Physical Education Teaching and Childhood Obesity - Admission/Application Essay Example

Physical Education Teaching and Childhood Obesity Obesity among children is a problem caused by a multiple of factors. However, lack of physical activity is the central issue in most literature covering this area. The link between childhood obesity and physical activity has brought into sharp focus the role of physical education teachers in mitigating the ongoing trend. The high level of childhood obesity is not only as a result of failure by parents to control the lifestyle of their children, but can also be blamed on failure of the education system to teach children about healthy living. The widespread nature of childhood obesity warrants introduction of healthy living lifestyles in the curriculum with special and renewed interests directed at the teaching of physical education in schools. When schools increase the quality and quantity of physical education for children, it will provide an opportunity for the children to increase the amount of time spent on exercises therefore improving their overall health. A report by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) for 2013 supports the role of physical education in curbing childhood obesity and makes important recommendations for schools to protect the quality of physical education in schools. The OFSTED report lauds the achievements made by physical education as a result of increased investment by stakeholders. However, it was also noted that in a number of schools, there was limited physical activity in physical education lessons therefore limiting the improvement in pupils’ physical fitness. Among the reasons for low levels of children’s fitness is that teachers spent most the allocated time talking therefore reducing the time taken in activities that help children learn or practice their skills. Additionally the level of challenge imposed on children during these lessons was low as teachers did not expect them to achieve much in given sessions. The low expectation on children during physical education is also reflected in the competitive sports that majority of schools are involved in with most of them not expecting their students compete up to the highest levels (OFSTED, 2013). There are three recommendations made by the OFSTED (2013) report that are relevant to the teaching of physical education in schools. Firstly, the report recommends that the initial training of primary teachers should include provisions for enough subject knowledge necessary in the teaching of physical education. Secondly, teaching should involve keeping children active by introducing learning activities that encourage high intensity vigorous activity throughout the entire session in order to improve their levels of fitness. Thirdly, teachers should up the level of expectation on their children especially in sport and other areas requiring increased physical activity where they can potentially excel as this will accustom them to challenging, competitive activities that will result in high standards of performance. The recommendations of the OFSTED (2013) report will significantly alter teaching of physical education including role of teachers during these lessons. Physical education becomes much more than routine lessons as it will be linked to the overall health of the children. Consequently the physical education teacher will need to possess high professional knowledge on both teaching of physical education and healthy lifestyle for the children (Thomas, Lee and Thomas, 2008). Physical education for children will not end with the lesson but continues even after such lessons as teachers will seek to ensure children maintain healthy living even while outside the school setup. The focus on physical education teachers as part of the solution to the problem of childhood obesity is based on the fact that children spent over six hours per day of their time in schools where on average one hour spent on physical education. Optimization of the time taken during physical education classes through activities that are fun, challenging and healthy is bound to have a positive effect on efforts to curb the rising number of children who are obese or overweight. This will only be possible through efforts that will transform the perception among children and young people that physical education is boring, obdurate, and repetitive by breathing new life into old games and events. This is achievable through teaching of physical education as part of efforts to ensure children adopt a positive attitude towards activities that help them challenge themselves while also appreciating that living a healthy life is an important contributor to improved self-esteem and making new friends (Thomas, Lee and Thomas, 2008). The challenging role of the physical education teacher will require them to gain more knowledge on nutrition, eating disorders and obesity as they will play a critical role in the prevention processes. Yager and Dea (2005) argue many teachers and school professionals have limited training in the area of nutrition and essential practices necessary for prevention and management of obesity and overweight children and such limitations hinder efforts to implement mitigating initiatives. The current level of teacher awareness about nutrition and healthy lifestyle depend on the subject specialization and the university attends as well as personal interests that a teacher might have in the topic. Further, Yager and Dea (2005) note physical education teachers have been found to impose strict and unsuitable dietary recommendations to their obese and overweight pupils with most insisting that children should commence on a calorie controlled dieting. The consequence of such reports by Yager and Dea (2005) is that physical education teachers will in future have more knowledge about nutrition and healthy living for their children. This will be achieved through improved training which will ensure that physical education is based on broad base of knowledge that is not limited to particular subject in the curriculum but approaches the lifestyle of students and pupils from multiple perspectives that includes physical exercise and healthy diet. The experience of physical education teacher will not be based on a training that offers shallow knowledge about healthy lifestyle as that does not help tackle obesity which is a problem that is a resultant of a range of factors including sedentary lifestyle and genetic factors. Therefore, it is only a well trained teacher who will assess individual causes of obesity affecting their pupils with a view to devising a combination of possible approaches to help children with obesity and those with overweight problems. Many schools have in the recent past adopted the use of coaches in physical education due to the realization that the qualifications of the person leading this department are important in achieving desired results (Lavin, Swindlehurst and Foster, 2008). According to the research by Lavin, Swindlehurst and Foster (2008), coaches are being utilized in classes up to primary school during and outside curriculum time allocated for physical education where in 124 schools 86 percent used sports coaches or adult support learners. The consequence of this reality is that many schools are using unqualified teaching staff to deliver physical education content to children. Although in a number of schools there is sometimes a physical education teacher present during this lessons, most of them are there to also gain knowledge on their professional practice and not to support the work of the coaches. Blair and Capel (2008) note the teachers are unable to support these coaches due to their limited professional knowledge in physical education gained from their initial teacher education. Increased emphasis on physical education in schools as an important tool to tackling the problem of childhood obesity has also led to calls for closer partnerships between different groups concerned with the wellbeing of children. The OFSTED (2013) report indicates statics which shows that the prevalence of obesity among young people was going to increase up to 10 percent by 2015 and 14 by 2025 with physical education offered in schools being pointed out as offering little to the efforts to curb this trend. Consequently, it is argued that it is only through collaborative efforts involving schools, the health care system and parents that children are going to benefit from effective strategies put in place to improve the situation for affected children. Waring and Warburton (2000) also assert the importance of working together in designing an effective physical education curriculum that will take care of “overall vision for the development of young people, sport and physical education” (163). Waring and Warburton (2000) note the previous lack of support from policy makers within the government even when it was widely accepted that there was need for breadth in the physical education curriculum. From the foregoing study of the role played by physical education teachers in improving the health of overweight and obese children, it is clear that past initial teacher education in this area did not equip them with the necessary professional knowledge to tackle the problem. Increased focus on the problem of childhood obesity and role of schools in curbing its prevalence has informed calls on improvement in preparation of physical education teachers for them to have a deeper understanding of the causes of childhood obesity and the appropriate approaches to tackling the problem. Consequently future role of the physical education teacher will not only involve teaching the traditional lessons but will go deeper to include influencing child nutrition and motivation of pupils to transform their attitude towards physical activities such as sports. The physical education teacher will also have to include other parties in their efforts to improve the lifestyle of their children by working closely with parents, health care providers and specialists in different sports. References Blair, R., & Capel, S., 2008. Intended or unintended? Issues arising from the implementation of the UK Governments 2003 Schools Workforce Remodelling Act. Perspectives in Education, 26(2), 105-121. Lavin, J., Swindlehurst, G., & Foster, V., 2008. The use of coaches, adults supporting learning and teaching assistants in the teaching of physical education in the primary school. Primary Physical Education Matters, 3(1), 9-11. Thomas, K. T., Lee, A. M., & Thomas, J. R., 2008. Physical education methods for elementary teachers. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. OFSTED, 2013. Beyond 2012-Outstanding physical education for all: Physical education in schools 2008-12. London: OFSTED Waring, M. & Warburton, P., 2000. Working with the community: a necessary evil or a positive change of direction?" In: S. Capel & S. Piotrowski, eds. Issues in physical education. New York: Routledge, pp 159-169. Yager, Z., & O; Dea, J. A., 2005. The role of teachers and other educators in the prevention of eating disorders and child obesity: what are the issues? Eating Disorders, 13(3), 261-278. Read More