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Physical Education is a component of education that takes place through movement. It creates the opportunity for individuals to learn and understand academic applications for healthy lives. In physical education, as in all academics areas, students must learn the basic skills which require practice and refinement in physical education settings. Students integrate and apply these skills in everyday life. Through regular participation in physical activity, students will have the opportunity to develop a pattern of life-enhancing and self-rewarding experiences that contribute to their potential to be healthier members of society. Students should be challenged to participate daily in healthy choices and health enhancing activities and behaviors. Physical education and athletic programs have different purposes. The purpose of physical education for all students is:
In contrast, athletic programs are essentially designed for students who desire to specialize in one or more sports and refine their talents in order to compete with others of similar interests and abilities. Developmentally appropriate physical education programs are designed for every child from the physically gifted to the physically challenged. The intent is to provide students of all abilities and interest with a foundation of movement experiences that will eventually lead to active and healthy lifestyles. Physical education provides educational experiences that are movement-based and that contribute to a student’s comprehensive health status as well as other areas of academic performance and achievement. Federal legislation mandates that all children should have the right to participate in developmentally appropriate physical education activities, therefore, special populations should be recognized and their needs addressed. Inclusion of physically and mentally challenged students creates special conditions in the physical education classroom. Adjustments in teaching strategies to educate students with challenging conditions must be expected and accepted as a variable which will influence student results. As an integral part of the educational process, physical education provides opportunities for students to participate in activities that promote wellness. Utilizing the strategies of problem solving, goal setting, and cooperative learning, physical education contributes to the understanding and knowledge of a healthy, active lifestyle, emphasizes safe and cooperative physical activity practices and contributes to an understanding of the consequences of substance abuse and to the practice and promotion of non violent physical activity. As a result of physical education, students are more likely to be better prepared as productive students, workers and contributors to their communities and organizations within society, as documented by the American Heart Association, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service: A Report of the Surgeon General, and the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE). Advances in technology applied in the physical education classroom provide a tool for instruction, assessment and record keeping. Technology offers the opportunity for advancement in instruction and enhanced student learning in physical education. The success of attaining physical education standards is directly related to student contact time, appropriate equipment, class size, and available facilities. Physical education can occur in a variety of environments such as the dance studio, swimming pool, gymnasium, field house, court, playing field, weight room, and out-of-doors. To ensure the competent delivery of safe physical education programs that are developmentally appropriate, standards should be administered by certified physical education specialists. |
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