Meaning In Movement Sport And Physical Education

This book outlines an approach to teaching and learning in physical education that prioritises meaningful experiences for pupils, using case studies to illustrate how practitioners have implemented this approach across international contexts. Prioritising the idea of meaningfulness positions movement as a primary way to enrich the quality of young people’s lives, shifting the focus of physical education programs to better suit the needs of contemporary young learners and resist the utilitarian health-oriented views of physical education that currently predominate in many schools and policy documents. The book draws on the philosophy of physical education to articulate the main rationale for prioritising meaningful experiences, before identifying potential and desired outcomes for participants. It highlights the distinct characteristics of meaningful physical education and its content, and outlines teaching and learning principles and strategies, supported by pedagogical cases that show what meaningful physical education can look like in school-based teaching and in higher education-based teacher education. With an emphasis on good pedagogical practice, this is essential reading for all pre-service and in-service physical education teachers or coaches working in youth sport.

The discipline area of physical education has historically struggled for legitimacy, sometimes being seen as a non-serious pursuit in educational terms compared to other subjects within the school curriculum. This book represents the first attempt in nearly thirty years to offer a coherent philosophical defence and conceptualisation of physical education and sport as subjects of educational value, and to provide a philosophically sound justification for their inclusion in the curriculum. The book argues that rather than relegating the body to “un-thinking” learning, a person’s essential being is not confined to their rationality but involves an embodied dimension. It traces the changing conceptions of the body, in philosophy and theology, that have influenced our understanding of physical education and sport, and investigates the important role that embodiment and movement play in learning about, through and in physical education. Physical education is defended as a vital and necessary part of education because the whole person goes to school, not just the mind, but the thinking, feeling and acting facets of a person. It is argued that physical education has the potential to provide a multitude of experiences and opportunities for students to become aware of their embodiment, explore alternative modes of awareness and to develop insights into and new modes of being not available elsewhere in the curriculum, and to influence moral character through the support of a moral community that is committed to that practice. Representing a sophisticated and spirited defence of the educational significance and philosophical value of physical education and sport, this book will be fascinating reading for any advanced student or researcher with an interest in physical education, the philosophy of sport or the philosophy of education.

Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.

In recent decades physical education has moved from the margins, redefining itself as an academic subject. An important component of this transformation has been the introduction of high-stakes examinations at key points in a student’s school career and the emergence of ‘examination physical education’ as the dominant paradigm in many educational systems around the world. This book is the first to explore the growing international literature on examination physical education and draw on research to extend the political, academic and professional debates around the subject to explore its limitations and possibilities. Addressing key topics such as curriculum development, assessment methods, and teacher education, it seeks to assess how our existing knowledge of examination physical education can be best translated into pedagogical practice in the classroom. Complementing other texts in the Routledge Studies in Physical Education and Youth Sport Series, it makes an original and informed contribution to current discussions of physical education. Examination Physical Education: Policy, Practice and Possibilities is important reading for any student, researcher or teacher educator with an interest in physical education, sports pedagogy and education policy.

This book offers a perfect balance of knowledge base, pedagogy, and curriculum content, delivered with practical learning tools and activities, so you can help your students develop movement skills that foster healthful habits. Including engaging KinetiKidz characters that demonstrate technically correct form for 121 movement elements and that help children move more, feel good, and think better.

Phenomenology is a philosophical approach to the study of consciousness and subjective experience. In recent years it has become a more prominent element of the social scientific study of sport and a core component of the important emergent concept of physical literacy. This book is the first to offer a philosophically-sound investigation of phenomenological perspectives on pedagogy in physical education. The book argues that phenomenology offers a particularly interesting theoretical approach to physical education because of the closely embodied relationship between the knowledge object (the actions, activities and practices of movement) and the knowing subject (the pupil). Drawing on the work of key phenomenological thinkers but also exploring the implications of this work for teaching practice, the book helps to illuminate our understanding of important concepts in physical education such as practical knowledge, skill acquisition, experience and ethics. This is fascinating reading for any serious student or researcher working in physical education or the philosophy or sociology of sport.

This innovative and user-friendly book uses a design thinking approach to examine transformative learning and liminality in physical education. Covering theory and practice, it introduces the important idea of ‘threshold concepts’ for physical education, helping physical educators to introduce those concepts into curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. The book invites us to reflect on what is learned in, through and about physical education - to identify its core threshold concepts. Once identified, the book explains how the learning of threshold concepts can be planned using principles of pedagogical translation for all four learning domains (cognitive, psychomotor, affective and social). The book is arranged into three key sections which walk the reader through the underpinning concepts, use movement case studies to explore and generate threshold concepts in physical education using design thinking approach and, finally, provide a guiding Praxis Matrix for PE Threshold Concepts that can be used for physical educators across a range of school and physical activity learning contexts. Outlining fundamental theory and useful, practical teaching and coaching advice, this book is invaluable reading for all PE teacher educators, coach educators, and any advanced student, coach or teacher looking to enrich their knowledge and professional practice.