Teaching Physical Activity

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.

The book reveals the key techniques and strategies that all successful teachers and coaches use to help their students and athletes achieve success. It covers how to create stimulating learning environments, how to form effective relationships with students, how to teach motor skills, how to manage the lesson time and resources to aid students' learning, how to maintain a dynamic pace of instruction, and how to master other indispensable skills that apply no matter what sport is being taught.

Teaching Physical Activity: Change, Challenge, and Choice guides you in designing activities and games through which you can meet your objectives while engaging all the participants in your class or group. Including foundational material on teaching activities and games ; 45 ready-to-use games and activities to get you started right away numerous tips, ideas, and strategies to help you fully understand and implement this approach.

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.

Schoolwide Physical Activity: A Comprehensive Guide to Designing and Conducting Programs offers K-12 teachers and administrators the tools to plan and administer programs that go beyond PE class. These activities are integrated in the classroom, on playgrounds, in before- and after-school programs, in intramural programs, and in community programs.

Focusing on physical education for kindergarten through grade 12, this user-friendly text emphasizes teaching strategies, theories, and skills to give students a foundation for designing an effective learning experience. This new edition focuses on the Physical Education National Beginning Teaching Standards with updates in assessment and student motivation, and the addition of a brief introduction to Mosston's styles of teaching.