Sport Education and Siedentop SE Model - Essay Example

Sport Education Introduction Schools are the foundation for children’s primary learning experience. Schools, as academic s provide the basic structure to make choices in life. Epstein in his article, “Why Do We Send Our Children to School averred that “the foundational three "Rs" should empower them to be Righteous, Responsible and Reverent, as well as competitive in the market place.” (Epstein 2008 par. 7) However, school curriculum should not be confined to teaching academic subjects that hone the students’ intellectual skills. The personality and behavior of an individual is developed through absorbing diverse issues that shape their needs, preferences and actions. Individuals do not exist in a nutshell; they interact, relate, and behave in specific manners which eventually affect their health. The schools’ curriculum should include subjects which promote health and physical education through sports to enforce correct behavioral patterns at a young age and continue this positive reinforcement until adulthood. Therefore, health promotion and physical education in the schools through sport education is of critical importance. The objective of this research paper is to consider the potential barriers to fully implementing the sport education framework into the delivery of physical education (PE) in the UK, making particular reference to one’s school sport experiences. Sport Education (SE) and Siedentop SE Model Physical education is a mandatory course promoting physical activity and sports mostly from grades 1 to 6. The objectives of physical education classes are teaching to ensure physical fitness, promoting regular exercises, and presenting nutrition and health subjects. In some traditional schools, however, physical education incorporates sports only as a minor endeavor with limited sports skills being honed. In this regard, Daryl Siedentop conceived the incorporation of sports education in Ohio State University’s curriculum with the purpose of educating children “in the fullest sense, and to help develop competent, literate, and enthusiastic sportspeople (Siedentop, 1994, 4)” (Penney, Clarke, Quill & Kinchin, 2005, 5). The objective of SE is that “students will be supported in developing the skills, knowledge and understanding to progress their own and others learning, their participation in physical activity and sport, and their enjoyment of it, within and outside of the physical education curriculum. Finally, Sport Education endeavours to locate learning experiences and participation in physical activity and sport in the wider social, political and cultural context” (Penney, Clarke, Quill & Kinchin, 2005, 9). Thus the broader perspectives of SE was contrasted with engaging in mere sports activities which limit the development of sports related endeavors competitively undertaken. As proffered, there are distinct characteristics of the SE model which need to be embodied in the physical education curriculum, to wit: seasons, team affiliation, formal competition, keeping records, and festivity. The Department for Children, School and Families (DCSF), in coordination with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are “jointly responsible for setting the aims, measure and ambitions of the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People” (DCSF, 2009, par. 2). Accordingly, “the DCSF/DCMS are working with the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England, who advise government on the strategy and manage its delivery, on ways to help local partners offer all young people aged 5 to 16 the opportunity to participate in five hours a week of PE and sport (three hours for 16— to 19-year-olds)” (DCSF, 2009, par. 1). As indicated, awareness in sports education in UK is still virtually being developed as most schools encourage ‘sports in schools’ in contrast to sports education as a whole. As averred by Penney, et.al. (2005, 3), “many teachers and teacher educators in the United Kingdom (UK) are relatively unfamiliar with the term Sport Education and the developments in physical education teaching that it is linked with. In some respects this is surprising. Invariably in recent years the talk (particularly amongst politicians and in government policy documents) has been of physical education and sport in schools. While increasing linkages have long been sought between developments in education and those relating to efforts to enhance participation and achievements in sport, it is only recently that attention has turned to the specific potential of Sport Education to facilitate these linkages”. Status of SE in UK A research conducted by Quick, Dalziel, Thorton & Simon (2009) on the status of PE and sports in 21,526 schools in England (5) with 21,464 actively participating in the survey (1) indicated that only an average of at least “three hours of high quality PE and out of hours school sport” (Quick, et.al., 2009, 1) per week with only 50% of students participating through their years 1 – 13 curriculum. This trend only increased to 77% of students who actively participated in the most recent survey. Participation in PE and sports decline in time and percentage as students reach their years 10 – 13 levels, when only 31 to 27 minutes of PE and sports were allotted, respectively (ibid.). Further, the study revealed that 99% of the schools allotted only one day as sports day for the whole academic year. The average number of sports indicated in a school’s list total 18.6 which include “football, dance, gymnastics, athletics, cricket, rounders and netball” (Quick, et.al., 2009, 2). Likewise, in the span of years 1 – 13, only 19% of the students were found to be “actively involved in sports volunteering and leadership” (ibid.). From the figures, in can be deduced that the actual time spent by students for PE and sports are considerably lower than those prescribed by the DCSF and the DCMS that proposed a five hour per week participation. This indicates that the benefits of physical activity and sports are not being availed nor maximized by students in the UK. Benefits of PE and Sports The US DHHS has emphasized the importance of physical activity in the prevention of diseases, especially chronic illness. According to the study, “regular physical activity has been shown to reduce the morbidity and mortality from many chronic diseases” (US DHHS, 2002, 2). In addition, individuals who regularly engage in physical activity contribute to a decrease in health care costs, meaning, they buy lesser medications, make lesser medical consultations, and have fewer hospital stays. Further, the direct effects of physical activity and sports to improved health have been enumerated in their own study done in 1996 on physical activity and health, as quoted below: reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease and other conditions; reduces the risk of developing diabetes; reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure; reduces blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure; reduces the risk of developing colon and breast cancer; helps to maintain a healthy weight; helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints; helps older adults to become stronger and better able to move about without falling; reduces feelings of depression and anxiety; and promotes psychological well-being (US DHHS, 1996) Through regular physical activity, those experiencing depression and anxiety will get the opportunity to refocus their thoughts on the benefits of physical fitness; thereby preventing mental disorders. A curriculum which incorporates physical education, sports and health education would provide students the information of combining a good nutritious diet with regular physical exercise. This would prevent the tendency for young people to develop overweight and obesity. Another relevant discourse on the importance of physical education and sports was presented by Shilstone (2004) who discussed that there is a current trend of de-emphasizing Physical Education courses in high school. The consequences of this move are: young adults failing fitness exams, prevalence of soft drinks in schools, playgrounds not being fully utilized for sports and physical activities. Potential Barriers to Promoting SE in Schools The increasing legal liabilities that schools encounter due to sports-related injuries made inclusion of physical education in the curriculum a matter of school preference. The reasons why school administrators are apprehensive to enforce the inclusion of physical education in their curriculum are (1) the fear of facing liabilities from sports-related accidents that physical education courses could bring; (2) inadequate training on the part of teachers for these courses; and (3) limitations of time. Teachers are directly involved in inculcating the theoretical background, concepts and applications required for physical education courses. Currently, some schools are able to accord one to two day workshops for relevant topics to update teachers on the current status of physical education concerns. Unfortunately, these workshops are not adequate to make the teachers qualified and competent in these fields. Constant educational development is needed on advanced topics to enable to teachers to be abreast in trends on physical education and sports. Analysis The SE model proposed by Siedentop actually provides students with the following opportunities, to wit: “participate in a realistic context, explore ideas in, through, and about sport, develop knowledge and skills, team identity, and social interaction skills, take ownership and responsibility for their learning, plan and implement the program, be challenged through peer support, peer encouragement, and trust, value their contribution to the team, and receive personal and specialized skill and behavioral learning program due to the teacher being free from full class direct instruction” (Gable, n.d.). This model can be adopted in UK schools provided that proper encouragement and support are accorded by the national and local agencies, as well as the school administrators. The SE model is instrumental in promoting the wellness and health of each and every individual. In the article written by Summerfield (2006 par. 16), she identified ten content areas as relevant to be incorporated in the PE and SE as it promotes health in the curriculum of schools. These areas are: community health, consumer health, environmental health, personal health and fitness, family life education, nutrition and healthy eating, disease prevention and control, safety and injury prevention, prevention of substance use and abuse (alcohol, tobacco, drugs), growth and development. It can be noted that personal health and fitness, which is the main focus of physical and sport education forms part of the health curriculum. St. Ledger (2006) presented that “in a major international collaboration, the World Health Organization established an expert advisory group to address these and other issues in school health. The Expert Committee identified five types of indicators for school health after two years of deliberations across all five WHO regions”. (WHO, 1996) These indicators are: (1) children’s health status e.g. height for age, nutritional intake; (2) learning ability, attendance and learning achievement e.g. literacy and numeric skills; (3) behaviors affecting health e.g. tobacco use, traffic safety, physical activity; (4) quality of the physical and psychosocial environments e.g. water and sanitation, safe school crossings (staffed and reduced speed), policies on bullying; and (5) school health program implementation e.g. interactive and skills-based curriculum, links with the local school community” (St. Ledger, 2006, 22). The data only proves that the importance of a global organization like the World Health Organization plays in promoting health, physical and sport education cannot be disregarded due to the enumerable benefits they accord to a person’s life. The schools should be the starting point for positive reinforcement. Health, physical and sport education courses should continue to be incorporated in the curricula for reasons enumerated herein. Any disadvantage of a mandatory health, physical and sport education program could be closely reviewed and evaluated. Legal impediments could be appropriately acted upon. This issue is also the responsibility of the state, the nation, and the world, as a whole. As noted by St. Ledger (2006, 22) “there has been a different emphasis on these indicators by the education, health and other sectors. The education sector seeks data from all five areas, whereas the health sector has traditionally concentrated on health status and health related behaviors. The transport and environmental sectors also focus more on behaviors.” However, the health of an individual cannot be divided into which areas should be focused more. A holistic approach for the delivery of health care through PE and SE should always be emphasized. Schools should recognize that by stressing the benefits of incorporating these courses, individuals would be reinforcing positive behavioral patterns which eventually improve the condition of one’s health over a lifetime. The responsibility falls not only in schools, not only in local health providers, not only in the state – it is the responsibility and concern of everyone. With the benefits accorded by PE and SE, the school needs to address the disadvantages to accommodate application of the SE model. The fear of facing liabilities for sports related injuries has been addressed in the article written by Sanders (2008) where it was averred that there are legal advices given which can protect schools from liabilities associated with injuries from physical activities. For inadequacies in training, the following methods were suggested by Summerfield (2006, par. 19): focusing on student-centered approaches like harnessing interests in sports related activities, “cooperative learning techniques, and activities that include problem-solving and peer instruction to help students develop skills in decision-making, communication, setting goals, resistance to peer pressure, and stress management (Kane, 1993; Seffrin, 1990). As with other instructional areas, the teacher should promote parental involvement by sending materials home, involving parents in classroom activities, and creating assignments that involve parents. Finally, the problem of time constraint allotted for health, physical and sport education courses are addressed by incorporating certain topics in closely relevant subjects like science, social studies, language or arts, as the case may be. Teachers are directly involved in inculcating the theoretical background, concepts and applications required for health, physical and sport education courses. Currently, some schools are able to accord one to two day workshops for relevant topics to update teachers on the current status of health, physical and sport education concerns. Unfortunately, these workshops are not adequate to make the teachers qualified and competent in these fields. Constant educational development is needed on advanced topics to enable to teachers to be abreast in trends on health physical and sport education. For topics which affect the very existence of an individual, it would be unfair to delegate the responsibility of teaching only to the teachers in schools. As mentioned earlier, parents can be involved through assignments which can be taken home for reinforced learning skills on health, physical and sports related topics. More importantly, health care practitioners in the community can participate by providing first hand experiences through seminars and workshops. State authorities have greater responsibilities in promoting the significance of health, physical and sports education courses in schools by providing funds and resources (for physical, sports and health facilities) which can be utilized by students and teachers, alike, in their quest to better improve PE and SE. Conclusion The basic theoretical knowledge on physical and sports education appears to be insufficient to enforce appropriate behavioral attitudes for health and sports promotion and physical fitness. However, schools are not better off taking these subjects out of their curriculum and should not delegate these responsibilities to a local health organization, as evidenced by the enormous benefits of health promotion and encouraging physical activities and sport education. The encouragement of schools from other nations around the world should provide the impetus for recognizing that sport education has a critical role in the promotion of health of an individual. The responsibility of looking after ones health is shared by the person himself, his family, and local community. The emergences of issues pertinent to physical and sport education make health the concern, not only by a nation, but on a global scale. Reference List Department for Children, School and Families (DCSF), 2009. Physical education and school sport, [Online]. Available at: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/subjects/pe/ [Accessed 06 August 2010]. Epstein, B., 2008. “Why Do We Send Our Children to School?” [Online]. Available at: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/740827/jewish/Why-Do-We-Send-Our-Children-to-School.htm [Accessed 06 August 2010]. Gable, D., (n.d.) Sport Education Model, [Online]. 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