Day 8

10 Days of Giveaways

Another installment of #10daysofgiveaways! We are sticking with, for the second straight day, curriculum development in physical education.

Giveaway #8

Balanced Curriculum. You can find it at the Free Store.

What is it?

The Balanced Curriculum handout/visual is based on the documentation, "Personal, social and physical education scope and sequence" (2009) for the Primary Years Programme (PYP) created by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). Within this documentation, the IBO recommends a balanced curriculum in PE because it exposes learners to a variety of learning experiences which provides students an opportunity to make informed choices throughout their lives (IBO, 2009).

"PE is such a large, rich & complex field of practice that it can legitimately aspire to achieve a wide range of educational outcomes for school-age children & youth” (Kirk, 2013).

A balanced curriculum is more likely to have students achieve these learning outcomes rather than, let's say, a games dominant curriculum.

How can I use this?

Well, you might be wondering, "how does this help me? I am not teaching using the PYP." This balanced approach can be applied to all PE curricula. Within a province/state/country's program of standards (or whatever your area calls it), there are outcomes not only emphasizing the development of physical skills, but also outcomes related to social, emotional, knowledge, and understanding. This idea of balance can and should fit every curricula. This handout/visual can be used when planning or revising your school's PE curriculum. Are most of the learning engagements in your current programme focussed on games? If so, why? In Australia, it was reported that 32% of the top 50 "participations sports" were one of four game types: striking and fielding, invasion, target, and net/wall (SportAus, 2020). Invasion games are most popular between the ages of 10-14 before a rapid decline into the later teenage years (Eime et al., 2021). In the United States, sport participation in children continues to decline, while more children are gaining interest participating in health-related fitness activities and individual pursuits such as: strength training, biking, skateboarding, yoga, and climbing (Aspen Institute, 2021). What is the current participation trends for lifelong physical activity in your location? Does your current PE programme support these trends to promote lifelong participation in physical activity for all? If you want additional reading on games and sports in PE, consider reading this by O'Connor et al. (2022).

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