How could PE be improved in schools?

[chris1987]

I'm studying to be a PE teacher and would really like to know your thoughts on how PE could be improved :)

I don't know how PE is these days, but back when I was in school my biggest problem was I was significantly less fit than average but there was absolutely no attempt to adjust for that - making the exercise we did just agonising if not impossible and demoralising me outright.

I didn't even realise I enjoy movement until I was a (very fat) adult.

Oh God, team sports, urgh. Could you just scrap the whole thing and put in a gym for us lesser mortals?

And individual shower cubicles, if that hasn't happened yet.

At my school they bring in choice for the older kids for core PE - stuff like martial arts/cheerleading/aerobics/yoga alongside more traditional sports which seems to go down well.

TimeWoundsAllHeals that was a really interesting reply, i wrote an assignment recently related to this, it was all about how different opportunities can be given to different learners so everyone can achieve

Individual changing and shower cubicles.
Allow pupils to wear comfortable sports kit. NO enforced PE shorts or skirts.
PE teachers who teach the game and not just leave pupils to fend for themselves.

When we played hockey at school, it should have been 11 a side. In reality it was 5 a side between those who were competent. I can understand why classmates didn't want to pass me the ball; I have poor hand eye co-ordination and would miss it every time. I would really have appreciated some non team sports, e.g. cycling (which I do regularly now), swimming (did get to do that in the 6th form), aerobics, folk dancing (did it at primary; good for exercise) etc. That way I would have at least got some exercise, and not been in competition with the more competent.

My 14yo DD says choices
Currently she has options of volleyball,gym,trampolining and hockey.its made a HUGE difference to willing participation(at an all girl's school)
Pe kit most wear joggers or black leggings and school pe tops(shorts would stopost of them wanting to join in)
Teachers that encourage,don't bark criticism(and don't stand there in the rain in coats and with an umbrella moaning they aren't trying)

My 5 year old was asked this in a school questionnaire.

He said (and I wrote - verbatim) "they could make it better by giving us sweets as a reward"

Don't do that thing where team captains decide on who goes in their team one by one by a matrix of popularity and sporting prowess leaving the nerdy asthmatic sat on the bench and last to be picked every.single.time.

Proper non patronising adjustments for ability. Getting pupils involved in measuring their own personal progress (privately, against themself), perhaps compared to national averages.

Flattering PE kits- comfortable tracksuits iseal.

No making a fuss about 'correct PE kit'. PE at the end of the day so no rushing to change for the next class. Go back to calling it 'games' and make it more fun - silly games like frisbie as well as the traditional stuff.

Emphasise how finding and practising a physical activity you enjoy is part of building a happy and healthy life for everyone. Basically teaching exercise as a life skill, where the goal is to improve your own fitness and performance.

Not just constant emphasis on team sports, or finding people who might be able to compete for school or higher level.

So people understand that fitness and physical activity are for everyone, rather than only be bothered about the sporty kids and leaving the rest discouraged.

Maybe remember the E stands for education, and concentrate on teaching pupils how to maintain their body in a healthy way. Competitive sports are only one possible solution.

And non-competitive, fitness based activities as the core.

I think sporty children need to be supported and have teams and individual sports where they can showcase their ability. Others with less ability should be encouraged to stay fit with non competitive sport and activities. Therefore dance, gym for older children, badminton and a few gentler sports are a good idea. Anything where those who are not naturally sporty can stay fit without being sidelined.

No shaming of children who are less able.

Being ridiculed for my slow running did not miraculously cause a spontaneous healing of my hypermobility, funnily enough. What it did do was firmly put me off physical activity of all kinds from a young age until my 40s, which will no doubt have had a detrimental effect on my health.

Be kind and helpful to the less able. Stretch the more able. Offer a variety of activities. Be humane when the weather is inclement. Be sensitive to changing bodies etc (no whipping off towels in the shower, etc).

My daughter started secondary this September and it seems the PE dept had not moved on at all since I was in secondary in the 80s. Girls do netball, boys football for 3 hours a week for the first six weeks and she saw the teacher have a go at another girl for not being fit enough. She now hates it.

My DD’s wonderful PE teacher rewards pupils for progress made from their individual starting point.

Make team sports optional - I hated them, and competitive nature of sport. Give boys and girls an option to do Zumba, aerobics, dance, and things like badminton and table tennis away from the sporty kids

More biobanding rather than just class/sex. Sex separation is one form but particularly at secondary school it should go further. I remember one particularly disasterous attempt at doing gymnatics when they attempted to get me to vault a full-size pommel horse at my then 1.4m height.
This is more for contact sports but other such as atheletics would also benefit considering children mature at different rates.

I have an extremely fast, bouncy 6 yo son who DESPISES team sports (possible ASD). I would love him to excel at cross country or athletics but I don't want him to be put off by overemphasis on football/rugby.

Options to support those who are doing a non-School sport outside school at a high level. DD swims at county level, working toward regional, trains 8 hours a week. But hates PE and has ended up injured from a poorly supervised hockey class, which impacted her competition preformance last year.
So it's not just non sporty people who hate PE!

Make fitness not team sports the core focus. Like balance, strength, stamina, form etc. But still have team sports as options since a focus on fitness will actually upgrade team sports.

Also instill a need for daily fitness - ensure everyone gets to move whatever the day. Environments and dress codes should reflect this - schools need to lead the way not be 50 years behind.

Ban picking teams, it's down right cruel and the only people who think it's a good idea are sporty people who were always first to be picked.

Allow PE to be about fitness and personal achievement rather than letting everybody who isn't first team material feel like a failure.

Provide a wide variety of sports and activities to allow people to work out what sort of exercise suits them.

Differentiate. Start where the pupil is, skill and fitness wise rather than throwing them into a match and praising people who are good at it.

Encourage personal targets and goal setting, a "done with" rather than a "done to" attitude.

Over all I think in our country's educational system we are encouraged to believe that sport, art and music are for the talented. This needs to change, I'm fat and unfit 40+ year old and I really really wish that somebody had taught me early in the exercise was for enjoyment, not punishment.