Evaluating the relationship between physical education.docx

1、Evaluating the relationship between physical educationEvaluating the relationship between physical education, sport and social inclusion Click here for immediate access to the latest key research articles Author: Richard Baileya Affiliation: a Canterbury Christ Church University College, UK Abstract

2、 Focusing upon the recent policy context within the UK, this paper offers a review of the evidence related to the outcomes of the participation of children and young people in curricular physical education and sport. Particular attention is paid to potential contributions that such activities can ma

3、ke towards social inclusion and the development of social capital. The review suggests that there are some areas for which there is a considerable amount of evidence in favour of a positive relationship with participation in these activities (such as physical and mental health), and others for which

4、 further research remains necessary (such as cognitive and academic development, crime reduction, truancy and disaffection). In general, however, it is evident that much more empirical research is necessary if the benefits of sporting participation for young people and society are to become much mor

5、e than a theoretical aspiration. Introduction Questions about the outcomes, place and justification of physical education and sport in schools continue to generate considerable debate among teachers, theorists and policy-makers alike (Kirk, 1992; Armour & Jones, 1998; Parry, 1998; Green, 2000; Depar

6、tment for Culture, Media and Sport DCMS/Strategy Unit, 2002). The tone of much of this debate might lead one to assume that the different advocates are drawing upon a substantial body of empirical data.Focusing upon the policy context within the UK, this paper examines the evidence regarding the out

7、comes of the participation of children and young people in curricular physical education and sport. Particular attention is paid to potential contributions that such activities can make towards the social inclusion agenda, which has been a feature of much educational debate among policy-makers. Whil

8、st many claims are made on behalf of physical education and sport (e.g. Vuori et al., 1995; Doll-Tepper & Scoretz, 2001), there remains a need for an objective consideration of the empirical basis of such claims. This paper attempts to go a little way towards that goal.Clarifying terms As its title

9、suggests, this article is concerned with physical education and sport. Clearly, these concepts have a great deal in common, but it is often suggested that there remain essential differences. Since the distinction between physical education and sport continues to be a cause of debate (Murdoch, 1990;

10、Whitson & Macintosh, 1990; Department of Education and Science/Welsh Office DES/WO, 1991; Penney, 2000), it is worthwhile clarifying the present use of the terms.Physical education is a statutory area of the school curriculum, concerned with developing pupils physical competence and confidence, and

11、their ability to use these to perform in a range of activities (Department for Education and Employment DfEE, 2000, p. 129). Whilst the performance of physical skills forms a central and characteristic feature of the subject, like all other areas of the curriculum, it is fundamentally concerned with

12、 knowledge, skills and understanding. In the words of a position paper for the World Summit on Physical Education, the subject involves both “learning to move” and “moving to learn” (Talbot, 2001, p. 39). In other words, physical education is concerned with learning the skills and understanding requ

13、ired for participation in physical activities, knowledge of ones own body and its range of and capacity for movement; and it is also a context for and means of learning a wide range of outcomes which are not inherent to physical activity, but which are valuable extrinsic educational lessons, such as

14、 social skills, aesthetic judgement, literacy and numeracy.Sport is a collective noun and usually refers to a range of activities, processes, social relationships and presumed physical, psychological and sociological outcomes. These activities include individual, partner and team sports; contact and

15、 non-contact sports; motor-driven or perceptually dominated sports; different emphases on strategy, chance and physical skills; and competitive, self-development and purely recreational activities (Coalter, 2001). Reflecting this diversity of processes and possible outcomes, it is helpful to follow

16、the accepted practice of many central governments and sports groups in adopting the definition in the Council of Europes European Sports Charter (2001): Sport means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and me

17、ntal well-being, forming relationships or obtaining results in competitions at all levels. (Article 2)A virtue of a broad definition of this kind is that it is inclusive of a whole range of physical activities, not just competitive games, such as dance, outdoor activities and martial arts.Clearly, t

18、here is a close relationship between physical education and sport, but they are not synonymous. At the most superficial level, the distinction between the terms is simply that sport refers to a range of activities and physical education refers to an area of the school curriculum concerned with physi

19、cal activities and the development of physical competence. For a more precise articulation of the respective foci and nature of physical education and sport, however, it is worthwhile to recall a statement of the Working Party for the National Curriculum for Physical Education in 1991: Sport covers

20、a range of physical activities in which adults and young people may participate. Physical education on the other hand is a process of learning, the context being mainly physical. The purpose of this process is to develop specific knowledge, skills and understanding, and to promote physical competenc

21、e. Different sporting activities can and do contribute to this learning process, and the learning process enables participation in sport. The focus however is on the child and his or her development of physical competence, rather than the activity. (DES/WO, 1991)In this document, therefore, sport wi

22、ll be used as a generic term for the wide range of activities outlined above, and physical education will be used to refer specifically to the curriculum areas and associated educational outcomes.The recent policy agenda Physical education has been a statutory element of the National Curriculum from

23、 its start, and the UK Government has recently announced a joint Public Service Agreement target to increase the percentage of schoolchildren in England who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high-quality physical education and school sport (Department for Education and Skills DfES/DCMS, 2003

24、). It has also introduced a host of initiatives aimed at improving the quality of physical education in schools, and widening opportunities for participation, including specialist sports colleges, school sport coordinators and sports assistants.In April 2000, the UK Government published its strategy

25、 for the development of sport over the coming decade, A Sporting Future for All, with the goal to: ensure that every member of our society is offered opportunities and encouragement to play, lead and manage sport (DCMS, 2000, p. 7). This paper reflects an acknowledgement within UK and regional gover

26、nments of the importance of sporting participation and achievement, both as valued ends in themselves, and as means to other ends.Alongside a recognition of the importance of these activities in terms of personal enjoyment and fulfilment, there has been an increasing emphasis upon sports potential c

27、ontribution to a host of wider benefits. In the language of the philosophy of education, intrinsic justifications for the subject have been supplemented by extrinsic justifications (Arnold, 1992; Parry, 1998). In fact, measured in column inches, in both official documentation and academic journals,

28、it is apparent that by far the greatest attention has been paid in recent years to extrinsic, generally instrumental values assumed to result from participation.The most common extrinsic justification for increasing levels of participation in physical education and sport, especially for children and

29、 young people, is the association with improved health (Hendry et al., 1994, Vuori et al., 1995). Knowledge and understanding of fitness and health remains a central strand of the National Curriculum for Physical Education, and the perceived health-related outcomes of participation in physical activ

30、ities (and health risks associated with low levels of participation) have been frequently stressed, both nationally (Health Education Authority, 1998; Department of Health, 1999) and internationally (World Health Organization WHO, 1990; US Department of Health and Human Services US DHHS, 1996).The u

31、rgency with which policy-makers have embraced the physical activity/health connection has only increased with a growing anxiety that some children and young people are not sufficiently active to accrue health benefits (British Heart Foundation, 2000), and that there is an increased risk of hypokinet

32、ic diseases (diseases linked to sedentary lifestyles), such as coronary heart disease, obesity, hypertension, osteoporosis and diabetes, which can have their origin in childhood (Bailey, 1999).More recently, policy-makers have begun to stress the social dimensions of sports participation, although c

33、laims of pro-social outcomes form an established tradition within both curricular physical education (Kirk, 1992; Bailey, 2000b) and recreational sport (Coakley, 1990; Donnelly & Coakley, 2002). The report to the Social Exclusion Unit from the Policy Action Team 10 suggests that sport (and the arts) ca