The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority - Essay Example

Discuss how continuity and progression can be promoted in physical education in the transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 and in teaching and learning acro Introduction The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) – a non-departmental public body in England, UK, sets guidelines and control on all things curriculum, assessment and content for primary school level particularly at Key Stage 2 (KS2) for ages seven to eleven (Years 3 to 6) and Key Stage 3 (KS3) for eleven to fourteen (Years 7 to 9). This report will focus on one of the curriculum: physical education (PE). Teachers are beginning to tell the advantages by seeing the benefits of doing PE especially for KS2 to KS3 students and as a result, are increasing their confidence and competence in teaching PE. Continued school developmental work on transition from KS2 to KS3 is improving continuity and progression in physical education between the key stages in a number of areas of activity. Physical education provides a valuable involvement to the whole school curriculum. Students are engaged in developing their knowledge, skills and awareness within a range of physical activities so that they can perform with growing competence and poise. PE provides the chance for students to be innovative, competitive and work cooperatively together, i.e. to know-how to work as a team, in a variety of contextual situations. The diverse learning exposures within physical education tend to encourage spiritual, social, cultural and moral developments with personal growth in terms of self-confidence and self-esteem. The whole PE experience provides cerebral and physical challenges which promote positive approach to learning [3]. Goals of Physical Education for Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 Physical education teaches students the importance of exercise and its role to maintaining a consistent healthy lifestyle. It exploits a range of psycho-motoring skills and develops stamina and strength. Students transferring from KS2 to KS3 get to build and maintain physical prowess, as well as to increase their mobility and flexibility. They develop the capacity to express their ideas freely and build upon the ability to be able to produce skilful and creative solutions to problems. PE allows the cultivation of personal qualities of commitment, passion and fairness. It enables the development to appreciate physical concepts of fair play, honest friendly competition and build-up on good character. They build upon the ability to appreciate the artistic qualities of physical movement. PE teaches the students to develop confidence by understanding the capabilities and limitations of oneself and others. Students are further taught to respect and obey logical instructions, regulations and able to always put these into valuable practice for safety concerns. Their involvement in physical education will teach them positive attitudes towards all kinds of physical activities. Continuity in Physical Education for KS2 to KS3 The basic framework for continuity and progression in physical education curriculum comprises of four areas of contents: i) attaining and maturing skills, ii) choosing and applying skills, strategy and compositional concepts, iii) assessing and humanizing performance and iv) understanding and knowledge of heath and fitness. These areas are identified and taught across all areas of physical activities [1]. Continuity refers to the recurrence and strengthening of essential elements involving body control and basic skills needed in various areas of physical activity such as sending and receiving in games, body stiffness and extension in acrobatics (acro) gymnastics, rhythmical movement and expression in free creative dance. It forms the connectivity of body movement together, e.g. converting a series of bodily actions into a sequence, that is, to collect, travel and pass a ball. It requires strict rules and proper procedures for safe activity e.g. handling apparatus in acro gymnastics. It enriches the principles of health related fitness and cultivates an active natural life style through observing and evaluating of physical education activities. Progression in Physical Education for KS2 to KS3 Progression of learning experiences via physical education will be directly related to physical growth and development, as well as key doctrines underlying the progression of material within a physical activity area. Progression should be on providing the students with challenging but realistic exposure and learning experiences, which reflects their social, cognitive and emotional development stages. The basic dogma of changing to a wider space, exposure to equipment, meeting various people and indulging into specific movement activity will provide the framework for progression. For example in acro, progression will be achieved by increasing the complexity of the bodily movement, integrating movements into a single moving sequence, that is, taking the movable sequence onto a single piece of gymnastic apparatus or combined apparatus and by adding a partner or group. Students developing and assessing skills will also be expanded through progressive learning experiences. Progression will depend on the difficulty of the activity task, students involved in the activity and the detail of either the forecasting or analysis required. In addition, the four content areas of the National Curriculum in the UK outlined above are embedded within each key stage and the eight levels of attainment, providing a framework for progressive learning experiences and assessment for all students in transition from KS2 to KS3 [5]. Teaching and learning Acrobatics (Acro) Teaching and learning strategies used within physical education curriculum can reflect the way continuity and progression is promoted. It is acknowledged that in physical education, the skills which can be taught in acrobatics to students depend on their development stage as well as inbuilt ability. It is therefore important that PE teachers differentiate their gymnastic material and resources to meet the needs of individual participating students. Differentiation by students finding their own response to a set of acrobatic tasks and different gymnastic disciplines being set for various individuals and student groups are appropriate for physical education. Progression principles can be used to differentiate tasks based on equipment, space, people, etc. Different areas of acrobatics lend themselves to varied styles of teaching and learning gymnastics and fluent dance that provide students with the opportunity to explore and create their centred-open tasks. The underlying principle within each acro activity is to utilise a range of teaching and learning strategies to involve the students in planning, assessing and problem solving tasks. Through these strategies, the main benefits of acrobatic gymnastics are to encourage artistic expression, build life skills and life-long friendships that directly support the continuity and progression of physical education. In order to facilitate proper teaching and learning in acro, all PE teachers in gymnastics are responsible for 1) developing units of student (gymnasts) work and lesson plans from the scheme of work, 2) ensuring students are involved in continuously gaining and developing skills, 3) choosing and applying relevant skills and tactics, 4) assessing and improving performance and emphasizing knowledge and understanding of health and fitness, 5) maintaining high standards of performance and behaviour within all areas of physical activity, 6) developing students understanding of safety issues related to physical education including safe and proper handling of gymnastic apparatus, standards of behaviour in practise and risk assessment, 7) making sure that all students change into appropriate acro attire prior to participation – for males to remove jewellery and watches and females to tie back long hair and remove all jewellery, 8) include in the gymnastic curriculum the safe warm-up and cool-down exercises at the start and end of each and every lesson and 9) creating and maintaining a safe practise environment for all participating students [6]. Conclusion Physical education generally also contributes to other areas of the curriculum by encouraging positive attitudes to physical activity and building self-esteem through the development of physical confidence and competence. Physical education can also contribute to the development of literacy skills through normal speaking and casual listening. Physical education requires students to absorb, understand and correspond both physically and verbally to variety of information using appropriate technical vocabulary. Physical education contributes to other specific standard subject areas such as music (providing students to respond to music and the hears to recognise the tunes of musical equipments, science in providing students to understand the effects of work out, mathematics in providing students to measure performances, understand shape and relationships through the principles of asymmetry/symmetry and health education in providing students with the chance to appreciate the need for regular personal hygiene and the benefits of an everlasting healthy lifestyle. REFERENCES [1] Capel, S. and Piotrowski, S. Eds (2000). Issues in Physical Education (Issues in Education series), Oxford University Press. [2] Davis, B. (2000). Physical Education and the Study of Sport, St.Louis: Mosby. [3] Green, K. and Hardman, K. (2005). Physical Education: Essential issues, Thousand Oaks. [4] Honeybourne, J et.al (2000). Advanced Physical Education and Sport for AS-Level, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. [5] Morton, D. (1999). Advanced Physical Education through Diagrams (Oxford Revision Guides: A Level), London: Routledge Farmer. [6] Parsons, R. (2000). GCSE Physical Education: Revision Guide, Coordination Group Publications. [7] Wesson, K. et. al. (2004). Sport and PE: a complete guide to Advanced Level Study London: Hodder Arnold, H&S. Read More