health and physical education unit analysis.

Introduction
When deciding what to teach in schools its important to consider the goals of the New Zealand
Curiculum, as the curicuulum outlines the type of citizens new zealand school are suspose to
produce. The curicuulums vision statement ask for students who will e confident, connected,
actively involved, and lifelong learners.! "The New Zealand curriculum, #$$%, p.&'
(n this report ( will discuss how these atriutes are taught effectivly y the learning activities of
)ealth and *hysical +ducation.
( will e,plore how )ealth and *hysical +ducation fits within the vision of the New Zealand
Curicuulum estiailshing wether it works to create students who are confident, connected,
actively involved, and lifelong learners.
( will evaulate )ealth and physical education y looking at the values of the New Zealand
curicuulum and then e,plaining seeing if they can e taught within the conte,t of health and *+.
Confident
- confident student will e *ositive aout there identity and will e .otivated and reliale. They
will use there /esourcefullness to e entrepreneurial and will e /esilient to the challenges they
face.

)eath 0 *hysical +ducation helps students grow in confedence as they learn aout there own
skill set and eliefs it allowes them to use those skills to contriute to the sucsess of themselves
and others. )eath 0 *hysical +ducation is also a great learning conte,t for goal setting as in a lot
of sports1physical persuits, improvement is 2uite easy to measure. Therefore students are ale to
grow in confidence y seeing there goals eing achieved and eing recognised y peers for
reaching thier goals.
-cademic Component .any of the program activities will focus around the 34utward 5ound3
type of prolem6solving. This is designed to increase self6concept and self6confidence!
"Cheffers, 788%, p.9: '
;or e,ample a *hysical education student may participate in an -5< "adventure ased learning
game' with a =oint team goal1 o=ective. The perameters for achieving the goal are clearly defined
which makes the achievement measurale so its easy for the student to see when they have
achieved. This will help them gain confidence and will increase there overall confidence.
Connected
- connected student will e ale to relate well to others, they will e e2uiped with good
communication tools and have a connection to the land, enviroment and memers of their small
and wider community.
+stiailshing these types of connections is something that )eath and *hysical +ducation is
effective at ecause students participate in games such as human knot, games like this
encourage students to work collaorativily in order to untie the knot and achieve the o=ective.
This game teaches students how to relate well to others and is also an e,ample that shows
*hysical +ducation>s ig focus on teamwork and social interaction. ( elieve it is important as
young people are ecoming more involved in social networking and are losing the aility and
oportunity to socialise face to face and so classes which foster these connections etween
people are now more important then ever.
-s students work together to achieve common goals they gain onds and understanding for the
people around them, instilling the feeling that they are a part of the school community around
them. This links to the aim of the New Zealand Cirriculum for students to e Connected.
?tudents will ecome connected ecause )ealth and *hysical +ducation uses ?ituated learing
which is a type of learning that focuses on setting up a life like learning enviroment with
situations where they can practices lifeskills and compentencies
The provision of authentic learning e,periences and a learning environment in which students
can collaorate, challenge, and e challenged are central to the development of the
competencies.! ?tudents also have to work together to complete tasks 3*rolem solving tasks
mean we have to communicate and work together"/'.! "<orna @illespie, #$$&, p.:#' This is a
direct way that the students can uild connections within there class and with the confidences
they gain in the safe enviroment of they can transfer that skill into the wider community.
Actively involved
(n terms of the New Zealand Curriculum 5eing actively involved is seen as eing ale to
participate in a range of life conte,ts and then inturn use skills to contriutors to the social,
cultural, economic and enviromental good of New Zealand.
(n )eath and *hysical +ducation there is a ma=or focus on participation and getting involved this
is incressingly important in #7
st
century learning due to young people living in a incressingly
digitalised world where they are less physicaly active leading to high levels of oesity and ill
health.
This active involvement, wether it e participating in a game during *hysical +ducation or
contriuting to discussions in )eath class is important in fosting good health practises such as
fitness and face to face comunication skills that are needed to e active in the world.
5eing actively involved, students will learn transferale skills and with practice gain an
understanding of how the skills can e transferred to different life conte,ts. The skills used for
this are reffered to as life skills.
<ife skills are those skills that enale us to succeed in the environments in which we live .
These skills can e physical "e.g., throwing a all', ehavioral "e.g., effective communication with
peers and adults', or cognitive "e.g., effective decision6making'.! Aanish 0 Nellen, 788%, p.7$#
. (n team games you have to make cognative decisions, this is a skill that seems ovios in team
sports ut the realization that it can e traferale into roader life conte,ts allows student to
contriute meaningfully to the social,cultural,economic and evivonmental good of new zealand.
(nturn these skills are used to contriute to the social, cultural, economic and enviroment good of
New Zealand
Lifelong learners
The New Zealand curicuulum aims to create lifelong lesarners who are critical and creative
thinkers, That activitly seek information and are ale to use that information and create there own
knowledge whilst making inforrmed decisions.
4ne of the most important things that can e learnt in )ealth and *hysical +ducation is learning
to learn and that the resposoility for future development is the students responsiility. This is
done y having students set goals not perscried goals for test results ut more personal life
goals for fitness, skill improvement and knowlage enrichment. These goal setting skills are put
together with a emphisis on reflection alowing students to anylise there performance and
constantly improve. -lso the inititive is passed over to the students themselves and the roader
learner community that is there classroom. This is Teaching practice that engage student voices
can enhance and enale learning y acknowledging the classroom as a learning community.!
"<orna @illespie, #$$&, p.:$'.
This idea puts the student incharge of there own learning. (n views from the gym floor student
supported this idea stating
3Beep encouraging and e,pecting self6motivation and self direction3 ".'
3+,pect us to take responsiility for our own learning3 ".' "<orna @illespie, #$$&, p.:C'.
*hysical education is an effective conte,t to allow students to do this unlike other classes such
as .aths where the su=ect mater is so important it ecomes hard to allow students input into the
teaching desisons that effect them. This is ecause there are certain facts in maths which you
need to know to pass a test.
Conclusion
To conclude )ealth and *hysical +ducation are two relevant teaching conte,ts especaily of
importance to students in the #7
st
century who are e,posed to less face to face communications
and less phyical activity. (t is important to teach using varied styles and methods in which heath
and physical education>s difference from other teaching conte,ts is one of the things that makes
them so effective.
-lso phyisical education has evolved unlike a lot of other core su=ects as focus has moved away
from the su=ect mater of *hysical +ducation eing what is demed important to the teaching of
life skills using physical education as a method1vechel for doing this
+ducation through the physical! as opposed to an +ducation of the *hysical! orientation.
"?iedentop, A. "78&$'
physical education also recognises that skills used in sport if taken out of the sport conte,t could
e called <ife skills, like critical thinking, communication, goal setting and self improvement.
-nd allowing students to understand these skill are transferale lets them use
them in different situations throughout their life.
4verall ( think health and physical education have a valule role to play in a modern #7
st
centuary
education.
6.icky Ae *ont6
References
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