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Fitter, Healthier, Happier

It's going to take more than mandatory phys ed

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“Physical education is the most effective means of providing all children and youth with the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding for lifelong participation in society.” The Declaration of Berlin 2013 – UNESCO 2015

 

Reflection

 

If I were to survey the adults that I know, most would say that they do not prioritize physical activity and this would be due to the predictable list of reasons. We are all busy these days and when we do have a moment to stop, many will choose to take a seat and catch up on the latest Netflix gem, particularly if it happens to be minus twenty and snowing outside. How then, do we expect our teenagers in high school to feel any different when they face the same busy work and school schedules, not to mention the fact that they need more sleep and spend a great deal of time worrying about social situations and the issues they encounter at school. Like adults, they may need some help getting motivated and physical activity is a life skill that should be at the heart of any health promoting school program. Inactivity is a serious health risk for Canadians that can be addressed through improving physical education literacy.

Elementary and Middle School children are facing the same health issues of too much screen time and sedentary lifestyles but at the very least elementary students have gym and recess time built in to their days which provides a small amount of scheduled outdoor activity. A 2012-2013 Manitoba youth health survey of youth grades 7-12, found that while 51% of students are physically active in Grade 7, this drops to 39% by Grade 12. At an age where one would hope that students would take some ownership of their health and realize the value of an active lifestyle, it would appear the opposite is true and they seem to be falling into a more sedentary pattern despite the years of physical education offered at school. Why are we not seeing improvement despite trying to meet the recommendations through mandatory physical education in high school?

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Mandatory Physical Education in Manitoba

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In Manitoba, a high school student must complete four physical education courses for graduation. Two of the courses are in-class, participation based courses that include health units at both the grade 9 and 10 level. At the grade eleven and twelve levels, however, these courses though mandatory, can be completed online and this is most certainly the route many of our students choose. (Our Phys ed department predicted around half of all students choose this route.) So, what does physical education online look like? The course consists of a series of online health tests that students must successfully complete and 75 hours of physical activity which should include cardio. Having spoken with our physical education staff, they admitted that these courses work on the honour system meaning that students could cheat on the online portion of the course and have a parent sign off on the physical activity hours as it is difficult to confirm or track what students do when these hours take place outside of school.

You might be thinking that a flexible online course is better than nothing and that the flexibility is designed to accommodate busy schedules and diverse student interests. This is true but a recent study led by researchers at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba found that mandatory Physical education courses at the high school level did not actually improve physical activity levels in students and that it really had no effect. We do need to continue to increase physical activity in youth but perhaps we need to better determine how to go about doing in at the high school level.

 

What is good Physical Education and how do we encourage active healthy lifestyles?

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Physical Literacy and Student Centered learning

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Physical and Health Education Canada suggests that physical education programs should be run by qualified instructors offering fun activities for at least 30 minutes everyday. Our students receive about an hour of instruction for one semester and with online phys ed, the suggested instruction by a trained individual and wide range of activities "enhancing cardiovascular systems, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility" might be lacking.

Making phys ed compulsory on paper does not mean that students are getting enough physical activity in their lives. Our school offers several additional courses for students who are interested in an in-class phys ed course at the grade 11 and 12 levels along with a wide variety of intramural options and these are all excellent options to keep kids physically active. I thought that our phys ed staff would be more inclined to support these courses over the online courses but surprisingly, they believe that teacher or coach led courses can also pose a problem. This was an interesting perspective. One mentioned that students from the age of 5 are told what to do in phys ed class everyday.  They are told what colour pinnie to wear, what the rules of the game are and exactly what they should do during that period to be pushing their bodies physically. Additionally, with team sports, it’s the coach that plans the work out and leads them through the skills and training that hopefully make a successful team. Her ideal health promoting program would give students the tools and skills they need to be physically literate and self-motivated to lead a healthy lifestyle. “The outcome of Quality Physical Education is a physically literate young person, who has the skills, confidence, and understanding to continue participation in physical activity throughout their life-course.” (QPE UNESCO) This physical literacy, like any other subject in school, means that students have the tools that they need to continue to be active on their own. In thinking about new pedagogies, if we move away from teacher centered classrooms and move towards student centered learning, allowing them input into what their active lifestyles look like, then qualified instructors can guide them in developing the skills they need to create their own plan to stay active. In this case, a school would need to allow instructors the time they need to work with small groups to develop more specialized physical education plans and at our school, that would be asking a lot.

 

Getting Outside

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Should outdoor education be part of a health promoting physical education plan? In addition to this question, one might ask how to make physical education programming appeal to a diverse student population. After all, many students are not interested in team sports or intramurals offered by the school even if there are lots of options. In addition, most schools don’t have the space required to offer 30-60 minutes of physical education to every student all year. This is certainly the case in our school. Looking at the problem through the sustainability lens, we should also be considering taking physical education outdoors and adding exploration of the environment to the curriculum.

“In general, youth who spent most of their time outdoors after school were three times more likely to meet guidelines for daily physical activity and had significantly higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels than their peers who did not spend time outdoors; the positive effects of outdoor activity held true even in the winter months.” (Schaefer, 2014)

By getting kids outside during the school day and after school we are already increasing the likelihood that they will be more physically active. According to a document published by the English Outdoor Council, the term ‘outdoor education’ embraces activities and experiences that do the following:

• normally take place in the outdoors;

• frequently have an adventurous component;

• generally involve physical activity; and

• always respect the natural environment.

In addition, the program builds on the following 10 outcomes that would be part of high quality outdoor education:

Enjoyment

Confidence

Social awareness

Environmental awareness

Activity skills

Personal qualities

Key skills

Health and fitness

Increased motivation and appetite for learning

Broadened horizons

 

I think these outcomes encompass many of the feelings that we want students to associate with physical activity and the skills we want them to build. Getting kids outside has been shown to reduce anxiety levels, improve sleep, improve mental health and re-connect kids with the natural environment. Thinking about sustainability and the environment is far easier to accomplish when students are experiencing first hand the beauty of nature all around them. I also like the adventurous component because it aligns with the ParticipACTION study. The ParticipACTION study talks about the need to allow kids to take some risks when they are outside. Our current societal model worries far too much about protecting kids from injury or from the perspective of the school division, limiting the schools’ liability. Adventure is not a word that I often hear associated with physical activity in the province of Manitoba. Why not? A vigorous hike or an outdoor paddle introduces kids to another way of staying physically active while enjoying time outside. Additional cardio might be necessary but it’s a good way to incorporate some physical activity with outdoor learning. Our school offers a Sustainable Wilderness course which is a good starting point and our phys ed department does a great job getting kids outside on a regular basis running the track, playing tennis, cross-country skiing and going for community walks to name a few.

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 A whole school approach that supports a wide range of physical activity options, access to healthy foods, nutrition education and mental health education will encourage youth to embrace a healthy lifestyle to prevent chronic disease and future health concerns. In addition, the Math and French teachers (I include myself here) should care about the health of their students if they value student learning. We need to be role models and help kids to find reasons to get outside and get moving. We all need to motivate one another including colleague to colleague.The teenager who arrives to class lacking sleep, having not had any physical activity for days and having only had a coke and pop tart for breakfast will not be as school ready as the student who is arriving under optimal health conditions. Healthy, Active, Sustainable schools put health and sustainability at the core of their programming because without your health is anything else really possible?

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References:

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Government of Manitoba (n.d.) Healthy Schools.  Retrieved from http://www.gov.mb.ca/healthyschools/index.html on October 4, 2017. 


Hobin, E., Erickson, T., Comte, M., Zuo, F., Pasha, S., Murnaghan, D. Manske, S. … McGavock, J. (2017)
Examining the impact of a province-wide physical education policy on secondary students’ physical activity as a natural experiment. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2017 14:98 Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0550-7

 

ParticipACTION. The biggest risk is keeping kids indoors. The 2015 ParticipACTION report card on physical activity for children and youth. Toronto: ParticipACTION; 2015. http://partners.healthincommon.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Quick-Facts_FINAL.pdf

 

Partners in planning for healthy living (2012-2013) 2012-2013 Manitoba Youth Health Survey Quick Fact Grades 7-12. Retrieved from http://partners.healthincommon.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Quick-Facts_FINAL.pd on October 1, 2017.

 

Physical and health education Canada. (n.d.) Quality daily physical education. Retrieved from http://www.phecanada.ca/programs/quality-daily-physical-education on October 3, 2017.


Schaefer, L., Plotnikoff, R.C., Majumdar, S.R., Mollard, R., Woo, M., Sadman, R., Rinaldi, R. L., …  McGavock, J. (2014). Outdoor time Is associated with physical activity, sedentary time, and cardiorespiratory fitness in youth. The Journal of Pediatrics, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2014.05.029

 

The English Outdoor Council. (n.d.) High Quality Outdoor Education: A guide to recognising and achieving high quality outdoor education in schools, youth services, clubs and centres. Retrieved from http://www.englishoutdoorcouncil.org/HQOE.pdf on October 1, 2017


United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2015). Quality physical education guidelines for policy makers. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002311/231101e.pdf on October 1, 2017

 

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