So anytime the phrase "most important" or "the best" comes up, perceptions tend to get clouded and people get defensive. The point of a course subject, belief, or practice, should not merely be the "best" but benefit participants in helping themselves grow as a person and in their specific concentrations or fields. So instead of preaching that PHE is better than all, I am going to dive into why I think physical education is benefecial at all ages and needs to be a daily part of the curriculum.
Think of physical education as a world not a subject. It's a place where kids are able to grow as individuals as well as learn the importance of social collaboration and reliance on one another. It is not just a place where we learn how to have a killer jumpshot or how to become faster and stronger. It's a place where one learns how to be human. This is a world where we learn how to communicate with one another, a place that you are free to make mistakes and everyone learns from each other's success and struggles. I like to call PE class the free world. The reason being is this a chance for a student to really be themselves and explore who that person is and who they want to be. Starting at young age, unstructered play gives kids the oppurtunity to be leaders, to be followers, and do have their voive heard on every level. A place where I can come up with idea that no one has thought of and ask my classmates to try this acvitivty and provide feedback and even further adaptation.
The beauty of a physical education environment is there is an oppurtunity for choice and autonomy; and in order for class to be successful and purposeful, we need to create an essence of autonomy. We want our kids to develop skills and become afluent with movment and physical activity, furthermore, we want our kids to learn how to create, innovate, and play with one another.
This is a world where I can learn how to speak to others appropriately, a world where I learn how to deal with frustration on the spot and how my actions affect other people. So often students spend their day listening and collaborating in small group settings, but this is a place where a full class of dynamic characters can work together to reach the common goal of class as well as split up into smaller groups and show the world what they are capable of.
Physical Education is the most beautifiul world that we can be a part of if we implement the concept of student-centered learning at the forefront. This is their oppurtunity to really shine and share as one big unit, and that is a quality that will transfer into adolescents and adulthood.
So is PE most important, no because all subjects give the student a piece to their growth aresenal, but it definitely is a place that a child grows on a daily basis and learns how to interact in an array of social settings. This oppurtunity needs to happen on a daily basis and there should be absolutely no call for PHE cuts in the budget or curriculum whatsoever.
So next time your teaching class, don't think as it as a lesson think of it a world where we share a bond and we all grow together.
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