Ethics and Values in Physical Education

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Grouping Cards

Appendix 2 – Physical Education

Physical education or PE is an educational course related to the physique of the human body. It is taken during primary and secondary education and encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting to promote health.

Physical education develops physical competence so that all children can move efficiently, effectively and safely and understand what they are doing. The outcome, physical literacy, is an essential basis for their full development and achievement.

Physical education in school is the most effective and inclusive means of providing all children, whatever their ability/disability, sex, age, cultural, race/ethnicity, religious or social background, with the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding for lifelong participation in physical activity and sport.

It is the only school subject whose primary focus is on the body, physical activity, physical development and health; and helps children to develop the patterns of and interest in physical activity, which are essential for healthy development and which lay the foundations for adult healthy lifestyles.

It contributes to children’s confidence and self-esteem; enhances social development by preparing children to cope with competition, winning and losing; and cooperation and collaboration. It is increasingly being used as a tool in development, including recovery from trauma and conflict; and encouragement for school attendance and retention.

But educational reforms in several countries and responses to concepts of healthy well-being related to active life styles and a perceived obesity epidemic have prompted, or are leading to, changes in physical education curricula and a broadening of its scope. Links between physical education and health education and with personal and social development are occurring in some countries, testimony to which are EUPEA Physical Education Survey (2010-2011) findings, which indicate that exercise and health, physical activity learning and social and personal development are the most frequently cited aims of physical education programmes in the 22 countries/education autonomous regions of Europe sample. Currently, the “profile of a well physically educated young person” (Fisher, Diniz and

Repond, 2011) may serve as a valuable reference in the various European projects: This young person is a responsible, competent and independent citizen; he/she is well trained and educated in the field of physical activity and sport, responsible for his/her physical activity and his/her health, respectful of partners and opponents. Through exposure to physical activity and sport, he/she will enrich and expand his/her knowledge, skills and abilities.

In the words of a position paper for the World Summit on Physical Education, the subject ‘involves both “learning to move” and “moving to learn” ’ (Talbot, 2001, p. 39). Essentially, physical education is a dynamic process, involving simultaneous, interactive and interdependent engagement:

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  “Learning to move” includes learning the skills, techniques and understanding required for participation in physical activities, knowledge and control of one’s body and its range or/ and capacity for movement.
  
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  “Moving to learn” allows physical education to offer a context for and means of learning, for example, how to participate in physical activities; social skills; managing competition and cooperation; deploying strategies and tactics; problem-solving; applying moral and aesthetic judgments; and knowing when and why different actions and behaviors are appropriate and effective, including the relationship of exercise to health and well-being.” (Hardman, 2013, QPE).
  

“Sport” on the other hand, is a collective noun and usually refers to a range of activities, processes, social relationships and presumed physical, psychological and sociological outcomes (Bailey, 2005). These activities include individual, partner and team sports; contact and non-contact sports; motor-driven or perceptually dominated sports; different emphases on strategy, chance and physical skills; and competitive, self-development and purely recreational activities (Coalter, 2001). Reflecting this diversity of processes and possible outcomes, it is helpful to follow the accepted practice of many central governments and sports groups in adopting the definition in the Council of Europe’s European Sports Charter (2001): “Sport means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organized participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well- being, forming relationships or obtaining results in competitions at all levels”. (Article 2). For a more precise articulation of the respective foci and nature of physical education and sport, however, it is worthwhile to recall a statement of the Working Party for the National Curriculum for Physical

Education in 1991: “Sport covers a range of physical activities in which adults and young people may participate.”

Physical education on the other hand is a process of learning, the context being mainly physical. The purpose of this process is to develop specific knowledge, skills and understanding, and to promote physical competence. Different sporting activities can and do contribute to this learning process, and the learning process enables participation in sport. The focus however is on the child and his or her development of physical competence, rather than the activity”. (DES/WO, 1991).

One of the most important elements that physical education and sport share is the potential they both have to accelerate the development of several dimensions of human capital in a unique, comprehensive way (Hardman, 2013, pp. 5).

SPORT, 2015