Movement Perspective
The movement perspective includes conceptual teaching, basic
movement patterns, movement principles, movement strategies, and activity
areas. A brief description of these categories follows.
Conceptual Teaching
In most areas of study, we have moved from the practice of teaching
isolated facts and skills to approaches that attempt to have the learner understand
and integrate experiences, see patterns and relationships, and make connections.
This approach, referred to as conceptual teaching, applies as well in Wellness
10.
The philosophy of Wellness 10, in the context of a concept-based
approach, implies a shift from teaching in which a sport or activity (e.g.,
game, dance) is the organizing element for units and lessons to an approach
in which lessons and units are organized around a concept. A concept is a
generalization or main idea that is transferable to other situations.
The term concept is used in this curriculum to refer to ideas
that have transfer value. For example, ideas about physical activity and movement
skills have transfer value when, after being learned in one way, context,
or environment, they can be used in a variety of other ways, contexts, and
environments.
Teachers who use a concept-based approach, when teaching basic
movement patterns, expect that after having taught the concept (e.g., Sending
– more specifically, the overarm throwing pattern), students will transfer
what they have learned to other skills and contexts where this movement pattern
is used (e.g., the badminton and tennis overhead smash, the javelin throw).
Students who understand the movement principle of force absorption
when landing on their feet are able to use that knowledge in other situations
requiring the absorption of force. For example, when performing other types
of landings
(e.g., landings on the hands, landings while rotating) or when receiving an
object (e.g., catching a ball, collecting a soccer ball).
Students who have learned the concept or game strategy (i.e.,
movement strategy) of zone defense (defending an area as opposed to a player)
can then apply it in various sports (e.g., floor hockey, football, soccer).
If students understand concepts such as overload and recovery, students will
be able to design their own fitness programs. Enabling students to transfer
what they have learned in one situation to a variety of other situations is
a major goal of conceptual teaching.
Planning learning experiences around concepts facilitates integration
of subject matter and reduces fragmentary learning. Concepts enable teachers
to simplify learning experiences and help students understand the material.
Rather than having to respond to each new experience as different, students
can recognize that their experiences belong to groups or categories. Concepts
reduce the need to treat each new piece of knowledge or each new experience
as a separate category. A conceptual approach to teaching and learning prepares
students to deal effectively with an ever changing and increasing knowledge
base.
Basic Movement Patterns
The basic movement patterns (BMPs) are concepts that, once learned,
can be combined to become the more complex skills used in games, dance, gymnastics,
individual and dual activities, and activities performed in outdoor and aquatic
environments. The concepts that are emphasized in the movement perspective
are: basic movement patterns, principles of movement, and movement strategies.
The following chart shows the relationship between movement patterns and movement
skills.
Basic Movement Patterns |
Movement Skills |
Sending |
throwing
striking |
Receiving |
catching
collecting |
Accompanying |
dribbling
carrying |
Evading |
dodging
faking
screening |
Locomotions |
displacement of the body from one place to another |
Landings |
on feet
on hands
while rotating |
Statics |
balances
supports
hangs |
Swings |
from supports
from hangs |
Springs |
about the axes of the body:
- longitudinal
- medial
- lateral
|
| Springs |
from the arms
from the legs |
Movement Principles
Movement principles are concepts related to the efficiency and
effectiveness of movement that can be transferred and applied in a variety
of situations. Some of these principles, which are called mechanical principles,
pertain more specifically to the efficiency of movement
(i.e., doing it right by using a mechanically correct technique). Other principles
are more closely related to the aesthetics of movement, as in making it look
good or aesthetically pleasing. These principles are emphasized in artistic
sports and activities such as dance, gymnastics, diving, and synchronized
swimming.
The intent behind teaching movement principles is to have students
understand and become more able to use these “big ideas” in a
wide variety of situations. Entire units and lessons may be organized around
a movement principle. These principles may also be integrated into units and
lessons that focus on other concepts. For example, lessons organized around
the concepts of Receiving or Landings lend themselves well to the study of
force absorption whereas Statics is a movement pattern that is particularly
conducive to exploration of the principles of stability.
Movement principles are introduced and then revisited in different ways throughout
the year. In Wellness 10, movement principles are applied through potentially
lifelong physical activities.
Movement Strategies
Movement strategies are ideas related to the application of
movement in co-operative and competitive (offensive and defensive) relationships
with others. They are ideas, regarding what to do and when to do it, that
can be applied in a variety of contexts.
In the games activity area, game activities are grouped into categories. Three
of the categories are shown in the chart that follows. For each category,
a strategy that is common to all the game forms in that category are provided.
Game Categories |
Examples of Strategies |
Net and wall games |
Sending objects to open areas |
Invasion (territorial) games |
Creating open space and repositioning to gain advantage
over an opponent |
Fielding (bat and ball) games |
Sending objects to open areas |
Target activities also share common strategies. Examples of
these activities (e.g., curling, archery, darts, bocci) are listed in the
Individual and Dual Activities column of the Activity Areas chart
The intent in teaching movement strategies is for students to be able to transfer
these strategies and apply them in a variety of situations. For example, hitting
a ball to open space is a strategy students should be able to generalize to
badminton, slo-pitch, walleyball, and other activities.
Movement strategies are introduced and then revisited at different times during
the year and applied in different contexts and environments. In Wellness 10,
students practise movement strategies in potentially lifelong physical activities
that they can enjoy alone or with others of varying skill levels.
Activity Areas
In Wellness 10, a wide variety of physical activities are grouped into activity
areas. It is recommended that students be provided with opportunities to engage
in a variety of movement experiences related to each activity area during
the school year. Of the total time devoted to physical activity during Wellness
10 class time, a certain percentage should be allotted to each activity area
in order to provide students with a “balanced menu” of physical
activity.
The amount of time during which students will be physically active in Wellness
10 will vary from student to student, and from class to class. It is anticipated
that students will be physically active in 60–75 class periods of Wellness
10. The course is designed to provide numerous opportunities for students
to be physically active during scheduled class time and also outside of class.
At the beginning of the semester, students use the Decision-making
Process to prepare an action plan for Physical Activity and Fitness. The implementation,
evaluation, and modification of this action plan continues throughout the
semester and, hopefully, into their adult lives. To achieve the objectives
of their plans, students include the physical activity they engage in during
scheduled Wellness 10 class time as well as physical activity during their
day-to-day lives outside Wellness 10. The teacher who merely provides students
with a number of physical activities for them to engage in during scheduled
Wellness 10 class time is more likely to increase or perpetuate the students’
dependence on others (i.e., teachers, school) for their physical activity.
Wellness 10 is designed to help students become more able and willing to assume
responsibility for adopting and maintaining an active lifestyle. Creating
opportunities and holding students accountable for physical activity outside
of Wellness 10 class time is one means of achieving this.
Other factors that will influence the percentage of Wellness
10 class time during which students will be physically active are the teacher’s
determination and ability to incorporate opportunities for physical activity
into each unit. One teacher may achieve the objectives of a unit in Wellness
10 while at the same time providing many opportunities for students to be
physically active. Another teacher may achieve the same objectives while providing
fewer opportunities for physical activity. The expectation is that as teachers
gain experience teaching Wellness 10, they will also become more able to do
so using strategies that provide a high level of physical activity for all
students including those with a condition or disability that limits physical
mobility.
In Unit 5, Volunteering in The Community, the nature of the
volunteering experience will influence the time that students spend being
physically active during the 15 hours allotted for this unit. For example,
a student who volunteers to work for an organization such as the United Way
will probably be less physically active than another student who volunteers
to lead a group of seniors through a program of low-organizational games and
dances, or to assist the coach of a young soccer team.
The two sample Wellness 10 semester plans of this curriculum
guide have been designed to assist teachers in the preparation of Wellness
10 courses that provide opportunities for students
to be physically active during a high percentage of scheduled Wellness 10
class time.
The chart provides a list of some of the physical activities that
are associated with the activity areas. It is anticipated that physical
fitness
will be an outcome of these and other physical activities.
Personal-Social-Cultural Perspective
The following concepts are the organizers for this perspective:
These six concepts, based on the works of Donald Hellison (2003,
1995), provide guidelines to allow students to become more responsible. Participation
and self-direction address the students’ responsibility for personal
development. Respect and caring address the students’ social and moral
responsibility for their relationships with others and as members of groups.
The fifth concept focuses on the transfer of responsibility from the Wellness
10 curriculum to the lives of students in school, on the playground, at home,
and in the community. The sixth concept, work and leisure, deals with the
application of responsibility by students in the community and the workplace.
The foregoing six concepts can be presented to students as a
loose progression of levels that students can work toward. The specific content
and context for each of the levels advanced by Hellison, that are employed
in this curriculum, are as follows:
Level I: Respect (self-control)
Students at Level I are able to control their behaviour so that they do not
interfere with other students’ rights to learn or the teachers’
right to teach. Students do this without much prompting from the teacher and
without constant supervision.
Level II: Participation (involvement)
Students at Level II not only show respect for others but also participate
willingly, even enthusiastically, in learning experiences. Students display
a better understanding of the role of effort and persistence in improving,
and an increased willingness to try new things and to participate in a variety
of activities.
Level III: Self-direction (self-responsibility)
Students at Level III not only show respect and participate, they also work
without direct supervision and take on more responsibility for their well-being.
They are able to begin to develop and carry out a personal wellness action
plan in accordance with their own needs and interests.
Level IV: Caring
Students at Level IV, in addition to respecting others, participating, and
being self-directed, are motivated to extend their sense of responsibility
beyond themselves by co-operating, giving support, showing concern, and helping
others.
Level V: Outside of Wellness 10
Students at Level V apply the behaviours of the previous four levels beyond
Wellness 10 on the playground, at home, and in other life situations.
Level VI: Work and Leisure
Students at Level VI are able to make connections between the levels and their
future in the adult world of work and leisure.
To become responsible, students must have the opportunity to
take on responsibility. Students must be provided with opportunities to practice
being responsible on a regular basis. Giving students responsibility requires
implementing instructional strategies that emphasize sharing the responsibility
for planning and for establishing assessment criteria with the students. It
means shifting some of the decision making from the teacher to the students
and negotiating issues with students.
In addition to matters regarding personal and social responsibility,
Wellness 10 addresses issues of culture. To do this well, culture cannot be
viewed as a remote concept; rather, if anything of educational significance
is to result, teachers and students must translate cultural awareness into
action. As with the concept of fair play, little is achieved if the term remains
esoteric and not grounded in the day-to-day reality of the gymnasium, playing
field, or classroom. Instead of talking and teaching about culture as an intellectual
term, teachers need to help students become aware of cultural groups, cultural
values and practices, and the problems faced by minority cultures. This enhanced
cultural awareness needs to be coupled with action in the form of curricular
activities that have meaning for students.
Educators across Canada will realize the benefits of cultural awareness when
all students feel that their particular ethnicity is reflected through their
schooling experiences in a variety of ways. Ethnic diversity not only enriches
our classrooms, it provides a balance of ideas whereby critical and creative
thinking are nurtured and, in fact, required. As a personal and professional
competency, cultural awareness leads us to reconsider our approach, to reflect
upon what we value, and to respect the identities of all students.
To date, the Wellness 10 course has focused on the contributions
of various ethnic groups as a way to bring cultural awareness into the curriculum.
Our challenge is to move from these token forms of recognition to a philosophy
and practice that fully embodies principles of inclusion, equity, and multiculturalism.
