Argumentative Essay Elementary School Education's Quality Physical Education
Physical Education in elementary schools is an important aspect of development academically in terms of improving their grades and kids become more physically fit and active. Quality physical education program does not only promote a positive classroom behavior among students, but it also contributes to their cognitive development (Trost, Stewart G. Phd, 2007). When an elementary student is not physically well-rounded and fit at all times, it affects their academic performance, making them unable to cope up with the stress in school. Enhancing the elementary student's motor skills has an attribution for social development which they need to interact in and out of the school environment. Apart from that is the need for the children to uplift their self-esteem by engaging themselves in the physical routines which most of the time involves competition in sports activities during physical education classes. This paper will focus on discussions about the importance of having quality physical education in elementary students and how beneficial it is to the student's academic and physical growth . This paper will also tackle the issues arising from the lack of quality in physical education and what are the effects to the students will be.
Apparently, childhood settings are also related to this area of concern in physical education quality and how that those particular settings were integrated into the elementary physical education programs. There are several studies focusing on assessing the quality of physical education in the country and their general outcomes. According to one of the studies, engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activities has immense postive effects in terms of academic achievement. Meaning, elementary students who are having P.E class are likely to score 50% higher than those students without physical education (California Project LEAN, 2010). Some arguments, however, targets the cause of the decline in quality because of quantity. Quantity contradicts quality in many aspects of human living and physical education programs in elementary schools are not so much different. By means of assessing the current physical education programs in elementary school we would be able to identify the problems and devise a probable solution. There are many areas in the current programs that needs improvement in general. Part of it is determining which essential area of physical education programs that show weakness. Identifying weaknesses in the current programs bring out the main issues about quality and what makes the programs less effective. In order to achieve quality in elementary physical education there should be a significant amount of understanding about early childhood settings.
Thesis Statement
In improving the quality of elementary physical education, there should be an emphasis on the appropriateness of the current programs in relation to the early childhood settings.
Scope and Topic Description
The scope of this paper is to introduce the main topic of discussion, which is the quality of elementary physical education and early childhood settings. The methodology involved in this argumentative essay is to research for the current programs in elementary physical education, make an assessment of the current situation and identify key issues. After pointing out the problems, a set of improvement recommendation would be presented that will promote quality. This would be in a form of Action Plan that will outline the key issues paired with appropriate solution. The action plans will not only present a solution, but will also be aligned with the Essential Components of Quality Programs. The topic is about quality elementary physical education program. Therefore, assessments of the current programs are necessary to develop the thesis for program improvements. By means of presenting arguments based on physical education programs and contradict the prevailing standards will enable a more in-depth analogy of the issue and have a realization of its needs for further development.
Discussion
Physical Education has been an integral part of the national school curricula in all academic levels. It is regarded as knowledge of motor skills development and improvisation of the students overall well-being. The initiative of physical education is clear and that is to develop each the elementary student's social, physical and motor skills through series of mixed calisthenics and academic activities. Learning physical education at an early stage allows the children to become physically and mentally fit as they grow up. Therefore, the quality of physical education is necessary to achieve those goals, but through the years the deterioration of quality affects the elementary students as they become more exposed to health issues such as obesity and dwindling cognitive skills.
First of all the importance of physical education is not limited to development, but in many ways associated with health in general. This includes longevity and lower risk of life-threatening diseases. In recent studies, it appears that the reason behind a children getting obese or acquiring diseases is because of their lack of physical activity. Therefore, it is recommended that they get at least 60 minutes of exercise or physical activity every day. According to the PE Schools Statement by AHA (American Heart Association), ADA (American Diabetes Assoociation) and ACS (American Cancer Society) since elementary students spend half of their day in school they should have at least 30 minutes of physical activity (AHA, ADA and ACS. 2008). However, since the recommended number of minutes ideal for children to be physically fit is 60 minutes and 30 minutes of that requirement is being provided by the PE class in school, the other 30 minutes is sometimes no longer being dedicated to physical activities when students get home. This is because, upon getting home their attention is diverted to different interest of activities such as watching TV, playing video games, sitting in front of the computer and other non-physical activities. The need for the other 30 minutes of physical development is no longer present. In that case, the current 30 minute of PE activities at school should be doubled or increased to 60 minutes because of lack of assurance that if it will remain 30 minutes at school the other 30 minutes will not be covered at home.
However, the problem is that only a very small percentage of elementary schools are providing enough daily physical learning or its equivalent for the whole school year. Statistics shows that only 3.8% of elementary school adhere to PE requirement and not to mention that 22% of elementary schools require the students to take physical education (AHA, ADA and ACS. 2008). The alarming increase in obesity among elementary children blame it the current weak elementary curriculum which does not emphasize the importance of physical education. The percentage of elementary schools without a PE curriculum should understand that the optimal physical education at an early stage will foster a long-term commitment to physical wellness as part of a healthy living. Much of these importance are neglected due to arguments about early childhood settings. A lot of misconceptions about childhood settings contradicts the idea about pushing elementary students to be engaged in physical education. One of that is because elementary students are composed of children between six to twelve twelve years old and that very age is when they should be given the freedom to explore their interests. The problem is some children within that range are less interested to physical activities being that as a child by nature they are already physically active. That elementary children may have the right to choose between playing video games instead of playing sports outside school. This notion may have been inevitable, so the only option for them to meet their needed appropriate physical health is for the school to provide it. However, the integration of quality physical education into early childhood settings is facing several challenges according to The National Association for Sports and Physical Education.
Beause of the economic recession in 2008, the government decided to cut the budget in many of its departments and conducted a review of expenses. Among the government expenses that was reviewed was of the education budget where physical education was considered for reduction. The reason behind that might be because of the lack of understanding about the benefits and importance of physical education program. Another reason was to use PE time to focus on improving the academic performance of the elementary students and also to increase the standards of test scores (NASPE, 2009). However, eliminating physical education from the curriculum evidently backfires, as more and more children in elementary school are less physically fit, thus affecting the cognitive skills. Whereas if as little as 30 minutes at least were dedicated to physical education, studies revealed that children will be more ready to learn (NASPE. 2009). Elementary students are the best students to start teaching physical education with since they are more interested in play and by integrating PE to that interest would establish an early childhood settings needed for them to be healthier and academically competitive. But because of the lack of emphasis to the importance of physical education, it has been regarded as less relevant which explains why its quality continuous to decline.
Action Plan
With all the challenges that physical education is facing in terms of providing quality and continuous implementation, elementary student's physical development are compromised as well as their cognitive ability. Elementary students in general needed to be engaged in physical education for the sole reason of developing their young bodies to be physically fit to endure the stress of school work. Because of the negative effects of the declining quality of physical education, there should be a strong action plan that will eliminate the challenges and improve the overall state of physical education in elementary schools. Although reversing the point of initiative by the government in putting back physical education in the mandatory statute of academics is impossible, there are still available options in school levels that can be done to address the problems.
One of the things that schools can is to review the teacher's competitiveness when it comes to teaching physical education. Studies concluded that a more experienced PE teacher offers a more effective and better quality instructions. While the classroom teachers who received training in servicing physical education can still be an effective instructor, but the quality of learning that the two teachers provide is very much difference. PE specialists also spends three times more class time in terms of fitness activities as compared to a trained classroom teacher who only spends twice class time on skill drills. On top of that PE specialist instructors are more likely to produce physically active students than those of non-specialists.
This means, the school does not necessarily need to hire more teachers to teach PE class or rely on classroom teachers with less PE teaching experience in order to facilitate physical education learning. Current teachers can be funded to be trained in PE instructions to broaden their speciality and to equip them with the most effective approach in teaching PE. Another option for the school to address the problem of declining physical education is to communicate with the parents and teach them to be an advocate of physical education to their children. Giving the parents the task to require their kids to do at least a 30 minute routine at home to fill in the gap in the prescribed 60 minute daily physical activity requirement if the school cannot provide a full 60 minute class. Engaging parents to influence their children to be physically fit by having them to sign a commitment form will be a huge advantage for the school if funding for Physical education is impossible.
The teachers can call on the parents for a meeting and discuss the matter of physical activity importance to their children and get them involved. A two-hour parent and teacher educational lecture on the importance of physical education should be conducted to explain to the parent's why they should get involved. Teachers first have to make an assessment of the parent's situation to see their extent of involvement.
Find out how much of the parent's time can be devoted to their kid's physical activity requirement in consideration to their resources such as computers, transportation and work schedules. Parents that has more free time can be a volunteer during physical education classes or sports week (Aahperd.org, N.D.). For parent's that has computers at home should access the internet for learning resources and tips. Teachers also have to make sure of the parent's attendance during meetings, if no means of communication is available for the parents such as home or mobile phone the teacher can send a letter to the parents through their kids. Notice of the meeting should include options of time in consideration to the parent's availability of if there is someone that they can send to the meeting if they cannot make it.
During the meeting the teacher may suggest to the parents if they can set rules at home for the kid's to adhere. Like for example the parents should require their children to play basketball in the yard in the weekends for two hours at least or play baseball in the park. Take their child on a biking cruise around the neighborhood or take their kids when they go out for a jogging in the morning. There are a lot of things that he parents can do to get involved in encouraging their kids to do physical activities which in return also helps the school that is strugling in providing adequate physical education.
Lastly, in order to address the quality of physical education in elementary schools it is important to find alternative ways to integrate ephysical education in a normal classroom environment. For example teachers can use the opportunity to do simple physical activity once in a while to break the ice during a lecture, have the students do a simple three-minute jumping jack after a long discussion. If the students spend eight hours at school and only 30 minutes are allocated for the PE class, other teachers can make up for the other 30 minutes by taking five minutes out of their class time to do a physical activity. A five-minute routine within eight hours of school day amounts to 40 minutes of physical activity apart from 30 minutes spent on PE class alone. Such kinds of program will also be helpful in maintaining the children's interest in every subject because having them to do a physical activity every other hour eliminate's their boredome and a simple jumping jack actually awaken's their metabolism keeping them active and attentive throughout the day.
Conclusion
Physical education is not just teaching elementary students to become fit, but it also has other benefits that would help them be more productive as a student. Students as early as in elementary stage should be exposed to physical education because it would make them develop a mindset of how imprtant it is to be physically fit. It will allow them to enhance their physical capabilities, develop competitiveness and assess their potential for sports. But physical education is not only limited to developmental domains of physical development, it is also apparent in social and cognitive domains. In physical education, elementary students will learn how to play with other kids, learn about cooperation in group activities and create a lasting relationship with their peers. In general, improving the quality of physical education programs enable children to achieve better health and high test scores. The relationship between physical education and learning have a huge impact to the elementary student's overall development which also explains why quality is an utmost importance.
References
Aahperd.org (n.d.). Get Involved. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Retrieved June 6, 2012, from http://www.aahperd.org/letsmoveinschool/get_involved.cfm
AHA, ADA, and ACS (2008). Physical Education in Schools - Both Quality and Quantity are Important. PE in Schools Statement ACS, ADA, AHA, 3. Retrieved from http://www.everydaychoices.org/082008/PE in Schools Statement ACS ADA AHA 5.27.08 _final_.pdf
Califronia Project LEAN (2010). Active Bodies, Active Minds Physical Activity and Academic Achievement. Fact Sheet , 1. Retrieved from http://www.californiaprojectlean.org/docuserfiles/AcademicAchievement_FactSheet_WEB_final.pdf
NASPE (2009). Reducing school physical education programs is counter-productive to student health and learning and to our nation's economic health. NASPE: Setting the standards, 2.
Payne, G. V. (2009). School Physical Education as a Viable Change Agent to Increase Youth Physical Activity. Research Digest, 10(2), 4. Retrieved from http://www.fitness.gov/publications/digests/digest-june2009-508version.pdf.pdf
Trost, S. G. (2007). Active Education Physical Education, Physical Activity and Academic Performance. Active Living Research, 3. Retrieved from http://www.activelivingresearch.org/files/Active_Ed.pdf
