to gymnasium activities and to the use of sports fields and running tracks. However, we know that the scope of the physical education activities pursued by children and youth outside of school is huge. Some schools recognize this dichotomy and have broadened and enriched their curriculum through the introduction of aquatic programs and outdoor education. Such initiatives must become commonplace rather than the exception if we are to meet the needs of children and become more than a nation of indoor, domesticated people concerned more with comfort and convenience than we are with adventure and a love of nature.
The Active Living perspective, which permeates this document, also calls for us to explore and utilize the outdoors far more extensively than we do at present. The essential notion here is that we integrate physical education into our daily lives.
"It's More Than A Game" is a popular poster slogan found on the walls of many gymnasiums and classrooms around the province. The inclusion of a new perspective on physical education, which includes a significant amount of learning in alternative environments, will make this slogan more of a reality in the lives of children. Too often, children take their physical education lessons indoors except in ideal, mild weather conditions.
Another vital reason for the inclusion of alternative educational environments is that students need to develop a critical awareness of the environment. If they, as well as we, are to become good stewards of the environment, there is a need to engage in experiential learning in natural settings.
Educational Rhythmics and Dance
Rhythmics and dance are vital parts of all cultures. There is a heritage of dance in Canada. These forms of physical activity encourage children to gain an awareness of their own and other cultures, to enhance self-esteem and to learn to solve problems, express feelings, improve communication and cooperative skills. Students progress from basic to more complex movement sequences that manifest themselves in different dance forms such as folk, square, multicultural and jazz as well as in rhythmic gymnastics.
Rhythmics and dance provide excellent opportunities for bridging between physical education, arts education and social studies.
Games have traditionally occupied a large part of the physical education curriculum and many school programs are dominated by group games to the exclusion of other important curriculum experiences. This heavy reliance on the games component of physical education is not surprising given the fact that Canada is predominantly a games-oriented physical culture and given the relative ease of conducting low-organization games. The present curriculum guide acknowledges the central place that games occupy in our culture by the allotment of from 25% to 40% of time to this activity area. There is a need to shift the emphasis, however, from merely playing games to an educational games approach in which the learning of games has the main goals of learning skills and strategies and understanding about game principles. Students use game principles to design their own games and to adapt or modify pre-designed games. In this new approach games are the medium in and through which concepts are explored, revisited and applied.
In the day-to-day practical work of the teacher, this means that rather than having a high waiting time and no specific objectives, many traditional tag games emphasize fun instead of a movement skill or concept. It means that the teacher would focus upon the strategies common to "tag" games. The following strategies drawn from Teaching Children Games, Belka, (1994) suggest the kinds of approaches that are used to replace the goal of simply running and getting tired:
In moving from the widespread practices of merely organizing and refereeing children's games or in changing an approach that emphasizes skill teaching and drill, there are other important considerations. These include:
"Gymnastics" is a term that is intimidating to many elementary school teachers. The image of highly skilled people working on vaulting boxes, uneven bars, rings and other sophisticated equipment is what quickly springs to mind. These images may be a good representation of the sport of Olympic gymnastics but they are not what educational gymnastics is about. Rather, in educational gymnastics, we see youngsters learning to use and manage their bodies in safe, efficient and creative ways. Instead of a series of gymnastics stunts, they select, refine and perform the six Basic Movement Patterns of Landings, Locomotions, Statics, Rotations, Swings and Springs in a variety of contexts and environments. Emphasis is on challenges and problem-solving. The Movement Variables of Body, Space, Effort and Relationships are used to design movement learning experiences. Students work individually, in pairs and in groups to create movement sequences and structures. Elaborate facilities are not required in this approach. In fact, many good educational gymnastics programs are conducted out-of-doors in natural settings. While large-scale gymnastics equipment is not essential for providing students with quality movement learning experiences, such equipment can certainly be used to good advantage.
When considering why 25%-40% of the physical education curriculum should be given over to educational gymnastics, it is important to bear in mind the opportunities that educational gymnastics activities provide.
· Opportunities for the development of the upper body. It is much easier and more common to develop strength in the lower body than in the upper body. Many everyday events such as walking and running and jumping enhance lower body strength. Most team games and sports emphasize lower body strength with a tendency to neglect upper body development.
· Opportunities for the development of components of physical fitness that are not developed-or not developed as efficiently- in physical activities from the other activity areas. These include upper body muscular endurance, strength and flexibility.
· Equal development of both left and right sides of the body. Most gymnastics activities involve simultaneous use of both arms (e.g., rolls, hangs, swings, supports) or both legs (e.g., springs, tumbling). By contrast, many game activities that involve the use of an implement (e.g., bat, racquet, stick) or object (e.g., beanbag, ball, Frisbee) tend to favor the development of one side of the body more than the other side.
· Fitness development in lieu of traditional exercises such as push-ups and sit-ups.
If educational gymnastics experiences are to be truly "educational," then we must ask in what ways are they educational? In short, these experiences are educational because they start with the needs of students. Movement problems are provided which the students must solve, questions are asked to gain the cognitive involvement of students, various solutions in the form of movement sequences are offered as answers to problems and teachers guide students to reflect upon and synthesize their experiences. Students gain knowledge and understandings of the mechanical principles associated with the Basic Movement Patterns of gymnastics and they increase their ability to apply these principles.
Individual and Dual Activities
Many of the physical activities listed in the category of Individual and Dual Activities could well be incorporated in the other categories of activities. However, we have chosen to provide them under a separate heading because too often they are overlooked as bona fide activities in schools. It is hoped that by profiling individual and dual activities as a main activity category, they will receive the attention that is their due.
There are sound educational reasons to focus on individual and dual activities in the physical education of children. One is that increasingly it appears to be difficult to assemble a group of children for play and physical activity in after-school hours. In our complex world it seems more feasible to take part in physical recreation alone or with a friend or two than it does to get a group or team together-particularly for the elementary age group. As well, the varied learning styles of children suggest activities other than games, dance and gymnastics should be offered in the program. The inclusion of individual and dual activities in the curriculum recognizes this diversity of interests and learning styles.
The individual and dual activities proposed in this guide also afford a number of advantages not found as readily in the more mainstream activity areas. Some of these are:
The foregoing reasons coupled with the fact that children's early learning usually involves extensive amounts of individual and partner work suggest the need to emphasize the importance of individual and dual activities in the physical education curriculum.
The activities in each Activity Area are the vehicles used to teach and learn the major concepts of the physical education curriculum.
The activities are a means to an end,
rather than an end in themselves.
The Activity Areas
The following chart provides a list of some of the physical activities that are associated with each of the five activity areas.
The categories listed above and the activities contained in each category are suggestions only and are not intended as completed or closed systems. Many new activities and perhaps even new areas may be added providing they meet the criterion of leading to sound educational outcomes.