Physical Education Contributes to the Spiritual - Essay Example

Physical Education Contributes to the Spiritual, Intellectual, Moral, Social, and Cultural Development of Pupils affiliation: Date: Introduction A study by Gallahue et al (2007 p.19) posits that the national education curriculum has globally embraced physical education as a central component of their education system. Incorporating this subject involves physical, social, and psychological benefits according to British Heart Foundation and other researchers on sports and physical promotion amongst young people. Children continuously develop physically and emotionally, and as a result benefit from physical activities. However, there is a problem in evaluating the success of physical education in most cases. This essay reviews the existing evidence concerning physical education in relation to Spiritual, Intellectual, Moral, Social, and Cultural Development of Pupils. In the United Kingdom public education, physical education promotion upholds, and these public schools equally recognize the several benefits related to regular exercising. Empirical research plays a vital role in this conclusion through wide documentation on the benefits of physical education (Hills et al. 2011 p.22). A study by Metcalf et al. (2012 p. 34) shows that these benefits tend to impact three vital areas of the pupils’ well-being including the physical, social, and psychological dimensions. In addition, Hills et al. (2011 p. 6) argue that these three dimensions determine a person’s Quality of Life (QoL). As a result, the health and medical care increasingly target physical education because of its strong correlation with physical health. A study by Marmot et al. (2012 p. 42) posits that improved QoL correlates with reduced illnesses and other health issues, and it reduces costs in treatment of the ailments. As a result, including physical education in the curriculum is a productive way of implementing healthy lifestyle for these pupils. Spiritual Exercising helps a pupil develop both the understanding and knowledge of their body’s performance, and most of the times the students remain amazed by their body’s abilities. This development brings about endurance, which links to the Christian value whereby a pupil shows endurance when exploring his or her body’s capabilities. Creativity, expression of feelings and emotions come out right during dance and sports among other gymnastics. Students may build a positive mindset that promotes progression if allowed to have a reflection time to evaluate their experiences. In addition, these students will see a sense of admiration and respect when observing elite performance from professional athletes and their peers. Moral The physical education promotes healthy lifestyle and healthy living is vital for every student. During fair play, a student develops the ability to identify right from wrong in the sporting events, and especially during competition. These competitions give the students a sense of justice and mainly train them on how to respond appropriately in a situation that may seem unjustly argued (Gallahue 2007 p.21). In addition, sometimes the students get the chances to referee and umpire, and these frequent opportunities introduce these students to the importance of abiding with rules. The pupils receive challenges in relation to ethical and moral issues through several forums. Such forums may include debate on drug use, which is common in the sporting world. As a result, the physical education does not only revolve around the sports, but also counseling and other ethical education related to sports. A study by Craggs et al. (2011 p. 48) posits that physical exercises in education provide psychological effects with respect to cognitive capacity. According to Tomporawski et al. (2011 p. 61), in relation to intervention for American children, consistent exercises of varying intensities promotes both intellectual and emotional developments. They argued that physical exercises are particularly effective in enhancing executive function. Another study by Biddle and Asare (2011 p. 35) on some British children posits that physical activities tend to reduce depression, and sometimes anxiety. According to Cragg et al. (2011 p. 23), the study on physical education and cognitive had some inconsistencies although some evidence confirmed physical activities enhance academic and cognitive achievements in some modalities. Physical exercises may equally enhance self-efficacy, which plays a vital role in ethical and moral decision-making. Social My favourite subject in this curriculum is the social aspect. During physical education, these students interact in groups and this build teamwork, a necessary factor in socialisation. Most of the physical exercises involve creating group sequences, teamwork, and cooperation. In addition, giving these students leadership roles during the physical exercises helps these students develop their leadership skills, communication skills, and a great responsibility especially in resolving discrepancies in case they arise. On the other hand, sports make learning exciting for pupils, and while they enjoy the exercises, they build determination too, which improves their social lives. Physical activities especially at an early age play a vital role in the socializing position of the younger pupils mainly because it boosts their understanding of social dynamics. These social dynamics include observation, sharing, social exchange, modeling, and gender roles among others (Brockman et al 2011 p. 52). As a result, sporting and other physical exercises serve as key roles in understanding social processes after school or in later stages of their education, and professional environment. It is clear that most people tend to decline from physical activities as they age, and encouraging physical education at an early age ensures continued participation of these physical activities at later ages. Cultural During the physical exercises, students explore different cultural dances, while learning different games from different cultures. They also learn and practice their own cultural dances. Some examples of these dances include Irish dancing, Lindy hip-hop, and some Indian cultural dances. On the other hand, during these physical activities, the pupils have a chance of discussing the different sports in terms of gender. They equally challenge each other considering that currently all sports are unisex. Physical education creates respect and compassion for the different cultures, and these dances teach a lot of culture to the different parties. The pupils will equally discuss on the effect of gender on different cultures and the sex that participates in which traditional dances and songs. Some other cultural projects in physical education include national schools sports week whereby different national schools come together to present different cultural dances. In addition, the physical education provides school trips to other schools and countries. During these trips, the physical education students learn different cultures. Lastly, participation in these physical education events introduces the students to a range of sports activities from other cultures. Physical Education’s Curriculum Policy Different countries have different national curriculum, and UK allows more flexible policies for physical education, and flexible enough to offer slimmer framework in different key stages of learning (Association for Physical Education 2014). This framework policy segregates different physical activities requirements based on stages 1 through to 4 according to Gov.UK (2013 p.1). Nevertheless, this report values the importance of high-quality physical education especially in promoting psychological, physical, and social developments. As a result, the government fully encourages sports and other physical exercises in the school curriculum. In addition, the government allows not only participation in the physical education, but also competition. This approach ensures that students present their skills that they may have learnt during the physical education, and at the same time incorporates these activities to their daily lives. In the first stage, the curriculum advocates for these pupils to develop the basic movement skills, while escalating competence, and confidence. In addition, it is important at this stage to access any opportunities related to physical exercising in order to extend coordination, balance, agility, and individuality among others (Gov. UK 2013 p.1). At this stage, pupils may involve in both competitive and non-competitive activities, and later advance to more challenging activities. At this time, the physical activities encourage basic movement skills. These movements help the pupil to participate in teams, coordinate, and develop general motor programs, while conducting other simple activities. By the second stage, the pupils should develop and apply extensive range of skills as recommended by the national curriculum, and link them to make actions and movement sequences. In addition, this national curriculum promotes these pupils to activities that enhance communication skills, cooperation, and other self-evaluation and monitoring skills (Gov. UK p.1). In addition, the national curriculum encourages these pupils to compete, be flexible, apply strength, and use different techniques on the field. The curriculum also encourages balance and control during exercises, and the use of more complex movement patterns. In the third stage, the national curriculum on physical education requires the students to “build on and set in these physical development skills”, which they learn at the earlier stages. It urges these third-level students to become more competent, while applying their confidence and expertise to their techniques. In addition, these pupils should apply all these skills across the different physical exercises or sports provided in their schools. They should also continue to improve their performances in relation to both the standards and the peers, while competing against their opponents. At this level, the curriculum expects these pupils to participate in increasingly difficult situations, while encouraging sports in their schools. On the other hand, the physical education trainers should encourage these students to build confidence through these tasks. Lastly, in the fourth stage, this national curriculum offers more complex and demanding activities, which the students should engage in. This is because the students at this level are more independent and they have developed their own skills especially in self-monitoring. This responsibility means that the students can now direct their own interests in whichever physical activity or sport that they wish to apprehend. At this stage, the students learn to apply different strategies or tactics during competitive scenarios. They continue mastering their techniques in particular sporting activities that may require efficient decision-making skills both in school and away. These national curriculum policies provide effective guideline and a study by Standage et al. (2012 p.36) posits that they draw it from contemporary research. The new and flexible curriculum sets a higher level of accountability to the teachers making them experts in their relevant subjects. The approach gives these educators more power, and these policies allow creativity and individualism for both teachers and students. A study by Fairclough and Stratton (2005 p.62) shows that physical education for children aged 11-14 helped increasing physical activities for high academic performers, while students with low academic abilities did not have their physical ability enhance their physical activities. Thorburn et al. (2011 p.28) argue that the conception physical education had a positive effect on a pupil’s wellbeing. In their studies, these authors argued that individual curriculums produced different results for different people. In addition, these conflicting results may affect different students depending on their academic levels. As a result, physical education may marginalise some group of students leading to negative impacts on them. For any student to have good spiritual, moral, social, and cultural virtues through physical education, they have to be in great shape and health. It is important to have not only physical education, but also sports in schools. The main reason for this is to ensure that the children are able to maintain healthy bodies. In order for the children to appreciate this, the curriculum makes sports fun, and interactive. Most governments have ensured an agenda for the physical education that schools can accommodate. Some of the physical exercises include swimming, walking, bowling, and hiking, among others. This curriculum has included some non-traditional sports like yoga. Physical Education, integrated with Health Education is vital for today’s children. The schools have made sure that they employ certified Physical Education teachers in order to set the necessary standards. The physical education has been set with modern facilities, which include pedometers, heart-rate monitors, and GPS. Some schools have also included martial arts, gymnastics, and dances in the curriculum. The parents should be involved in this so that they can either allow their children to remain behind in the evening attending sports, or going to the gym. They can also encourage the children to do more activities at home instead of lying on the couches watching television, and playing video games. The health of a child increases their physical activity. This means burning any unnecessary fats caused by poor feeding. With good health, the students participate better during physical education enhancing their confidence. Unfortunately, many parents tend to ignore the importance of physical activities. The worst part is because parents do not realize that they play a very vital role in formation of school curriculums especially in relation to extra-curriculum activities. The parents should encourage physical activities both in school and at home. Globalisation seems to play a big role in the parents’ thinking considering their tight job schedule. Most parents feel that their children are safer in the house when they are in the office. Earlier days, the women stayed at home to play and take care of their children. Currently, every parent works leaving the children in the house with a big screen and a home theatre to entertain them. This process only makes them couch potatoes, and when they are not watching television, they are on the laptops surfing on the web. No wonder, the rate of obesity seems to accelerate daily. Children suffering from obesity have low esteem hence the need for national school curriculum to encourage physical education. Low esteem makes a child anti-social, which may eventually affect their ethical morals. Low esteem consequently builds inferiority complex. Recommendations It is clear that physical education in pupils play a vital role in their lives. A study by Standage et al (2012 p.62) posits that there are obvious societal advantages in engaging young children to physical education. On the other hand, it is important to have an education curriculum that embraces physical education within the academic environment with optimal settings. The settings promote both physical and health activities, and Kirk (2014 p.36) argues that this is crucial for a productive society. However, there is room for improvements in the current national curriculum especially in relation to individualisation. The physical education policies should base on needs, and there should be more efforts in weighing the efficacies of the existing programs. In addition, the government should promote awareness of the existing programs since research shows that many people including parents know little or nothing to do with the effectiveness of physical education. Through this awareness, most schools will be able to meet the physical education guidelines as demanded by the national curriculum (Geyer 2012 p.16). Another recommendation involves decentralising of the national curriculum plan, and ensuring more flexibility for every particular school, while aiming at specific needs. This approach according to Geyer (18) will promote a most successful education curriculum for the United Kingdom students. Every school has different physical education needs, and, as a result, each curriculum should meet the school’s demands. In addition, each school should ensure that they involve the parents in the designing process, and they should seek these parents’ support. This practice may be beneficial, and it may extend these physical activities to the pupils’ homes. Lastly, researchers should conduct more studies in relation to the efficacy of the national physical education program (Bohn-Gettler & Pellegrini 2014 p.14). The researchers should come up with the relation for example of physical education and obesity, academic performance, and quality of life among others. Some of the projects in physical education outside the classroom include sports equipment against a range of schools. Other projects offer the students opportunities to support other Spiritual, Intellectual, and Moral, Social, and Cultural development through primary leadership or coaching among others. Physical education projects like outdoor and adventure activities provide these students with a range of experiences whereby the curriculum expects the students to overcome. Lastly, these projects provide the students with experiences of a diverse range of professional sports together with sports personalities who play a vital role in their inspiration. Conclusion The paper’s objective was to discuss the current physical education activities and their effect on Spiritual, Intellectual, Moral, Social, and Cultural development of pupils. The study presents the benefits of physical activities in relation to physical, social, and psychological developments. Presenting a review of the physical education curriculum policy enlightened the reader on the policies expected and practiced in schools. Lastly, the paper provides the recommendations that would improve the existing policy, while enhancing the physical activity. 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Implementation challenges for a constructivist physical education curriculum. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 16(1), pp. 83- 99. Read More