o a collection of useful resources for teachers.
Defining the term ‘Physical Education’
Applying a standard definition to the term ‘Physical Education’ is actually surprisingly difficult. On the one hand, it certainly covers the physical aspects of a healthy lifestyle, such as the exercises and activities children can participate in. But on the other, it’s also important to consider the value of nutrition and maintaining a balanced diet.
The problem is that nutrition as a subject isn’t usually taught as a specific area of study until degree level at colleges or universities. But that doesn’t mean to say that the basics can’t be explored alongside the physical exercise through levels K to 12.
As well as setting up children for an active lifestyle in the future, when taught from an early enough age, PE will often be the first time they experience two other important life skills; team work and goal setting.
Depending on the environment and exercises involved, this may also be the first time children experience competition, with learning how to cope with wins and losses an important life lesson in itself.
While we’ve briefly touched on a few of the benefits of PE already, we’re now going to outline why PE can be so beneficial to the future health and well-being of children, as they develop into young adults.
What are the recommended guidelines?
If you start to research the field of physical education for both children and adults, you’ll start to become familiar with the number 150.
One of the recommendations from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education – one of five national associations that make up SHAPE America (formerly AAHPERD, The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) – is that schoolchildren participate in a minimum of 150 minutes per week of physical exercise.
This is also the number that has been used in a number of scientific studies, including one by the New England Journal of Medicine into measures that can be taken to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
In this particular study, 3234 people were assigned to two different programs; one with a placebo, and one ‘lifestyle-modification’ program, where subjects were required to maintain the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week.
After an average follow-up period of 2.8 years, there were 58 percent fewer people with diabetes in the lifestyle-modification program than in the placebo group.
These results are echoed by a joint position statement from The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Diabetes Association, who recommend that persons with type 2 diabetes should undertake at least 150 min/week of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise.
However, while 150 minutes is the recommended guideline for elementary schools, the minimum amount of recommended weekly exercise increases to 225 minutes for middle and high schools.
You can find out more about the guidelines specific to your area of teaching or study by choosing from the links below:
As part of an initiative by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), the Let’s Move in School project was launched. The goal of this project is to assist schools in meeting the recommended guidelines mentioned above, through the creation of physical activity programs that run before, during, and after school.
This is also in support of the Let’s Move! campaign, created by Michelle Obama, with the aim of solving childhood obesity within a generation.
6 Useful PE resources:
- 1. SHAPE America
Based in Reston, VA – a 40 minute drive from Washington, DC – SHAPE America describes itself as “the largest organization of professionals involved in school-based health, physical education and physical activity, who are dedicated to teaching and promoting active, healthy lifestyles.”
SHAPE is also an excellent resource in its own right for finding out more about the Physical Education guidelines, with a number of guidance documents available. These cover everything from the instructional framework for fitness education, to work samples for teachers.