As I contemplated what to discuss this month, I received an e-mail message from an ex-student who was encountering a problem in her new teaching position. After a few lines of polite pleasantries, the message quickly got to the crux of the issue…

“With a major aim of our physical education programs being 'Do It Daily for Life!,' just how can I ensure that the children will be actually active for life?” she asked.

Having stated the issue, she quickly added…

“I know it’s not easy to measure it or watch children all the time, but I am expected to ensure a lifetime, not just a few years, but a lifetime of activity! That’s a long time. I want to be a good teacher but how can I make sure I do that?…Can you help me? I mean, how can I make sure that my kids are active. How can I make sure that they make good choices?”

At that moment, I not only knew of some ideas that I could share but also had the content of what to write on for this month’s editorial – the importance of supporting physical literacy!

Inactivity and Health
Recent years have seen a plethora of information concerning the physical health of children in our society. The vast majority of this information centers on the latest statistics concerning the status of children’s health. It has been clearly shown that children are not active enough for optimal growth and development, that they are becoming more inactive and less fit, that the rates of childhood obesity are rising, and that other illnesses and diseases that are related to physical inactivity, such as diabetes, are also increasing at alarming rates.

These disturbing trends have resulted in many educational jurisdictions now referring to life-long, active living as a major goal of their physical education curriculum. With such curricula, it is hoped that physical education programs can promote active lifestyles. With an increase in the participation rates in physical activity experiences, it is anticipated that the trends of inactivity and poor health in children can be offset or even reversed. However, the impact is not meant to be restricted to a child’s school years. It is also hoped that a positive attitude toward physical activity can be established in children that will influence choices throughout the rest of their lives.

Daily Physical Activity Programming
At the same time, in an attempt to answer such health issues, some school jurisdictions have started to implement daily physical activity programs to ensure that children are active during the school day. While these activity programs can certainly increase the amount of time that children are active on a daily basis, what happens to activity levels on weekends or during the summer holidays, or after the school years?

I would argue that this is where physical education’s role comes to the forefront. Physical activity programs can get children active, but it is often viewed in terms of “here and now,” whereas physical education programs can provide children with the knowledge of why they should choose to be active, how to be active, and what to do in order to be active. This is, undoubtedly, a role that teachers of physical education can and should be supporting.

Importance of Physical Literacy
It would seem that in order to achieve a positive change in student attitude and behavior, it requires that students feel comfortable with their skill levels and physical performance. They need to understand what their bodies can do, and how to use their bodies to be successful in activity. Children need to have a foundational understanding of movement; they need to be physically literate.

For example, how many children, or even adults, like to do something on a regular basis if they do not enjoy or feel comfortable doing it, or are unable to perform it very well? It could easily be argued that we normally choose our activities based on interest and competence. Therefore, if we develop in young children a foundational competence, and instill in them a desire to move, perhaps we will gain the activity levels that we desperately need all members of our communities to achieve. Just the same as teachers of mathematics or language arts wish their students to be competent, excel, and love numeracy or literature, we need to teach our students the love of movement, the desire to be active, and the skills to be able to do so.

A well-designed physical education program that is effectively taught can enhance and improve the movement proficiency and self-concept of students, thereby promoting the chances for life-long involvement in physical activity and, ultimately, better health. It can create physically literate individuals. The knowledge, skills, and attitude to become a physically educated person are necessary key components of physical education programming; children need to become physically literate.

Developing Life Long Active Living
It is difficult to monitor those areas that one cannot see, or things that happen outside of our schools and playing fields. And, it is an awesome responsibility to take on the challenge of trying to keep someone active for the rest of his or her life. Can we guarantee such things? Probably not. But, although challenging, there are many things we can do. For a start, we can monitor those things that we carry out every day, and we can consider the type of programs we provide…

• Do our programs and our teaching practices emphasize the development of physically literate individuals?
• Are all children provided with opportunities to gain a love of movement?
• Do our programs emphasize the “here and now,” or do they have more of a “what to do from here on” focus?
• Can we set achievable goals for students that occur both within and outside of our classes?
• Is there a breadth and a variety in our programs so that all children can locate and explore their interests?
• Do we promote or advertise clubs, activities, organizations, etc. that children can become part of?
• Are children leaving our classes with a “tool box” full of knowledge and skills, coupled with an attitude that expresses itself as ‘I can choose to do anything and I just might try to do so!’?

If we do these kinds of things, then we are providing children with the opportunities to choose how to live their lives and the keys required to unlock any door that is placed in front of them. We can help to create physically literate people who choose to be active because they can do so with confidence and competence!

Dr. Clive Hickson has taught and studied in both England and Canada. He has taught at all levels of school education, been a school principal, served on numerous education committees and worked on provincial curriculum resource development. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta. His line of research involves the investigation of teaching effectiveness and teacher preparation in the curriculum area of physical education.

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