Physical education snapshot 9
Scaffolding learning into a year 12 unit
Inquiry
Our year 11 learning programme considered the role and place of physical activity and focused on what and why we in engage in physical activity. We wanted to ensure we continued to develop the ability to think critically about why there is a continual focus on the need to be physically active and how the many messages we receive influence our decisions about how we live.
In year 11 the main questions we had asked students to consider and investigate were:
- Why is physical activity important for us?
- What counts as physical activity?
- Who is involved and why?
- What influences our participation?
- Do we/should we care about wellbeing?
- What influences our ideas about physical activity?
- What motivates me? How is this similar or different to my peers?
- What types of activity do I prefer and why? How is this similar or different to others?
Teacher inquiry
At year 12 we wanted to get them thinking more critically (socio-critical) about what physical activity is valued and what this means for the opportunities provided for in school. Some questions we asked were:
- What counts as physical activity in your school/community?
- What physical activity is valued and what is not in your school/community? How do you know this?
- What do young people want and get from being involved in physical activity?
- What influences how young people in your school/community think about physical activity?
- What are the range of points of view people have about physical activity for young people?
- How might these perspectives be similar or different around New Zealand?
- What are the assumptions that exist about what young people want in terms of physical activity in your school/community?
- How do schools decide what physical activity they offer, who are the decision makers – who has voice?
- Do physical activity opportunities in school / community match young people’s wants and needs?
- Who or what is advantaged by physical activity opportunities in schools and communities and why?
- Who or what is disadvantaged by physical activity opportunities in schools and communities and why?
- How have physical activity opportunities in schools and communities changed over time? Why?
- What ideas, suggestions do you have for your principal, sports coordinator, and physical education department?
Achievement objectives that could be used as a basis to develop learning intentions
- 7A1: Assess their health needs and identify strategies to ensure personal wellbeing across their lifespan.
- 7B4: Appraise, adapt, and use physical activities to ensure that specific social and cultural needs are met.
- 7D2: Evaluate school and community initiatives that promote young peoples wellbeing and develop an action plan to instigate or support these.
Possible assessment links to achievement standards
- AS9132 (PE2.1) Examine the role and significance of physical activity in the lives of young people in New Zealand.
Learning inquiry
We used teaching activities to get students thinking about issues and assumptions around physical activity.
- Students were asked to identify as many physical activities as they could and to put one physical activity context on one sticky. They grouped the activities and discussed why they had sorted them as they did and what had influenced their thinking.
- Have students develop continuums with the physical activity words. Continuums could include: most active to least active, most valued I the school to least valued, most people involved to least people involved etc.
- Have them pull out the physical activities that are offered at school.
- Questioning: What assumptions about physical activity are starting to develop? What physical activity is valued? Why do you think these are more valued than others? What activities are most valued in your school? How do you know? What is most valued by your group? Have a look at how this is similar and how this might be different from group to group? Would this be the same if you did this activity with a music class?
- What influences decision making around what physical activity is offered. Consider S.P.E.E.C.H.
- Society: What societal considerations are there, what is the latest trend or activity, political? What is SPORTNZ funding in schools and why? How does SPORTNZ fund school sport?
- Economic: What are the costs to be involved in physical activity? How does the school help to manage those costs? What physical activity appears to get the most funding?
- Environmental: How does the local environment encourage some activities and not others?
- Cultural: How does the culture of the school value some physical activity over others?
- Historical: Does history have an influence over what physical activity is valued?
- How do school leadership teams/sports coordinators/physical education teachers make decisions about what physical activity is valued in the school? What physical activity gets the most privileges? What physical activity gets the most recognition?
Another task was to find out what young people really want.
- Use existing research to find out what exists already; see the
Stay and Play report.
- Sport and Recreation in the lives of young people; see the
SPARC Young Peoples Survey 2011.
- Have students find out from their peers what they want from physical activity?
- Gather the range of opportunities.
- Co-construct the “how” with students.
- How will you gather this information?
Consider sport, outdoor education, dance, cultural, playground, and active transport.
What else?
- Does the information collated match with what national research says? How is it similar? How is it different?
- Evaluate the fit between what physical activity opportunities are offered in the school setting and what young people suggest they want.
- Based on the evaluation the students will plan to advocate for continuation and or change to what the school/community is offering.
Provide physical activity opportunities that meets the identified needs (based on the role and significance of physical activity) of young people at school.
- Following their identification of the role and significance of physical activity for young people and their evaluation of what the school/community has offered, students will identify forms of physical activity that they would like to see included and advocate for change if necessary.
- Students will develop and implement a plan that better meets the needs of physical activity opportunities for young people at their school.
Learn more
Generations change. So what is the future of sport and recreation in New Zealand - rugby and netball? Or snowboarding and surfing? Something else entirely? These and other key questions were asked when over 17,000 students in primary, intermediate and secondary schools were surveyed.
Last updated September 14, 2020
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