With one in three U.S. children being classified as overweight or obese, it’s not surprising that physical education is being recognized as one of the most important subjects in schools across the country.
In fact, a study commissioned by Harvard University’s Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement found that 91 percent of parents polled expressed a desire for Physical Education (PE) to play more of a prominent role in their child’s education. 95 percent also showed support for health classes teaching the importance of exercise and nutrition.
So with a greater emphasis now being placed on teaching children the benefits of an active lifestyle from an earlier age, teachers of physical education (PE) are in growing demand. This is one of the reasons the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted a six percent growth in employment for all high school teachers, while kindergarten and elementary school teachers are likely to see job opportunities increase by around 12% between 2012 and 2022.
Some of the best qualities that educational institutions are likely to be looking for when hiring PE teachers include:
- Being passionate about the health and well-being of students
- Teaching exercises in a way that makes them fun and enjoyable
- Being able to identify each individual students’ strengths and weaknesses
- Encouraging the growth and development potential in specific sports and activities
- Recommending extra-curricular clubs and events that are tailored towards the child’s interests
However, not all children will enjoy every sport, and participating in exercises and activities they don’t enjoy week after week can manifest a negative attitude towards PE from a very early age. This is something that could stay with them for the rest of their lives, so it’s important to develop exercise plans and teaching styles that account for a wide range of exercise preferences.
This is why we’re now going to look at the most important aspects of teaching Physical Education, ranging from government recommendations, to 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 diabete