Teaching Quality Health and Physical Education PDF

BRIEF CONTENTS
Part 1 Introduction to the area 1

CHAPTER 1 Introducing Health and Physical Education 3
CHAPTER 2 Understanding quality Health and Physical Education 21
CHAPTER 3 Overview of the Australian Curriculum: Health and
Physical Education 41
CHAPTER 4 Authentic learning and assessment in primary
Health and Physical Education 71
Part 2 Understanding and teaching

about personal, social and
community health 107
CHAPTER 5 Pedagogies and issues in teaching for health 109
CHAPTER 6 Exploring identity, help-seeking behaviour
and decision making 141
CHAPTER 7 Communicating for healthy relationships and wellbeing 169
CHAPTER 8 Whole-school approaches to promoting health 193
Part 3 Understanding and teaching about

movement and physical activity 219
CHAPTER 9 Planning for developmentally appropriate learning 221
CHAPTER 10 Moving for purpose: skills, knowledge and values 253
CHAPTER 11 Moving for life: experience and expression 283
v
CONTENTS
Guide to the text x About the authors xiv
Guide to the online resources xii Acknowledgements xvi
Preface xiii Standards mapping grid xvii
Part 1 Introduction to the area 1
Chapter 1 Introducing Health and Physical Education 3

Defining Health and Physical Education (HPE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Why teach HPE in the primary curriculum?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Foundations of quality HPE practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Examining student barriers to participation in HPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Review questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Online resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 2 Understanding quality Health and Physical Education 21

Quality HPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The decline of quality HPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Health literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Physical literacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 3 Overview of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education 41

Curriculum design and curriculum development in HPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Aligning curricula with state- or territory-based curriculum authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Structure of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
General capabilities integrated into HPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Key ideas underpinning the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education . . . . . . . . . 50
Curriculum content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter 4 Authentic learning and assessment in primary Health and Physical

Education 71
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Learning taxonomies in HPE assessment: how do we learn? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Strategies for assessment in HPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Authentic assessment strategies for HPE outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Planning and designing assessment in HPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Review questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Online resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
vi
Part 2 Understanding and teaching about personal, social
and community health 107
Chapter 5 Pedagogies and issues in teaching for health 109

The role of health education in Australian schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Quality health education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Evaluating current health programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Finding resources and new sources of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Chapter 6 Exploring identity, help-seeking behaviour and decision making 141

Sub-strand 1: Being healthy, safe and active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Thread 1: Identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Thread 2: Changes and transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Thread 3: Help-seeking behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Thread 4: Making healthy and safe choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Chapter 7 Communicating for healthy relationships and wellbeing 169

Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Barriers to effective communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Information and communication technology (ICT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Health literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Chapter 8 Whole-school approaches to promoting health 193

Health promotion: a component of health delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
The health of Australians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Whole-school approaches to health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Health promoting schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
CONTENTS vii
Part 3 Understanding and teaching about movement
and physical activity 219
Chapter 9 Planning for developmentally appropriate learning 221

Health benefits of physical activity for primary school-aged children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Child development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
The phases of motor development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Stages of learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Considerations for designing developmentally appropriate activities
for learners at different stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Strategies for fostering physical-activity opportunities in schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Chapter 10 Moving for purpose: skills, knowledge and values 253

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
What are fundamental movement skills (FMS)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Models-based practice in physical education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Exploring the context and culture of sport using the sport education model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Teaching personal and social responsibility through physical activity (TPSR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Chapter 11 Moving for life: experience and expression 283

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Experiential learning theory in HPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Exploring rhythmic and expressive movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Outdoor and adventure education in HPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Further reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
INDEX 307
viii CONTENTS
Guide to the text
As you read this text you will find a number of features in every chapter
to enhance your study of teaching quality health and physical education,
helping you to understand how the theory is applied in the real world.
BOOK FEATURES PART-OPENING FEATURES
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

FOR TEACHERS MAPPING GRID FOR
GRADUATE TEACHERS
The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers)
PART 1
outline the professional standards expected of teachers at various stages of their careers.
This book assists readers to attain the Graduate Standards in relation to teaching primary health and physical education.
The following grid shows how the content of particular chapters relates to various Standards.
Introduction to the area

Professional Knowledge Standards Chapter/s
1. Know students and how they learn
1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 Primary-school teachers have much asked of them as they deliver integrated,
how these may affect learning.
holistic learning experiences designed to ensure the students in their care
1.2 Understand how students learn
5, 4, 9
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching. will develop confidence and capabilities across all areas of learning. They
1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds are frequently called upon to respond to media reports of sedentary living,
Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse 1, 5
linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
disengagement with physical activity, declining student wellbeing, bullying, obesity
1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
and poor mental health in schools. There is also an increasing emphasis on
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the 8 externally reportable areas, such as numeracy and literacy. As a result, teachers
education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
are confronted, more than ever, with a crowded curriculum, which places pressure
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of 1, 5, 9 on the depth and breadth of content covered in learning areas such as Health and
students across the full range of abilities.
Physical Education (HPE). This book has been compiled not only to assist teachers
1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of legislative requirements and teaching strategies that support participation 5, 10, 11
to understand the importance of providing quality HPE experiences but also to
and learning of students with disability. provide support in terms of planning and implementing those experiences.
2. Know the content and how to teach it Accordingly, the following chapters will demonstrate that HPE is intended to
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
1, 2, 5, 6, 7,
support children in developing knowledge, skills and attitudes that will later enable
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies of
the teaching area.
8, 10, 11 them to make informed decisions about their own health and wellbeing, and that of
2.2 Content selection and organisation those around them.
5, 9, 10, 11
Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence.
2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting

3, 4, 5, 6
Use curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to design learning sequences and lesson plans.
2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous
and non-Indigenous Australians
10
Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and
languages.
CHAPTERS
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
2
Know and understand literacy and numeracy teaching strategies and their application in teaching areas. 1 Introducing Health and Physical Education
2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Implement teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum learning opportunities for students.
5 2 Understanding quality Health and Physical Education
3 Overview of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
4 Authentic learning and assessment in primary Health and Physical Education
xvi 1
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A mapping grid shows how the Part openers give a brief

content of the chapters relates overview of how the chapters in
to the Australian Professional that section of the text relate to
Teaching Standards for each other.
Graduate Teachers.
CHAPTER-OPENING FEATURES
1
Introducing Health and
Physical Education
Identify the key concepts that the chapter will
LEARNING OBJECTIVES Once you have read this chapter, you should be able to:
cover with the learning objectives.
1 understand the nature and place of Health and Physical
Education in relation to the Australian Curriculum
2 explain the rationale for why Health and Physical Education
is a key learning area in the Australian primary curriculum
3 discuss potential barriers to effective quality Health and The overview introduces the topic of the
chapter and establishes how that chapter fits
Physical Education
4 examine the fundamental principles behind foundations for
practice in Health and Physical Education.
into the book as a whole.
Overview
This chapter will explore the concept of Health
and Physical Education (HPE) in an Australian
context. It will first consider health education and
physical education as individual entities, and then
outline how these two spheres can be integrated to
create a learning area that focuses on the health
and wellbeing of all Australians. The chapter will
look at why HPE is an integral part of the overall
Australian Curriculum, and at why HPE is essential
to the holistic develop of all Australian students.
It will introduce the notion of quality HPE, and
examine some potential barriers that might impede
participation rates and engagement with the
learning area among both teachers and students.
It is hoped that, as you read this chapter, you will
develop a philosophy of why it is important for
teachers to not only understand but also embrace
the teaching of HPE.
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x
9
CHAPTER 1 I N T RO D U C I N G H E A LT H A N D P H Y S I C A L E D U C AT I O N
The Australian Government Department of Health (2014) asserts that being physically active is positive
for children’s overall health, and has the potential to act as a catalyst for opportunities for children to
FEATURES WITHIN CHAPTERS

make new friends, and thereby develop not only physical but also social skills. In 2014, the Department
released a set of guidelines for primary-school-aged children under the title Australia’s physical activity
and sedentary behaviour guidelines for children (5–12 years). These are intended for all children aged
between five and 12 years who have started school, irrespective of cultural background, gender or ability.
A snapshot of the guidelines is given in Example 1.1.
Example boxes provide information or

Example 1.1 13
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN AT A GLANCE

CHAPTER 1 I N T RO D U C I N G H E A LT H A N D P H Y S I C A L E D U C AT I O N suggest activities that demonstrate how
The following extract, from the Australian Government Department of Health, gives recommendations
C H A P T E R 1 I N T RO D U C I N G H E A LT H A N D P H Y S I C A L E D U C AT I O N
17 chapter concepts could be applied in a
relating to children’s levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
FOUNDATIONS OF QUALITY HPE PRACTICE classroom setting.
Therefore, it Physical
makes sense activity:
to design programs and learning experiences that are fun, age-appropriate and
engaging, and• that Forutilise
health benefits,
partner, children
group-work and aged 5–12activities
peer-led years should
so as toaccumulate
engage students at least 60 minutes of
(Jenkinson
Evidence-based practice
& Benson, 2010;moderate-Salvy et al.,to2009).vigorous-intensity
Program design physical activity every
and pedagogies day.with teaching HPE will be
to help
What is evidence-based
• Children’s practice, andactivity why doshould we need it? Evidence-based practiceactivities,
is the integration
explored further in Chapter physical 5. include a variety of aerobic including some
of individual expertise with the bestactivity.
vigorous-intensity available external evidence (Sackett et al., 1996). While teachers
may have an•abundance On at least of experience
three days and understanding
per week, children of their engage
should profession, evidence-based
in activities practice muscle
that strengthen Think about how teaching HPE connects
requires this tacit knowledge to be coupled with research-based evidence. This is important in ensuring Reflection
It is important,
thatunderstand
teachers are
and
• what
bone.
at this
aware HPE
To achieve
point, to remember that, if we are to be advocates for HPE, we need to really
ofistheand vast
whyrange
additional
of knowledge
we should
health invest
benefits,
available
time that can
in teaching
children it. Itassist
should is verythem
engage
to be more
difficult
in moretoactivity
promote effective
– up to several with you by considering the Reflection
practitioners.
boxes and the accompanying questions
something that you (a) do not understand the nature of; and (b) do not really believe to be of
hours per day.
The Melbourne
relevance of to yourDeclaration
students. of Educational Goals for Young Australians (or the Melbourne
RecallSedentary
Declaration) this chapter’s
highlights theopening
growing‘Reflection’
behaviour: demands box, that where
are beingyou were
placedaskedon to think people
young about your in aearly
constantly
memories
changing and of HPE. Whatworld.
• complex
was your experience
To reduce health(The risks,Melbourne
like?Declaration
children aged
If you had negative
5–12 years is should
through this chapter, have you changed your mind about the place of, and need for, HPE? How could
memories,
discussed after reading
throughout
minimise the time this
theybook.)
spend being throughout the text.
Hempenstall (2006) statesevery that young people are today confronted with unprecedented volumes of
you do things sedentary
differently to make day.
sure Toyour
achieve this:
activities are fun and inclusive?
information, combined • Limit the use of electronic media for entertainment (e.g. television, seatedthis
with increasingly sophisticated persuasive techniques. Unfortunately, electronic
30
combination can leadgames to students being overwhelmed, as well as to what can be considered fad-driven
PA RT 1 I Nand T RO computer
D U CT I O N TOuse)
T H Eto A Rno
E A more than two hours per day – lower levels are associated
educational systems that are potentially unable to cope with their needs. As such, recognition of the
with reduced health risks.
role that science can play in informing policy, and in ensuring that programs meet the needs of students
Summary
• Break up long periods of sitting as often as possible.
and are supported by evidence-based practice, is paramount. It is important to understand that the role
From Australia’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines for children (5–12 years)
Meet real teachers in the Teaching
practice boxes and gain an insight into
of the teacher is not undermined through
Health-imposed sanctions evidence-based practice; rather, the professional insight and of Australia 2014
© Commonwealth
•understanding
Health and Physical
that theEducation
teacher brings (HPE) is toathe
mandated
classroom key learning area in by
are supported thetheAustralian Curriculum
best empirical evidence,
Teaching
F–10. It is divided The previous
into two strands:section‘Personal,
explored social
some of andthecommunity
issues or contentious problems we
health’ and ‘Movement andhave when trying to
physical
how teaching HPE relates to and informs

ensuring
practice that
activity’. the effectiveness of program delivery can be maximised (Hempenstall,
connect health and education, which have had an impact on HPe and the way it has been delivered. 2006).
The Australian Curriculum encourages students to develop an appreciation of evidence-based
•SPORT
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holistic development required
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the opportunity to of ways. their day-to-day practice.
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•critically
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to impede andexertion,
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quality
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have skills,
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important that teachers
pushed on schools resources
recognise in
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barriers
by local or state to improve
and know both
how
departments without their
to own
overcome health
them.
being discussed and the health
with schools’ of
executive staff and
and strategies, combined with elements of competition. It is additionally defined by a series of rules
•those around them
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members
include
practice, career 2012: 3).
atostrengths-based
ensure that education
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quality occurred
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skills,
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environment and
patterns of behaviour
have
that are governed
been delivered.
by formal organisations.
often, parents and students (and teachers themselves) know nothing about these
advocated in the Australian Curriculum.
Explore practical ideas and considerations
lifestyle factors.
It is importanthealthtoactivities,
note that,aboutin a school
other context,that
health resources sport
mayisbeconsidered
available in the tolocal
be community,
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or about theor
An individual’s state of wellbeing can have a significant impact not only on their own life but
co-curricular benefits,
(i.e. challenges
external to theandclassroom
weaknesses ofHPE,
the health
focus) itactivityintervention
that or other alternatives,
toisremember
distinct from and arecurriculum.
therefore
canthe HPE
When developing a teaching and learning program for is important that a
Review questions
quality program
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also
unableon those
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incorporates
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responsible,
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diversityisand
around
aninformed,
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a healthy
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andpoorer
about
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holistic
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schools)
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parties’
should
result in healthier, more
of though, that the
competitions,
aimtowith
ability Tips
social asfor
well
exclusion,
be health-literate for teaching students with a range of
1asDefine inclusive
individual differences through the Tips
sport Health
based and
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in this Education
after-school
disengagement
scenario? and
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programs
lowered
following is it different
(ACARA, will2012).
productivity.
sections Of
help from
you physical
importance
to unpack activity
tothis and sport?
schools and and
question. teachers is the recognition
to develop the whole person through the provision of a range of diverse learning opportunities
2 Why is it important
practice
instruction thatthat
methods. HPE
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During be
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Australian
anany
stage, Curriculum?
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content an individual’s abilitythe
must respect toperspective
learn and/or contribute to the
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
for inclusive practice boxes.
3 of potentially
What are some marginalised
community groups
of the potential inand
and,barriersindividuals.
time,
to to
thethe As such,
workplace.
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is important
implementation can
of toadopt
consider
quality andaand
HPE, range
put in of
how place
mighta variety of programs
perspectives,
these
Physical beeducation
overcome?
and strategies
is a formallyHealth literacy and HPE
including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, people with disabilities,
to improve
recognised and maintain
learning the positive
area that wellbeing
is delivered
and people living in rural and isolated places, as well as multicultural, gender-based and socioeconomic
of students;
through these will be touched
lesson-based upon
activities,
4andWhy do you
that has in
think
the later
Sothe chapters.
Australian
potential
how to
does health HPE
Curriculum:provides
influence
literacy a medium
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and Physical
fitphysical-activity
within implementing
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levels.
Australian Inwellbeing
has adopted
Curriculum:Australia, programs
a strengths-
Health the that enhance
currently
and Physical student
accepted
Education? You
perspectives.
based approach? social interaction, build
When evaluatinghave your program,
probably realised byresilience
it might now that and
be helpfulin to help young
ask to
order yourself
answer people
the to become
following
this question, weadvocates
will need for
questions: health
to look promotion.
at the Australian
▻ What knowledge, HPE understanding and skills will
Curriculum documents. my students
Health literacy gain
▻ Does the program provide a range of experiences that cater for all of my students?
as a resultwithin
is embedded of this the
program?
‘Personal, social and community
health’ strand and the ‘Communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing’ sub-strand. When we look
Integrate HPE with other learning areas
▻ Will any of my
Online it? Is there
Cross-
Utilising
resources
in
the
students
atwhich
this
available
you could
potential
syllabus documents
be disadvantaged
sub-strand and
for anypromote
focustoon
in any way
studentengaging,
and
health
asintegrating
a result of at
literacyor
enjoyable
be marginalised
from
and
least
what
Foundation
inclusive
put
one other
I teach, or how
to
physical
in a situation
Year
that
learning
I teacharea, think about ways
6, weyour
activity
makesinthem
can teaching
see that health literacy
program. through the activities or directives
is not addressed
if so, howinmight
the foundational school years. That means that health-literacy teaching and learning
outlined in the Cross-curricular
uncomfortable,
curricular and, I design this program differently?
Visit http://login.cengagebrain.com
begin in the
years 1and
andsearch
2. to for
thisthis
Inbuild book to accessare
band, the bonus study tools on the
▻ Do my students
possibilities have opportunity on theirstudents
personal andexpected
community to examine
strengthshealth messages and how they
to improve
companion website for Teaching Quality Health and Physical Education. It contains resources for this book,
not only their own to
relate health butdecisions
health the healthand of others?
behaviours (ACPPS021). In years 3 and 4, students progress to discussing
including:
▻ Will my students have the opportunity
and interpreting
• online research activities
BK-CLA-DUDLEY_1E-170049-Chp01.indd 9
to critique and
health information andchallenge
messagesassumptions
in the media andandstereotypes?
on the Internet (ACPPS039). By
24/06/17 12:22 PM
possibilities boxes.
the end of primary school, students are expected to recognise how the media and important people in
• revision quizzes What is physical education?
the community influence personal attitudes, beliefs, decisions and behaviours (ACPPS057). Unpacking
• key weblinks The meaning and place of physical education has changed over time (for an in-depth history, see Chapter
this content means that each of the three levels of health literacy – functional, interactive and critical
• and more!
2). However,
(described the underlying
below) – should be philosophy
experienced hasinalways been thatwhich
the classroom, physical
willeducation serves
be supported by the purpose of
the overarching
addressing
achievement thestandards
physical for
needs
eachofofsociety at anyFor
these years. given point the
example, in time (Tinningstandard
achievement et. al., 2001; Winslade,
for Years 3 and 4
BK-CLA-DUDLEY_1E-170049-Chp01.indd
2012; Wright, 1996). These needs have
13 states that by the end of Year 4, students should
ranged from preparing young people to be fit for war to the
24/06/17 12:22 PM
more modern approach of engaging young people to be lifelong participants in physical activity with an
END-OF-CHAPTER FEATURES
recognise strategies for managing change. They identify influences that strengthen
emphasis on fun and enjoyment.
identities. They investigate how emotional responses vary and understand how to interact
BK-CLA-DUDLEY_1E-170049-Chp01.indd 17 In its simplest form, physical education is education about the physical through the physical, and has 12:22 PM
24/06/17
positively with others in a variety of situations. Students interpret health messages and
traditionally been linked with sport, fitness and physical activity. While the contexts of physical activity
discuss the influences on healthy and safe choices. They understand the benefits of being
and sport are central to it, physical education is distinguished from physical activity and
healthy and physically active. They describe the connections they have to their community
sport by virtue
of its core focus on learning
and identify and educational
local resources to supportoutcomes.
their health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity.
At the end of each

Differentiating chapter
physical education, you
physicalwill
activityfind several tools to help you to review,
In this achievement standard statement, you will see that health literacy links the following three
QCAA, 2015: 3
practiseandand
sport
extend your knowledge of the key learning objectives.
areas:
While
1 Functional physical
the termshealth education,
literacy, physical activity
since students need toand sporttohave
be able readbeen
and closely linked
understand and are
health often
messages
used interchangeably, they in fact describe quite separate entities. To understand how these terms
2 Interactive health literacy, since students need to be able to understand and practise how to interact
relate to one another, and to gain a better understanding of role and place of physical
positively with others and determine local resources that may enhance their health education in the
Australian Curriculum, it will be helpful to explore each of these terms.
3 Critical health literacy, since students need to17 engage in critical-inquiry processes, which assist them
CHAPTER 1 I N T RO D U C I N G H E A LT H A N D P H Y S I CA L E D U CAT I O N
PHYSICAL
to interpretACTIVITY
health messages through evaluating contextual factors that influence decision making,
Therefore, it makes sense to design programs and learning experiences that are fun, age-appropriate and
Physical activity requires the body to work harder than it does normally. Technically, physical activity
engaging, and that utilise partner, group-work and peer-led activities so as to engage students (Jenkinson
& Benson, 2010; Salvy et al., 2009). Program design and pedagogies to help with teaching HPE will be
is any body movement produced through the contraction of skeletal muscle which leads to increases
explored further in Chapter 5.
understand what HPE

in energy expenditure (ACARA, 2012; ACHPER,
It is important, at this point, to remember that, if we are to be advocates for HPE, we need to really
including
is and why we30should invest time in teaching it. It is very difficult to promote
Reflection
2014). Physical activity can come in many forms,
through sport and exercise and fitness activities, as well as through everyday activities such 24/06/17 10:49 AM 1 A list of bullet points summarises the
chapter’s key concepts and issues in
as walking, household chores such as gardening, and other forms of active recreation (ACARA, 2012).
relevance of to your students.
Recall this chapter’s opening ‘Reflection’ box, where you were asked to think about your early
memories of HPE. What was your experience like? If you had negative memories, after reading
through this chapter, have you changed your mind about the place of, and need for, HPE?
18 How could
the Summary section.

you do things differently to make sure your activities are fun and inclusive? PA RT 1 I N T R O D U CT I O N TO T H E A R E A
1 Summary 4 Further reading

• Australian Curriculum
Test your knowledge and consolidate

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
2
• Health and Physical Education (HPE) is a mandated key learning area in the Australian Curriculum This site provides links to the Australian Curriculum (Version 8.3) and access to information about all
F–10. It is divided into two strands: ‘Personal, social and community health’ and ‘Movement and physical
learning areas, including HPE. Make sure to look around and check for updates, ensuring you are viewing
activity’. the most current information.
your learning through the Review

•
HPE has been shown to be an integral component of the holistic development of all students. As such,
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
it is important to engage students early and to keep them engaged with developmentally appropriate http://www.aihw.gov.au/home/
programs.
This site will provide you with all of the latest information regarding the health and wellbeing of Australians.
• A number of perceived barriers, to8both teachers and students, have the potential to impede qualityItHPE.
also contains reports specific to certain population groups, such as children and adolescents. Reports are 24/06/17 12:22 PM
questions.
It is important that teachers recognise these barriers and know how to overcome them. released bi-annually. Reading them will give you a greater understanding of the issues that are affecting the
welfare of your students.
• Evidence-based practice, a strengths-based approach and quality HPE are key foundations for practice
advocated in the Australian Curriculum. • Australia’s Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Children (5-12 years)
2
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health-pubhlth-strateg-phys-act-
guidelines#apa512
Review questions These guidelines provide specific information relating to the physical activity needs of school-aged children.
Online resources help you to explore

The guidelines also provide information to assist both schools and parents to positively influence the activity
1 Define Health and Physical Education (HPE). How is it different from physical activity and sport?
habits of young people.
3
2 Why is it important that HPE be included in the Australian Curriculum?
• Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians
3 What are some of the potential barriers to the effective implementation of quality HPE, and how might http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_
the key points through wider research

these be overcome? Young_Australians.pdf
4 This document provides information regarding the educational goals that have been developed for the
Why do you think the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education has adopted a strengths-
based approach? benefit of all Australian schoolchildren. The Melbourne Declaration underpins all aspects of the Australian
Curriculum.
using the companion website.

• World Health Organization
3
http://www.who.int/en/
Online resources The World Health Organization provides a wealth of relevant information, including definitions of health,
and highlighting of international and regional issues as they relate to certain populations and current
Visit http://login.cengagebrain.com and search for this book to access the bonus study tools on the
information regarding world health-based projects.
4
including:
Extend your understanding through

• online research activities References
4
• revision quizzes Abernathy, B, Kippers, V, Hanrahan, S, Pandy, M, McManus, A Hands, B (2013) ‘Physical activity, physical fitness or physical
• key weblinks & Mackinnon, L (2013) Biophysical Foundations of Human education: Are we betting on the wrong horse?’ Active and
Movement (3rd ed.) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Healthy Lifestyle Magazine, 20(2), 5–7.
• and more!
the suggested Further reading and

Australian Council for Health Physical Education and Hardman, K (2008) ‘Physical education in schools: A global
Recreation (2014) ‘The importance of the Health and perspective’. Kinesiology, 40(1), 5–28.
Physical Education learning area in schools’. ACHPER Hempenstall, K (2006) ‘What does evidence-based practice in
national position statement. http://www.achper.org.au/ education mean?’ Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities,
documents/item/394. Accessed 9 September 2016. 11(2), 83–92.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Jenkinson, K & Benson, A (2010) ‘Barriers to providing
References relevant to each chapter.

(2012) Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Health and physical education and physical activity in Victorian state
BK-CLA-DUDLEY_1E-170049-Chp01.indd 17 Physical Education. https://acaraweb.blob.core.windows.net/
24/06/17 12:22 PM secondary schools’. Australian Journal of Teacher Education,
resources/DRAFT_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum- 35(8), 1–17.
HPE-FINAL.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2016. Kirk, D (1996) ‘The crisis in school physical education:
Australian Government Department of Health (2014) Australia’s An argument against the tide’. Healthy Lifestyles Journal,
Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines. http:// 43(4), 25–8.
www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/ Lynch, T (2015) ‘Health and physical education (HPE):
health-pubhlth-strateg-phys-act-guidelines#apa512. Accessed Implementation in primary schools’. International Journal of
14 June 2016. Educational Research, 70(c), 88–100.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014) Australia’s Morgan, P & Bourke, S (2005) ‘An investigation of
Health 2014. AIHW, Canberra. pre-service and primary school teachers’ perspectives
Colquhoun, D, Goltz, K & Sheehan M. (1997) The Health of PE teaching confidence and PE teacher
Promoting School: Policy, Programmes and Practice in Australia. education’. ACHPER Healthy Lifestyles Journal, 52(1),
Sydney: Harcourt Brace. 7–13.
BK-CLA-DUDLEY_1E-170049-Chp01.indd 18 24/06/17 12:22 PM
G U I D E TO T H E T E X T xi
Guide to the online resources
FOR THE INSTRUCTOR
Cengage is pleased to provide you with a selection of resources that will help you
prepare your lectures and assessments. These teaching tools are accessible
via cengage.com.au/instructors for Australia or cengage.co.nz/instructors
for New Zealand.
POWERPOINTTM ARTWORK FROM ONLINE VIDEO

PRESENTATIONS THE TEXT ACTIVITIES
Use the chapter-by- Add the digital files of Online video activities
chapter PowerPoint slides graphs, tables, pictures and extend the students’
to enhance your lecture flow charts into your course understanding of the
presentations and handouts management system, use chapter topics and
by reinforcing the key them in student handouts, or encourage them to do
principles of your subject. copy them into your lecture further online research.
presentations.
FOR THE STUDENT
Visit the Teaching Quality Health and

Physical Education companion website
(http://login.cengagebrain.com) where
you will find:
• revision quizzes
• weblinks
• and more tools to help you
excel in your studies.
XII
xii
PREFACE
This book is for pre-service and generalist primary school teachers wishing to extend their capacity to
provide quality Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning experiences for their students. Specialist
HPE teachers will find this book particularly useful if they are looking to update their practice and
pedagogy in line with the most contemporary evidence in the discipline. The book can be used as
the basis for a semester-long course for undergraduate students, or as part of extensive professional
development programming for practising teachers.
HPE is rightly a mandated key learning area in Australian primary school curricula. Generalist
primary school teachers have the awesome responsibility of providing their students with quality HPE
learning opportunities that will enable them to develop the physical, social and emotional skills that
define self-confident and socially responsible citizens. While this responsibility is significant, by any
measure, the pursuit of it is also incredibly rewarding.
If you do not feel confident about teaching HPE, rest assured that every passionate and motivated
teacher has to capacity to do so. It often just means overcoming your fears and any social biases that may
have been inculcated in you throughout your own school or sporting experiences. These experiences
do not necessarily need to be replicated in your own teaching of this discipline. Access to professional
networks, academic evidence and online content are providing more support than ever before. The
purpose of this text is to support you in accessing the best advice and support possible, so that you will
have the confidence, understanding and skills to be an enthusiastic, effective teacher who can draw
meaning and relevance from delivering quality HPE to your students. The text does this by providing
you with sufficient background information to appreciate the health and physical education landscape,
as well as HPE’s importance in the educating the whole child. We encourage you to recognise and
celebrate the pedagogical skill that you will gain as you work through this book, which will help you to
bring HPE to life in your classrooms and enable you to be the best teacher you can be.
Both the title of this book and its content refer to quality health and physical education. What this
means is that, as a learning area, HPE can be a two-edged sword. Taught well, it can create a place
where children develop more sophisticated understanding, skill and capabilities through their bodies
and come to see greater meaning in what they learn and their wider lived experiences. Taught poorly, it
can have the opposite effect. To be blunt, far too much of what passes for HPE in schools is not much
more than playing games or a break from the ‘real work’ of education. Quality HPE is, in fact, purposeful,
stimulating and challenging learning. It can enrich all other aspects of the curriculum. We wish all
readers, whether they be teachers, administrators or pre-service teachers, successful experiences in
their contributions to the development of quality health and physical education in their schools.
xiii
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dean Dudley is the Senior Lecturer and Researcher of Health and Physical Education in the Faculty of
Human Sciences at Macquarie University. Dean is a 2012 Churchill Fellow, and was an Expert Consultant
on the Quality Physical Education Guidelines for Policymakers, published by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2015. He was appointed a UNESCO
Expert Consultant on the Sixth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible
for Physical Education and Sport, focusing on developing a comprehensive vision of inclusive access
for all people in physical education and sport. Dean is Vice President (Oceania) of the Fédération
Internationale d’Education Physique (International Federation of Physical Education, or FIEP) and a
member of the Sport for Life Research Group in Canada. He is also the Chief Examiner of PDHPE for
the New South Wales Board of Studies and Teacher Education Standards. Dean’s research is focused on
the assessment and reporting of physical education and the development of observed learning outcomes
pertaining to physical literacy. He is also a researcher of evidence-based approaches to Health and
Physical Education that yield large learning effects in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning
domains.
Louisa Peralta is Senior Lecturer of Health and Physical Education in the School of Education and
Social Work at the University of Sydney. Louisa has won a university teaching award and a state
professional association professional service award, and has two years of experience co-coordinating
undergraduate Health and Physical Education degrees. Over the past 15 years, Louisa has worked
within both the secondary and tertiary sectors, and she has recently undertaken educational leadership
roles in the secondary and tertiary sectors. As an academic, Louisa teaches in the areas of primary and
secondary Health and Physical Education and professional practice studies at the undergraduate and
graduate levels. Her teaching, research and publications focus on school-based programs for improving
students’ physical activity levels and motivation, improving adolescent health literacy through whole
school approaches, and designing and delivering professional learning experiences for pre-service and
in-service Health and Physical Education teachers.
Claire Stonehouse lectures at Deakin University in Health Education, Student Wellbeing and Sexuality
Education in both primary and secondary pre-service education. Claire has worked in many sectors of
the community, and has wide-ranging experience writing curricula and educating young people. Claire
currently works in the Respectful Relationships area, writing curricula and delivering professional
learning. Her areas of interest include sexuality education, the educational impact that parents have on
their children, and opening up the conversations about mental health and gender-based violence. She is
currently studying to gain her PhD.
Amanda Telford is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at RMIT University. Amanda, who
has won multiple university teaching awards, has a decade of experience co-coordinating undergraduate
Health and Physical Education degrees. Over the past 20 years, Amanda has worked within both the
secondary and tertiary sectors in educational leadership roles. In addition to experience as an academic
and as a Health and Physical Education teacher, Amanda has had experience as a company director of
an organisation consisting of a network of over five thousand Health and Physical Education educators.
Amanda has strong links with industry across the education, sport and health communities and sectors.
She has been an adviser for state and federal governments in the area of Health and Physical Education,
xiv
and was involved in the development of the 2004 National Physical Activity Guidelines for children
and young people. She has a strong background in learning and teaching, and is known for her vision
in providing leadership to the teaching profession for both pre- and in-service teachers in Australia.
Amanda’s research focuses on the influence of family, community and school environments on youth
physical activity behaviour.
Matthew Winslade is the Associate Head of the School of Teacher Education and Course Director
for Health and Physical Education (HPE) at Charles Sturt University. Matt has a strong educational
background, with over 20 years of teaching experience in the Health and Physical Education field.
Prior to moving into the tertiary sector, he was both a Head Teacher in the state system and a Director
of Sport in the Association of Independent Schools. Matt has been awarded an Australian Council
of Deans of Education award through the Australian Association for Research in Education and has
received a citation for outstanding contribution to student learning. Matt’s doctoral research examined
the changing nature of Health and Physical Education in Australian schools. His current research
activities include evaluating school- and university-based health and physical activity programs, and
the development of intercultural competency in pre-service teachers. Matt currently divides his time
between Australia and Samoa, working closely with community groups and sporting organisations at
both school and university level.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS xv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank colleagues, editors and family who offered advice and
assistance in the preparation of the manuscript. Firstly, my professional co-authors, whom I actively
sought out because of their ability, as leading researchers, to stay connected to the practices of everyday
Australian teachers: Amanda Telford, Louisa Peralta, Claire Stonehouse and Matthew Winslade are
some of the most professional educators I have had the pleasure of working with in the Health and
Physical Education discipline, and their contributions to this book prove their commitment to our body
of knowledge and practice.
Secondly, a special thanks goes to the hardworking publishing team at Cengage, including Publisher,
Ann Crabb and Development Editor, Carly Slater, who have professionally brought this book into being.
It is always a pleasure to work with such committed and capable individuals.
Finally, none of this book could have been possible without the love and support of all of our families.
For me, my amazing wife, Ana (also a teacher), and two primary school-aged daughters, Carolina and
Georgia, have been the greatest source of inspiration for my commitment to improving the learning
experiences of Australian children. To them, I am kept humble and eternally thankful!
Dr Dean Dudley
2017
Cengage would like to thank the following people for their insightful reviews and helpful
contributions in the development of this book: Jennie Garnham (Federation University Australia),
Phil Doecke (RMIT University), Renata Cinelli (Australian Catholic University), Cathleen Farrelly
(La Trobe University), Karen Lambert (Monash University), Kim McKeen (University of Wollongong),
Narelle Eather (University of Newcastle), Kate Moncrieff (Deakin University), Kirsten Petrie (The
University of Waikato) and Kathy Mann (University of Canberra).
xvi
STANDARDS MAPPING GRID
The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers)
outline the professional standards expected of teachers at various stages of their careers.
This book assists readers to attain the Graduate Standards in relation to teaching primary health and physical education.
The following grid shows how the content of particular chapters relates to various Standards.
Professional Knowledge Standards Chapter/s

1. Know students and how they learn
1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and 1, 2, 4, 6, 9
how these may affect learning.
1.2 Understand how students learn

5, 4, 9
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching.
1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse 1, 5
linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the 8
education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of 1, 5, 9
students across the full range of abilities.
1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of legislative requirements and teaching strategies that support participation 5, 10, 11
and learning of students with disability.
2. Know the content and how to teach it

2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
1, 2, 5, 6, 7,
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies of
8, 10, 11
the teaching area.
2.2 Content selection and organisation

5, 9, 10, 11
Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence.
2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting

3, 4, 5, 6
Use curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to design learning sequences and lesson plans.
2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous
and non-Indigenous Australians
10
Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and
languages.
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies

2
Know and understand literacy and numeracy teaching strategies and their application in teaching areas.
2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

5
Implement teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum learning opportunities for students.
Professional Practice Standards Chapter/s

3. Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
3.1 Establish challenging learning goals
1, 5, 10, 11
Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics.
3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs

3, 5
Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies.
3.3 Use teaching strategies

1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11
Include a range of teaching strategies.
xvii
3.4 Select and use resources
1, 5, 6, 7, 8
Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage students in their learning.
3.5 Use effective classroom communication

6, 7
Demonstrate a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student engagement.
3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs

5, 7
Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning.
3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process

5, 6, 7, 8
Describe a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the educative process.
4. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

4.1 Support student participation
1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8
Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities.
4.2 Manage classroom activities

5
Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear directions.
4.3 Manage challenging behaviour

6
Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour.
4.4 Maintain student safety

Describe strategies that support students’ wellbeing and safety working within school and/or system, curriculum and 5, 6, 7
legislative requirements.
4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically

Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and the strategies available to support the safe, responsible and ethical 5
use of ICT in learning and teaching.
5. Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

5.1 Assess student learning
Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative 4
approaches to assess student learning.
5.2 Provide feedback to students on their learning

4
Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning.
5.3 Make consistent and comparable judgements

Demonstrate understanding of assessment moderation and its application to support consistent and comparable judgements 4
of student learning.
5.4 Interpret student data

4
Demonstrate the capacity to interpret student assessment data to evaluate student learning and modify teaching practice.
5.5 Report on student achievement

Demonstrate understanding of a range of strategies for reporting to students and parents/carers and the purpose of keeping 4
accurate and reliable records of student achievement.
Professional Engagement Standards Chapter/s

6. Engage in professional learning
6.1 Identify and plan professional learning needs
Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional N/A
learning needs.
6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice

N/A
Understand the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning for teachers.
6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice

N/A
Seek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve teaching practices.
6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning

Demonstrate an understanding of the rationale for continued professional learning and the implications for improved N/A
student learning.
7. Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
5
Understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession.
7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements

Understand the relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes required for teachers according 5, 6
to school stage.
xviii S TA N D A R D S M A P P I N G G R I D
7.3 Engage with the parents/carers
6, 7
Understand strategies for working effectively, sensitively and confidentially with parents/carers.
7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities

Understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge 1, 8
and practice.
Adapted from © 2014 Education Services Australia Limited as the legal entity for the COAG Education Council (Education Council). Cengage Learning Australia has adapted and reproduced the
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (2014) (Standards) in this publication with permission from the copyright owner. The Standards were developed by the Australian Institute for
Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and endorsed by the Education Council. This publication is solely created by the authors and Cengage Learning Australia, and does not represent
the views of, and is not endorsed by, AITSL or the Education Council.
S TA N D A R D S M A P P I N G G R I D xix
PART 1
Introduction to the area
Primary-school teachers have much asked of them as they deliver integrated,
holistic learning experiences designed to ensure the students in their care
will develop confidence and capabilities across all areas of learning. They
are frequently called upon to respond to media reports of sedentary living,
disengagement with physical activity, declining student wellbeing, bullying, obesity
and poor mental health in schools. There is also an increasing emphasis on
externally reportable areas, such as numeracy and literacy. As a result, teachers
are confronted, more than ever, with a crowded curriculum, which places pressure
on the depth and breadth of content covered in learning areas such as Health and
Physical Education (HPE). This book has been compiled not only to assist teachers
to understand the importance of providing quality HPE experiences but also to
provide support in terms of planning and implementing those experiences.
Accordingly, the following chapters will demonstrate that HPE is intended to
support children in developing knowledge, skills and attitudes that will later enable
them to make informed decisions about their own health and wellbeing, and that of
those around them.
CHAPTERS
1 Introducing Health and Physical Education
2 Understanding quality Health and Physical Education
3 Overview of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
4 Authentic learning and assessment in primary Health and Physical Education
1
1
Introducing Health and
Physical Education
1 understand the nature and place of Health and Physical
Education in relation to the Australian Curriculum
2 explain the rationale for why Health and Physical Education
is a key learning area in the Australian primary curriculum
3 discuss potential barriers to effective quality Health and
Physical Education
4 examine the fundamental principles behind foundations for
practice in Health and Physical Education.
Overview
This chapter will explore the concept of Health
and Physical Education (HPE) in an Australian
context. It will first consider health education and
physical education as individual entities, and then
outline how these two spheres can be integrated to
create a learning area that focuses on the health
and wellbeing of all Australians. The chapter will
look at why HPE is an integral part of the overall
Australian Curriculum, and at why HPE is essential
to the holistic develop of all Australian students.
It will introduce the notion of quality HPE, and
examine some potential barriers that might impede
participation rates and engagement with the
learning area among both teachers and students.
It is hoped that, as you read this chapter, you will
develop a philosophy of why it is important for
teachers to not only understand but also embrace
the teaching of HPE.
3
4
PA RT 1 I N T RO D U CT I O N TO T H E A R E A
Reflection
At some point in your schooling career, you would have had health or physical education lessons
of some description. Try to remember what the experience was like. Do you have memories of it
being too hot, or perhaps too cold, in the classroom; or of having to run endless laps around the
oval; or maybe of being embarrassed because you were picked last for a team in a game that you
did not really want to play anyway? Perhaps you were embarrassed by a class discussion on a
topic that was not dealt with sensitively and that caused you to be uncomfortable?
»» Do you recall these lessons as a positive and rewarding experience, or do you remember
health or physical education as the subject you could not wait to end?
»» How do you think your own schooling experiences influence your current perceptions of health
and physical education? Do you think they will affect how you might teach this learning area?
If your memories were not so positive, do you think you could do things differently, now that it
is your time to teach, to ensure that your students have fun and develop positive memories of
their own?
We hope that in reading this book and gaining a greater understanding of health and physical
education, you will become an active advocate for the quality teaching of this learning area in
Australian primary schools, and learn a wide variety of pedagogical approaches that will keep
students engaged.
Write down your reflections of how you remember health or physical education when you were
at school; we will revisit these later in the chapter.
DEFINING HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION (HPE)
So what is Health and Physical Education (HPE)? As its name suggests, HPE is a subject area
comprising two related strands: health and, of course, physical education. While these two areas can
work together to form a broad approach to wellbeing – one with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles
that include engaging in physical activity – they can also be thought of separately. Although we advocate
teaching HPE in an integrated manner, this chapter will examine what each of these areas encompasses
independently. We will then outline how they have come together to form our current understanding of
what constitutes the key learning area of HPE as it is represented in the Australian Curriculum.
Defining health
To assist with understanding the role and place of health education, it will be useful to develop an
appreciation of what the term ‘health’ means, and to examine some associated terms.
Health is what we refer to as a social construct. Essentially, this means that health can, and does,
mean different things to different people. This is because the way in which we view and construct our
individual understandings of health is influenced by our particular social circumstances. Health can
also be regarded as both relative and dynamic. It can be considered dynamic because the status of our
health, and the way we view our health, change over time. It can be thought of as relative in the sense
that people assess their health based on their own personal circumstances at any given point in time,
and assess and compare their health against that of other people.
It is important to note that understandings of health have evolved over time. Early definitions of
health adopted a biomedical perspective and focused on the functionality of the body, with health
being viewed as the state of normal function that could be disrupted periodically by disease (Scriven,
2005; Stokes, Noren & Shindell, 1982). In the 1940s, the World Health Organization (WHO)
proposed a definition of health that is still commonly accepted today, one that moved beyond a purely
5
biomedical view to link the concept of health with wellbeing, stating that health is ‘a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO, 2017a).
In the 1980s, the WHO furthered its interpretation of health, declaring that health could be thought of
in regard to the degree to which individuals and groups are able to ‘realise aspirations and satisfy needs;
and, on the other hand, to change or cope with the environment’ (WHO, 2009: 29). Furthermore,
the WHO affirmed that health is ‘a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living … a positive
concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities’ (WHO, 2009: 29).
This addition reinforced the idea that health is dynamic in nature, particularly in such elements as
resilience, and that it should be thought of as a resource, one that enables people to live positive and
productive lives. This philosophy underpinned an increased emphasis on health promotion globally,
as well as a recognition of the importance that education can play in that process. These ideals were
advocated through seminal policy documents such as the Declaration of Alma-Ata in 1978 and the
Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986, and through the introduction of initiatives such as the
Health Promoting Schools Framework in the 1990s (Colquhoun et al., 1997; Scriven, 2005; WHO,
2009). These will be explored in depth in Chapter 5.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) endorses the WHO’s definition of health,
and has adopted a broad viewpoint incorporating both physical and mental dimensions, as well as
recognising the influences of genetic, cultural, socioeconomic and environmental determinants. As
such, the AIHW proffers the following comments on health:
• Health is an important part of wellbeing, of how people feel and function.
• Health contributes to social and economic wellbeing.
• Health is not simply the absence of disease or injury, and there are degrees of good
health.
• Managing health includes being able to promote good health, identify and manage
risks and prevent disease.
• Disease processes can develop over many years before they show themselves through
symptoms.
AIHW, 2014: 1
The AIHW advocates that an individual’s wellbeing is the result of complex interactions between
biological, lifestyle, socioeconomic, societal and environmental factors, many of which are potentially
modifiable as a result of healthcare and other interventions (2014). Building on both the WHO’s
definition and AIHW’s view on health, and in relation to the HPE learning area, the Australian
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) acknowledges health as being a state of
physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity; this affords the ability to lead a socially and economically productive life (ACARA, 2012).
HEALTH AS A HOLISTIC CONCEPT

In order to understand how we can teach and better understand health, we need to look at the
characteristics of health from a holistic viewpoint. So what does this mean? Essentially, the holistic view
is that health is about more than simply being physically fit and not sick. Instead, it encompasses a much
broader, more inclusive view that incorporates a number of dimensions that affect our daily lives, such
as physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual health (ACARA, 2012).
THE DIMENSIONS OF HEALTH

There are five recognised dimensions of health: physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual.
Together, these provide a holistic view of a person’s overall health. It is important to note that the five
dimensions are interrelated, and that a change in one dimension will affect the others. We will discuss
the dimensions of health in turn in the following section.
6
Physical health
Physical health refers to how well the body functions, and the body’s ability to participate effectively
in everyday activities. It includes the wellness of the body and the absence of disease or pain. Physical
health is characterised by levels of fitness, nutritional status and energy levels, body size and shape, and
the body’s ability to fight and recover from illness.
Mental health
Mental health refers to an individual’s thinking and cognitive capacities, the ability to think in a clear,
coherent manner, and the ability to cope with adversity and positively respond and adapt to change.
Mental health also includes the ability to express thoughts and feelings and is closely associated with
emotional, social and spiritual health.
Emotional health
Emotional health is characterised in terms of feelings and the ability to either express or control
emotions, as appropriate. This includes the ability to develop a positive sense of self (i.e. self-concept,
self-confidence, self-esteem and resilience), the ability to make decisions and resolve conflict, and the
development of coping skills in order to function as an effective member of society.
Social health
Social health relates to the ability to interact with and maintain relationships with other people in a way
that is socially acceptable. Developing positive social health is important in order to be able to interact
effectively as a member of society.
Spiritual health
Spiritual health takes on different meanings for different people; in general, however, it relates to an
individual’s sense of purpose and meaning in life, and is often linked to one’s values. It is characterised
by a sense of belonging and connectedness, whether this be religious-, family-, nature- or community-
based.
What is health education?

School-based health education has long been a part of formal education. One of the key reasons
for this has been the belief that health education is an integral component of broader governmental
attempts to enhance the health of children and young people. As such, schools have been identified
as being essential for the achievement of public-health goals, and evidence supports strong links
between poor health and poor educational achievement (see Nutbeam, 2000; St Leger, 2001). St
Leger (2001) proffers that it is therefore vital to equip young people, through our schools, with the
skills and knowledge that they will need to become active participants in the process of shaping
policies and practices that will have an impact on their own health. Historically, health education
has had a limited influence on students’ health and behaviours; however, more recent research has
shown that this may have resulted from limitations in curricula, programs, pedagogies and resources
(particularly in the primary-school setting). Although health education has a long history, it is still
a contentious area (see St Leger 2001; St Leger, 2006; Tinning et. al., 2001). As such, it is critical
that teachers recognise the need to implement appropriate and effective health education in order to
provide their students with the skills and knowledge necessary to improve their own health and the
health of others.
Health education as a concept has been defined by WHO as encompassing ‘consciously constructed
opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve health literacy,
including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and
7
community health’ (WHO, 1998). Further, health education can be thought of as ‘any combination of
learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities improve their health, by increasing
their knowledge or influencing their attitudes’ (WHO, 2017b).
In Australian schools, the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education consists of two
strands: the physical education-based ‘Movement and physical education’ strand, and the health-based
‘Personal, social and community health’ strand. Through a broad range of topic areas, the ‘Personal, social
and community health’ strand provides a holistic approach, one that recognises that health comprises
physical, social, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions. The Australian Council for Health Physical
Education and Recreation (ACHPER, 2014) proffers that schools are recognised as key settings for
developing health-related knowledge and skills, and that the concept of health literacy should be a core
curriculum component. (The concept of health literacy will be explored in depth throughout this book,
receiving particular emphasis in Chapter 2 and Chapter 5.)
In Australia, health education has been framed as part of a holistic curriculum. But it is a unique
subject, given that its content deals with issues and concerns of students as they are occurring in real
life, and in real time. The significance of this is that the way in which you, as a teacher, choose to engage
with and deliver this learning area to your students can make a profound impact on their lives. Health
education in schools deals with a broad range of social issues, including such topics as alcohol and
drug use, safety, relationships and sexuality, nutrition, mental health and wellbeing, and the impact of
physical activity. The content covered in health education aligns with the issues associated with growing
up and experiencing change, which are of crucial importance to a demographic that is either just moving
into or is about to enter puberty.
Try to think back to when you went through puberty. You will know that this can be a scary and
emotionally confronting time (not only for students but also for their parents!). This phase in a student’s
life is signified by major physical, social and emotional changes. We can add to these increased exposure
to drugs and alcohol, as well as other, more recent social issues that students have to deal with, such
as Internet safety and the growing impact of social media. In this context, we can see that our young
people can use as many positive influences on their lives as possible. Teachers often take on the role of
a significant adult in students’ lives, and are seen as a credible source of information that both students
and their parents can trust. As such, it is important that health education is not neglected by teachers.
It is important to note here, however, that health education as it is represented in the curriculum is
a learning area primarily aimed at supporting students in developing the knowledge, understanding and
skills needed to make healthy decisions – it is not a means of solving all the issues that have an impact
on young people (ACHPER, 2014).
Health education is informed by a number of research areas, including epidemiology, health
promotion, sociology of health, medicine, psychology of health, population health and nutrition (ACARA,
2012; ACHPER, 2014). Some of these elements will be explored in depth in Chapter 5.
Health education, wellness and wellbeing

One of the driving aims behind the inclusion of health education in the Australian Curriculum is to
assist with the development of positive wellbeing. In relation to HPE, wellbeing relates to a sense of
satisfaction, happiness, effective social functioning and spiritual health, and dispositions of optimism,
openness, curiosity and resilience (ACARA, 2012).
The terms wellbeing and wellness are often used interchangeably, and, while the two concepts are
closely aligned, there are differences between them. Wellness is associated with the components of
physical health, such as fitness, the absence of disease or illness, and balanced nutrition, whereas
wellbeing is concerned with general happiness and satisfaction with life. Importantly, an individual’s
wellness plays a significant role in their wellbeing. Notable influences on an individual’s wellbeing
8
include career satisfaction, a sense of belonging, social conditions, personal skills, the environment and
lifestyle factors.
An individual’s state of wellbeing can have a significant impact not only on their own life but
also on those around them and on broader society. Positive wellbeing can result in healthier, more
responsible, pro-social lifestyles. Conversely, poorer wellbeing is associated with social exclusion,
disengagement and lowered productivity. Of importance to schools and teachers is the recognition
that these characteristics can have an impact on an individual’s ability to learn and/or contribute to the
community and, in time, to the workplace. Teachers can adopt and put in place a variety of programs
and strategies to improve and maintain the positive wellbeing of students; these will be touched upon
in later chapters. HPE provides a medium for implementing wellbeing programs that enhance student
social interaction, build resilience and help young people to become advocates for health promotion.
Utilising available syllabus documents and integrating at least one other learning area, think about ways
in which you could promote engaging, enjoyable and inclusive physical activity in your teaching program.
Cross-
curricular
possibilities
What is physical education?

The meaning and place of physical education has changed over time (for an in-depth history, see Chapter
2). However, the underlying philosophy has always been that physical education serves the purpose of
addressing the physical needs of society at any given point in time (Tinning et. al., 2001; Winslade,
2012; Wright, 1996). These needs have ranged from preparing young people to be fit for war to the
more modern approach of engaging young people to be lifelong participants in physical activity with an
emphasis on fun and enjoyment.
In its simplest form, physical education is education about the physical through the physical, and has
traditionally been linked with sport, fitness and physical activity. While the contexts of physical activity
and sport are central to it, physical education is distinguished from physical activity and sport by virtue
of its core focus on learning and educational outcomes.
Differentiating physical education, physical activity

and sport
While the terms physical education, physical activity and sport have been closely linked and are often
used interchangeably, they in fact describe quite separate entities. To understand how these terms
relate to one another, and to gain a better understanding of role and place of physical education in the
Australian Curriculum, it will be helpful to explore each of these terms.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Physical activity requires the body to work harder than it does normally. Technically, physical activity
is any body movement produced through the contraction of skeletal muscle which leads to increases
in energy expenditure (ACARA, 2012; ACHPER, 2014). Physical activity can come in many forms,
including through sport and exercise and fitness activities, as well as through everyday activities such
as walking, household chores such as gardening, and other forms of active recreation (ACARA, 2012).
9
The Australian Government Department of Health (2014) asserts that being physically active is positive
for children’s overall health, and has the potential to act as a catalyst for opportunities for children to
make new friends, and thereby develop not only physical but also social skills. In 2014, the Department
released a set of guidelines for primary-school-aged children under the title Australia’s physical activity
and sedentary behaviour guidelines for children (5–12 years). These are intended for all children aged
between five and 12 years who have started school, irrespective of cultural background, gender or ability.
A snapshot of the guidelines is given in Example 1.1.
Example 1.1
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN AT A GLANCE
The following extract, from the Australian Government Department of Health, gives recommendations
relating to children’s levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
Physical activity:
• For health benefits, children aged 5–12 years should accumulate at least 60 minutes of
moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity every day.
• Children’s physical activity should include a variety of aerobic activities, including some
vigorous-intensity activity.
• On at least three days per week, children should engage in activities that strengthen muscle
and bone.
• To achieve additional health benefits, children should engage in more activity – up to several
hours per day.
Sedentary behaviour:
• To reduce health risks, children aged 5–12 years should minimise the time they spend being
sedentary every day. To achieve this:
• Limit the use of electronic media for entertainment (e.g. television, seated electronic
games and computer use) to no more than two hours per day – lower levels are associated
with reduced health risks.
• Break up long periods of sitting as often as possible.
From Australia’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines for children (5–12 years)
© Commonwealth of Australia 2014
SPORT
While sport is often associated with physical education, it is distinct from the latter in a number of ways.
Sport is a socially constructed activity that is characterised by its focus on physical exertion, skills, tactics
and strategies, combined with elements of competition. It is additionally defined by a series of rules and
patterns of behaviour that are governed by formal organisations.
It is important to note that, in a school context, sport is considered to be an extra-curricular or
co-curricular (i.e. external to the classroom focus) activity that is distinct from the HPE curriculum.
School-based sport includes both intra (within school) and inter (between schools) competitions, as well
as sport based on after-school programs (ACARA, 2012).
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Physical education is a formally recognised learning area that is delivered through lesson-based activities,
and that has the potential to influence physical-activity levels. In Australia, the currently accepted
10
physical education philosophy focuses on linking students with movement in order to increase their
levels of confidence and competence, and on doing so in a way that is both positive and enjoyable. The
longer-term aim is to encourage students to be active for the rest of their lives.
As with health, physical education can, and does, mean different things to different people, depending
on such factors as where a person lives and even when one went to school. For example, in both the
US and the UK physical education is still taught as a discrete, standalone subject, whereas in most
parts of Australia an integrated approach has been adopted, and the subject is now known as Health
and Physical Education (HPE). (It should be noted that in New South Wales the subject is known as
Personal Development, Health and Physical Education, or PDHPE). Historically, physical education
has meant different things at different times (Winslade, 2012), as will be explained further in Chapter
2. Many adults likely still think of physical education from their school days as revolving around skills
and drills, laps of the oval, or perhaps games and sport-based activities. Finding a concrete definition of
physical education can be difficult, given that it takes on so many forms and is implemented in various
ways that are not always in line with any formal definition. In some people’s eyes, this has had the effects
of devaluing the subject’s credibility in educational terms and of marginalising the place of physical
education in some school programs (Kirk, 1996).
The aims of contemporary physical education are to assist students to develop understanding,
knowledge and skills, and, importantly, to influence attitudes that are necessary to foster lifelong
participation in physical activity. Further, physical education has the potential to develop both physical
confidence and competence among students, and provides students with the opportunity to use these
traits in a range of activities (Hands, 2013). Pangrazi and Beighle (2013) argue that physical education
should be seen as a part of the overall educational curriculum, one that contributes, through physical
activity, to the total growth and development of schoolchildren. As such, they proffer that physical
education should be viewed as an instructional program that addresses all learning domains (psychical,
cognitive and affective) and helps children to maintain an active lifestyle, and therefore must be seen as
a necessary part of the curriculum. Furthermore, physical education provides the opportunity to develop
wellness skills that can be utilised throughout life. Children are thus given the opportunity to participate
in physical activity in a way that helps to them to succeed regardless of their skill or ability level. It
is important to remember that physical education is much more than just the teaching of skills and
facilitating physical fitness – it is a quality educational experience that contributes to the development
of healthy, happy and active people and communities.
Physical education is informed by research from a number of areas, including movement concepts
and motor skill learning; strategic awareness in sports and games; the biophysical sciences, such as
physiology and biomechanics; the behavioural sciences (i.e. psychology and health promotion); and
the sociological sciences (Abernathy et al., 2013: 7). Concepts relating to physical education will be
discussed further in Chapter 10.
From a competence perspective, it is important to note that all physical activity is underpinned
by the notion of fundamental movement skills, or FMS. FMS, including locomotor, non-locomotor,
manipulative and specialised movement skills, set the foundation for adult activity. Morgan et al. (2013)
argue that if children develop competencies in FMS, then they will be much more likely to participate in
physically active pursuits in adolescence, and therefore into adulthood. This link between successfully
learning FMS during formative years and continuing physical activity in subsequent years emphasises
how important it is to invest in quality physical education programs in schools in order to support motor-
skill development. Through the provision of a range of educational movement experiences, students
have the opportunity to learn to evaluate their strengths, build efficacy and choose activities that they
find satisfying. This approach potentially leads to long-term engagement with physical activity.
11
In the Australian Curriculum, movement has been identified as being central to HPE: as a way of
gaining knowledge of the skills, concepts and strategic awareness needed to participate and perform in
physical activity in order to promote wellbeing, and as a vehicle to enhance learning. Through movement
and physical activity, students are given the opportunity to develop skills related to decision making and
management, risk management and responsibility for safety (their own and others’), and the ability to
work independently and as part of a group.
It has been noted that, while physical education should be seen as a valuable and essential part of the
school curriculum, in some instances, as Morgan and Hansen (2008) proffer, it has been taught poorly
and, as a result, it has experienced a level of marginalisation. (This will be looked at later in this chapter,
under ‘Examining student barriers to participation in HPE’.) Australia is one of the few nations to have
adopted an integrated approach to physical education and health. The move has been positive in terms
of increasing both academic rigour and the profile of physical education in schools. The implementation
of the Australian Curriculum has provided a chance to reinvigorate the learning area, and to offer a
subject that has a real impact on the lives of students. But we, as teachers, need to ensure that we
understand how and why we should engage our students with quality physical-educational experiences.
Physical education is represented in the Australian Curriculum in the ‘Movement and physical
activity’ strand. This covers the following content areas:
• Active play and minor games
• Challenge and adventure activities
• Fundamental movement skills
• Games and sports
• Lifelong physical activity
• Rhythmic and expressive activities (ACARA, 2012).
WHY TEACH HPE IN THE PRIMARY CURRICULUM?
Through quality structured learning experiences, HPE provides students with the skills, knowledge and
self-efficacy required to enable them to lead healthy and active lifestyles. As a curriculum area, HPE
teaches students how to improve their own and others’ health, safety, wellbeing and levels of physical
activity in a range of challenging and changing circumstances
There are five propositions that underpin the Australian Curriculum as it relates to HPE; namely:
1 focusing on the educative purposes
2 developing health literacy
3 including a critical-inquiry approach
4 taking a strengths-based approach
5 valuing movement (ACARA, 2012).
HPE is grounded in fields such as physiology, nutrition, biomechanics and psychology, which inform
both our understandings and our choices about being healthy, safe and active. ACARA advocates that
the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education be informed by these fields, in order to
provide students with curriculum that is considered contemporary, relevant, challenging, enjoyable and
physically active (ACARA, 2012).
12
HPE provides students with the opportunity to develop a sense of self, engage in satisfying
relationships, develop resilience and make informed decisions that promote health, safety and physical
activity. As students mature, through their engagement with HPE they develop the ability to utilise
research to critically analyse factors that contribute to not only their own health but the health of others,
and to recognise and utilise the resources available to them and those around them in a way that is
beneficial to their health.
As noted above, movement is a critical component in the HPE curriculum. The acquisition of
movement skills that will enable students to develop competence and confidence to participate in a
range of physical activities is a key focus. The integration of health with physical education increases
the learning associated with movement-based activities. Through movement, students have the chance
to acquire, practise and refine skills that contribute to their development in a range of areas, including
personal, behavioural, social and cognitive.
By providing the opportunity for students to develop proficiency in movement skills, physical
activities and movement concepts, as well as to gain an understanding of the scientific principles behind
movement, HPE lays a strong foundation for lifelong physical activity and enhanced performance.
ACARA (2012) states that through the provision of quality HPE experiences, young people in Australia
can develop an appreciation of how important physical activity is to their lives, and to how associated
concepts such as recreation and sport affect society both in Australia and internationally.
HPE enables students to examine a range of factors that influence their lives and the decisions they
make. With its focus on health, safety, wellbeing and physical activity, HPE looks at these issues from
both an individual and a community perspective. Quality HPE allows students to develop not only skills
to support their own health but also the ability to become advocates for health promotion. ACARA
(2012) emphasises that quality programs can have a significant positive impact in the wider community,
through the supporting of informed, active and healthy populations, and advocates that a healthy, active
population has the potential to improve productivity and personal satisfaction, to promote positive social
behaviour and to reduce the occurrence of chronic disease.
The concept of quality HPE is introduced later in this chapter and is explored in depth in Chapter
2. At this stage, though, it is important to understand that ‘quality’ refers to well-structured, curriculum-
based HPE learning programs which build on earlier, foundational activities and provide consistent
progression through pedagogically sound and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that
are engaging, enjoyable and inclusive.
Where has HPE come from?

As alluded to earlier, HPE and its predecessors have had a long and contested history. In fact, the
learning area has only been known as Health and Physical Education in (most parts of) Australia since
1994. The historical underpinnings of HPE, and the way in which the subject has developed to its
current state, will be described in Chapter 2. However, it is important to remember that, while HPE
has evolved over time, in Australia it has always been guided by an underlying philosophy that sees it
as a way of dealing with the needs of society at any given point in time. As a result, the learning area
has undergone continuous change so as to reflect what have been perceived to be the driving needs
for young Australians – it has been seen as everything from a means of increasing the population’s
fitness levels to, today, a way to build resilience and engage young people in movement in a fun and
inclusive manner in order to encourage them to lead healthy and active lifestyles. As a key learning area
in the Australian Curriculum, contemporary HPE provides students with an experiential curriculum
that is ‘relevant, engaging, contemporary, physically active, enjoyable and developmentally appropriate’
(ACARA, 2012: 2).
13
FOUNDATIONS OF QUALITY HPE PRACTICE
Evidence-based practice
What is evidence-based practice, and why do we need it? Evidence-based practice is the integration
of individual expertise with the best available external evidence (Sackett et al., 1996). While teachers
may have an abundance of experience and understanding of their profession, evidence-based practice
requires this tacit knowledge to be coupled with research-based evidence. This is important in ensuring
that teachers are aware of the vast range of knowledge available that can assist them to be more effective
practitioners.
The Melbourne Declaration of Educational Goals for Young Australians (or the Melbourne
Declaration) highlights the growing demands that are being placed on young people in a constantly
changing and complex world. (The Melbourne Declaration is discussed throughout this book.)
Hempenstall (2006) states that young people are today confronted with unprecedented volumes of
information, combined with increasingly sophisticated persuasive techniques. Unfortunately, this
combination can lead to students being overwhelmed, as well as to what can be considered fad-driven
educational systems that are potentially unable to cope with their needs. As such, recognition of the
role that science can play in informing policy, and in ensuring that programs meet the needs of students
and are supported by evidence-based practice, is paramount. It is important to understand that the role
of the teacher is not undermined through evidence-based practice; rather, the professional insight and
understanding that the teacher brings to the classroom are supported by the best empirical evidence,
ensuring that the effectiveness of program delivery can be maximised (Hempenstall, 2006).
The Australian Curriculum encourages students to develop an appreciation of evidence-based
practice by utilising the concept of critical inquiry. In HPE, students are encouraged to research,
analyse, apply and appraise knowledge about health and movement. This gives them the opportunity to
critically analyse and evaluate the factors that influence their decision making, behaviours and actions,
and to utilise community-based resources in order to improve both their own health and the health of
those around them (ACARA, 2012: 3).
When developing a teaching and learning program for HPE, it is important to remember that a
quality program incorporates an engaging, enjoyable and inclusive approach, one that is mindful of
the principles of diversity and social justice. Programs need to be holistic in nature, and should aim Tips for
to develop the whole person through the provision of a range of diverse learning opportunities and inclusive
instruction methods. During the programming stage, any content covered must respect the perspective
practice
of potentially marginalised groups and individuals. As such, it is important to consider a range of
perspectives, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, people with disabilities,
and people living in rural and isolated places, as well as multicultural, gender-based and socioeconomic
perspectives.
When evaluating your program, it might be helpful to ask yourself the following questions:
▻▻ What knowledge, understanding and skills will my students gain as a result of this program?
▻▻ Does the program provide a range of experiences that cater for all of my students?
▻▻ Will any of my students be disadvantaged in any way as a result of what I teach, or how I teach
it? Is there the potential for any student to be marginalised or put in a situation that makes them
uncomfortable, and, if so, how might I design this program differently?
▻▻ Do my students have the opportunity to build on their personal and community strengths to improve
not only their own health but the health of others?
▻▻ Will my students have the opportunity to critique and challenge assumptions and stereotypes?
14
Quality HPE
A major focus of this text is recognising the importance of the concept of quality HPE programs. (This
topic will be explored in much greater detail in Chapter 2.) Why should schools and governments invest
in quality HPE programs? The answer is that quality HPE sets the foundation for establishing a lifelong
process in which health is the priority. It is holistic in nature, in that, conceptually, it aims to develop the
whole person through the provision of a range of diverse quality learning opportunities and instruction
methods. Quality HPE requires teachers who are not only enthusiastic but also confident and able to
deliver positive and encouraging physical and social experiences. Programs should not be constrained
by the boundaries of the school, but should be cognisant of outside interests and involve the local
community – particularly parents – in order to reinforce and support the ideas and behaviours developed
in school-based programs. Through well-structured learning programs which build on early-foundation
activities (such as FMS) and provide consistent progression through developmentally appropriate
learning opportunities that are engaging, enjoyable and inclusive, quality HPE fosters the development
of positive and motivated student attitudes towards adopting healthy lifestyle practices (Lynch, 2015).
Hands (2013) contends that investing in quality programs represents an investment into the long-term
health of our children, and that any public-health or educational strategy needs to reflect this. It is
also important to recognise that, while much has been done to support the implementation of quality
programs in our schools, there is still room for improvement. As teachers, we can help to achieve this by
ensuring that we advocate quality programs that are both meaningful and supported through appropriate
instruction and allocation of time.
A strengths-based approach
ACARA (2012) identifies that a strengths-based approach focuses on the capacities, competencies, values
and hopes of all students, regardless of their current circumstances, to optimise their own health and that
of others. It looks to extend preventive health to the creation of health through individual, community
and societal resources and assets. The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education has
adopted a strengths-based approach. This represents a shift in focus, in that it is a move away from what
has been labelled a deficit model, which focuses on potential health risks, to a method that acknowledges
that both students and communities have particular strengths, as well as access to resources that can
be fostered to improve their own and others’ health and wellbeing. A strengths-based approach allows
for recognition that many students already feel optimistic about their health, rating it in positive terms,
and that not all children have the same levels of risk or health status. It recognises that students come to
the HPE learning area with a wide range of strengths, interests and abilities, and, as such, aims to build
on those student attributes to improve not only the individual’s health and physical activity but also the
health and wellbeing of those around them. The merits of adopting a strengths-based approach will be
further discussed in Chapter 5.
Parent and guardian information presentation

Teaching Using a PowerPoint application (or similar), prepare a parent information presentation justifying why
practice HPE should be included in the Australian primary curriculum. The presentation should inform parents
and guardians of the nature and role of HPE in the F–6 context.
The presentation could include such elements as:
▻▻ A rationale for the inclusion of the HPE syllabus in the broader school curriculum (i.e. Why teach
HPE in primary schools?)
▻▻ The aims, objectives, outcomes of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (i.e.
What is HPE trying to achieve? What does the learning area add to students’ lives?)
15
▻▻ The nature of the content (i.e. What is covered? Why are the elements covered important in the
meeting of the goals as set by the Melbourne Declaration?)
▻▻ How can the teaching of quality HPE help to guide the future lives of healthy and active Australian
citizens?
As part of a holistic approach towards developing the whole person, how might you build on the
information required to deliver your parent and guardian information presentation above to promote
numeracy and literacy further enhancing links with the Melbourne Declaration?
Cross-
curricular
possibilities
The rationale and context for the inclusion of

HPE in school curricula
Schools have long been recognised as an appropriate environment in which to deliver health and
wellbeing programs. It has also been recognised that schools can always do more to support and enhance
the delivery of quality HPE programs, and this is particularly true of the primary-school context (Lynch,
2015; Morgan & Bourke, 2005). The inclusion of a quality HPE program helps to support students
to make important decisions about their health, wellbeing, safety and involvement in physical activity.
HPE is a unique curriculum area in that, through the teaching of diverse content, the subject opens
up avenues for important discussions that focus on issues relating to children and young people. The
importance of HPE’s role in the holistic education of young people is reflected in its inclusion as a
mandatory learning area in the Australian Curriculum. Teachers need to fully understand the potential
positive implications that a quality HPE program can provide, and not underestimate the importance of
teaching HPE to their students or the impact this could have on students’ lives.
ACARA (2012) has identified (in line with the Melbourne Declaration) that the world our children
and young people live in is changing rapidly due to advances in technology and media. One of the
identified characteristics of this change is an increase in lifestyle concerns related to such issues as
sedentary behaviour. As such, it is crucial that our students are given the ability to not merely cope
with life’s challenges but to thrive as healthy, safe and active citizens in the 21st century. To achieve
this, young people need to develop critical-inquiry skills, which will enable them to research effectively,
thereby increasing their knowledge and understanding of the influences on their own and others’ health,
safety, wellbeing and physical activity. Through the inclusion of HPE in the Australian Curriculum,
ACARA (2012) has affirmed that, by legitimately engaging with pressing social issues in schools, and by
building areas such as resilience and empathy, educators are making a strong investment in the future
of the Australian population.
Quality HPE programs assist students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary
to build a strong sense of self, and to foster relationships that are both satisfying and respectful. Through
HPE, students learn to build on personal and community strengths and assets to enhance safety and
wellbeing. Students are challenged to critique and question assumptions and stereotypes, and learn to
navigate a range of health-related sources, services and organisations (ACARA, 2012).
The acquisition of movement skills and concepts that will allow young people to engage in a range
of physical activities – competently, confidently and creatively – is central to the design of HPE. The
learning of FMS provides the foundation for both lifelong physical-activity participation and enhanced
16
physical performance. Through HPE, students gain an understanding of how the body moves and
develop positive attitudes towards participation in physical activity. When used as part of a quality
program, one that incorporates practice and refinement, movement can be a powerful learning medium,
and can contribute to the development of personal, behavioural, social and cognitive skills.
As highlighted previously, HPE includes content about growing up, experiencing change and helping
others. By virtue of the nature of the topics discussed – including sensitive issues – the HPE teacher
is seen as a significant person in children’s lives and a credible source of trustworthy information. This
puts you, as a teacher, in a powerful position from which to help students to become productive, healthy,
contributing members of the community – which is, after all, the role of a teacher. However, because
HPE’s subject matter is not straightforward, and many of its areas could be considered confronting or
awkward, some teachers tend to shy away from particular topics because they can be difficult to discuss.
But surely these are the very issues that we need to engage with, with our students, in order to assist
them when they are confronted with future choices and need to make informed decisions that will
benefit their health, safety and wellbeing.
Incorporated as part of a holistic curriculum, HPE helps to develop students’ health, safety and
wellbeing, and covers such topics as risk-taking, sexuality, diversity and drug education. Where else in
the curriculum can students get that?
EXAMINING STUDENT BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION IN HPE
While the benefits of participation in HPE are numerous, studies have indicated that in recent decades
there has been a gradual decline in children’s fitness standards, increased dropout rates and insufficient
access to physical activity opportunities in Australia (Hardman, 2008; Jenkinson & Benson, 2010). As
mentioned above, schools have been identified as learning environments that are equipped to engage
young people in health education; however, it is also apparent that there are a number of barriers that
might be getting in the way of the success of such programs. A number of factors have been identified
as potential barriers for students. These include such issues as decreased levels of interest due to the
influence of peer pressure, and students identifying strong connections between exercise, boredom
and not having fun (Jenkinson & Benson, 2010; Mowling et al., 2004). Perceptions of HPE that may
dissuade children from participating may include such factors as discomfort, perceived low competence
(particularly relating to specific sporting activities) and safety concerns. Fun, on the other hand, seems
to be a significant influence on students wanting to participate in practical activities. Importantly, it
has been identified that younger students have a positive perception of HPE; as students get older,
though, that perception becomes more ambiguous (Jenkinson & Benson, 2010; Trudeau & Shephard,
2005). The effect of this is that there is scope for teachers, through the provision of quality programs,
to positively influence how younger students perceive the learning area. If we can engage our students
early and keep them engaged, we will have a greater chance of imbuing them with lifelong healthy
habits.
Furthermore, the environment has been identified as one of the most influential social determinants
of physical activity. The term environment incorporates students’ interaction with peers, which affects
the choices they make, including regarding participation. Therefore, it is imperative that the teacher
creates an environment that is conducive to engaging students. A clever teacher recognises that peers
and friends have the power to either limit engagement levels or promote activity and increase motivation.
17
Therefore, it makes sense to design programs and learning experiences that are fun, age-appropriate and
engaging, and that utilise partner, group-work and peer-led activities so as to engage students (Jenkinson
& Benson, 2010; Salvy et al., 2009). Program design and pedagogies to help with teaching HPE will be
explored further in Chapter 5.
Reflection
It is important, at this point, to remember that, if we are to be advocates for HPE, we need to really
understand what HPE is and why we should invest time in teaching it. It is very difficult to promote
relevance of to your students.
Recall this chapter’s opening ‘Reflection’ box, where you were asked to think about your early
memories of HPE. What was your experience like? If you had negative memories, after reading
through this chapter, have you changed your mind about the place of, and need for, HPE? How could
you do things differently to make sure your activities are fun and inclusive?
Summary
• Health and Physical Education (HPE) is a mandated key learning area in the Australian Curriculum
F–10. It is divided into two strands: ‘Personal, social and community health’ and ‘Movement and physical
activity’.
• HPE has been shown to be an integral component of the holistic development of all students. As such,
it is important to engage students early and to keep them engaged with developmentally appropriate
programs.
• A number of perceived barriers, to both teachers and students, have the potential to impede quality HPE.
It is important that teachers recognise these barriers and know how to overcome them.
• Evidence-based practice, a strengths-based approach and quality HPE are key foundations for practice
advocated in the Australian Curriculum.
Review questions
1 Define Health and Physical Education (HPE). How is it different from physical activity and sport?
2 Why is it important that HPE be included in the Australian Curriculum?
3 What are some of the potential barriers to the effective implementation of quality HPE, and how might
these be overcome?
4 Why do you think the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education has adopted a strengths-
based approach?
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
18
PA RT 1 I N T R O D U CT I O N TO T H E A R E A
Further reading
This site provides links to the Australian Curriculum (Version 8.3) and access to information about all
learning areas, including HPE. Make sure to look around and check for updates, ensuring you are viewing
the most current information.
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

http://www.aihw.gov.au/home/
This site will provide you with all of the latest information regarding the health and wellbeing of Australians.
It also contains reports specific to certain population groups, such as children and adolescents. Reports are
released bi-annually. Reading them will give you a greater understanding of the issues that are affecting the
welfare of your students.
• Australia’s Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Children (5-12 years)
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health-pubhlth-strateg-phys-act-
guidelines#apa512
These guidelines provide specific information relating to the physical activity needs of school-aged children.
The guidelines also provide information to assist both schools and parents to positively influence the activity
habits of young people.
• Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians

http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_
Young_Australians.pdf
This document provides information regarding the educational goals that have been developed for the
benefit of all Australian schoolchildren. The Melbourne Declaration underpins all aspects of the Australian
Curriculum.
• World Health Organization

http://www.who.int/en/
The World Health Organization provides a wealth of relevant information, including definitions of health,
and highlighting of international and regional issues as they relate to certain populations and current
information regarding world health-based projects.
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rationale’, in A Scriven and S Garmin (eds.) Promoting Health: education’. http://www.who.int/topics/health_education/en/.
Global Perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Accessed 4 January 2017.
St Leger, L (2001) ‘Schools, health literacy and public health: Wright, J (1996) ‘Mapping the discourse in physical education:
possibilities and challenges’. Health Promotion International, articulating a female tradition’. Journal of Curriculum
16(2), 197–205. Studies, 28(3), 331–51
2
Understanding quality
Health and Physical
Education
1 explore the historical and political contexts of Health and
Physical Education in Australia
2 define quality Health and Physical Education in a
contemporary Australian and international context
3 discuss the role of health literacy in promoting a quality
health education experience for students
4 discuss the role of physical literacy in promoting a quality
physical education experience for students.
Overview
In this chapter, we will look at the history and
role of HPE in Australia. We will explore the
emergence of health and physical literacy in our
understanding of this subject area. To function
well in the 21st century, a person must possess
a wide range of abilities and competencies.
These abilities and competencies, or ‘literacies’ –
which range from being able to read a book,
to understanding information provided by a
healthcare provider, to accessing a physical-
activity experience – are multiple, dynamic and
malleable.
21
22
QUALITY HPE
To determine what quality HPE looks like in the primary-school setting, we first need to trace the origins
of HPE as a learning area. As was alluded to in Chapter 1, HPE has had a contentious history during
which it has had many incarnations, in terms of titles, outcomes and content. This history has led to
the shape of the modern HPE learning area, which is one that still has many different meanings and
practices. However, there is a small number of consistent foci which ensure that quality HPE can be
put into practice in all primary-school settings.
Historical and political focus on HPE in the primary-school setting

EARLY PHYSICAL EDUCATION
When we look at the history of HPE as a core learning area both globally and locally, it is not surprising
to discover that it has more often than not been considered as an exercise science, a form of physical or
military training, or a venue for medical inspection and sport. In the first part of the 20th century, what
we now know as HPE was known as Exercise Science, and had two main outcomes: the physical and
the educational. The physical outcomes were focused on achieving benefits to overall health through
the effective functioning of the body – corrective benefits, such as posture, and developmental benefits,
such as supporting the normal pattern of growth of the child (Bailey et al., 2009). The educational
outcomes were primarily moral and mental, and could be considered analogous to the health component
in modern HPE. This involved teaching habits of self-discipline and order, as well as the allied qualities
of concentration, manual dexterity and determination (Bailey et al., 2009). In a way similar to some
modern-day conceptions, the learning area was considered a means of fostering a joyous spirit, as a
healthy outlet for emotions and as a source of aesthetic sensibility.
THE OUTBREAK OF GLOBAL CONFLICTS

These early iterations of physical education changed, however, with the outbreak of the First World
War, when governments wanted school physical training to develop soldiers or ‘fighting men’. Physical
training became a learning area designed mainly to produce future citizens who would be fit (male)
soldiers. In this period, exercise was viewed as one of four elements contributing to health, the other
three being nutrition, sanitary conditions and clean air (Thomson, 1979). Female students were more
likely to be given posture classes rather than physical training. The acquisition of a vigorous physique
and the general physical capacity to move efficiently became the primary goal of physical education
during this time (Bailey et al., 2009).
THE POST-WAR ERA

Sporting discourses arrived after the Second World War, when the benefits of sports and games
participation became known. Sports were seen to contribute to the development of future (male) citizens
through the fostering of masculine courage, strength, loyalty and aggression (Tinning & McCuaig, 2006).
During this period, boys and girls were still separated in classes, because at the time, sports and games
were considered ‘too dangerous’ for female students. Therefore, postural learning remained the focus for
female students, although this was extended through gymnastics and dance. Around the 1950s, physical
fitness replaced physique and posture as the focus of physical education.
23
C H A P T E R 2 U nd e rstanding q ualit y H e alth and P h y sical Educati o n
Figure 2.1
Fitness propaganda
(left) Library of Congress/Publicity Department, Central London Recruiting Depot;
(right) Library of Congress/D.H. Souter
Figure 2.2
Physical education
for women
(left) Getty Images/Nichols/Topical Press Agency; (right) Getty Images/IWM
The notion that participation in sports contributes to the development of citizens who are fit,
self-confident players, who can work diligently for delayed rewards and who have a sense of pride in
achievements remains a strong influence in today’s practice. Additionally, the idea that being physically
active and fit imparts health benefits has endured since the early days of physical education, with the
justification that physical activity plays a part in curing disease and producing healthy people, as well as
in improving the effects of what have been seen to be progressively sedentary lifestyles among citizens
of developed nations (Bailey et al., 2009).
As sports participation emerged as a medium for participation in physical activity among the masses,
physical education became associated with the development of physical skills (Munrow, 1955) and
perceptual–motor skills (Knapp, 1963). From the 1950s until the modern day, the development of physical
skills in physical education has been directly associated with the fundamental movement competencies
required to play sport and engage in other physical activities (Bailey et al., 2009). The focus on developing
physical skills has generated a large research base and much empirical attention, and these skills are often
conceptualised through the notion of fundamental movement skills, or FMS, which were introduced in
Chapter 1. The attention given to FMS in the latter half of the 20th century underpinned the development
of the present-day primary-school HPE curriculum. (FMS are described in detail in Chapter 10.)
24
The post-war period saw changes to physical education in primary schools, and for girls in particular.
Emotional growth and expression were among the new foci that emerged during this period. Claims were
made for the benefits of educational gymnastics, and the aesthetic experience became central to what is
now referred to as movement education. In making these claims, many (mainly female) teachers began
to question the former priorities of physical education, particularly those related to physical and political
benefits (Bailey et al., 2009). In doing so, they met with considerable resistance from many of their male
colleagues – who were growing in number, especially in government secondary schools (Kirk, 1992).
As a consequence of these developments, over the next two decades the important affective benefits
of physical education were very much associated with educational gymnastics and dance, and with the
education of girls and small children in the primary-school context (Bailey et al., 2009).
THE RISE OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASE

By the 1980s, physical education had come to be seen as a preventative measure against non-
communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease. As such, curricula introduced in the early 2000s
emphasised health-promotion messages that focused on the reduction of disease through physical
wellbeing. Outcomes were no longer stated goals for physical activity, fitness, games and exercise,
but instead explicitly showed the link between health education and physical education endeavours
(Tinning & McCuaig, 2006).
Up until the 1990s, health education largely consisted of ad hoc programs, lessons and presentations
that were centred on the perceived needs of youth at that time – usually hygiene, nutrition, and puberty
in primary schools. With the rise of contemporary public-health imperatives and a greater focus on health
and the body, the previous three decades have led to considerable government attention being given to
HPE. As noted above, while health has played a crucial role in the development of physical education
over the years, historically, health education has received varying attention from educational authorities,
Commonwealth and state/territory governments, and researchers (Tinning & McCuaig, 2006).
Figure 2.3
Physical activity
to reduce non-
communicable
diseases
AAP Image/NEWZULU/COURTNEY BIGGS
From the brief chronological history presented above, it is evident that there remain ongoing tensions
in the content and outcomes that comprise the present HPE learning area and curriculum. As will be
25
addressed further in Chapter 5 (in relation to health education), HPE has historically been directed
or strongly influenced by Commonwealth and state/territory governments, and by previous Australian
schooling declarations (namely, the 1989 Hobart Declaration and the 1999 Adelaide Declaration), and
has been geared towards trying to create a certain type of citizen (for a certain time period). Recently,
the Commonwealth Government’s influence is evidenced by the establishment of national educational
bodies, including the Curriculum Corporation (in 1987), which in 2009 became the Australian
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, or ACARA. Educational bodies are accountable to
the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Education Council. These bodies have determined
the learning areas in Australian schools since the mid-1990s. Governments have an economic interest
in curricula, and have the goal of producing citizens who have certain characteristics which make them
employable, informed, capable, ethical and healthy and able to contribute to a democratic, 21st century
society. The state and territory governments have had constitutional responsibility for schooling and
curriculum construction in Australia, and have been heavily influenced by international and national
governments as they focus on turning students into the ‘right’ type of citizens.
Reflection
Think about HPE’s history and its current state as a learning area.
»» What do you think are the main challenges for young people today?
»» In what ways can HPE help young people to overcome these challenges?
Classroom generalists or specialist HPE teachers?

Before we can determine what quality HPE in the primary-school setting looks like, it is important
to consider current practices and evidence of their effects on student learning. What we know is that
primary-school HPE can make a unique contribution to the educational experience of primary-school
students, and can enhance physical, cognitive, social and affective development. However, over the
previous three decades, research has highlighted an ongoing debate as to whether specialist or generalist
primary teachers should be teaching HPE.
WHO TEACHES HPE IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS?

In Australia, the generalist primary teacher delivers a number of learning areas and diverse subject matter
outlined in the primary curriculum, and one of these learning areas is HPE. This decision is based on the
belief that the generalist primary teacher is best placed to teach the integrated curriculum promoted in
primary schools (Coulter et al., 2009). However, such beliefs stand in contrast to research and evidence,
which have identified that generalist primary teachers face many difficulties when teaching HPE, including
lack of training, lower levels of expertise and confidence, inadequate equipment and/or facilities in which
to teach HPE, time constraints in an already crowded curriculum, competing demands and obstructive
or limiting school policies (Curtner-Smith, 1999; Faulkner, Reeves, & Chedzoy, 2004; Morgan & Bourke,
2005; Morgan & Hansen, 2008; Webster, 2002). Further, educational researchers have stated that the
single greatest barrier to both the quality and quantity of HPE in primary schools is generalist primary
teachers’ own beliefs, perceptions and attitudes regarding the importance of the physical education
component of the learning area (Morgan & Hansen, 2008; Webster, Monsma, & Erwin, 2010).
Generalist primary teachers know their students, and deliver pedagogy that will engage with the
needs of those students on a daily basis; so it is important to emphasise – despite any calls for
specialist HPE teachers – that they are integral for ensuring that HPE is taught well and that their
students experience positive learning opportunities. As such, generalist primary teachers are still
considered the most appropriate people to teach HPE in primary schools. It has been reported that
26
generalist primary teachers generally believe that HPE is a valuable learning area of the curriculum
(DeCorby et al., 2005; McKenzie et al., 1997; Morgan & Hansen, 2008). However, evidence also
shows that generalist primary teachers would commonly prefer to teach health or learning areas other
than HPE, due to a perceived lack of knowledge and ability (DeCorby et al., 2005; Morgan & Bourke,
2005). In both DeCorby et al.’s (2005) and Morgan and Bourke’s (2005) studies, this resulted in a
reduction of curriculum time being given to HPE, and when the subject was taught, the delivery of
physical education was of low quality, with students not being given the opportunities required to
develop desired knowledge and skills. The factors discussed here are the most significant challenges
that HPE faces in primary schools.
So what are the ramifications of reduced curriculum time being given to HPE, and of generalist
primary teachers who lack confidence in teaching the learning area? Research has shown that many
primary-school students are entering secondary school lacking proficiency in many fundamental
movement skills (FMS). It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of Year 6 students in New South Wales
are not adequately capable at many of the locomotor skills (e.g. running, jumping and hopping), and
that two-thirds of girls and a quarter of boys have low object-control (e.g. throwing, kicking, striking)
skill proficiency (Hardy et al., 2012). Just as children need to be taught their ABCs in order to read
and write, they also need to be taught FMS so as to provide the strongest foundation for a physically
active lifestyle. Children who are proficient at FMS are more likely to be physically active, to have
adequate cardiorespiratory fitness and to become adolescents who are more active (Barnett et al.,
2009). These are important short- and long-term health and wellbeing outcomes for our children.
THE ROLE OF ONGOING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR TEACHERS

A proposed solution to ensure the provision of quality primary-school HPE is to provide sufficient
training and up-skilling for generalist primary teachers so as to enable them to undertake this role and
feel confident in delivering quality HPE. The delivery of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical
Education for primary (and high) schools also provides opportunities for FMS to be centre stage in HPE
programs (Barnett et al., 2009). However, we suggest that you, as pre-service teachers, engage with your
undergraduate program (and texts like this one) and HPE units of study. Not surprisingly, a large number
of generalist primary teachers are critical of their HPE teacher training during their university course.
Morgan and Hansen (2008) reported that generalist primary teachers wanted more extensive teacher
training in HPE delivered through a larger quantity of courses with greater exposure to HPE teaching.
This finding has been supported by an extensive number of studies examining pre-service generalist
primary teachers’ perceptions of HPE, which have concluded that many undergraduate programs are not
effective in developing generalist primary teachers’ confidence in teaching HPE efficiently (Carney &
Chedzoy, 1998; Elliot et al., 2013; Moore, Webb & Dickson, 1997; Webster, Erwin & Parks, 2013).
So what can you do to remedy this? Firstly, you can use your professional experience placements to
teach HPE. A small amount of evidence has shown that increases in pre-service teachers’ expectations
of mastery occur through involvement in professional experience placements that include observing and
teaching primary HPE lessons, and receiving feedback (Clarke & Hubball, 2001; Faucette et al., 2002;
Nguyen & Peralta, under review).
You may be thinking that teaching HPE in the primary setting is easy and free of complexity and
tension; unfortunately, though, as you will read in Chapter 5, there are ongoing tensions between the
taken-for-granted assumption that there is a single scientific ‘truth’ and one way of being healthy. Health
is dynamic, and so is health knowledge, not least because of the influences on health of gender, ethnicity,
and cultural and economic factors. Generalist primary teachers must therefore continue to stay abreast
of developments in health – especially those that are pushed onto them by governments – as well as use
effective pedagogies that give students opportunities to learn that health, and being healthy, are fluid.
27
Reflection
Think about your previous professional experience placements and consider your teaching of HPE.
»» Did you teach health education to your students? Did you teach physical education? Was this
representative of the curriculum time allocated to both health and physical education? What
feedback did you receive from others in regards to your teaching of HPE? What were the
challenges you faced? How will you overcome these next time?
»» If you have not yet had the opportunity to teach HPE, how will you overcome this in your next
professional experience placement? What goals will you set to achieve in relation to teaching?
THE DECLINE OF QUALITY HPE
Rising levels of non-communicable disease have been described as a pandemic by the World Health
Organization (WHO, 1999), and cutbacks in HPE provision will only increase these concerns
exponentially. Given the broader health concerns involved in these trends, it is essential that governments
take policy action to ensure that HPE secures its rightful place in school curricula and that, consequently,
students benefit from exposure to multiple and alternative learning domains (UNESCO, 2015).
Quality HPE should focus on curriculum; on knowing the content of the learning area; on
knowing how to best teach the content (i.e. pedagogy); on planning and assessing for student
learning; and on networking with colleagues, parents, communities and professional organisations.
Chapters 5 and 10 will detail what is needed and expected in relation to pedagogy, planning,
assessing, learning and networking. However, when we look at curricula and curriculum reform
in relation to quality HPE, it is important to highlight that the Australian Curriculum: Health and
Physical Education has moved HPE forward through five key ideas (Macdonald, 2013: 99–103):
1 Focus on educative outcomes.
2 Take a strengths-based approach.
3 Valuing in, about and through movement.
4 Develop health literacy.
5 Include a critical-inquiry approach.
Some of these central concepts have been part of previous state- and territory-based health curricula
(e.g. through a focus on educative rather than performative outcomes, or on the ill-health statistics of
the nation). But the most distinctive changes from previous curricula are the shift from a risk focus to a
strengths-based approach (as introduced in Chapter 1 and discussed further in Chapter 5), the valuing
of movement through three foci and developing health literacy using a critical lens. The latter two
changes will be detailed in the following sections, with health literacy first.
HEALTH LITERACY
This section addresses recent research on health literacy, before linking health literacy to the HPE
curriculum and to pedagogy and assessment. Up until recently, health literacy has been predominantly
based in health and medical literature. However, due to the ineffectiveness of previous health education
curricula, programs and teaching, and a heightened concern about young people’s health, health literacy
28
has borrowed from the health field and been embedded in the Australian Curriculum: Health and
Physical Education. The premise for the inclusion of health literacy in the curriculum is that it can
contribute to closing the apparent gap between societal expectations of HPE and the capacity of schools
to meet these expectations through meaningful curricula (McCuaig, Coore, & Hay, 2012).
Discussions about health literacy

Health literacy is generally used to assess the capacities of people to meet the complex demands
of health in modern society (Kickbusch & Maag, 2008). The definition of health literacy and its
conceptual dimensions, however, remain subject to continuing debate (Sorenson et al., 2012).
For example, health-literacy research about children and adolescents has been growing, but the
conceptualisation of it has been limited to concepts of health literacy which have been based on
the knowledge, motivation and competencies required by adults to access, understand, appraise
and apply health-related information within healthcare and disease-prevention settings (rather than
educational settings) (see, e.g., Levin-Zamir & Peterburg, 2001; Mancuso, 2009; Parker, 2000;
Smith, Nutbeam & McCaffery, 2013).
From a health perspective, there is clear evidence of the need to focus on childhood and adolescence
as life phases, because these developmental stages present many opportunities for good health and
wellbeing. They are also periods during which future patterns of adult health are established (Due et al.,
2011; Mikkila et al., 2004; Sawyer et al., 2012; Suppli et al., 2013). They are therefore central to the
success of many public-health agendas, including the recent emphasis on mental health, injuries and
non-communicable diseases (Ng et al., 2014; Sawyer et al., 2012). In light of this evidence, it is important
to note that a significant proportion of children and adolescents residing in middle- and high-income
countries still do not meet the recommended guidelines for the daily consumption of healthy foods,
eating breakfast, physical activity and sedentary behaviours (Hardy et al., 2010; Brug et al., 2012). This
has led to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2009) highlighting concerns related to young
people’s health. Some of the most frequently cited issues include diabetes, dental decay, overweight
and obesity, drugs, body image, alcohol, and sexual abuse. Therefore, it is not surprising that new ideas
and efforts have been sought to promote the development of positive health-related behaviours among
children and adolescents.
Figure 2.4
The health habits of
young people
Dreamstime.com/Monkey Business Images
29
Educational contexts, such as schools, offer a unique, structured primary prevention setting through
which young people can be reached at their most impressionable stages (WHO, 1999). Significantly,
health-promotion efforts undertaken in schools can include a whole-of-life perspective and a focus
on the future. However, it is well established that schools struggle to implement and maintain health-
promotion programs, often as a consequence of competing priorities for curriculum time, lack of
professional learning programs and resources, ad hoc support from health services, and significant
gaps between policy and practice (Basch, 2010; Marks, 2010; Peralta, 2012; St Leger & Nutbeam,
2000). Hence, health-literacy efforts need to be informed by educational research and practice in order
for school-level action to be implemented. For example, although teachers and schools acknowledge
their roles in developing the health and wellbeing of their students, tension can emerge when health
professionals drive program development and implementation, possibly leading to a situation in which
‘limited attention is given to changes in educational outcomes’ (Mohammadi, Rowling & Nutbeam,
2010: 248) and ‘language that emanates from the health sector is not central to the running of schools,
or a part of teachers’ thinking’ (Ridge et al., 2002: 28). Based on this premise, it makes sense that health
literacy has become a cornerstone of the HPE Curriculum, and that it has been framed in educative
discourses. Nutbeam’s (2000) model was chosen to inform the approach to health literacy in the
Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education, given its resonance with literacy discourses and
its aspirations for HPE to make a difference to both individuals and communities (Macdonald, 2013;
Ryan, Rossi, Macdonald et al., 2012). Drawing on developments within literacy studies, Nutbeam (2000)
built upon earlier definitions of health literacy to propose a model of health literacy that incorporates
three levels, as shown in Figure 2.5.
Level 3: Critical health literacy
Level 2: Interactive health literacy
Figure 2.5
Level 1: Functional health literacy A model of health
literacy
Adapted from Nutbeam, D (2000) ‘Health literacy as a public goal: A challenge for contemporary health education and
communication strategies into the 21st century’. Health Promotion International, 15(3), 259–67.
The first level of functional health literacy concerns the ability to comprehend health-related
information and to use basic skills in reading and writing. This level reflects the traditional characterisation
of health literacy (Nutbeam, 2000). The second level comprises interactive health literacy, which focuses
on the personal communication and social skills that are used to extract and derive information and to
act independently on that knowledge. As such, individuals begin to actively engage in everyday health-
related activities, applying new information to changing circumstances (McCray, 2005). The final level
of Nutbeam’s (2000) model is critical health literacy, which is orientated towards supporting effective
social and political action, as well as individual action. Individuals and communities thus acquire the
ability to critically analyse health-related information in order to exert control over life events (McCray,
2005), and a capacity to act on the social, economic and cultural determinants of health (Nutbeam,
2000). According to Nutbeam (2000), as progression between each level occurs, so too does greater
autonomy and empowerment, with progression between levels being dependent not only on cognitive
development but also on exposure to different information, messages and texts. This alignment with
educational ideals represents the crux of this health-literacy model.
30
Health-imposed sanctions
Teaching The previous section explored some of the issues or contentious problems we have when trying to
practice connect health and education, which have had an impact on HPE and the way it has been delivered.
▻▻ C
an you think of any health-related programs that have been required of primary schools that have
not considered educational outcomes and learning?
The following may be only some of examples that you come up with: school-based immunisations,
scoliosis testing, dental testing and hearing testing. These health-based activities have often been
pushed on schools by local or state departments without being discussed with schools’ executive staff
members to ensure that education or learning has occurred before, during or after these programs
have been delivered. Often, parents and students (and teachers themselves) know nothing about these
health activities, about other health resources that may be available in the local community, or about the
benefits, challenges and weaknesses of the health intervention or other alternatives, and are therefore
unable to make informed, safe and healthy decisions. Everyone generally assumes, though, that the
practice is a healthy one. What does this tell us about the concerned parties’ ability to be health-literate
in this scenario? The following sections will help you to unpack this question.
Health literacy and HPE

So how does health literacy fit within the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education? You
have probably realised by now that in order to answer this question, we will need to look at the Australian
HPE Curriculum documents. Health literacy is embedded within the ‘Personal, social and community
health’ strand and the ‘Communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing’ sub-strand. When we look
at this sub-strand and focus on health literacy from Foundation to Year 6, we can see that health literacy
is not addressed in the foundational school years. That means that health-literacy teaching and learning
begin in years 1 and 2. In this band, students are expected to examine health messages and how they
relate to health decisions and behaviours (ACPPS021). In years 3 and 4, students progress to discussing
and interpreting health information and messages in the media and on the Internet (ACPPS039). By
the end of primary school, students are expected to recognise how the media and important people in
the community influence personal attitudes, beliefs, decisions and behaviours (ACPPS057). Unpacking
this content means that each of the three levels of health literacy – functional, interactive and critical
(described below) – should be experienced in the classroom, which will be supported by the overarching
achievement standards for each of these years. For example, the achievement standard for Years 3 and 4
states that by the end of Year 4, students should
recognise strategies for managing change. They identify influences that strengthen
identities. They investigate how emotional responses vary and understand how to interact
positively with others in a variety of situations. Students interpret health messages and
discuss the influences on healthy and safe choices. They understand the benefits of being
healthy and physically active. They describe the connections they have to their community
and identify local resources to support their health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity.
QCAA, 2015: 3
In this achievement standard statement, you will see that health literacy links the following three
areas:
1 Functional health literacy, since students need to be able to read and understand health messages
2 Interactive health literacy, since students need to be able to understand and practise how to interact
positively with others and determine local resources that may enhance their health
3 Critical health literacy, since students need to engage in critical-inquiry processes, which assist them
to interpret health messages through evaluating contextual factors that influence decision making,
31
behaviours and actions, and explore inclusiveness, power inequalities, assumptions, diversity and
social justice.
Once you have become accustomed to reading achievement standards and content that represents
health literacy, the next phase of preparing to teach health literary through HPE is to determine how you
will do so. However, we first want to learn from the challenges that others have faced, to ensure that we
can give students the opportunity to develop critical health literacy when needed.
McCuaig and colleagues (2012; 2014) highlighted that if health information is taught in isolation,
or without opportunities to apply new health information and skills across the school setting and
the school day, then critical health literacy is unlikely to be attained. This means that single units
of study or health-literacy units of work are often insufficient. Instead, health literacy needs to be
embedded across a number of units of work (even in a cross-curricular fashion) to be supported
in the greater school environment through policies and processes, as well as by teachers, parents
and the wider school community. For example, if a school does not provide, across the school day,
multiple opportunities for learning experiences that allow students to develop health literacy, then
students’ ability to translate their knowledge or functional literacy to the level of critical health
literacy will be limited. Therefore, a whole-school approach to the development of health literacy
should provide conditions and experiences that enable young people to move from basic action,
in response to exploration of questions or issues in the classroom, through to the development of
self-efficacy in relation to health decision making; and eventually towards motivation for supporting
individual and school-community actions to address the social determinants of health. (For more
details of the whole-school approach, otherwise known as the health-promoting schools approach,
see Chapter 5.) In short, quality health education, including the teaching of health literacy, requires
a whole-school approach in order to develop strategies and actions that go beyond the classroom.
Following a contextual or socioecological methodology towards health, the whole-school approach
is driven by three main foci: (1) curriculum and pedagogy; (2) school organisation, ethos and
environment; and (3) partnerships and services.
Once a whole-school approach is put in place in health-literacy programs, critical health-literacy or
critical-inquiry strategies need to be embedded throughout it. Chinn’s (2011) review and critical analysis
of critical health literacy – which was used as a framework by McCuaig and colleagues (2012; 2014) for
designing critical-inquiry learning experiences in their units of work – identified three domains:
1 critical appraisal of information
2 understanding social determinants of health
3 collective action.
These domains are an important contribution to creating clarity in the meaning and understanding
of what critical health literacy is and how it can be developed. With the two frameworks described
above in place, we can start to think about the health-literacy pedagogies and assessment that can
be implemented in primary schools to give students the opportunity to achieve functional, interactive
and critical health literacy, and to attain the content and achievement standards outlined in the HPE
Curriculum.
Using your syllabus documents, think of how you might map a health-literacy lesson (you choose the
year group) which embeds the whole-school approach – and critical health literacy, if appropriate – and
Cross-
integrate this with at least one other learning area.
curricular
possibilities
32
Health-literacy pedagogy and assessment

The first paper to collate health-literacy research and focus on schools and educational outcomes was
a theoretical and empirical review (Paakkari & Paakkari, 2012) which had the aim of defining health
literacy as a learning outcome in schools – by using Nutbeam’s (2000) three-level model – and describing
the learning conditions that are relevant for targeting health literacy as an individual competency. This
review was based on the premise that learning at school most frequently takes place at an individual
level and in the classroom. As such, the study’s authors devised five core components for developing
health literacy:
1 theoretical knowledge
2 practical knowledge
3 critical thinking
4 self-awareness
5 citizenship.
The authors believed that these five core components will foster students’ ability to define their own
beliefs, identity and social relations, as well as lead them to become responsible citizens who will act in an
ethically responsible way. For this to happen, Paakkari and Paakkari (2012) outlined what they call teaching
and learning methods (and what we term pedagogies) that teachers could use to create learning conditions
allowing students to attain health-literacy outcomes and become health-literate (see Table 2.1).
Table 2.1 Teaching and learning methods (or pedagogies)
For theoretical knowledge Receiving information from the teacher and from books; activities focusing on rote
learning (e.g. tests); teacher-led discussions
For practical knowledge Practical exercises; role-plays; hands-on (practical) exams
For critical thinking Mind-mapping; concept mapping; debating; conflict situations; systematic analysis of
texts and pictures; evaluating arguments; justifying claims; collaborative ranking and
listing; collective problem solving; student data-gathering and synthesis; roundtable
discussions
For self-awareness Learning diaries and portfolios; self-evaluation
For citizenship Drama, panel discussions; role-playing, school and community projects, peer
assessment
Although the argument for this individual-based approach is strong, we would agree with Paakkari
and Paakkari (2012) when they acknowledge the need for research and theoretical dialogue that extends
the focus beyond individuals and takes into account the social determinants of health, especially
when considering health literacy in educational contexts such as schools. The ways in which health
literacy is manifest at a school or school-community level is important, because students can only act
on knowledge in contexts that support those actions. To be clear, we believe that learning occurs at the
individual level, and we therefore stress the importance of learning outcomes; and so share common
understandings with Paakkari and Paakkari. However, learning is supported and enhanced through
social interactions and interplay in the surrounding environmental context, as well as what happens in
the classroom (what we have called the whole-school or health-promoting schools approach; see also
Chapter 5). These pedagogies are a great place to start, but we also suggest a larger variety of direct or
explicit teaching methods for improving students’ theoretical and practical knowledge, and a contextual
33
approach, by including not only curriculum and classroom pedagogy but also school organisation, ethos
and environmental pedagogies, along with community partnerships and services for enhancing critical
thinking (Peralta et al., under review).
Enhancing critical thinking and critical health literacy has been the neglected domain of health
literacy (Sykes, Wills, Rowland et al., 2013). This has led to researchers, and now educators, focusing on
the definition of critical health literacy as a learning outcome, and on determining the pedagogies that
may allow students to attain critical thinking and inquiry (Chinn, 2011; Paakkari and Paakkari, 2012).
Let’s follow their steps, which are outlined in ‘Example’ box 2.1.
Example 2.1
TEACHING HEALTH LITERACY
Despite your intentions, motivation, knowledge and enthusiasm, it may be hard to think about, or
to know how to, teach health literacy to your students. You are not alone. The best place to start
is to map learning experiences to each of the three levels of health literacy (as outlined above).
Researchers have used this process to devise learning experiences based on the three levels of health
literacy, student voice and critical inquiry (McCuaig, Carroll & McDonald, 2014). These researchers
highlighted the complexities of designing appropriate pedagogies that enhance students’ health
literacy, particularly at the critical health literacy level. For example, one activity, ‘Golden guidelines +
Breaking down health jargon’, provided an explicit health-literacy-oriented learning experience.
Here, the objective was to develop students’ functional health-literacy skills, according to a chosen
resource for healthy living, by asking them to record and present health-related facts and information
about their area of focus. In keeping with Nutbeam’s (2000) definition of functional health literacy
as involving ‘the communication of factual information on health risks’ (265), this activity facilitated
students’ recording and presenting of health-related facts and information (as a ‘Golden guidelines’
table) on their website.
According to Nutbeam’s (2000) model, the next level of interactive health literacy focuses on
the development of personal skills in a supportive environment, with learning experiences aimed
at improving the personal capacity to act independently on knowledge, as well as developing the
motivation and self-confidence to act on advice received. An example of a learning experience is
‘Healthy living in action – Designing interactive challenges’, which called upon students to first
design a healthy-living challenge scenario, and then to construct or modify a personal-action or
strategy framework, such as a decision-making grid, to support the development of their peers’
personal and interpersonal skills. For the critical health-literacy level, students were required to
develop a website resource that would support their peers’ healthy living. Students were then asked
to critically evaluate this resource, and to propose youth-informed plans of action to address social,
economic and environmental determinants of health.
Despite their best intentions, McCuaig and colleagues (2012; 2014) reported that students were
limited in their critical understanding of health, particularly the social determinants of, or influences on,
health. Why was this the case? Because the methodology was missing the whole-school approach – in
particular, the goal to enact new knowledge and skills in the wider school environment and to connect
these with the local community.
34
Reflection
Using the material in ‘Example’ box 2.1:
»» Can you think of how you could modify the pedagogies or strategies that were outlined in the
box by adding a whole-school approach?
»» Discuss the above question with another student. Using both of your ideas, select the most
appropriate pedagogies or strategies for enhancing students’ functional, interactive and
critical health literacy.
»» Map these pedagogies or strategies to the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical
Education health-literacy content and achievement standards.
Most of the research and educational practice related to the assessment of health literacy is
quite recent, and therefore limited. A systematic review which collated 16 studies assessing health
literacy among children and adolescents found that ‘the majority of the studies (n=13) described
the use of newly developed measurement tools and enquiry methods’ (Ormshaw et al., 2013: 449).
This is good practice, because it informs us that researchers and teachers are thinking about the
different levels of health literacy, and about how to assess them according to the outcomes and
pedagogies that are embedded in their health-literacy programs and units of work. However, these
studies generally assessed health literacy via individual performance tasks and questionnaires.
Interestingly, none of the studies assessed health literacy from the perspective of a whole-school
approach. As such, Ormshaw et al. (2013) conclude that, even though research in this field is
escalating, clear definitions and assessment methods of health literacy among primary school-aged
students must be developed in order to effectively expand the field and comprehensively assess
childhood health literacy.
PHYSICAL LITERACY
This section addresses recent research on physical literacy, before linking physical literacy to HPE
curricula, pedagogy and assessment. According to Whitehead (2013), physically literate individuals
possess assurance and self-confidence in tune with their movement capabilities. Physical literacy
therefore reflects a complex integration of learning processes developed in and through an individual’s
movement and physical activity experiences. It continuously evolves throughout life, developing
responses to interactions with the environment. It reflects the holistic integration of physical, affective,
cognitive and social domains of learning.
Physical literacy is a concept that is gaining greater acceptance around the world, with the United
Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization, or UNESCO (2015), recognising it as one
of several central tenets in a quality physical education framework.
Physical literacy and quality physical education

UNESCO also identifies the importance of the physical literacy construct in guiding our thinking
about quality HPE in its monograph Quality Physical Education (QPE): Guidelines for Policymakers.
This states that ‘physical literacy is the foundation of physical education, it is not a programme but
an outcome of any structured physical education provision, which is achieved more readily if learners
encounter a range of age and stage appropriate opportunities’ (UNESCO, 2015: 24). According to
35
UNESCO (2015), quality physical education should enable young people to become physically literate,
and delivery should begin in the early years of pre-schooling and continue throughout the entire school
journey to post-compulsory secondary-school education.
Bearing in mind physical literacy’s importance to holistic human development, policymakers should
place emphasis on it, supporting physical literacy through early-years’ education curricula which
encourage active play every day using a diverse array of movement skills (i.e. running, jumping, climbing,
dancing and skipping). The promotion of physical literacy must remain a priority of any HPE curriculum
throughout primary and secondary education.
Physical-literacy assessment and pedagogy

Research into physical literacy is still in its infancy. However, as with any other educational concept,
assessment and evaluation will be fundamental if the construct is to gain wider appeal. Many international
agencies, especially in Canada, the UK and the US, are making a case for a robust and comprehensive
assessment of physical literacy prior to structuring curricula around this concept (Tremblay & Lloyd,
2010). In Australia, Dudley (2015: 238) has argued that:
physical literacy should be viewed as an umbrella concept that captures the knowledge,
skills, understandings, and values related to taking responsibility for purposeful physical
activity and human movement across the life course, regardless of physical or psychological
restriction.
This is especially important in any conception of quality physical education.

Dudley (2015) proposes that four core elements of physical literacy can be observed in student
behaviour, and that these therefore be assessed using a learning taxonomy based on observable
outcomes. These core elements are aligned to many of the predominant physical education pedagogies
outlined in later chapters; but in this model, they are described as being: (1) movement competencies;
(2) rules, tactics, and strategies of movement; (3) motivational and behavioural skills of movement; and
(4) personal and social attributes of movement (see Figure 2.6).
Motivation and
Movement
behavioural skills
competencies
of movement
Physical
literacy
Personal and
Rules, tactics,
social
and strategies of
attributes of
movement
movement
Figure 2.6
Core elements of
physical literacy
From Dudley, D (2015) ‘An observed model of physical literacy’. The Physical Educator 72(5), 238.
36
Each element provided in the model represents a progression from simple to complex in the three
most commonly assessed learning domains (i.e. physical, cognitive and affective). Students do not
necessarily progress in a linear fashion; rather, we should focus on the relationships among these
elements and the learning that they provide. In fact, the structure of observed learning outcomes (or
SOLO) (see Chapter 4) deconstructs each element proposed by Dudley (2015), and demonstrates
that students are capable of being at different points within each element simultaneously. The
elements, therefore, provide relevant scaffolds for planning lessons, activities and assessments for
students within individualised learning programs.
Using your syllabus documents, think about how you might map a physical-literacy lesson (in the year
group of your choice) that embeds the whole-school approach, and then integrate this with at least one
Cross-
other learning area.
curricular
possibilities
Other assessment instruments have also informed a physical-literacy conceptualisation of physical

education. In Canada, for example, there is a popular project run in schools called Passport for Life. This
government-funded initiative provides a formative assessment program which supports the growth and
development of physical literacy among students. According to its developers, it is intended to increase
knowledge, awareness and understanding of physical literacy. The instrument, which includes an initial
assessment followed by an end-of-year assessment, helps teachers to deliver lessons to students by
targeting students’ individual areas of need (UNESCO, 2015).
While physical literacy does not have an accepted pedagogy, it does underscore UNESCO’s QPE
Guidelines (introduced above) as a philosophical premise. The philosophy of physical literacy translated
into an HPE program would advocate for diverse, challenging, frequent and personally meaningful
movement and physical activity experiences until late adolescence.
According to UNESCO (2015), quality physical education needs to promote among young people
movement competence to structure thinking, express feelings and enrich understanding. It does
this through competition and cooperation; appreciation of rule structures; conventions and values;
performance criteria; fair play and celebration each other’s varying contributions; and an appreciation of
the demands and benefits of teamwork.
Additionally, the learner should understand how to recognise and manage risk, how to complete
assigned tasks and how to accept responsibility for their own behaviour. They should learn how to cope
with both success and failure, and how to evaluate their performance against their own and others’
previous achievements. It is through these learning experiences that quality physical education provides
exposure to clear, consistent values and reinforces pro-social behaviour through participation and
performance.
Summary
• The historical and political context of HPE in Australia is complex and evolving.
• Quality HPE in a contemporary Australian setting needs to be situated in a wider international context.
• Health literacy and physical literacy play a central role in promoting a quality HPE experience for
students.
37
Review questions
1 How has HPE changed in Australia since its inception?
2 What do you predict will be the future of HPE in Australian primary schools?
3 Which of the three foci of the health-promoting schools approach do you think will be the most
challenging to implement, and why?
4 What do you foresee as being the challenges for pre-service generalist classroom teachers when
teaching HPE:
a on professional experience placements?
b upon graduation?
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
This site provides up-to-date information about the Australian Curriculum and decisions made in regard
to each of the learning areas. However, check your own state’s or territory’s relevant department for more
specific information about progress with implementation in your area.
• The Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation

https://www.achper.org.au/
The ACHPER provides an Australian context for designing, implementing and evaluating the health-
promoting schools model in both primary and secondary schools.
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: Quality Physical Education Guidelines
for Policymakers
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002311/231101E.pdf
This site provides teachers with a high-level perspective of the goals of their individualised HPE programs.
The implementation of the QPE guidelines should be managed by a national expert coordinator, who will
accompany each government in the revision of QPE policy and provision, and ensure liaison between the
ministries involved.
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3
Overview of the Australian
Curriculum: Health and
Physical Education
Once you have read this chapter, you should be able to:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1 understand concepts and components of curriculum

design and development in HPE, including the rationale,
aims, organisation of units and content
2 discuss the importance of aligning HPE programs in
schools with curriculum standards operationalised by
states and territories
3 describe the structure and three-dimensional nature of
the Australian Curriculum – its learning areas, general
capabilities and cross-curricular priorities
4 explain the key ideas and aims of the Australian
Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
5 outline the structure of the Australian Curriculum: Health and
Physical Education in relation to the relevant strands, sub-strands,
focus areas, content descriptions and achievement standards.
Overview
In this chapter, we consider basic concepts
relating to curriculum design and development
in HPE. We will also explore the theoretical
concepts underpinning the development of the
Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical
Education. We will address the assessment of
HPE learning outcomes later in this text; but
to be able to do this, you will first need an
understanding of the achievement standards
prescribed by the curriculum.
We also explore the structure and content
of the Australian Curriculum for HPE. The HPE
domain has many layers, as well as unique
terminology, and you will be able to familiarise
yourself with these. Although the Australian
Curriculum for HPE has been written for
Foundation (F) to Year 10, this chapter will
mainly focus on the F–6 curriculum developed
for primary schools.
41
42
CURRICULUM DESIGN AND CURRICULUM

DEVELOPMENT IN HPE
School curricula are underpinned by the expectations of society regarding the role of education.
HPE is frequently called upon by the media, the public and policymakers to address society’s ills,
including obesity, anxiety, bullying, addiction to ‘screen time’ and the proliferation of antisocial
behaviours. Curricula must, then, represent a combination of both public policy and professional
judgement. Later in this chapter, we will explore the structure of the Australian Curriculum, which
is essentially public policy; however, the implementation of the curriculum in schools is based on
professional judgement and interpretation, and is influenced by myriad factors relating to individual
schools (such as human and physical resources, culture, ethos and priorities). Curriculum planning
within many Australian schools is underpinned by the Australian Curriculum. The nature of HPE,
which contributes to learning across cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, provides a unique
challenge for educators compared with other learning areas. The key goal of effective curriculum
development is to design an HPE experience that guides and activates student learning. Curriculum
is defined as the planned sequence of:
1 what students are to learn
2 how students acquire that learning
3 how students’ learning is verified (Melograno, 1996).
Planning your curriculum

Planning a HPE curriculum can be overwhelming for any teacher, much less for a person who
is new to teaching or new to a particular school. Before commencing any planning, a systematic
process needs to be implemented. It is important not to confuse the curriculum design process with
instruction. In this chapter, we are concerned with curriculum design rather than with instructional
models, approaches or instruction, which are the delivery systems for implementing the curriculum.
Curriculum development involves a planning phase, a delivery phase and a teacher-and-student
interaction phase. When planning, decisions need to be made regarding instruction, lesson planning,
instructional materials, audiovisual materials, and information and communication technologies
(ICTs) to be used, equipment selection, time allocation, and classroom management and discipline
strategies. The most important factors informing your planning are your students – their backgrounds,
needs, abilities and interests. Not having a systematic process in place related to designing, planning
and implementing a curriculum can result in dire consequences for both engagement and learning
outcomes (refer to Example 3.1). Figure 3.1 outlines the basic curriculum design process, which
consists of three fundamental questions:
• Where are you going?
• How will you get there?
• When will you know you have arrived?
43
C H A P T E R 3 O v e r v i e w o f t h e A u s t r a l i a n C u r r i c u lu m : H e a lt h a n d P h y s i ca l E d u cat i o n
Where are you going? How will you get there? When will you know you have arrived?
Creating organising centres Provision of a diversity of Development of evaluation
Determining content goals learning experiences procedures including diagnostic,
Conduct learning analyses formative and summative
Deriving learning objectives assessments
Figure 3.1 The curriculum design process
Example 3.1
HAVING A PROCESS FOR DESIGNING CURRICULA IS ESSENTIAL
To cater for students’ individual learning needs, learning goals and experiences, evaluation must
focus on the cognitive, social, affective and psychomotor domains as they relate to all forms of
physical activity. Consider the following scenario.
John is a HPE teacher in a metropolitan primary school in Melbourne. His approach to curriculum
planning is an intuitive one: he simply selects units of work based on sports he likes to play, or on the need to
select a school team for upcoming interschool competitions or carnivals. The result is ambiguity of purpose,
inappropriate content, poor scaffolding of learning sequencing and ad hoc forms of assessment. There is huge
disengagement in John’s classes, with many students not participating, not interested or off-task. His class’
results are very poor compared with those of other classes in the school.
This approach lacks a logical, systematic and meaningful process for designing HPE curriculum. If
you joined the staff of this school, consider what advice you could provide John to help him to improve
outcomes for his students.
In this chapter, we outline a range of concepts that could be used to assist John, such as curriculum
planning processes and alignment of curriculum with what is supposed to be taught in HPE. You
would need to ask John to outline a series of overarching aims of the HPE program, and to create a
range of units that aligned to the various curriculum strands and sub-strands, ensuring that all focus
areas were addressed. John would also need to ensure that all content descriptions throughout the
F–6 program were addressed, and avoid repeating the same units from Foundation to Year 6. Finally,
John would need to develop a range of assessment tasks that could be used to map student progress
against the curriculum’s achievement standards.
Reflection
Once we have explored the structure of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education,
we will revisit the concepts described above, and you can align the elements of the Australian
Curriculum that relate to answering each of the three key questions we introduced above; namely:
1 Where are you going?
2 How will you get there?
3 When will you know you have arrived?
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ALIGNING CURRICULA WITH STATE- OR TERRITORY-BASED

CURRICULUM AUTHORITIES
Although Australian schools are largely autonomous in how they go about developing and implementing
their curricula, they are expected to do so in accordance with the prescribed curriculum of their
relevant state or territory. In this chapter, we talk about the importance of teachers ensuring that their
HPE programs align with the curriculum endorsed and prescribed by their respective state or territory
curriculum authorities.
Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians

In 2008, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs published
a declaration made by all Australian education ministers at that time. The Melbourne Declaration
on Educational Goals for Young Australians stated that improving ‘educational outcomes for all young
Australians is central to the nation’s social and economic prosperity and will position young people to
live fulfilling, productive and responsible lives’ (MCEETYA, 2008: 7). Its goals were stated as follows:
• Goal 1: Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence
• Goal 2: All young Australians become:
– successful learners
– confident and creative individuals
– active and informed.
MCEETYA, 2008: 7
The Shape of the Australian Curriculum

ACARA’s The Shape of the Australian Curriculum was a series of discussion papers used to develop
the policy background that was to inform the development of the Foundation to Year 10 Australian
Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science and History. It provided contextual information about
what was hoped to be achieved within a national curriculum and outlined how these approaches
differed from the practices followed in the different states and territories. The Shape of the Australian
Curriculum also presented the agreed structure to guide the development of the Australian Curriculum
as a whole. The Shape of the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2012) outlined two overarching aims.
The first was to promote world-class curriculum and assessment in Australian schools. To address
this aim, governments at all levels are expected to work with school sectors to enable every student to
develop knowledge, understanding, skills and values to set them up to become lifelong learners who
are able to create new ideas and apply them in practical contexts. The notion of developing a range of
general capabilities relates to students’ ability to be analytical, as well as collegial, and to apply a range
of concepts and skills across discipline areas.
The second aim was to build Australia’s future by recognising the critical role that education plays
in shaping the lives of young Australians. The intellectual, personal, social and educational needs of
students must be addressed via a curriculum that future-proofs learners for the challenges of the 21st
century. Through the Internet, today’s students have access to knowledge at their fingertips, and, at a
time when technology is advancing at an exponential rate, preparing the next generation for jobs that do
not even exist yet is a challenge for educators. The way in which schools currently operate could well
change significantly, and even move into a virtual realm, in years to come.
45
The intention of the Australian Curriculum is to foster the development of a wide and adaptive skill
set that will enable students to become useful contributors to a productive, sustainable and just society.
Although it is recognised that curriculum is only one element influencing young Australians’ futures,
curriculum does lay the foundations and expectations for students’ learning.
STRUCTURE OF THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM:

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The Australian Curriculum, which was developed by ACARA, is underpinned by the Melbourne
Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008), which we introduced in
Chapter 1 and above, and which was designed to develop successful learners and confident, creative
young people who have the potential to become active, informed citizens. Although the Australian
Curriculum is primarily for teachers, it provides a progression of learning from Foundation to Year 10,
articulating what is expected to be taught at each year or band level. This provides, for the stakeholders
concerned with the education of young people – including teachers, parents, students themselves and
others in the wider community – an opportunity to be ‘on the same page’ in terms of what is to be taught
and the quality of learning expected of young people. There is a deliberate and systematic consistency
in terms of the curriculum’s structure and terminology in all learning areas, in order to enhance shared
conversations across learning areas, classes, teachers, schools, and even states and territories.
The Australian Curriculum for HPE from Foundation to Year 6 consists of the following key elements:
• Rationale
• Aims
• Organisation of the learning area
• Curriculum content
• Achievement standards
• Representation of general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities (ACARA, 2012).
A three-dimensional curriculum
The Australian Curriculum is designed to be a three-dimensional curriculum which incorporates
all the components highlighted in Figure 3.2. In addition to the disciplinary knowledge, skills and
understanding across the eight learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curricular priorities are of
central importance. The eight learning areas recognised within the Australian Curriculum are English,
Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education (HPE), Humanities and Social Sciences, the
Arts, Technologies and Languages. Although English, Mathematics, Science and HPE are standalone
subjects, the learning areas of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Arts, Technologies and Languages
are each made up of multiple subjects, consistent with the implementation of the learning area within
schools. In some areas, the content descriptions and achievement standards are specified for each
year level, whereas in others they are specified across a band (two year levels) or a combination of
year levels.
46
Disciplinary
knowledge, skills
and understanding
Cross-curriculum General
priorities capabilities
Figure 3.2
Three-dimensional
curriculum
CONTENT DESCRIPTIONS AND ELABORATIONS

For each learning area, a range of content descriptions specify what students are expected to learn, in
terms of knowledge, understanding and skills, at each year level. In addition to content descriptions,
a series of elaborations are provided to guide teachers with ideas of how to go about addressing each
content description. Although each content description is compulsory and is expected to be covered by
the end of each band of schooling, the elaborations are optional.
ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS AND CROSS-CURRICULUM PRIORITIES

Achievement standards for each learning area indicate the level of understanding, knowledge and skills
expected of students by the end of certain bands of years in their schooling. Within the Australian
Curriculum there are seven general capabilities, as shown in Figure 3.3, and each capability is considered
essential to equip young people to live and work effectively in the future (ACARA, 2016a). These
capabilities feature across all of the key learning areas, and encompass knowledge, skills, behaviours
and dispositions. Relevant general capabilities are identified using icons within content descriptions or
elaborations.
Finally, the Australian Curriculum also integrates three cross-curriculum priorities throughout
each learning area: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s
engagement with Asia, and sustainability (ACARA, 2016a). These are, once again, denoted by icons.
Access the Australian Sports Commission resource Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games’ (see the
Web address below). This resource provides teachers with a range of activities that they can share with
Cross-
students to provide students with an enhanced understanding and appreciation of Indigenous Australian
curricular
possibilities cultures. The activities not only lend themselves to being embedded within a HPE program but can also
be integrated across the curriculum.
From Australian Sports Commission (2008) Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games. http://www.ausport.gov.au/__data/
assets/pdf_file/0017/402191/SP_31864_TIG_resource_FINAL.pdf. Accessed 5 February 2017.
47
GENERAL CAPABILITIES INTEGRATED INTO HPE
This section summarises the general capabilities embedded within the Australian Curriculum: Health
and Physical Education, which are shown in Figure 3.3.
urriculum
lian C
ustra
A
he
int
s Literacy
ie
t
ili
ab
l N
ra ng
ap
di
lc
um
rs tu
era
de ul
n
er
un erc
ta
ac
Gen
Int
Successful learner, y
confident and
creative individual,
u n d e r sta n d
lit y
and active and
ca p a bi
E t hical
informed citizen
IC T
ing
Pe
so r
cia s o n nd g
l a ki n
l c al an ti c
a n
ap
a bi d C ri e t hi
lit y a t iv
cre Figure 3.3
General capabilities
in the Australian
Curriculum
From Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2017) ‘General capabilities in the
Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education’. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
generalcapabilities/overview/learning-area-specific-advice. Accessed 2 January 2017.
Literacy
Through implementation of the HPE curriculum, students have an opportunity to develop their literacy
skills. Students learn a range of learning area-specific terminology relating to health and movement.
Additionally, they are expected to learn a series of communication strategies that allow them to connect
and interact with others in relation to health issues, information and services and physical-activity contexts.
Students are encouraged to, and provided with, opportunities to develop the ability to become discerning
consumers of information, and acquire the skills to analyse and evaluate sources of information.
Numeracy
Within HPE, students also have an opportunity to develop a range of numeracy skills. In some states,
literacy and numeracy are not expected to be taught within HPE; however, quality programs will
inherently develop these capabilities along the way. Primary-school students will learn, for example,
how to calculate distances run, thrown or jumped. They will develop concepts relating to the weight
of objects, the speed at which objects can be moved, and the time taken to move in certain ways or via
the use of various strategies within individual or team sports or recreational activities. Students will also
48
develop numeracy skills through the collection of data and analysis relating to their own health, and
prepare graphs, tables or summaries in relation to various movement challenges.
Information and communication technology (ICT)

One of the key outcomes of HPE programs is to ensure that students can safely access information online
regarding their health, physical activity and wellbeing. Even at the primary-school level, responsible,
ethical and safe use of online resources – including social media – and the role that information and
communication technology (ICT) plays in the development and maintenance of safe, healthy, respectful
relationships needs to be addressed. Many young children are the targets and victims of bullying and
criminal behaviour online, and schools need to use preventive strategies to educate children about
staying safe on the Internet. Young people need to develop the skill of being critical and discerning
consumers of digital information, as well as tools to assist them with their health, nutrition, wellbeing,
social lives and physical-activity opportunities.
Critical and creative thinking

In HPE, we need to develop students’ capabilities to be logical, critical and creative in relation to a range
of issues, ideas and challenges. Students should be given the opportunity to explore a range of media,
learning experiences and scenarios which pose questions relating to their health and to decisions and
choices to be made – for example, not accepting anything (a ride, presents, etc.) from strangers. Young
people are encouraged to explore their own identity, health and wellbeing, and to consider strategies to
enhance their health. Within a physical-education context, students also have the opportunity to develop
creative thinking skills through rhythmic and expressive movements such as dance and gymnastics, the
creation of games and problem solving to refine technique. As a teacher, you can encourage students to
reflect on their experiences, feelings and bodily responses to movement experiences. For example, after
a yoga class with your Year 5 students, you might ask them to reflect on how they felt (emotionally and
physically) during and after the experience. Being able to think critically using an inquiry approach is
one of the five propositions underpinning the development of the HPE curriculum (these are described
later in this chapter).
Personal and social capability

One the key features of the HPE curriculum is that it fosters numerous opportunities for students to
work not only independently but also collaboratively in a range of practical and theoretical learning
experiences. Most physical activities require a large component of communication, cooperation and
collegiality. Via participation in a range of movement and non-movement experiences, students have
the chance to explore, practise and refine their own and others’ strengths and abilities, both physically
and in terms of their social skills – communication, negotiation, teamwork, appreciation of diversity
and leadership. A strengths-based approach (discussed later in this chapter) is another of the key
propositions underpinning the shape of the HPE curriculum. Students also need to develop knowledge,
understanding and skills relating to self-management of their time, priorities, responsibilities and goals
(both personal and academic) to help them to work towards a healthy balance between school, home,
work and social commitments.
Ethical understanding
As an educator, a very important part of your role is to teach your students about the importance of
treating others with respect, kindness and compassion and about behaving with integrity and fairness,
49
while appreciating diversity and valuing equality for all people. In the HPE curriculum, young people
explore ethical principles (e.g. fair play, empathy, respectful relationships, equitable participation) and
behaviours in different contexts, and have an opportunity to apply and practise these skills during
movement-based learning experiences as well as their daily lives. Within your classes, you should ensure
that you implement a ‘no put-down zone’ rule, so that students will feel safe to try their best without fear
of being teased or bullied in some way. Foster a culture of class members supporting one another and
being respectful, and discourage (and follow up on) violations of this rule.
Intercultural understanding
Australia is a deeply multicultural nation, and so, as educators, we need to foster a curriculum in
which students can develop an understanding of the value of not only their own culture but also the
cultures of others. Within a HPE context, a wide range of interesting physical activities from other
cultures can be incorporated into your program (e.g. Sepak Takraw, Cuju, Indigenous Australian games
and folk dancing). Even mere participation in physical activity with people from other cultures allows
young people from different backgrounds to interact and make connections, to share interests and
commonalities and to develop mutual respect. In HPE, having students explore the cultures of others
can increase empathy, open-mindedness, critical awareness, respect, communication and the taking
of responsibility, as well as give students insight into different cultures. The need for intercultural
understanding (see Figure 3.4) requires students to develop their own personal skills as well as
interpersonal and social knowledge and skills.
Figure 3.4
Intercultural
understanding
iStock.com/MichaelDeLeon
Reflection
As a primary teacher, you will need to be able to integrate the general capabilities that are
common to all learning areas in the Australian Curriculum. Familiarise yourself with these general
capabilities, and consider either how you are already doing this in your teaching or how you could do
this when teaching across a range of learning areas.
»» How could you develop the general capability relating to numeracy within a movement context?
»» Which focus areas would you find challenging and need additional support with, via professional
development from colleagues or from external sources?
50
KEY IDEAS UNDERPINNING THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM:

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The team responsible for the development of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
shaped it based on five interrelated propositions. We will now look at these in sequence, describing how
they were used to inform the development of the HPE curriculum.
1 Focus on educative purposes

The overarching purpose of the HPE curriculum is to articulate the progression and sequential
development of key knowledge, understanding and skills within HPE, and to outline how students can
apply these in a meaningful fashion within modern health and movement contexts. As we have noted,
HPE is often called upon to address many of society’s ills, and it often contributes to a range of goals
that fall well beyond its core educative purpose. What does this mean for you as an educator? Your priority
for the HPE curriculum should be the provision of safe, developmentally appropriate, ongoing and
explicit learning about health and movement. Ensure that your students are provided with opportunities
to develop, practise, refine, evaluate and apply the knowledge, understanding and skills of HPE.
2 Take a strengths-based approach

You will hear a lot of talk about the HPE curriculum being informed by a strengths-based approach;
but what exactly does that mean? Previously, curricular approaches to health issues have often focused
only on the potential harm and health risks associated with certain behaviours or decisions. In contrast,
in the strengths-based approach the focus is on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and
skills to enable them to make informed decisions about healthy, safe and active behaviours that will
be more likely to enhance their own health and the wellbeing of others. The strengths-based approach
is underpinned by the notion that all students, and their communities, have specific strengths and
resources which should be nurtured to foster better health, wellbeing and participation in physical
activity, and better outcomes for individuals and communities. The approach also acknowledges that
students’ access to personal and community resources will vary significantly depending on a range of
contextual factors, all of which may influence behaviour and the decisions that young people make. The
strengths-based approach will be discussed again in Chapter 5.
3 Value movement
Valuing movement might sound like a redundant proposition; you may think, ‘Surely movement is a core
value of any school!’ However, there are often limited opportunities for children to move in contemporary
primary schools. Many institutional and individual teacher-related factors may be barriers to how much
time and opportunity children are given to move. Teachers are encouraged to develop students’ movement
skills and concepts via participation in physical activity, thus allowing students to develop competence
and confidence. Ensuring that children have an opportunity to move regularly – preferably daily – is
critical to their development and health across their lifespan. We may take for granted that movement is
part of any quality HPE program; however, research has revealed that many children spend very little of
their class time engaging in physical activity (McKenzie et al., 1995). Additionally, in some states, post-
compulsory HPE only assesses students’ knowledge about movement and physical activity, rather than
their actual participation in physical activity or their physical competence.
51
In this proposition, HPE fosters and appreciates the place of movement in daily life, active living and
more structured participation in organised sport. The valuing of movement is underpinned by a range
of sociocultural and historical influences on how and why we move, and by how we can refine physical
performance and skills and behaviours that contribute to our health and wellbeing.
4 Develop health literacy

When most educators read the word ‘literacy’, it likely conjures thoughts relating to the rudimentary
learning of how to read and write. However, ‘health literacy’ refers to an individual’s capabilities
to access, understand and apply health information and services in a manner that promotes and
maintains health and wellbeing. As is discussed in chapters 2 and 7, there are three dimensions of
health literacy:
1 Functional dimension: researching and applying information relating to knowledge and
services to respond to a health-related question
2 Interactive dimension: requires more advanced knowledge, understanding and skills to
actively and independently engage with a health issue and to apply new information to
changing circumstances
3 Critical dimension: the ability to selectively access and critically analyse health
information from a variety of sources (which might include scientific information,
health brochures or messages in the media) to take action to promote personal health
and wellbeing or that of others.
ACARA, 2016b
Just as a strengths-based approach has benefits at both an individual and community level, so too
does health literacy, by developing students’ ability to evaluate and communicate information to improve
their and their communities’ health and wellbeing.
5 Include a critical-inquiry approach

The HPE curriculum is designed to foster the development of critical-inquiry skills, whereby students
learn to conduct research, analyse data, and apply and appraise knowledge within the fields of health
and movement. As teachers, we need to provide students with opportunities to use higher-order thinking
processes which allow them to critically analyse and evaluate a range of contextual factors influencing
their decision making, behaviours and actions. Even as a primary educator, you can explore inclusion,
power, diversity and social justice with your students.
Developing the rationale

The first step in the curriculum design process is to develop a rationale for the curriculum. There are
numerous possibilities and content options for a HPE teacher, so choosing where to start can be a
complex decision. Based on the rationale for HPE, you then must determine what to teach and why to
teach it. Figure 3.5 depicts factors that will influence the rationale for your HPE curriculum.
Within the Australian Curriculum, the rationale for HPE outlines the need to prepare young people to
be agile in times of complex and rapid change in which they are overwhelmingly surrounded by sedentary
lifestyles. Within the context of the 21st century, there is a focus on the provision of learning activities
that can develop students’ critical-inquiry skills, allowing them to research and analyse knowledge and
understand a range of factors that influence their health and their participation in physical activity.
The rationale and ethos of the Australian Curriculum also encourage students to consider how their
knowledge and actions can influence the health of others in their school and wider communities.
52
Philosophy
– Values
– Beliefs
Rationale
for your
HPE
curriculum
Cultural context
Existing
– Schools
curriculum
– Society
Figure 3.5 models in HPE
– Learners
Factors influencing – Families
the rationale for your
HPE curriculum
Resilience is highlighted as a key area to be developed as a way to enhance young people’s health, safety,
empathy and wellbeing, and as a quality that will not only benefit them but also positively influence
others. Also described is the need to develop students’ sense of self, their ability to build satisfying and
respectful relationships, and their capacity to challenge assumptions and stereotypes. Learning about
health-related sources, services and organisations is also addressed. The notion of enabling students
to participate in a range of physical activities confidently, competently and creatively while developing
movement skills and critical concepts is at the very core of HPE. Gaining an understanding of how the
body moves, in conjunction with the development of a positive attitude towards participation in physical
activity, lays the foundation for participation in lifelong physical activity.
HPE curricula should enable students to develop an appreciation of the importance of an active
lifestyle, recreational pursuits and participation in sport at a local level, as well as to acquire an
appreciation of what this means to society at broader national and international levels.
Teaching students about the Olympic Games educates them about sporting opportunities that countries
from all over the world afford to their populations. Participation of nations at the Olympics influences
Tips for participation at the grassroots level, and many social, cultural and political factors influence societies’
inclusive access to health-enhancing and physical-activity opportunities. For example, you could discuss why
practice certain African nations are highly successful in long-distance running events, whereas their athletes
rarely feature in the aquatic arena.
Ultimately, as an educator, it is essential that you activate learning through movement to develop
students’ personal, behavioural, social and cognitive skills. HPE curricula should enable students to
experiment with movement experiences that are engaging, contemporary, relevant and developmentally
appropriate. Think about the whole point of your physical education program; one outcome may be to
provide students with the knowledge, skills and values they need to lead active lifestyles in future.
53
Design of organisation centres

The rationale of your program will inform the design of how you organise student learning. In determining
how organisation centres are composed, schools construct a framework around which all learning
and teaching is centred. From here, content goals and statements of intention can be devised. If a
school’s HPE curriculum lacks focus, it will rarely result in meaningful learning outcomes for students.
Organisation centres (see Figure 3.6) help to identify key elements to focus on, and these ‘centres’ become
the frame of reference around which curricula are designed by combining concepts, skills, attitudes
and values to form the underpinnings of HPE goals and content (Melograno, 1996). If you were to
integrate the Australian Curriculum (or, indeed, any curriculum) into the organisation centre depicted in
Figure 3.6, it would feature in the tips of the arrows – that is, underpinning the creation of the organisation
centre. Additionally, content goals would be based on content descriptions and conducting the learner
analysis would be based on students’ progress towards meeting the achievement standards.
Devising learning experiences (How will you get there?)
Developing evaluation procedures (When will you know you’ve arrived?)
Deriving learning objectives
Conducting learner analysis
Determining content goals (Where are you going?)
Creating organisation
centers Figure 3.6
Organisation centres
Adapted from Melograno, V (1996) Designing the Physical Education Curriculum (3rd ed.)
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics: Figure 2.1, 37.
Example 3.2
UNIT OUTLINE FOR ‘COOPERATION’
Organising centre: Cooperation

Philosophy (rationale): Cooperation is the essence of a civilised society. It requires balance in the
satisfaction of personal and group needs. Sharing and assisting others are primary characteristics
of cooperative effort.
Purposes (goals/objectives):
1 To assume the roles of leader and follower when appropriate
2 To take turns when resources are limited
3 To share possessions, space, ideas and time
4 To assist others in accomplishing a task.
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Substance (content):
1 Leadership/followership:
a Leadership of different tasks requires different talents; therefore, leadership may vary
according to task.
b Leadership may be shared or absolute depending on the nature of the task and the
group.
c Followership requires a willingness to receive instructions and carry them out.
d Recognising when to assume each role requires a type of maturity that leads
to cooperation.
2 Characteristics of cooperation:
a Taking turns (when all cannot perform at once)
b Sharing possessions (when resources are scarce)
c Sharing space (when conditions are crowded)
d Sharing ideas (when searching for the best solution to a problem)
e Sharing time (when the group goal is of greater importance than one’s personal goals)
f Assisting others (when one possesses a talent that is needed by another member of
the group).
Implementation (learning experiences):
1 Present the group with problems that require cooperation to solve.
2 Form groups of students who have various talents (e.g. someone who is very strong, another
very fast, another a good thinker, etc.). Make up tasks for the groups to do, each of which
emphasises one of these talents. Have students select the best person to lead the group in
each task.
3 Play games that require sharing (e.g. one-sided volleyball).
4 Participate in ‘double stunts’ in which two partners must perform different tasks for success
(e.g. swan balance, doubles roll).
5 Explain and demonstrate how to take turns on a piece of apparatus. Have groups determine
and implement the system they wish to use.
6 Have partners work with one another in learning a skill. Explain how one gives feedback,
‘spots’, and in other ways assists the other in learning.
7 Discuss the concept of teamwork. Identify various roles on a sports team (e.g. star, playmaker,
substitute, coach, manager, statistician, etc.). Help students learn the importance of each
role and how different talents suit different roles.
Assessment (evaluation):
1 Observe students performing various cooperative activities to determine whether they are
demonstrating the characteristics of cooperation.
2 Develop an attitude scale such as the semantic differential to measure students’ attitudes
about various aspects of cooperation.
From Evaul, T (1980) ‘Organizing Centers for the 1980s’. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation 51(7): 51–55.
Reproduced by permission of the Society of Health and Physical Educators, (http://www.shapeamerica.org).
Questions
1 Using the Australian Curriculum, identify an example strand, a sub-strand and a content
description relevant to developing cooperative skills in HPE.
2 Notice the flow of the organising centre, from the basic philosophy to the aims, the content to
the assessment. Select another example (e.g. adopting inclusive strategies to participating in
physical activity) and brainstorm how the organising centre for this might look.
55
Interview with Janice Atkin, educational consultant

Describe your former role with ACARA during the development of the Australian Curriculum: Teaching
Health and Physical Education. practice
When I worked at ACARA, I was responsible for managing the development of the Australian Curriculum
for HPE. This role involved liaising with key stakeholders during consultation, managing the advisory
group and national panel, and leading the curriculum-writing team in the development of the curriculum.
What do you view as some real opportunities to improve the HPE programs in primary schools as a result
of the implementation of the Australian Curriculum?
The Australian Curriculum recognises the important role that HPE plays in the curriculum offerings of
schools – being one of only five subjects that are mandatory from Foundation to Year 10.
The curriculum removes the traditional silos of topics from HPE and turns the focus onto the key
skills and understandings that students need to make healthy, safe and active choices and become
lifelong physical-activity participants.
The curriculum offers teachers flexibility to design programs that best meet the needs of their
students, in terms of the physical activities that they learn and the health content that they explore.
The implementation of the curriculum also offers great opportunities to access new and innovative
professional learning activities. These provide teachers with the chance to get new ideas about how to
deliver HPE in their classrooms as well as to create a network of teachers that they can share ideas,
resources and questions with.
What are some of the key challenges and barriers that need to be addressed within primary schools
to enable classroom teachers and PE specialists to implement a program aligned with the Australian
Curriculum?
I think there are three key challenges that primary-school teachers face in delivering HPE: the split of
responsibilities between classroom teachers and PE teachers, allocation of time to delivery of HPE, and
access to professional learning opportunities.
HPE is taught in many schools by two distinct groups of staff. In most schools where there is a
PE-trained teacher responsible for teaching the movement aspects of the curriculum, it is usually left
to classroom teachers to deliver the health aspects. This can lead to a disjointed program where the
important links between movement and health learning are not connected for students. The allocation
of time to deliver HPE can also be a challenge, as many PE specialists will only be allocated 30 to
45 minutes per week with each class – this is problematic for continuity and reinforcement of skills
and concepts.
Professional learning funds are often in short supply in schools, and priority may not be given
to classroom teachers to access HPE activities. Professional learning is key to classroom teachers
developing the confidence, competence and commitment to deliver quality HPE programs with
their students.
What would be your advice to classroom primary teachers in terms of finding a starting point for
implementing the Australian Curriculum (or their state or territory equivalent) in their HPE programs?
I think the key to getting off on the right foot with implementation of the curriculum is to work
collaboratively to develop a picture of what students are expected to learn (content) and what that
learning looks like (achievement standards) for a particular class of students. This way, teachers can
develop learning activities and experiences that allow students opportunities to demonstrate what they
know, understand and can do within a lesson and reinforce learning across both the movement and
health aspects of the curriculum.
Interview with the author, 2016
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Developing aims for your HPE curriculum

Once you have established your rationale, the next step in creating your HPE curriculum is to develop
your aims. The aims of your program will be influenced by the year levels taught at your school. The aims
listed in the excerpt below are from the Australian Curriculum for F–10. You would need to tailor the
aims of your program to the curriculum based on what is prescribed by the curriculum authority within
your own state or territory. For example, in Queensland schools, you would refer to the Queensland
Curriculum, in which the aims for HPE are based on the Australian Curriculum.
AIMS OF THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM: HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (F–10) aims to develop the
knowledge, understanding and skills to enable students to:
• access, evaluate and synthesise information to take positive action to protect, enhance
and advocate for their own and others’ health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity
participation across their lifespan
• develop and use personal, behavioural, social and cognitive skills and strategies to
promote a sense of personal identity and wellbeing and to build and manage respectful
relationships
• acquire, apply and evaluate movement skills, concepts and strategies to respond confidently,
competently and creatively in a variety of physical activity contexts and settings
• engage in and enjoy regular movement-based learning experiences and understand and
appreciate their significance to personal, social, cultural, environmental and health
practices and outcomes
• analyse how varied and changing personal and contextual factors shape understanding
of, and opportunities for, health and physical activity locally, regionally and globally.
ACARA, 2016b
Reflection
Imagine that you are currently a teacher and are attending a parent–teacher evening. Your first
interview is with Ellie’s parents, who explain that they do not want Ellie ‘wasting time doing
physical activity during class time’ when she should be focusing on literacy and numeracy instead.
In response, you explain to Ellie’s parents the importance of their daughter developing a wide
range of movement skills, concepts and strategies that will enable her to participate confidently,
competently and creatively in a range of physical activities. You then go on to talk about how,
through the provision of movement experiences, Ellie has an opportunity to develop a range of
personal, interpersonal, behavioural, social and cognitive skills. Given what you know about
the latest evidence of the importance of movement and sensory play for brain development and
cognitive development, you share this information with Ellie’s parents, who are impressed and
start to warm to the idea that she must regularly participate in physical activity in your classes.
»» Do you envisage that the attitude of Ellie’s parents would be shared by other parents?
»» Why do you think the conversation specifically relating to brain and cognitive development
made the difference to the case being presented to Ellie’s parents?
ORGANISATION OF THE HPE CURRICULUM CONTENT

Figure 3.7 depicts the organisation of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. The
HPE learning area is made up of two major strands: namely, the ‘Personal, social and community’ (PSC)
and the ‘Movement and physical activity’ (MPA) strands. The two strands can be organised through
three sub-strands; if you draw a line horizontally through the middle of the diagram, you can identify the
57
relevant sub-strands for each strand (PSC in the top half and MPA in the bottom half). The figure also
refers to the focus areas. Let’s now unpack what these terms mean in relation to your planning for HPE.
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From Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2016c) ‘Health and Physical Education: Structure’. http://www.
australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/structure. Accessed 16 March 2016.
Strands and sub-strands

The two strands (PSC and MPA) were developed to inform and support one another, and should be
integrated, whenever possible, across the various focus areas. Each strand is expected to be taught
from F–10. Table 3.1 outlines how the three sub-strands are composed within each of the two major
strands, as well as the threads within each sub-strand. It also gives the description of each sub-strand.
Each sub-strand consists of three or four threads, with the exception of ‘Moving our body’, which
has only two. The most powerful learning occurs when students have the opportunity to engage in
practical learning experiences which require them to apply their knowledge and skills across a range of
health and movement focus areas. Given the importance of movement, physical activity and sensory
experiences for brain development, participation in physical activity on a weekly basis, at an absolute
minimum, is encouraged. We will talk more about the importance of play and movement in Part 3 of
this book.
58
Table 3.1 The strands, sub-strands and threads of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education
Strands Sub-strands and threads Description of sub-strand
Personal, social and Being healthy, safe and The content focuses on supporting students to make decisions
community health active about their own health, safety and wellbeing. It develops the
(PSC) knowledge, understanding and skills to support students to
• Identities be resilient. It enables them to access and understand health
• Changes and transitions information and empowers them to make healthy, safe and active
• Help-seeking choices. In addition, the content explores personal identities and
• Making healthy and safe emotions, and the contextual factors that influence students’
choices health, safety and wellbeing. Students also learn about the
behavioural aspects related to regular physical activity and
develop the dispositions needed to be active individuals.
Communicating and The content develops knowledge, understanding and skills to

interacting for health and enable students to critically engage with a range of health focus
wellbeing areas and issues. It also helps them apply new information to
changing circumstances and environments that influence their
• Interacting with others own and others’ health, safety and wellbeing.
• Understanding emotions
• Health literacy
Contributing to healthy and The content develops knowledge, understanding and skills to
active communities enable students to critically analyse contextual factors that
influence the health and wellbeing of communities. The content
• Community health supports students to selectively access information, products,
promotion services and environments to take action to promote the health
• Connecting to the and wellbeing of their communities.
environment
• Valuing diversity
Movement and Moving our body The content lays the important early foundations of play and
physical activity fundamental movement skills. It focuses on the acquisition and
(MPA) • Refining movement skills refinement of a broad range of movement skills. Students apply
• Developing movement movement concepts and strategies to enhance performance and
concepts and strategies move with competence and confidence. Students develop skills
and dispositions necessary for lifelong participation in physical
activities.
Understanding movement The content focuses on developing knowledge and understanding

about how and why our body moves and what happens to our
• Fitness and physical body when it moves. While participating in physical activities,
activity students analyse and evaluate theories, techniques and
• Elements of movement strategies that can be used to understand and enhance the
• Cultural significance of quality of movement and physical activity performance. They
physical activity explore the place and meaning of physical activity, outdoor
recreation and sport in their own lives, and across time and
cultures.
Learning through movement The content focuses on personal and social skills that can be
developed through participation in movement and physical
• Teamwork and leadership activities. These skills include communication, decision making,
• Critical and creative problem solving, critical and creative thinking, and cooperation.
thinking in movement The skills can be developed as students work individually
• Ethical behaviour in and in small groups or teams to perform movement tasks or
movement settings solve movement challenges. Through movement experiences,
students develop other important personal and social skills such
as self-awareness, self-management, persisting with challenges
and striving for enhanced performance. They also experience the
varied roles within organised sport and recreation.
From Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2016c). ‘Health and Physical Education: Structure’.
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/structure. Accessed 18 September 2016.
59
Reflection
Imagine arriving to teach at a new school in a small country town to discover that the teacher you
are replacing has not left you any notes or other information relating to the scope or sequence of
the HPE program in the school for Year 3, the year group you have been assigned. You are the only
Year 3 teacher in the school.
»» Outline the documentation you could refer to as a starting point in order to identify the
curriculum expected to be covered.
»» Discuss whether you would need to address every content description for HPE over the course of
the year you teach the Year 3 class.
Focus areas
Within the Australian Curriculum for HPE, there are 12 focus areas that are expected to be taught across
F–10. Although not all focus areas are expected to be taught at each band level, you will notice that all
the focus areas should be addressed by the end of both primary (i.e. Year 6) and compulsory secondary
schooling (i.e. Year 10). Given the poor mastery of fundamental movement skills (or FMS) often exhibited
by entry-level students at Year 7 (Hardy et al., 2012), many secondary-school HPE programs, despite not
being required, continue to focus on the development of FMS during lower-secondary levels. Although
active play and minor games are also not included as part of the Years 7–10 curriculum, these areas can
still feature within both curricular and non-curricular movement and learning opportunities for secondary
students.
Table 3.2 displays the focus areas in HPE across the learning continuum. In this table, we have
mapped each focus area to the relevant content descriptions and elaborations, the abbreviations for
each of which are shown in parentheses. The diversity of focus areas encourages teachers to address
Table 3.2 Focus areas across the learning continuum of the Australian Curriculum: Health and
Physical Education
Focus area F–Year 2 Years 3–6
Alcohol and other drugs (AD) ✓ ✓

Medicines only
Food and nutrition (FN) ✓ ✓
Health benefits of physical activity (HBPA) ✓ ✓
Mental health and wellbeing (MH) ✓ ✓
Relationships and sexuality (RS) ✓ ✓

Relationships only
Safety (S) ✓ ✓
Active play and minor games (AP) ✓ ✓
Challenge and adventure activities (CA) N/A ✓
Fundamental movement skills (FMS) ✓ ✓
Games and sports (GS) N/A ✓
Lifelong physical activities (LLPA) N/A ✓
Rhythmic and expressive activities (RE) ✓ ✓
From Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2016c). ‘Health and Physical Education: Structure’.
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/structure. Accessed 18 September 2016.
60
the various content descriptions through a breadth of health and movement opportunities, rather
than through a narrow offering. Table 3.2 also provides advice about the recommended timing for
addressing the focus areas across the bands. When exactly each focus area is taught within each
two-year band is at the discretion of schools and teachers. Such decisions are based on local factors,
including needs, resources, students’ readiness, and priorities within the local school and wider
community contexts.
Reflection
Imagine commencing a new teaching appointment as a graduate teacher in a large independent
school in a metropolitan area. The school has a strong emphasis on winning sporting
competitions and prides itself on having had many years of success across several sports. You are
assigned to a composite Year 5 and 6 class. As part of the induction process, you are assigned a
mentor, John, who is also teaching Year 5 and 6, and who has been teaching for seven years.
He has coached the school basketball team to the state finals for the past three years. Working
with John, you soon discover that basketball is the only physical activity that his students
participate in during timetabled HPE time. You can see that, although the students who are
representing the school in the interschool basketball team are having a great time, many of the
other students are disengaged. A large group of students do not even participate, and those who
do who are not in the basketball team appear disinterested and/or off-task. The principal has no
idea this has been occurring, and is very pleased with John’s success coaching the basketball
team, which often features in the school and local media.
You bring up with John the need to address all the focus areas within the prescribed
curriculum, only to be told in reply that John has been teaching for seven years and does not
appreciate a graduate telling him what he should be doing.
»» If this happened to you, what would you do?
»» Why is it important to include lifelong physical activities within your HPE program, rather than
just traditional team sports?
Example 3.3
SAMPLE PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR F–6
Table 3.3 PE program, Gumtree Primary School
Foundation Years 1–2 Years 3–4 Years 5–6
Perceptual motor program, or PMP (all- PMP (all-year) Bike education Bike education
year; e.g. crossing the mid-line activities,
balance activities, spinning activities)
Yard games (e.g. hopscotch) Yard games (e.g. Net/wall (e.g. bat Ball handling and
down-ball) tennis) modified sports
FMS (e.g. catching, bouncing) FMS (e.g. skipping, Modified sports Invasion games (e.g.
striking, rolling) soccer)
FMS (e.g. throwing, hopping, running) FMS (e.g. dodging, Lead-up games Athletics and fitness
sliding, catching)
FMS (e.g. locomotion-rolling) FMS (e.g. kicking, FMS (e.g. striking, FMS (all)
striking, leaping) running, dodging,
balancing)
FMS (e.g. reception) Minor games Minor games Multicultural games
Landing and falling Gymnastics Circus skills Circus skills

61
Table 3.3
Swimming and aquatic Swimming and Swimming and Swimming and aquatic
safety aquatic safety aquatic safety safety
Dance Dance Dance Dance
Ball handling Ball handling Team-building and Team-building and

other initiatives in the other initiatives in the
outdoors outdoors
There are many ways in which you can compose the physical education units of a HPE program to
address the prescribed curriculum. Review the PE program at Gumtree Primary School. The bike-
education and aquatic-safety units are led by a PE specialist or an external provider, but the rest of
the curriculum is delivered by classroom teachers working in pairs (i.e. team-teaching).
• Using the acronyms given (in parentheses) in Table 3.2 to denote particular focus areas
(e.g. safety = S), map for each unit to show which focus areas within the ‘Movement and
physical activity’ strand have been addressed in the program above.
• Are there any areas that have not been addressed?
Reflection
As a primary teacher, you will need to familiarise yourself with all the focus areas that are partially
or fully addressed from F–6. Suppose you are a teacher right now. Consider which focus areas must
be addressed.
»» Which focus areas would you feel comfortable teaching?
»» Which focus areas would you find challenging and require additional support with, via
professional development from colleagues or external sources?
Example 3.4
INTEGRATING LITERACY SKILLS INTO HPE
Kirsten has been a primary-school teacher for over a decade, and is very passionate about integrating
the development of literacy and numeracy into her classrooms when she is teaching Foundation
students. Over the past decade of her career, Kirsten has noticed that, in this digital age, students
are not as strong and capable as they once were at manouvering a writing implement with precision
for extended periods, making the task of writing challenging, especially for Foundation students.
To address this, Kirsten uses pool ‘noodles’ sliced in cross-sections about 1.5 cm wide (not unlike
you would slice a sausage). A C-shape is made by cutting out a small section of the slice of pool
noodle. She then encourages her Foundation students to grip and then squeeze the two ends of the
C made by the slice of pool noodle to make it pop across the classroom. This assists her students to
strengthen the muscles used to hold a pen. Additionally, Kirsten places a letter on each slice of pool
noodle and has students pop their poppers towards someone else, who must try to catch them (or
pick them up) and then read out the letters. This continues for several minutes, until each student
has completed at least 20 to 30 ‘pops’ and read out 20 to 30 letters. Each time students read out a
letter, they have to ‘pop’ with someone else. This very fun game can be used indoors or outside, as
a warm-up or brain-break activity to get students up and moving.
Using a similar approach, Kirsten also introduces small rubber model planes to her students.
Students have to grip the planes, which requires them to use a grip similar to that used when holding
62
a pen. They then have to ‘fly’ (with their planes in their writing hand) around a large area. Kirsten
places the letters of the alphabet on laminated posters that display the upper- and lower-case versions
of each letter, with an associated picture reinforcing each letter. When students get to each letter,
they trace around it and then ‘fly’ off to the next letter. Although the letters are placed in alphabetical
order, Kirsten starts each student at a different letter, in order to spread them out. If there is a queue,
students are permitted to skip a letter by doing a ‘fly-by’, allowing them to come back to it later. A
variation Kirsten uses is to ask students to spell out their names or words that she has printed on
laminated cards.
Kirsten Smith, Mernda Primary School, Victoria.
Achievement standards in the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education

Achievement standards describe the learning (i.e. understanding and skills) expected of students at
each year level from F–10. They outline a sequence of expected learning specific to each curriculum
area. Achievement standards provide a framework of developmental and sequential progressions in
each curriculum area. They are designed to allow teachers to plan learning activities, monitor students’
progress, and make judgements about student achievements via formative and summative assessment
practices. Table 3.4 displays the achievement standards for HPE spanning from F–6.
Table 3.4 Sequence of achievement in the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (F–6)
Achievement standard
Foundation year By the end of Foundation Year, students recognise how they are growing and changing. They
identify and describe the different emotions people experience. They identify actions that help
them be healthy, safe and physically active. They identify different settings where they can be
active and demonstrate how to move and play safely. They describe how their body responds to
movement.
Students use personal and social skills when working with others in a range of activities. They
demonstrate, with guidance, practices and protective behaviours to keep themselves safe and
healthy in different activities. They perform fundamental movement skills and solve movement
challenges.
Years 1 and 2 By the end of Year 2, students describe changes that occur as they grow older. They recognise
how strengths and achievements contribute to identities. They identify how emotional responses
impact on others’ feelings. They examine messages related to health decisions and describe how
to keep themselves and others healthy, safe and physically active. They identify areas where they
can be active and how the body reacts to different physical activities.
Students demonstrate positive ways to interact with others. They select and apply strategies
to keep themselves healthy and safe and are able to ask for help with tasks or problems. They
demonstrate fundamental movement skills in a variety of movement sequences and situations
and test alternatives to solve movement challenges. They perform movement sequences that
incorporate the elements of movement.
Years 3 and 4 By the end of Year 4, students recognise strategies to managing change. They identify influences
that strengthen identities. They investigate how emotional responses vary and understand how
to interact positively with others in a variety of situations. Students interpret health messages
and discuss the influences on healthy and safe choices. They understand the benefits of being
healthy and physically active. They describe the connections they have to their community and
identify local resources to support their health, wellbeing, safety and physical activity.
Students apply strategies for working cooperatively and apply rules fairly. They use decision-
making and problem-solving skills to select and demonstrate strategies that help them stay
safe, healthy and active. They refine fundamental movement skills and apply movement concepts
and strategies in a variety of physical activities and to solve movement challenges. They create
and perform movement sequences using fundamental movement skills and the elements of
movement.
63
Table 3.4
Years 5 and 6 By the end of Year 6, students investigate developmental changes and transitions. They explain
the influence of people and places on identities. They recognise the influence of emotions on
behaviours and discuss factors that influence how people interact. They describe their own and
others’ contributions to health, physical activity, safety and wellbeing. They describe the key
features of health-related fitness and the significance of physical activity participation to health
and wellbeing. They examine how physical activity, celebrating diversity and connecting to the
environment support community wellbeing and cultural understanding.
Students demonstrate fair play and skills to work collaboratively. They access and interpret
health information and apply decision-making and problem-solving skills to enhance their
own and others’ health, safety and wellbeing. They perform specialised movement skills and
sequences and propose and combine movement concepts and strategies to achieve movement
outcomes and solve movement challenges. They apply the elements of movement when
composing and performing movement sequences.
From Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2016d) ‘Health and Physical Education: Curriculum’.
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1. Accessed 2 October 2016.
Collecting evidence of students’ achievement

Jacqueline is an enthusiastic pre-service teacher who has been placed in a large government primary Teaching
school to complete her final eight-week placement. As part of her professional portfolio, and to meet practice
the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, she is required to provide evidence of how her
teaching has influenced student learning. Jacqueline’s supervising teacher, Mary, has been working in
the school for over 30 years, and is hoping to retire soon. When Jacqueline quizzes Mary about what
assessment practices and rubrics she has developed to assess student learning within HPE, Mary laughs
and indicates that, after 30 years, she can ‘just tell’ whether her Year 4 students are at the level expected
for Year 4 students. Jacqueline is concerned by this, so she consults another highly experienced teacher
in the school who can provide her with some examples.
Questions
1 Describe where Jacqueline could start with the process of determining student levels of achievement.
2 Can Jacqueline expect all students to be performing at the same standard?
3 Outline how Jacqueline could collaborate with the other experienced teacher or other staff members
to seek support to develop her understanding and implementation of assessment practices and
rubrics within a HPE context.
CURRICULUM CONTENT
Curriculum content articulates the content that teachers are expected to address and what students are
expected to learn. This is depicted in Figure 3.8.
Curriculum
Knowledge + Understanding + Skills
content =
Achievement standards (assessed via formative

and summative assessment practices) Figure 3.8
Curriculum content
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We will now explore the content of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education.
Scope and sequence of content

You might think it a little strange that we are looking at the scope and sequence of the content covered
after discussing the achievement standards, but it is important to understand what you are trying to
achieve – in terms of aims, the areas that must be covered and their structure, and where you are going
in terms of outcomes (or, in the case of the Australian Curriculum, the achievement standards) – before
you can consider how to get there. The scope and sequence of the content provide a roadmap of how
to get where you are going. Tables 3.5 and 3.6 outline the sub-strands and threads of each strand in the
Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education, and content descriptions for each (including
their codes), by band level. The scope of the curriculum denotes how much content is explored, and at
what level of detail, while sequence refers to the order in which the curriculum is delivered.
Table 3.5 Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education: Sequence of content (F–6) for ‘Personal,
social and community health’ strand
Sub-strand Foundation Years 1–2 Years 3–4 Years 5–6
‘Being healthy, safe and active’ sub-strand
Identities Identify personal Describe their Explore how Examine how identities
strengths own strengths and success, are influenced by people
(ACPPS001) achievements and challenge and and places
those of others, and failure strengthen (ACPPS051)
identify how these identities
contribute to personal (ACPPS033)
identities
(ACPPS015)
Changes and Name parts of Describe physical and Explore strategies Investigate resources
transitions the body and social changes that to manage and strategies to manage
describe how their occur as children grow physical, social and changes and transitions
body is growing older and discuss how emotional change associated with puberty
and changing family and community (ACPPS034) (ACPPS052)
(ACPPS002) acknowledge these
(ACPPS016)
Help-seeking Identify people Practise strategies Describe and Investigate community

and demonstrate they can use when they apply strategies resources and ways to
protective feel uncomfortable, that can be used seek help about health,
behaviours and unsafe or need help in situations that safety and wellbeing
other actions with a task, problem or make them feel (ACPPS053)
that help keep situation (ACPPS017) uncomfortable or
themselves safe and unsafe (ACPPS035)
healthy (ACPPS003)
Making healthy Recognise situations Identify and practise Plan and practise
and safe choices and opportunities strategies to strategies to promote
to promote health, promote health, health, safety and
safety and wellbeing safety and wellbeing wellbeing (ACPPS054)
(ACPPS018) (ACPPS036)
‘Communicating and interacting for health and wellbeing’ sub-strand
Interacting with Practise personal Describe ways to Describe how Practise skills to
others and social skills to include others to make respect, empathy establish and manage
interact positively them feel they belong and valuing relationships
with others (ACPPS019) diversity can (ACPPS055)
(ACPPS004) positively influence
relationships
(ACPPS037)
65
Table 3.5
Understanding Identify and Identify and practise Investigate Examine the influence
emotions describe emotional emotional responses how emotional of emotional responses
responses people that account for own responses vary in on behaviour and
may experience in and others’ feelings depth and strength relationships
different situations (ACPPS020) (ACPPS038) (ACPPS056)
(ACPPS005)
Health literacy Examine health Discuss and Recognise how media

messages and interpret health and important people in
how they relate to information and the community influence
health decisions and messages in the personal attitudes,
behaviours (ACPPS021) media and Internet beliefs, decisions and
(ACPPS039) behaviours (ACPPS057)
‘Contributing to health and active communities’ sub-strand
Community Identify actions that Explore actions Describe strategies Investigate the role
health promote health, that help make the to make the of preventive health
promotion safety and wellbeing classroom a healthy, classroom and in promoting and
(ACPPS006) safe and active place playground healthy, maintaining health,
(ACPPS022) safe and active safety and wellbeing
spaces (ACPPS040) for individuals and their
communities (ACPPS058)
Connecting to Participate in play Identify and explore Participate in Explore how participation
the environment that promotes natural and built outdoor games and in outdoor activities
engagement with environments in the activities to examine supports personal and
outdoor settings local community where how participation community health and
and the natural physical activity can promotes a wellbeing and creates
environment take place (ACPPS023) connection between connections to natural
(ACPPS007) the community, and built environments
natural and built (ACPPS059)
environments,
and health
and wellbeing
(ACPPS041)
Valuing Recognise similarities Research own Identify how valuing

diversity and differences in heritage and diversity positively
individuals and groups, cultural identities, influences the wellbeing
and explore how these and explore of the community
are celebrated and strategies to (ACPPS060)
respected (ACPPS024) respect and
value diversity
(ACPPS042)
Note: Years 7–10 have been omitted.

66
At all band
levels, children
are encouraged
to participate
in play and
physical
activity in
natural outdoor
environments.
iStock.com/monkeybusinessimages
Table 3.6 Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education: Sequence of content (F–6) for ‘Movement
and physical activity’ strand
Sub-strand Foundation Years 1–2 Years 3–4 Years 5–6
‘Moving our body’ sub-strand
Refining Practise fundamental Perform fundamental Practise and refine Practise specialised
movement movement skills and movement skills in a fundamental movement skills
skills movement sequences variety of movement movement skills in a and apply them in a
using different body sequences and variety of movement variety of movement
parts (ACPMP008) situations (ACPMP025) sequences and sequences and
situations (ACPMP043) situations (ACPMP061)
Developing Participate in Create and participate Practise and apply Propose and apply
movement games with and in games with and movement concepts movement concepts
concepts and without equipment without equipment and strategies with and strategies with
strategies (ACPMP009) (ACPMP027) and without equipment and without equipment
(ACPMP045) (ACPMP063)
‘Understanding movement’ sub-strand
Fitness and Explore how regular Discuss the Examine the benefits Participate in physical
physical activity physical activity keeps body’s reactions of physical activity to activities designed to
individuals healthy and to participating in health and wellbeing enhance fitness, and
well (ACPMP010) physical activities (ACPMP046) discuss the impact
(ACPMP028) regular participation
can have on health and
wellbeing (ACPMP064)
Elements of Identify and describe Incorporate elements Combine elements Manipulate and modify
movement how the body of effort, space, time, of effort, space, time, elements of effort,
moves in relation to objects and people objects and people space, time, objects
effort, space, time, in performing simple when performing and people to perform
objects and people movement sequences movement sequences movement sequences
(ACPMP011) (ACPMP029) (ACPMP047) (ACPMP065)
67
Table 3.6
Cultural Participate in physical Participate in physical

significance of activities from their activities from their
physical activity own and other own and others’
cultures (ACPMP108) cultures, and examine
how involvement
creates community
connections and
intercultural
understanding
(ACPMP066)
‘Learning through movement’ sub-strand
Teamwork and Cooperate with others Use strategies to work Adopt inclusive Participate positively
leadership when participating in group situations practices when in groups and teams
in physical activities when participating participating in by encouraging others
(ACPMP012) in physical activities physical activities and negotiating roles
(ACPMP030) (ACPMP048) and responsibilities
(ACPMP067)
Critical and Test possible solutions Propose a range of Apply innovative and Apply critical and
creative to movement alternatives and test creative thinking in creative thinking
thinking in challenges through their effectiveness solving movement processes in order
movement trial and error when solving challenges to generate and
(ACPMP013) movement challenges (ACPMP049) assess solutions to
(ACPMP031) movement challenges
(ACPMP068)
Ethical Follow rules when Identify rules and fair Apply basic rules and Demonstrate ethical
behaviour in participating in play when participating scoring systems, and behaviour and fair play
movement physical activities in physical activities demonstrate fair play that aligns with rules
settings (ACPMP014) (ACPMP032) when participating when participating in
in physical activities a range of physical
(ACPMP050) activities (ACPMP069)
Note: Years 7–10 have been omitted.

Reflection
Building on Example 3.3, which outlined the Gumtree Primary School HPE program, now think about
how you could explore the content descriptions displayed in Tables 3.5 and 3.6 based on the HPE
program at Gumtree Primary School.
»» Select at least three units within the program, and attempt to identify which content descriptions
could be addressed by them. For example, within the circus skills unit taught across years
3 and 4, the following content descriptions could be addressed: ACPMP043, ACPMP045,
ACPMP047 and ACPMP049. Another example: if you taught the invasion games unit and included
soccer, you could easily address the content descriptions ACPMP063, ACPMP065, ACPMP067
and ACPMP069.
»» Are there any content descriptions that cannot be addressed within the structure of the
HPE curriculum at Gumtree Primary School?
»» Was there a unit that could not be linked with any content description?
68
Summary
• Before commencing any planning, a systematic process needs to be implemented. It is important not
to confuse the curriculum design process with instruction. While planning your instruction, decisions
need to be made regarding lesson planning, instructional materials, audiovisual materials, ICT and other
equipment to be used, time allocation, and classroom management and discipline strategies. The most
important factor informing your course planning is your students – their backgrounds, needs, abilities
and interests.
• The basic curriculum design process consists of three fundamental questions: Where are you going, how
will you get there and when will you know you have arrived?
• Australian schools are expected to align their curricula in accordance with the prescribed curriculum of
their relevant state or territory.
• The Australian Curriculum is designed to be a three-dimensional curriculum that incorporates all the
components highlighted in Figure 3.2. In addition to disciplinary knowledge, skills and understanding
across the eight learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curricular priorities are also of central
importance.
• The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education was shaped based on five interrelated
propositions, which were selected to create a future-orientated curriculum. The five propositions are:
1 Focus on educative purposes.
2 Take a strengths-based approach.
3 Value movement.
4 Develop health literacy.
5 Include a critical-inquiry approach.
• The HPE curriculum for Foundation to Year 10 consists of the following key elements:
1 Rationale
2 Aims
3 Organisation of the learning area
4 Curriculum content
5 Achievement standards
6 Representation of general capabilities and cross-curricular priorities.
Review questions
1 Contrast the notions of the curriculum design process and delivering instruction.
2 Summarise the three fundamental questions asked in the basic curriculum design process.
3 Discuss the two overarching aims of the Australian Curriculum (outlined in ACARA’s The Shape of the
Australian Curriculum document – see this chapter’s ‘Further reading’ list). Provide an example of how you
think these aims have been addressed within the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education.
4 Outline the three components that are incorporated within the three-dimensional nature of the
Australian Curriculum, which is highlighted in Figure 3.2.
5 Explain the importance of the proposition of ‘valuing movement’, which underpins the development of
any HPE curriculum.
69
Online resources
companion website for Teaching Quality Health and Physical Education. It contains resources for this
book, including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
• Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority: The Shape of the Australian Curriculum
(Version 4.0)
https://acaraweb.blob.core.windows.net/resources/The_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_v4.pdf
This document summarises the theoretical underpinnings that informed the development of the Australian
Curriculum.
• Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority: The Shape of the Australian Curriculum
for Health and Physical Education
https://acaraweb.blob.core.windows.net/resources/Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_Health_and_
Physical_Education.pdf
This paper outlines the fundamental factors that informed the development of the HPE curriculum.
• Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education: Rationale
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/rationale
Read the rationale for HPE in the Australian Curriculum on the Australian Curriculum website.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/
(2012) The Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Version 4.0. overview/learning-area-specific-advice. Accessed 5 January
Sydney: ACARA. 2017.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Flinders University (2017) ‘A curriculum development process’.
(2016a) ‘Health and Physical Education: Aims’. http://www. https://www.flinders.edu.au/teaching/teaching-strategies/
australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/ curriculum-development/a-curriculum-process.cfm.
aims. Accessed 25 September 2016. Accessed 4 January 2017.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Hardy, LL, Reinten-Reynolds, T, Espinel, P, Zask, A & Okely,
(2016b) ‘Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical AD (2012) ‘Prevalence and correlates of low fundamental
Education: Rationale’. http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu. movement skill competency in children’. Pediatrics 130(2) e:
au/health-and-physical-education/rationale. Accessed 19 390–8.
September 2016. McKenzie, T, Feldman, H, Woods, SE, Romero,
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority KA, Dahlstrom, V & Stone, EJ (1995) ‘Children’s activity
(2016c) ‘Health and Physical Education: Structure.’ levels and lesson context during third-grade physical
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and- education’. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 66(3),
physical-education/structure. Accessed 16 March 2016. 184–93.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and
(2016d) ‘Health and Physical Education: Curriculum’. Youth Affairs (2008) Melbourne Declaration on Educational
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical- Goals for Young Australians. http://www.curriculum.
education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1. Accessed 2 October edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_
2016. Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf. Accessed 9
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting September 2016.
Authority (2017) ‘General capabilities in the Melograno, VJ (1996) Designing the Physical Education
Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education’. Curriculum (3rd ed.) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
4
Authentic learning
and assessment in
primary Health and
Physical Education
1 create meaningful and authentic assessment items that
celebrate the achievement of students in HPE
2 understand the learning taxonomies that are commonly
used in HPE
3 differentiate between assessment of learning and
assessment for learning
4 examine strategies to assess HPE outcomes.
Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to explore
the tools and means of authentically
assessing HPE in primary schools.
Authentic assessment is the measurement
of learning and understanding in which
the context is a real-world problem
that is meaningful to the student being
assessed. In this contextual light, this
chapter starts by exploring a series of
metacognitive taxonomies that teachers
need to understand in order to measure
their learning outcomes in HPE syllabi and
programs. The chapter then unpacks the
process of creating authentic assessment
step by step. This, in turn, should allow
teachers of HPE to construct and celebrate
the learning of their students in a
meaningful way.
71
72
INTRODUCTION
Before you can travel down the path of assessing your students in HPE, it is important to understand
how students learn. Teachers use metacognitive (i.e. thinking about learning) theories and learning
taxonomies as a theoretical basis in measuring and evaluating student understanding of learning
outcomes. According to the National Research Council (2000), metacognition relates to an
individual’s ability to predict their performance in various tasks and to monitor their existing levels of
understanding and mastery. Teaching strategies matched with a metacognitive approach to learning
are those that concentrate on self-assessment, making sense of knowledge and reflecting on what
works and what still requires improvement (Schneider & Lockl, 2002). These metacognition-driven
teaching strategies have demonstrated a capacity to increase not only student achievement but also
the degree to which students can transfer their learning to different contexts and circumstances
(National Research Council, 2000).
LEARNING TAXONOMIES IN HPE ASSESSMENT:

HOW DO WE LEARN?
Taxonomy simply means a classification or hierarchy. Probably the best-known taxonomy of learning was
proposed by Benjamin Bloom in 1956. Bloom’s taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956) is the most commonly
utilised taxonomy of learning in education. This metacognitive taxonomy identifies three ‘domains’ of
learning, each of which is organised as a series of increasingly complex levels of understanding. Bloom’s
taxonomy is effectively serial or sequential in structure. As well as providing a basic sequential model for
dealing with topics in the curriculum, it also suggests a way of categorising levels of learning, in terms of
the expected upper limit for a given learning program.
Cognitive domain
The cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy is the most used of the three domains of learning. It refers
to knowledge structures (although simply ‘knowing the facts’ is considered to be the lowest level of
cognition). This domain can be viewed as a sequence of progressive understanding of the learning
material (based on Bloom, 1956), as indicated in Figure 4.1.
This model is included in Figure 4.1 because it is still used in many education settings across Australia.
However, Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) made some minor, but nonetheless significant modifications
and designed a revised version of Bloom’s original taxonomy of the cognitive domain, as indicated in
Figure 4.2. The most noteworthy differences are the inclusion of a new top category, ‘Creating’, which is
about being able to create new knowledge, and the move from the use of nouns to the use of verbs. (For
example, ‘knowledge’ is a noun and ‘remembering’ is a verb.) Figure 4.3 demonstrates these differences.
Example assessment items

When using either the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy or Anderson and Krathwohl’s version of it,
each of the levels represents an increase in cognitive difficulty.
73
C H A P T E R 4 A U T H E N T I C L E A R N I N G A N D A S S E S S M E N T I N P R I M A R Y H E A LT H A N D P H Y S I C A L E D U C AT I O N
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Figure 4.1
Knowledge The cognitive domain
of Bloom’s (1956)
taxonomy
Adapted from Bloom, BS, Englehart, MD, Furst, EJ, Hill, WH & Krathwohl, DR (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives:
Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain. New York: McKay.
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Figure 4.2
Anderson and
Krathwohl’s (2001)
Remembering version of the
cognitive domain of
Bloom’s taxonomy
Adapted from Anderson, LW & Krathwohl, DR (eds) (2001) A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of
Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
74
1956 2001
Evaluation Creating
Synthesis Evaluating
Analysis Analysing
Application Applying
Comprehension Understanding
Knowledge Remembering
Noun to Verb form
Figure 4.3 Bloom’s (1956) versus Anderson & Krathwohl’s (2001) taxonomies
From Owen Wilson, L (2016) ‘Anderson and Krathwohl – Bloom’s taxonomy revised: Understanding the new version of Bloom’s taxonomy’.
© Leslie Owen Wilson (2016, 2013, 2005, 2001)
KNOWLEDGE/REMEMBERING
‘Knowledge/Remembering’ is considered the entry level of Bloom’s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. It
is typically characterised by the ability to recall or memorise information, even while showing very little
or no understanding. At this level, students are expected to be able to recall and recognise information.
This may include exhibition of their knowledge through skills described by the following verbs:
• list • recognise • describe
• name • recall • locate
• identify • match • outline
• show • define • give examples
• define • classify • distinguish opinion from fact (ISU, 2015).
The three examples given below are tasks that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing
their students on HPE content at the ‘Knowledge/Remembering’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. These types
of tasks help to assess students’ surface understanding, and are particularly useful as a form of formative
assessment.
Example 1
Which of the following is an example of a healthy food choice?
a Soft drink
b Apple
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c Packet of chips
d Meat pie with sauce.
Example 2
Write a list of all of the healthy foods you ate in the last 24 hours.
Example 3
Match the physical activity with environment it is played in/on (one example is shown):
Water polo Court
Tennis Road
Football Pool
Cycling Field or oval
COMPREHENSION/UNDERSTANDING
At the ‘Comprehension/Understanding’ level, students are expected to be able to predict outcomes and
effects of their learning. At this level of understanding, students are expected to translate, paraphrase,
interpret or extrapolate material from what they have learned. These types of thinking skills allow a
teacher to infer that the student can grasp and interpret their prior learning experiences. At this level
of understanding, we can expect students to demonstrate knowledge described by the following verbs:
• summarise • convert • demonstrate
• explain • distinguish • visualise
• interpret • estimate • restate
• describe • paraphrase • rewrite
• compare • differentiate • give examples (ISU, 2015).
The two examples given below are tasks that a teacher might set if they were interested in
assessing their students on HPE content at the ‘Comprehension/Understanding’ level of Bloom’s
taxonomy. These types of tasks are useful in assessing at a deeper level of learning than ‘Knowledge/
Remembering’, but they still only assess a student’s surface understanding. Again, these are particularly
useful as a form of formative assessment.
Example 1
Read the following passage about the International Surf Rescue Challenge and then answer the
questions that follow:
The Australian Surf Life Saving team completed a clean sweep of the International Surf
Challenge in Mount Maunganui today, although New Zealand again took the fight to
their trans-Tasman rivals. Australia beat New Zealand by 109 points to 98 in the third
and final test, with Japan (57), Great Britain/France (40) and Canada (35) bringing up
the rear. Spurred on by the close nature of Wednesday’s second test, Australia unleashed
their stars today, with Shannon Eckstein and Liz Pluimers comfortably taking out the
76
blue-ribbon ironman and ironwoman races. Ski paddler Naomi Flood was equally
dominant in her specialist event, while the only rivals to the Australian senior side in the
taplin relays, board races and tube rescues were their own under-21 side.
Surf Life Saving Australia, 2011
1 What was Australia’s total point score for the challenge?

2 Which country finished second overall?
3 Which competitors won the ironman and ironwoman events?
4 Where was the competition held?
Example 2
Complete the following points table for the International Surf Rescue Challenge.
Position Country Points
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
APPLICATION/APPLYING
At the ‘Application/Applying’ level of understanding, students are required to use learned information
in new situations. In other words, students need to demonstrate the capacity to use information
and transfer knowledge from one setting to another. Students can essentially apply newly acquired
knowledge to their existing concrete understandings, and potentially in novel ways. Verbs that can be
used to demonstrate this level of understanding include:
• apply • compute • manipulate
• classify • solve • predict
• modify • illustrate • show (ISU, 2012).
• put into practice • calculate
• demonstrate • interpret
The example given below is a task that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing their
students on HPE content at the ‘Application/Applying’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. This type of task is
useful in assessing the transition between surface and deeper learning. It is particularly useful as both
formative and summative assessment.
Example
Place the following activities into their respective game type: soccer, cricket, darts, tennis, squash,
netball, hockey, baseball, softball, snooker, pool, rugby.
Game type Sport
Target game
Net/wall game
Striking/fielding game
Invasion/territorial game
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ANALYSIS/ANALYSING
At the ‘Analysis/Analysing’ level of understanding, students are expected to be able to identify specific
details and demonstrate an ability to discover and differentiate the component parts of a given situation,
or from a piece of information. They are able to break down learned material into its important component
parts, as a way of understanding its underlying organisational structure. Any of the following verbs can
be used to elicit understanding at this level:
• analyse • diagram • distinguish
• organise • discriminate • categorise
• deduce • contrast • outline
• choose • compare • relate (ISU, 2015).
The examples given below represent tasks that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing
their students on HPE content at the ‘Analysis/Analysing’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. These types of
tasks are useful in assessing a transition between surface and deep learning. Again, they are particularly
useful as both formative and summative assessments.
Example 1
John is a 50-year-old male. He is overweight, smokes a packet of cigarettes per day and does no planned
exercise. What diseases is John at risk of contracting?
Example 2
A soccer player is taking a penalty kick. She has an 80 per cent chance of scoring if she shoots left, an
80 per cent chance of scoring if she shoots right and a 40 per cent chance of scoring if she shoots to the
middle. In which direction should the player shoot, and why?
EVALUATION/EVALUATING
At the ‘Evaluation/Evaluating’ level of understanding, we should expect students to be able to support
their judgements with reason. In other words, they should have the ability to judge the value of knowledge,
or the use of information, using appropriate criteria. These may be internal criteria (e.g. organisation) or
external criteria (e.g. relevance and purpose). Students may even be asked to determine the criteria for
themselves, or these may be provided by the teacher. For example, students can be asked to:
• evaluate • defend • debate
• choose • appraise • conclude
• estimate • criticise • assess
• judge • justify • rate (ISU, 2015).
The examples given below are tasks that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing their
students on HPE content at the ‘Evaluation/Evaluating’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. These types of tasks
are useful in assessing deeper learning. They are useful as both formative and summative assessments.
Example 1
Based on the previous scenario of a soccer player taking a penalty shot, why should the player shoot to
the left or right and not the middle?
Example 2
Should the school canteen sell soft drink and meat pies? Why or why not?
78
SYNTHESIS/CREATING
At the ‘Synthesis/Creating’ level of understanding, a student is expected to have the ability to combine
parts of knowledge to create a ‘big picture’ of understanding. Learning outcomes in this area stress
creative behaviours, with a major emphasis placed on the formulation of new patterns and structures.
Therefore, a student can be asked to:
• design • comply • construct
• hypothesise • develop • rearrange
• support • discuss • compose
• write • plan • organise (ISU, 2015).
• report • compare
• combine • create
The example given below is a task that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing their
students on HPE content at the ‘Synthesis/Creating’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Tasks like this are useful
in assessing deep learning and as summative assessment tasks.
Example
Compare the current school canteen menu with national dietary recommendations for children, and
then design a new school canteen menu accordingly. Then write a letter to parents of the school
community supporting the inclusion and exclusion of particular foods.
Curriculum linkages
Review the HPE curriculum for your state or territory, and identify words that are used in both it and
Teaching
practice Bloom’s and Anderson and Krathwohl’s taxonomies, discussed above. Then answer the following
questions.
▻▻ Which taxonomy is addressed to the greater extent by the HPE curriculum? Is there a focus on
Bloom’s or on Anderson and Krathwohl’s version of cognitive development?
▻▻ What implications may this have on the assessment of cognitive aspects of your HPE curriculum?
Affective domain
A great deal of global HPE curricula deal with influencing the values of students; as such, many HPE
teachers are driven more by teaching values and beliefs than by some of the learning area’s more data-
driven outcomes. With this in mind, we will now describe the affective domain of Bloom’s taxonomy
(Krathwohl, Bloom & Masia, 1964), which seeks to categorise human emotions, feelings and attitudes.
For this reason, it has special relevance for the HPE discipline. The affective domain has generally
received less attention than the cognitive domain. It is concerned with the perception of value issues.
This domain ranges from simple awareness (i.e. receiving) of values to being able to distinguish implied
values through a process of analysis (Krathwohl, Bloom & Masia, 1964). Figure 4.4 is a representation
of the levels of the affective domain.
RECEIVING
Students at the ‘Receiving’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy are defined as being open to a new experience.
This trait may be exhibited by students listening to their teacher, taking an interest in the lesson, taking
79
Internalising or
characterising
values
Organising and
conceptualising
Valuing
Responding
Figure 4.4 The

affective domain of
Receiving Bloom’s taxonomy
Adapted from Krathwohl, DR, Bloom, BS & Masia, BB (1964) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives:
Handbook 2: Affective Domain. New York: McKay.
notes or even just passively participating in the class. Key words and verbs that might be included in
learning at this level include:
• ask • discuss • follow
• listen • acknowledge • concentrate
• focus • hear • read
• attend • be open to • do
• take part • retain • feel (Clark, 2015).
RESPONDING
At the ‘Responding’ level, students will react to a new learning experience and actively participate in
it. This may occur through active participation in group discussion, active participation in an activity,
demonstration of interest in learning outcomes, enthusiasm for action, questioning and probing of ideas,
or the suggesting of an interpretation of an event or action. Key words and verbs that might be included
at learning at this level include:
• react • provide (e.g. other • cite
• respond references and examples) • be animated or excited
• seek clarification • contribute • help team
• interpret • question • write
• clarify • present • perform (Clark, 2015).
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VALUING
At the ‘Valuing’ level, students are required to attach their values and express personal opinions on
issues. This may be enacted by a student deciding on the worth and relevance of ideas or experiences.
It might also manifest as an acceptance of, or commitment to, a particular stance or action. Key verbs
that might be included at learning at this level include:
• argue • refute • persuade
• challenge • confront • criticise (Clark, 2015).
• debate • justify
ORGANISING AND CONCEPTUALISING

The ‘Organising and conceptualising’ level of the affective domain states that students will be able to
demonstrate that they can reconcile internal conflicts and develop their own defendable value system.
In terms of behavioural display, students should be able to qualify and quantify their personal views,
or state a personal position or belief and their reasons for holding it. Verbs that might be included at
learning at this level include:
• build • modify • contrast
• develop • relate • arrange
• formulate • prioritise • compare (Clark, 2015).
• defend • reconcile
INTERNALISING OR CHARACTERISING VALUES

Finally, at the ‘Internalising or characterising values’ level, students exhibit the adoption of a particular
philosophy or belief system. This is generally manifested in their ability to be self-reliant and to behave
in a way that is consistent with a set of personal values. Verbs that might be included at learning at this
level include:
• act
• display
• influence
• solve
• practise (Clark, 2015).
Example of an affective domain assessment item

Using the checklist below, highlight the behaviour exhibited by each student during a classroom
discussion about the health status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:
• Listens intently and follows the discussion
• Asks questions or seeks clarification on particular issues
• Argues or defends a particular point within the discussion
• Justifies their position in contrast to another’s beliefs based on rationality
• Suggests a unique solution to any of the problems presented and influences others to do the same.
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Curriculum search 1
Using your state or territory HPE curriculum, identify where the teaching of values, social interaction and Teaching
affective outcomes reside. practice
1 What do you see as being some of the issues related to assessing these outcomes?
2 How might Krathwohl et al.’s (1964) affective domain taxonomy help you design HPE learning
activities that focus on developing these skills?
Psychomotor domain
Given that so much HPE curriculum is concerned with teaching physical skills, it is important to
examine the psychomotor domain of Bloom’s taxonomy. While Bloom himself never finished his work
on this domain, several attempts have been made to complete it. One of the most accepted versions
has been suggested by Dave (1975). The psychomotor domain draws attention to the progressive and
hierarchical nature of skill acquisition. Figure 4.5 outlines the levels of the psychomotor domain, which
are described in the following sections.
Naturalisation
Articulation
Precision
Manipulation
Imitation Figure 4.5 The

psychomotor domain
of Bloom’s taxonomy
Adapted from Dave, RH (1975) Developing and Writing Behavioural Objectives. Tucson, AZ: Educational Innovators Press.
IMITATION
In the psychomotor domain of learning, students at the ‘Imitation’ level will generally copy the actions
of a teacher or another student. They may also simply observe or replicate a motor skill in isolation.
Evidence that a teacher may collect on this type of learning includes whether a student is able to watch
a teacher repeat an action, process or activity. Verbs that may be employed in this level of learning
include:
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• copy
• follow
• replicate
• repeat
• adhere (Clark, 2015).
The examples given below are tasks that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing
their students at the ‘Imitation’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. These types of tasks help to assess a student’s
surface understanding, and are particularly useful as a form of formative assessment.
Example 1
Play a game of ‘Simon says’. Observe which students can replicate the actions that you perform.
Example 2
Observe students participating in a children’s exercise routine being played on a television. Make notes
on which activities students can copy and those which they appear to execute in an uncoordinated
manner.
MANIPULATION
At the ‘Manipulation’ level, students will be able to reproduce a skill or activity from memory. They can
generally carry out a verbal or written teaching instruction. Verbs that a teacher may use to elicit this
type of learning include:
• recreate
• build
• perform
• execute
• implement (Clark, 2015).
The examples given below are tasks that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing their
students at the ‘Manipulation’ level. These types of tasks help to assess students at a deeper level of
learning, but still represent surface understanding. They are useful as a form of formative assessment.
Example 1
Demonstrate how to dribble a soccer ball between several marker cones. Then observe each student
dribble the ball on their own.
Example 2
Play a game of ‘Like this, do that’. In this game, the teacher demonstrates a number of physical skills –
e.g. tap head, rub tummy, balance on one foot, star-jump, and so on. Then, without demonstrating the
activity again, the teacher calls out a sequence of actions for students to demonstrate.
PRECISION
The ‘Precision’ level requires that students will be able to reliably and consistently execute a skill
independent of additional help. They can perform a task or activity with expertise and to a high quality
without any assistance. They may even be able to demonstrate the skill to other students. Teachers
assessing learning at this level will use verbs such as:
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• demonstrate
• complete
• show
• perfect
• calibrate
• control (Clark, 2015).
The example below is a task that a teacher might set if they were interested in assessing their students
at the ‘Precision’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Such a task helps to assess students who are at a transition
between surface-level and deeper understanding, and is particularly useful as a form of formative and
summative assessment.
Example
To assess throwing skills, have students play a game of ‘Frisbee golf ’ or ‘Bean-bag golf ’. In these games,
students work their way around a series of courses or holes marked by a hula hoop and count how
many throws it takes them to land the Frisbee or bean-bag in each hole. A lower score indicates greater
precision.
ARTICULATION
When students have progressed to the ‘Articulation’ level, they should be able to adapt and integrate
their learned expertise in order to satisfy a non-standard objective. In other words, they can relate and
combine associated skills to develop methods to meet varying and novel requirements. Learning at this
level involves the ability to do any of the following:
• construct • integrate • modify
• solve • adapt • master (Clark, 2015).
• combine • develop
• coordinate • formulate
at the ‘Articulation’ level. This kind of task helps to assess students at a level of deep understanding, and
is useful as a form of formative and summative assessment.
Example
Set students the task of scoring as many goals as they can in a given time period. Use any sport that
incorporates the skill set you wish to assess – e.g. kick-soccer, throw-basketball, and so on. Place the
balls at varying distances from the goal with different obstacles – i.e. barriers – to negotiate or shoot
around. Observe the measures that students take to improve their score. Change the amount of time
allocated to assessment and distances from the goal according to developmental level.
NATURALISATION
The final level of the psychomotor domain of Bloom’s taxonomy is the ‘Naturalisation’ level, which is
manifested in students who are able to perform automated, unconscious mastery of an activity and
related skills at a strategic level. Examples of this level of learning are the ability to define an aim,
approach or strategy for use of activities to meet a strategic need. The key verbs that may be used to
describe such behaviour at his level include:
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• design
• specify
• manage
• invent
• project-manage (Clark, 2015).
at the ‘Naturalisation’ level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Such a task helps to assess students at a level of deep
understanding, and is useful as a form of summative assessment.
Example
Present students with a game that features limited rules but firm objectives. For example, suppose that
students are to play within the confines of the basketball court. There is to be no contact with other
players. The object of the game is to move the ball to the opposite end of the court to score a point while
denying your opponents the ability to score.
As a teacher, observe students’ ability to manage other players into strategic play. They may execute
certain passing techniques that are mimicked by other students. They may also allocate members of
their team into certain positions or roles (e.g. offence and defence), and they will often switch between
both roles themselves depending on strategic needs.
Curriculum search 2
Teaching ▻▻ Using your state or territory HPE curriculum, identify where the teaching of fundamental motor skill
practice outcomes resides.
▻▻ Using Bloom’s taxonomy of the psychomotor domain, rewrite the outcomes related to object
manipulation (i.e. throwing, catching, kicking), showing a progressive learning outcome from
‘Imitation’ to ‘Naturalisation’ for the same psychomotor skill.
Structure of observed learning outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy

New research of assessment practice has its focus on assessment for learning (a concept discussed
later in this chapter), with a specific emphasis on understanding. Students have often had limited
opportunities to understand or make sense of skills and knowledge in HPE, because many HPE
curricula have emphasised memory and replication of skills in isolation, rather than understanding and
application of those skills in context. Textbooks and HPE curricula across the world are filled with facts
that students are expected to memorise, and most tests assess students’ abilities to remember the facts,
rather than to exhibit deep understanding and integration of concepts.
Assessment and education research in HPE does not deny that memory function and surface
learning are significant for thinking and problem solving (Mosston & Ashworth, 1986; National Research
Council, 2000). However, it also clearly shows that useable knowledge is not the same as being able
to recall a mere list of disconnected facts upon request (Biggs & Collis, 1982; National Research
Council, 2000). The accumulation of knowledge therefore needs to be connected and organised around
important concepts in order for deep understanding or the acquisition of deep knowledge to occur.
For this reason, new research and practices in applying metacognitive taxonomies have been attracting
significant attention. For many educators, the structure of observed learning outcomes (SOLO)
taxonomy is fast becoming a preferred way to assess student understanding, because it is an assessment
model that values a balance of ‘surface and deep learning’ (Hattie & Brown, 2004: 3). It is built on the
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renowned psychologist Jean Piaget’s (1964) descriptions of cognitive development, and was discovered
by observing the developmental pattern of student answers in relation to an extensive selection of school
subjects. The SOLO taxonomy is now used extensively by universities and schools in Australia, New
Zealand, Canada and the UK. It has been evaluated as being principally appropriate to the measurement
and categorisation of differentiating levels of conceptual understanding (Boulton-Lewis, 1995; Hattie
& Brown, 2004), especially for open-ended tasks (Smith & Colby, 2007), and more recently in the
performance of skill-specific tasks required in physical education (Haynes, 2009). Figure 4.6 assists in
visually explaining the metacognitive process used when the SOLO taxonomy is employed.
Irrelevant or not-given information

is shown as X
X
X
Given facts, ideas, information
X
are shown by black dots
The student answering the

question is represented by the R
black triangle
The response or given answer to

the question is shown by the R
Relevant information that is not Figure 4.6 Visual

given in the question is shown explanation of SOLO
by
figures
All SOLO figures sourced from Ministry of Education, Government of New Zealand (2016)
http://www.tki.org.nz. Accessed 14 September 2016.
In their seminal work, Biggs and Collis (1982) describe the five SOLO levels as follows:
1 Pre-structural: At this level, the student is merely obtaining fragments of unconnected information
which have no organisation and make no sense. Essentially, at this level, the student exhibits no
understanding of the learning.
2 Uni-structural: As seen in Figure 4.7, at this level, simple and obvious connections are made, but
their significance is not grasped (i.e. understanding is of one element).
X
X
X
Figure 4.7
Uni-structural
response
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3 Multi-structural: As indicated in Figure 4.8, at this level, a number of networks may be created,
but the meta-connections between the acquired knowledge are missed. As such, the significance
of the whole has yet to be grasped (i.e. there is understanding of a number of elements, but not of
the pattern of relationships between them).
X
X
X
Figure 4.8 Multi-

structural response
4 Relational: Figure 4.9 shows that at the relational level, the student is able to understand the
importance of the parts of a construct in relation to its whole (i.e. there is understanding of the
links between the elements).
X
X
X
Figure 4.9
Relational response
5 Extended abstract: As can be seen in Figure 4.10, at this level, students are making connections not
only within the given area of knowledge but also beyond it. They are capable of generalising and
of transferring the principles and mindsets that are essential to the specific learning instance (i.e.
students have the ability to relate the concept to different contexts and other concepts).
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X
X
X R1
R2
Figure 4.10
R3
Extended abstract
response
Relational and extended abstract responses have been linked to the conception of deep learning, while
uni-structural and multi-structural responses reflect surface approaches (Hattie & Brown, 2004: 5–6;
Ramsden, 2003: 57). Biggs and Collis (1982: 217) also maintain that SOLO levels are discernible in the
Piagetian modes of sensory–motor (discovering relationships between body and environment), intuitive
(centration), concrete–symbolic (operational) and formal development (abstract and manipulative)
(Piaget, 1964). In relation to primary education, it is a reasonable expectation that students should be
able to produce concrete–symbolic mode responses, but, as Boulton-Lewis (1995: 206) has posited,
when confronted by new and challenging concepts, students may perform in the earlier modes. Thus,
SOLO can provide a framework for assessing students at all levels of response or learning.
SOLO taxonomy
Given your understanding of the SOLO taxonomy and using Table 4.1, write a one-paragraph letter to a Teaching
parent that differentiates Jamie’s execution of a forward roll. practice
Table 4.1 SOLO taxonomy: Jamie
Pre-structural Jamie is not yet capable of performing any of the necessary skills needed in doing a forward
roll. He is yet to place his hands on the ground in preparation for the execution of this particular
gymnastic skill.
Uni-structural Jamie is able to [your response].
Multi-structural Jamie is not only able to [your response]. He is able to [your response], but not in sequence with
each other.
Relational Jamie is able to sequence [your response].
Extended abstract Jamie was accidentally tripped during a game of soccer, and in response executed a forward roll
that carried her momentum safely, preventing any injury from the fall. Realising what she had
just done, she ran over and said, ‘Sir, did you just see my forward roll?’ To which I replied, ‘You just
don’t do them in gymnastics, eh?”
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STRATEGIES FOR ASSESSMENT IN HPE
Primary schools typically assess and evaluate the learning of their students, and the effectiveness of
their teachers and curriculum, in practice. As you can imagine, in these kinds of evaluations, student
achievement receives the highest priority. However, the wide uptake of outcomes-based education and
school accountability has improved teacher evaluation and curricular critique and oversight in recent
times. In order for HPE assessment to work effectively and meaningful learning to occur, all of the
above considerations must be taken into account. It may be that adopting simultaneous assessment of
and for learning practice will allow us to address much of this inequity. In the following sections, we
examine the three principles of assessment for learning and how contemporary assessment strategies
may conform to these in a HPE context.
Examinations and formal testing

Using examinations and tests as assessment as part of normal classroom practice is probably considered
by some to be somewhat toxic, because in modern assessment practice, the use of formal tests
has – unfairly, we would argue – become the enemy of those who advocate ‘authentic assessment’.
However, given that so much interpretation of learning is captured via formal testing and examinations,
incorporating these into normal classroom practice could have a number of advantages. To be able
to do this, formal tests need to overcome the criticisms of their use, including their ability to capture
thinking and problem-solving skills, matching what is being tested and what is being taught, and any
unintentional biases that may occur based on gender, ethnicity or other factors.
Several general criteria for effective assessment in formalised testing have been identified (Linn &
Gronland, 1995), and these may be used to address some of the concerns described above. If we want
any formal test to be able to be incorporated into normal classroom practice, the test item must be
matched to an HPE learning outcome and match students’ level of development (as discussed earlier in
this chapter). In other words, in an examination, you cannot ask students to ‘discuss’ an outcome if the
relevant outcome only asks students to be able to ‘list’ elements pertaining to it.
Test questions require the use of a simple vocabulary, simple sentence structure, unambiguous
statements and content that is free from gender, ethnic or other bias. They should not provide clues as to
the correct or incorrect answer (which may be present in the wording of a task, or through the inclusion
of obviously incorrect, ‘distracter’ items).
For example, an inappropriate question that provides clues to the answer might be:
1 Which of the following would be considered a healthy school lunch?
a Chips, cola and chocolate
b Pie with sauce
c Chicken and corn roll with a creaming soda
d Healthy salad sandwich on wholemeal bread with a glass of water.
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Health-related learning outcomes

Select one health-related learning outcome from your state or territory HPE curriculum. Using this Teaching
outcome, write a series of questions that you might include in an examination that is matched to this practice
outcome.
If possible, have a child one year below the year group the question is targeting read the question,
and see if they can do so fluently. If the student cannot understand the question, it is a good strategy to
ask them how you could better explain the question to them. This strategy allows the student to avoid
embarrassment for not understanding, and for you, as a teacher, to drill down to what the student
actually knows by reframing the question as needed.
Questions in any examination should be free from irrelevant material, except when a student is
required to perform some element of identification as part of the test (i.e. distinguishing between correct
and incorrect items). Prior to students undertaking the exam, there should be a period of consultation
among all those who are required to mark the exam, to ensure that they have reached a consensus
on what is likely to be the ‘right’ answer. Remember that many of the concepts we deal with in HPE
curricula are disjunctive in nature, meaning that interpretation and answers to any given question may
be varied (unlike in the sciences and mathematics, which deal with conjunctive, or absolute, concepts
that are governed by singular interpretations). For example, a particular ‘completion’ question in a
primary-school HPE test might read:
1 In softball, a ‘strike’ occurs when …
This is an example of a question that deals with a disjunctive concept: there are several answers to it,
all of which may be right or wrong depending on the level of detail given. If a student answers ‘When you
swing at the ball and miss,’ they are correct. A student could also respond ‘When you don’t swing at the
ball.’ This answer is partially correct; however, a more correct answer would be ‘When you don’t swing at
the ball and the ball passes over the plate between your knees and shoulders.’ Yet another answer could
be ‘When you hit the ball between home plate and first base or home plate and third base and you have
two or fewer strikes already against you.’ This is also correct!
This example shows that a consensus on what level of explanation is necessary to be rewarded with
a correct answer in the examination is vital.
Examining HPE learning outcomes

Write a list of questions that may be considered disjunctive in nature, and a series of possible answers Teaching
to them, for an examination based on the HPE outcome you explored in the earlier ‘Teaching practice’ practice
box ‘Health-related learning outcomes’. Based on your understanding of the SOLO taxonomy, consider
whether your questions encompass a range of the following metacognitive outputs. Remember that a
student’s intelligence is gauged as much by ‘what’ they know as by the quality of the question you ask.
1 Was the learning intention and student thinking of the question orientated towards:
a a single idea or single major process of information (uni-structural)?
b a set of ideas or set of major processes of information (multi-structural)?
c the relationship between ideas or relating these ideas (relational)?
d extending beyond the ideas students have been taught or developing their own processes of
thinking (extended abstract)?
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2 Does the question require students to:

a make connections between the topic studied?
b make connections between the topic and prior or later work?
c come to a conclusion?
d resolve a set of seeming contradictions?
3 Is the major outcome of the question to:
a reproduce information?
b transform information?
Performance-based assessment in HPE

If we believe that students are active builders – or constructors – of their own knowledge who relate any
new learning to what they already know, then performance-based assessment practices are consistent
with their interpretations of learning. This is because performance-based assessments strive to engage
students in ‘real’ learning activities. Performance-based assessment also tends to be consistent with the
principle of assessment for learning, which will be discussed later in this chapter.
There are many examples of performance-based assessment in HPE. Typical HPE assessment
tasks that encompass this perspective include work portfolios, role-playing, game-playing and sport- or
dance-specific performance. When considering performance-based assessment, teachers can assess a
finished product or a completed performance. They can also assess the process of learning taking place
in their students by using assessment-based practices to examine the range of skills required to produce
a finished product or completed performance. Effective use of performance-based assessment often
combines both ‘product’ and ‘process’ tasks, because a ‘balanced approach to grading considers both
student engagement in the process of creation and the quality of the resulting product or performance’
(Clark, 2002: 29).
According to Brady and Kennedy (2012), observation is the central component of performance-
based assessment. Some anecdotal evidence would suggest that observation has been used to assess
student learning in HPE for as long as HPE has existed in curricula. It has, however, been relegated
to an inferior status, behind that of examinations and formal testing, because of a lack of systematic or
sophisticated observation assessment procedures. This is because, for performance-based assessment to
occur, observation alone is not sufficient; there also needs to be recording of these observations so that
the progress of a student’s learning can be mapped over time. Therefore, a combination of systematic and
sophisticated observation, and the recording of accurate interpretations of student learning at various
given points in time are essential for assessment-based practices to occur. Let’s examine how this may
be achieved in HPE in a primary-school setting.
As we have noted in earlier chapters, the importance of achieving fundamental movement skills
(FMS) mastery in the early years of schooling cannot be overstated, and therefore, assessment of it
should be rigorous and frequent. As we will discuss in Chapter 10, many of the FMS we aim to teach
our students are assessed using checklists or rating scales. A checklist would simply be a list of these
skills and the characteristics that would determine whether the skill had been executed or not. Effective
HPE checklists should determine not only the ‘product’ (i.e. mastery) but also where in the learning
process the student has reached (i.e. process).
Table 4.2 provides an example checklist that you may use for recording a student’s learning of the
object-manipulation skills.
As we also discuss in Chapter 10, the teaching of a movement skill in isolation has received
considerable critique by researchers such as Bunker and Thorpe (1982), who see learning a skill
outside the context of a game as being futile, since these skills do not ‘magically’ transfer into a game
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Table 4.2 Checklist for the object-manipulation skills
Skill: Overarm throwing
Skill characteristic: Observed (Y or N):
Grasp the ball in one hand.
Stand with the non-throwing side of the body facing the target (i.e. throwing arm away from
the target).
Move the throwing arm backwards, building momentum for the throw.
Rotate the hips as the throwing arm moves forward.
Step forward with the opposite foot towards the throwing target.
Long arm at release point.
Body weight remains on the back foot during early phases of the throw and as the body weight
shifts forward. A follow-through with the throwing arm in the direction of the throwing target
occurs, with weight transfer onto the front foot.
Skill: Catching
Eyes are focused on ball throughout the catch.
Preparatory position with elbows bent and hands in front of body.
Hands move to meet the ball.
Hands and fingers are positioned correctly to catch the ball.
Catch and control of the ball with the hands only.
Elbows bend to absorb the force of the ball.
Skill: Kicking
Stand behind and slightly to the side of the ball.
Step forward with non-kicking leg.
Keep eyes on the ball (with head down).
Kicking leg moves backwards from the hip.
Arms move in opposition to legs.
Non-kicking foot is planted slightly behind and to the side of the ball at the time of ball contact.
Kicking foot is plantar-flexed (toe-down) and contact with the ball is made on the anterior
surface (i.e. top of) the foot.
Kicking leg follows through with good hip and knee extension.
Skill: Striking
Eyes track the ball.
Grip the bat with two hands (dominant hand should be lower on the handle).
Keep elbows away from the body.
Bat is swung in a horizontal (full-pitched ball) or vertical (low-pitched or bouncing ball) plane.
Action of wrists breaks at point of ball impact.
Follow-through with dominant arm elbow in full extension.

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when taught in this way. If this reasoning stands true, then we can also argue that the assessment
of a skill outside the context of gameplay is also limited. Therefore, assessing skill execution in the
context of game performance may also be a legitimate assessment mechanism, in accordance with the
performance-based assessment principles of product and process, and observation and recording, which
we described above. A notable formal game-performance checklist has been developed as collection
tools for product and process learning of game play: the Game Performance Assessment Instrument, or
GPAI (Oslin, Mitchell, & Griffin, 1998). These are performance-based assessment checklists that have
been shown to provide valid and reliable measures of game performance. The skills checklists we have
previously discussed in this chapter can be incorporated into the GPAI, which we discuss below in
greater detail, in recognition that FMS mastery remains our greatest priority.
The GPAI can be applied across all categories of gameplay (e.g. invasion, striking/fielding, net/wall
and target games – these are explained in Chapter 10) and contains seven basic elements. Essentially,
the seven elements of gameplay are defined, and could be used as an assessment checklist, as follows:
1 Base: Appropriate return of student to a ‘home’ or ‘recovery’ position between skill attempts
2 Adjust: Movement of student, either offensively or defensively, as required by the flow of the game
3 Decisions made: Making appropriate choices about what to do with the ball (or object) while in
possession during the game
4 Skill execution: Efficient performance/execution of designated skills
5 Support: Off-the-ball movement to a position to receive a pass (or throw) from another student
6 Cover: Defensive support for student making a play on the ball, or moving to the ball (or object)
7 Guard/mark: Defending an opponent who may or may not have the ball (or object) (based on
Mitchell, Oslin & Griffin, 2013: 43–61).
These components, acting as a standalone performance-based assessment checklist, can capture
what a student is doing in any particular game and any given time.
Example 4.1
TEACHER TALES
‘I have been using the GPAI as a periodical observation checklist during my games units in HPE. I
take the checklist, observe maybe two or three students in each lesson and record their performance.
It gives me an insight into what I need to focus on in future lessons, and has forced me to examine
my teaching. It also comes in very handy when I need to make comments, during report-writing time,
about student performance against many of our F–6 HPE outcomes.’
Greg, Year 6 primary teacher
Reflection
»» In accordance with the principles of assessment for learning discussed earlier, how might you
use a checklist similar to the GPAI in your HPE lessons?
»» How would you incorporate the assessment of FMS mastery within the GPAI?
»» Which outcome in your state or territory HPE curriculum appears to be the most difficult to
collect assessment evidence on? Given your knowledge of performance-based assessment,
create an observation checklist for this outcome.
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The use of rating scales also enables the teacher to rate both the process and product of learning that
has occurred in HPE, just as checklists do. However, rating scales usually call for the teacher to give a
subjective interpretation of achievement, one coded with a verbal descriptor such as ‘Excellent’, ‘Very
good’, ‘Good’, ‘Satisfactory’, ‘Poor’ or ‘Very poor’ or based on a rating scale of numerical achievement.
The use of these rating scales in assessment practice is highly contentious – first, because there is no
consensus on how many points there should be in any given scale, and second, because rating scales are
often not based on a verb-orientated metacognitive or behavioural taxonomy, and are therefore adjective-
driven teacher interpretations of performance that may be easily misinterpreted by stakeholders such as
students and parents. However, the main advertised benefit of rating scales is their capacity to measure,
along a sliding scale, the degree to which a learning dimension has been achieved. Rating scales become
especially useful when trying to assess outcomes that may be more heavily influenced by the affective
domains of learning, as previously discussed.
A sample rating scale to be used in a PE class is presented in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3 Rating scale
Outcome Excellent Good Average Fair Poor
Skill execution
Tactics
Rule adherence
Participation
Caring for others
Transfer beyond game
For rating scales to be effective in performance-based assessment practice, the teacher must ensure
that they are stated in clear language, with as little room for misinterpretation as possible, and that
the scale uses sufficient discrimination between points on the scale. The rating scale presented in
Table 4.3 lacks that discrimination. It would therefore be prudent to add a descriptive rubric to each of
the rating terms, in order to ensure that there are different markers and that the student understands
what it means to be identified in a particular category. For example, students awarded an ‘Excellent’ are
performing the task at a relational level of understanding. They can connect concepts and achieve at a
level that far surpasses expectations at this level of development.
Following are some other sample rating scales for you to consider as you develop a grading rubric. As
you develop your rubric, decide how many different levels it should have, whether to list the highest
possible level of achievement first or last, and the kind of qualitative descriptors that need to be placed
around these terms to give them wider meaning and understanding.
THREE-LEVEL RATING SCALES

Weak……….Satisfactory……….Strong
Beginning……….Intermediate……….High
Weak……….Average……….Excellent
Developing……….Competent……….Exemplary
Low mastery……….Average mastery……….High mastery
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FOUR-LEVEL RATING SCALES

Unacceptable……….Marginal……….Proficient……….Distinguished
Beginning……….Developing……….Accomplished……….Exemplary
Needs improvement……….Satisfactory……….Good……….Accomplished
Emerging……….Progressing……….Partial mastery……….Mastery
Not yet competent……….Partly competent……….Competent……….Sophisticated
Inadequate……….Needs improvement……….Meets expectations……….Exceeds expectations
Poor……….Fair……….Good……….Excellent
FIVE-LEVEL RATING SCALES

Poor……….Minimal……….Sufficient……….Above average……….Excellent
Novice……….Intermediate……….Proficient……….Distinguished……….Master
Unacceptable……….Poor……….Satisfactory……….Good……….Excellent
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES FOR HPE OUTCOMES
A simple definition of what is known as authentic assessment would be as follows: measurement of

learning and understanding in which the context is a real-world problem that is meaningful to the
student being assessed.
While this definition may appear simple, the enactment of authentic assessment can be anything but.
For authentic assessment to occur in HPE lessons, a variety of strategies need to be employed, as part of
normal classroom practice, in order to capture the quality and evidence of a student’s learning on a daily
basis and be reflective of actual learning in the classroom and beyond it. For this to occur, assessment
strategies should be chosen to reflect the skills, understanding and values that are demonstrated in
the HPE curriculum outcomes with which you are working. Evidently, no single strategy is capable
of collecting assessment evidence for all these outcomes, so teachers should consider the following
questions when planning assessment strategies:
1 Does my assessment task align with what I intend to teach? Do they match?
2 Does my assessment task represent the outcomes my students need to demonstrate?
To highlight these considerations of assessment design, consider the following example from the
New South Wales K–6 PDHPE Syllabus:
Applies movement skills in games and sports that require communication, cooperation,
decision making and observation of rules.
NSWESA, 2014
An assessment task aligned with a games or HPE unit would require students to demonstrate their
capacity to use information and transfer knowledge (i.e. to apply the skills). In this case, your assessment
task might measure the consistency and accuracy of students’ ability to pass a ball using their hands in
games like netball and basketball. An inappropriate assessment task would be to expect students to be
able to ‘analyse’ their own passing technique or that of their peers, since this does not align with the
outcome level of ‘Application’. It would also not be adequate for students to simply perform the skill of
passing a ball using their hands outside of a game situation or in an individual game such as handball,
because the outcome specifically states that the game or sport requires communication and cooperation.
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Two further questions to ask about your assessment task are:

3 Does my assessment task enable my students to demonstrate their understanding, and do my
marking criteria capture the scope of responses that may appear? (Remember that, as has been
noted, HPE deals with disjunctive concepts, so no single answer or way of doing something is
necessarily the only right answer or method.)
4 Does my assessment task use real-life tasks? Are they truly ‘authentic’?
Standards-referenced criteria are used in many schools and education systems. These criteria
frequently rely on the use of verbs in the descriptors to provide the reader/marker/grader with standards
against which to judge students’ performance. The verbs used increase in difficulty or complexity of
thinking required from Grade E to Grade A. For example:
• Grade A: Evaluates (i.e. makes a value judgement)
• Grade B: Analyses (i.e. differentiates into components or parts)
• Grade C: Explains (i.e. relates cause and effect)
• Grade D: Describes (i.e. features and characteristics)
• Grade E: Identifies (i.e. recalls; lists).
So when you are designing marking criteria, first examine the standards descriptors and then highlight
the verbs and the content- or curriculum-specific phrases in each of the descriptors. For example, if we
use the outcome we introduced earlier – ‘Applies movement skills in games and sports that require
communication, cooperation, decision making and observation of rules’ – the standard (verb) descriptor
is ‘Applies’. The remainder of the outcome is the context in which the ‘application’ of knowledge, value
and skill must occur.
As well as being explicit and authentic, strategies must also be fair in providing equal access for
students to demonstrate their understanding and be able to accurately reflect student achievement
(especially if we have to compare or rank students against one another).
Finally, our assessment tasks and strategies need to be manageable enough to ensure that they become
part of our ongoing teaching and learning practice. Authentic learning tasks are often seen as those
which draw on students’ background knowledge and life experiences, and integrate with other areas of
their schooling. Authentic tasks require students to develop, rehearse and refine their knowledge, skills
and attitudes within contexts or situations beyond school, such as at home, in the wider community and
in their neighbourhood. Linking assessment to real-world tasks increases its authenticity. In the primary-
school context, themes are often used to design learning pathways that integrate content from several
learning areas. As an adjunct to this, both formative and summative assessment would require the
teacher to design an authentic task to gauge students’ achievement of the various outcomes or standards
addressed in the program.
Summative and formative assessment

Everything teachers assess, including when they assess, how often they assess and, most importantly,
why they assess will be used to ascertain the authenticity of an assessment strategy. Therefore, teachers
need to understand the concepts of summative (evaluative) and formative (diagnostic) assessment.
How, when and why these differing forms of assessment are used is important when creating any truly
authentic assessment strategy (Brady & Kennedy, 2012).
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It is useful to think of summative assessment as a way of gauging student learning in relation to

curriculum outcomes at a certain point in time. While the data that teachers obtain from this type of
assessment are important, they can only be of assistance in determining specific pieces of the learning
process. This is because summative assessment happens after the teaching has occurred. Summative
assessment is a tool that helps to appraise the efficacy of teaching programs, alignment with curriculum,
school and teacher improvement goals, or student placement in specific groups or programs of work
(Killen, 2005). However, summative assessments can also occur too far along the learning pathway
to provide the necessary information at the lesson planning and implementation levels, and not allow
for teachers to make the required instructional modifications during the learning process. It takes a
formative approach to assessment to accomplish this feat (Killen, 2005).
According to Killen (2005), formative assessment must be instilled in the teaching and learning
process. When incorporated into HPE lessons, it delivers the knowledge needed for teachers to adjust
their teaching and learning strategies while student learning is manifesting in behaviour change. In this
context, formative assessment apprises both teachers and their students of the understanding a student
has at a given point at which judicious adjustments can be made. These adjustments can aid students to
achieve the targeted learning outcomes within a given timeframe (Brady & Kennedy, 2012).
Although formative assessment strategies are utilised in a variety of designs, there are some distinctive
means to separate them from summative assessments. To distinguish between summative and formative
assessment, it is useful to employ a sporting analogy and think of formative assessment as ‘practice’,
whereas summative assessment might be thought of as ‘the match’ (Garrison, Chandler & Ehringhaus,
2009). As in a training session for a sport, a formative assessment does not hold students accountable
in the same way a summative assessment might. Allowing for some type of practice before ‘the match’
is a logical process in improving ‘match’ performance. Formative assessment therefore aids teachers
to decide on the next steps that need to be taken during the learning process, and precedes the need
to conduct a summative assessment of student learning, which usually occurs towards the end of the
learning process (Garrison, Chandler & Ehrinhaus, 2009).
Let’s use another sporting analogy to describe the limitations and strengths of both assessment
types. Picture a selection trial for the school soccer team. Suppose that, prior to the trial, you received
a ‘grade’ every time you practised kicking, dribbling or shooting the ball. What if the final determination
for getting into the team was based on the average of all of the grades you received while practising? As
you can imagine, if your initial grades were low and recorded during the process of learning soccer skills,
your final grade would not accurately reflect your ability to play the game. Would any of the grades you
received provide you with guidance on what you needed to do next to improve your soccer skills? Your
team trial (or summative assessment), on the other hand, would be the liability measure that established
whether or not you had the soccer skills necessary to make the team, and would not necessarily be a
reflection of all the practice that led to it. The same holds true when thinking about the relationships
among teaching, learning and assessment.
Another characteristic of formative assessment is that students should be involved in the assessment
process (Brady & Kennedy, 2012). This is important, because without the inclusion of students,
formative assessment cannot be exercised to its full usefulness. Students, therefore, need to be involved
in the process, as evaluators of their own learning and as a means for other students to assess theirs (i.e.
self- or peer assessment)(Killen, 2005). This does not mean that teacher involvement is absent from the
process – quite the opposite, in fact. Teachers must be able to identify learning goals, set clear criteria
for success and design assessment tasks that deliver evidence of student learning (Garrison, Chandler &
Ehringhaus, 2009).
Providing detailed and specific feedback is one of the key components of engaging students in the
assessment practices of their own learning (Hattie, 2009). Providing feedback is not to be confused with
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giving a merit award, a sticker or even verbal congratulations. It is a means of providing your students
with an understanding of what they are doing well, and this progress links with their classroom learning.
This also means that the teacher must give specific feedback on how to reach the next step in the
learning progression (Hattie, 2009). There is evidence to suggest that the use of limited congratulatory
feedback strategies, such as providing merits, awards, and so on, actually do very little to improve student
learning or thinking (Garrison, Chandler & Ehringhaus, 2009).
Some of the most common HPE teaching strategies that can be used with formative assessment
practices include the following:
1 Criteria and goal-setting with students is an effective HPE teaching and formative assessment
strategy. It engages students in the teaching process and learning process by creating distinct
expectations. For this to be successful, students must understand the relevant learning goal and
the criteria for attaining it. This can be achieved by establishing the parameters for quality work
together, by having students participate in creating model behaviours for the classroom, and by
determining what should be included in the success criteria of the task. These are all examples of
formative assessment strategies. Standards can also be demonstrated through the use of student
work, assessment responses or other examples. These can aid students to understand where they
are at present as well as where they need to be in future, and how to get there (Garrison, Chandler
& Ehringhaus, 2009).
2 Observations are more than simply seeing if students need clarification or are working on-task.
Observations should be a systematic method used to support teachers in gathering evidence of
student learning as a means of guiding further instructional planning. This evidence can be recorded
and given as feedback for students about their learning, or even as anecdotal evidence shared
during parent/carer–teacher conferences (Garrison, Chandler & Ehringhaus, 2009). Table 4.4
is an example of this observational method.
Table 4.4 Recording observational data
HPE outcome Anna Jim Wayne Cathy
Displays quality of Achieved Developing Developing Developing

movement in applying Need to extend
movement skills to a opportunities for this
variety of situations student
Throws over-arm Proficient Proficient Not yet proficient Proficient

proficiently Does not follow
through after
releasing the ball
Kicks and strikes Proficient Proficient Proficient Proficient

proficiently for
distance
Performs a simple Proficient Not yet proficient Proficient Proficient

dance combining Lacks rhythm to
locomotor and coordinate body
non-locomotor movements
movements
Shows a range of Proficient Proficient Proficient Not yet proficient (very

ways to enter and intimidated in aquatic
move through the environments; speak
water to parents about this
apparent phobia)
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3 Effective questioning strategies need to be inculcated into any formative assessment approach.
Questioning strategies (either spoken or written) can sometimes be so poor that 80 per cent
or more of a teacher’s questions can be answered with lower-order thinking skills: by recall (or
remembering), by reciting knowledge or by simple handling of a restricted set of ideas, data and
knowledge (Hattie & Brown, 2004). Asking better questions allows students to engage in deeper
thinking and provides teachers with greater insight into the complexity and depth of student
understanding. Effective questioning strategies engage students in classroom conversation that
can both uncover and enhance learning. A related aspect of formative assessment strategies is that
teachers need to help students to learn to ask better questions. If teachers can develop students’
higher-order thinking skills through the use of effective questioning strategies, this will enhance
their metacognitive abilities and hence their learning (Garrison, Chandler & Ehringhaus, 2009).
For example, if we use the previously discussed SOLO taxonomy as our metacognitive strategy,
we can progressively deal with the same content, but at differing levels, through the use of our
questioning technique. At a uni-structural level, you might ask, ‘Which of the following sports
uses a ball?’
• Ice hockey
• Archery
• Tennis.
At a multi-structural level, you might ask, ‘What are two sports that share the same movement
skill of passing a ball with your hands?’
At a relational level, you could ask, ‘What are the similarities and differences between how a
ball is passed in rugby and in American football?’
At an extended abstract level, you might ask, ‘How might the passing techniques in rugby be
incorporated into, and potentially change the tactics of, American football? Would this improve or
destroy American football, and why?’
4 Self- and peer assessment should help in creating a community of learners within your HPE lessons.
Students should be given chances to reflect and engage in metacognitive thinking, because this
will create a sense of ownership of their learning (Brady & Kennedy, 2012). With peer assessment,
students see each other as assets for understanding and for checking their work against the criteria
you, as the teacher, have established or constructed with them (Garrison, Chandler & Ehringhaus,
2009).
5 Record-keeping by students can help them better understand their own learning of the work they
complete in their HPE lessons. Using this method requires that students keep constant and
detailed records of their work. This not only engages students but also assists them in seeing
where they began and the progress they are making towards the learning goal, beyond any grade or
summative mark they eventually receive (Garrison, Chandler & Ehringhaus, 2009).
When these approaches to formative assessment are used, other formative assessment strategies,
such as student-led conferences, also have much greater validity. The more teachers know about how
their students are engaging in the learning process, the better they can adjust their teaching strategies
to ensure that all students continue to succeed and achieve their learning goals (Garrison, Chandler &
Ehringhaus, 2009).
Assessment of and for learning

According to Killen (2005), the phrase assessment of learning is synonymous with summative assessment.
Such assessment is usually focused on reporting students’ achievements at the end of the program of
study, not only to the student but also to parents and other teachers. Assessment for learning , on the other
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hand, refers to those assessment activities conducted during the teaching of a course. These activities,
and information collected from them, are used to advance student learning, and can, in most cases, be
used to provide a measure of student achievement at the end of a course. Generally, assessment for
learning has also become synonymous with a hybrid of formative and summative assessments.
Over the past decade, the assessment for learning movement (Black & William, 1998; 2003) has
become increasingly influential in schools, and has provided an explicit link between pedagogy and
assessment. It is associated with:
1 including assessment as part of normal classroom practice
2 ensuring that feedback is aimed at motivating students and leading to improvement
3 showing students how to realistically assess the value of their own work.
According to Boud and Falchikov (2007: 39), traditional assessment ‘focuses little on the processes
of learning and on how students will learn after the point of assessment’. Barnett (2007: 39) has argued
for a reconceptulisation of summative assessment in terms of its potential to serve formative educational
purposes, and thus to enhance long-term learning for students. The goal in this chapter has been to
explore how to allow students opportunities to trace their own experiences in HPE and thus establish
a springboard for deeper reflection based on inhabiting the perspectives of prospective teacher and
curriculum theorist. In other words, instead of focusing merely on the final summative products and
artefacts of student knowledge and understanding, teachers should aim to unlock the processes of
HPE knowledge formation and conceptual understanding by using assessment in both summative and
formative ways, effectively using assessment of and for learning simultaneously. This should be the focus
of how we, as HPE teachers, think about implementing the strategies for assessment that are discussed
in the following section.
PLANNING AND DESIGNING ASSESSMENT IN HPE
Planning for assessment is essential to programming for teaching and learning in HPE. Teachers need
to assess student performance on their designed assessment tasks in relation to the HPE curriculum
or integrated curricular outcomes in order to make balanced decisions about student achievement.
HPE assessment, in particular, relies heavily on the professional judgement of the teacher, and needs
to be based on reliable data acquired in a fair and valid context. This may also need to include multiple
assessment performances in a variety of different contexts. Fundamentally, assessment in HPE needs to
be capable of furthering student learning and improving the quality of teaching.
Step one: Planning an assessment task

When you start planning your HPE programs of work, both individually and collaboratively with your
teaching peers, an initial review of the HPE curriculum and assessment standards materials is essential.
These materials (although they are obviously limited by individual school and student contexts) will
describe what students should know and be able to do at particular stages of their learning; but, most
importantly, they should ask you to contemplate the type of evidence that students could produce
in order to show that they have learned what they needed to learn. Teachers also need to concern
themselves with the question: Is learning best collected as a summative or a formative assessment item
(or as a combination of both)?
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In search of evidence
Teaching 1 Identify, in your HPE curriculum, what constitutes ‘evidence of student achievement’.
practice 2 How might you collect this information (either summatively or formatively), and why would you use
this approach?
3 How might your teaching and programming be affected, in order to allow this evidence to be collected?
Step two: Unpacking outcomes and deciding

on an assessment strategy
Once you have your HPE outcomes and know the evidence you need to collect from the HPE curriculum,
you can then start to unpack these outcomes and decide on an assessment strategy that is capable of
collecting the required evidence of student achievement. In order to do this, you must consider what
level of understanding students are required to exhibit on any given metacognitive or learning taxonomy
(e.g. ‘describe’, ‘identify’, ‘explain’).
Defining understanding
Teaching 1 According to your HPE outcomes, what levels of understanding (i.e. verbs) are students expected to
practice exhibit in a particular grade, stage or year level?
2 Using a dictionary or your curriculum support documents, write a comprehensive definition of each
of these verbs. For example: describe: means addressing features and characteristics and the
relationships between them.
Next, we need to select the curriculum content to be assessed. In any given HPE curriculum, the
content is usually organised by subject matter for each outcome in each year, grade or stage. Table 4.5
is an example of how a curriculum or unit of work may articulate subject content.
Once you identify the content – in Table 4.5, we identified ‘nutrition’ – you then need to unpack the
level of understanding of that content that is needed. Following is a series of tasks, aimed at different
levels of understanding, for the nutrition content articulated above:
1 Identify healthy-eating choices from a range of products advertised in a supermarket catalogue.
2 Discuss the factors that have an impact on healthy-eating choices.
3 Design a healthy-eating choices information flyer for parents of primary-school children
As we differentiate the level of understanding, the way in which students will be required to exhibit
their understanding also changes. It would be very difficult, and probably inappropriate, to expect this
understanding of content to be presented in the same form. Your HPE curriculum may ask students to
demonstrate their particular level of understanding as an oral, written, or physical performance-based
task, or you may wish students to do this. In such a case, teachers might use any one or a combination
of these strategies. Some examples you might consider for HPE assessment tasks may include, but are
not limited to any of those identified in Table 4.6.
Step three: Designing an assessment task with criteria

Students also need assessment tasks that are clear and concise, and that provide a description of what
learning is to be achieved. These should also afford students the opportunity to discuss the criteria
on which their teacher’s or peers’ judgements will be based, the amount of time given to learn the
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Table 4.5 Subject content
Area of study:
‘Making informed personal choices’ Subject content
Decision making • Analysis of problems

• Decision-making process
• Influences on decision making
• Taking responsibility for one’s own decisions
• Risk-taking and decisions
Nutrition • Balanced eating habits

• Special needs
• Fast food: a healthy choice
• Digestive system
Health services and products • Health information and services

• Influences of the media
Drug use • Identifying drugs

• Administration and storage of medicines
• Tobacco
• Alcohol
• Labelling of drugs
Environmental health • Effects of population

• Individual/group responsibility
• Recycling
• Environmentally friendly products
Preventive measures • Sun protection

• Disease prevention
• Communicable diseases
• Heart disease
• Personal hygiene
• Choice of healthcare products
Table 4.6 Strategies that allow students to demonstrate learning outcomes
Oral Written Physical performance
• Coaching instruction • Acrostic poem • Dance composition

• Officials instruction • Script • Movement sequence
• Cheer/war-cry • Team management and administration • Obstacle course
• Speech • Electronic poster • FMS skills battery
• Radio play • Advertisement • Fitness testing
• Role play • Newspaper article • Game play
• Values continuum and justification/ • Menu design • Game creation
explanation • Sports/Teen magazine page • Game officiating
• Dialogue/conversation with peer/partner • Flowchart • Pedometer challenge
• TV commercial • Cartoon strip • Outdoor adventure
• Video clip • Survey & report • Orienteering/treasure
• Pantomime • Book cover & reviewer insert hunt
• ‘Expert’ panel or forum • Diary entry • Theatre sports
• Listening & reporting pair • Email • Meal preparation
• Carousel debate • Blog journal • Charades
• CD recording • Limerick
• ‘Hot seat’ – assume the persona of a • Mobile with descriptive labels
character and respond to statements in • Cloze passages
role • Essay
• Mock trial • Short-answer questions
• Multiple-choice questions
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Nutrition assessment
Teaching
Nutrition assessment task
practice
Year: 4 Task number: 1 Task type: Menu design Task weighting: 30% Date due: Term 1 Week 6
Curriculum strand(s): ʻMaking informed personal choices’
Context
Students have participated in the module ‘Daily decisions’. This unit focuses on promoting positive health decisions and
ensuring students feel they have the capacity to make decisions that will have a positive impact on their health and
wellbeing.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: Applies personal health choices
Skills: Articulates decisions as an individual and as a group member

Values: Responds appropriately to personal and community health needs
Description of assessment for learning activity
1. Collect brochures from grocery stores.

2. Design a dinner menu (showing positive dietary practices) for their family for one week.
Each night there should be a main meal and a dessert using foods from the brochures.
3. Write a shopping list including prices for each item and giving a total amount at the end.
Students are required to: 4. Identify the factors that impacted on selection of food (price, personal tastes,
food intolerances, cultural background, religious affiliation)
5. Cook one of the meals with the assistance of an adult, and the family is to provide
feedback in terms of how the meal showed balanced and healthy dietary decisions.
This may be done at home or in the school canteen.
Criteria for assessing learning
1. Apply information of known foods that support and encourage a balanced and healthy
Students will be assessed diet.
on their ability to: 2. Articulate mathematical skills in writing a detailed shopping list.
3. Respond to the needs of their families by providing balanced and nutritious meals.
Feedback
The teacher will provide written feedback in relation to the assessment guidelines. Family members, faculty and canteen
staff will provide feedback about the meal that is prepared for them. Students apply their personal skills and knowledge
of healthy food choices to ‘real-life’ situations at home and in the school environment.
Figure 4.11 Nutrition assessment task
1 Identify the dominant metacognitive or learning taxonomies being used to understand the depth of
student learning that is needed in the assessment task shown in Figure 4.11.
2 Design two nutrition assessment tasks of your own – one at one metacognitive level higher than that
given in Figure 4.11, and the other at one metacognitive level lower than that given in Figure 4.11.
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knowledge and, where possible, examples of what that learning may look like and how they will receive
feedback on their performance.
The complexity of assessment tasks and the level of challenge they afford need to increase in order
to enable students to develop evaluative independence. Students are capable of doing this as they assess
their own knowledge, understanding and skills, as well as determine ways to improve their learning.
Teachers should engage a variety of assessment strategies to verify the information being gathered
regarding the knowledge and understanding that their students are acquiring and the skills that students
are developing.
With all of the above factors in mind, when designing assessment tasks in HPE, the key questions
for teachers to consider are:
1 What are the requirements of the curriculum?
2 How suitable for individual students is the task presented?
3 What resources do we have available?
4 How will the task be administered?
5 In what way will feedback be provided?
The ‘Teaching practice’ box on the previous page gives an example of an assessment task that a HPE
teacher might administer while taking into consideration the planning factors that have been previously
discussed.
Once the assessment task is designed, it is important that a learning pathway is planned so as to
ensure that students can develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to complete the task. A
learning pathway is the sequence of lessons that provides students with the opportunity to develop,
rehearse and refine their knowledge and skills during class time. These lessons need to be sequential
(increasing in difficulty) and to scaffold (i.e. build on) students’ knowledge and skills.
CONCLUSION
The importance of reorientating assessment to the initial stages of teaching and learning design cannot
be overstated. Having a solid grasp of how our students learn, and of how we interpret that learning, is
essential to the accountability of the teaching and learning that occurs in HPE lessons. Only once the
assessment tasks are designed can we consider the learning pathway that will allow students to develop
the knowledge, skills and values needed to complete the task to the standard required.
Reflection
Review the outcomes, standards or essential learnings in your HPE curriculum, and then group
them according to similar content. Then map these against each of the metacognitive taxonomies
presented in this chapter to ascertain whether deep knowledge is being instilled across your HPE
curriculum.
Reflect upon the following questions:
»» Which metacognitive taxonomy best interprets each of the HPE content areas in your
curriculum?
»» How do I make this link to metacognition evident in my assessment tasks, marking criteria and
rubrics?
»» How will making this link improve my ability to report to other teachers and parents on the
achievement of my students?
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Summary
• Meaningful and authentic assessment items can be created that celebrate the achievement of students
in HPE.
• HPE is interested in assessing a child’s cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning ability.
• There is more than one learning taxonomy that can be used in HPE.
• Both formative and summative assessment practices need to be employed in HPE programs.
• The use of assessment of learning and assessment for learning are both viable in HPE.
Review questions
1 What is metacognition?
2 How does metacognition inform assessment in HPE?
3 Which metacognitive tool(s) is/are used in your HPE curriculum? What alternatives could be used?
4 Describe a simple progression of learning a movement skill using Bloom’s taxonomy and the SOLO
taxonomy. What are the differences between these approaches?
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
• Brady, L & Kennedy, K (2012) Assessment and Reporting: Celebrating Student Achievement (4th ed.)
Melbourne: Pearson Education.
• Killen, R (2006) Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from Research and Practice. Melbourne: Cengage
Learning Australia.
• Killen, R (2005) Programming and Assessment for Quality Teaching and Learning. Melbourne: Cengage
Learning Australia.
References
Anderson, LW & Krathwohl, DR (eds) (2001) A Taxonomy Black, P & William, D (1998) ‘Assessment and classroom
for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s learning’. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy &
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Practice, 5(1), 7–71.
Barnett, R (2007) ‘Assessment in higher education: An Bloom, BS, Englehart, MD, Furst, EJ, Hill, WH & Krathwohl,
impossible mission?’ in D Boud and N Falchikov (eds) DR (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1:
Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education. London: Cognitive Domain. New York: McKay.
Routledge, 29–40. Boud, D & Falchikov, N (2007) ‘Introduction: Assessment
Biggs, JB & Collis, KF (1982) Evaluating the Quality of for the longer term’, in D Boud and N Falchikov (eds)
Learning: The SOLO Taxonomy (Structure of Observed Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education. London:
Learning Outcomes). New York: Academic Press. Routledge, 29–40.
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Boulton-Lewis, G (1995) ‘The SOLO taxonomy as a means of Ministry of Education, Government of New Zealand (2016)
shaping and assessing learning in higher education’. Higher http://www.tki.org.nz. Accessed 14 September 2016.
Education Research and Development, 14(2), 143–54. Mitchell, SA, Oslin, JL & Griffin, LL (2013) Teaching Sport
Brady, L & Kennedy, K (2012) Assessment and Reporting: Concepts and Skills: A Tactical Games Approach for Ages 7 to
Celebrating Student Achievement (4th ed.) Sydney, Pearson 18 (3rd ed.) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Education. Mosston, M & Ashworth, S (1986) Teaching Physical
Bunker, D & Thorpe, R (1982) ‘A model for the teaching Education. Ohio: Merill.
of games in the secondary school’. Bulletin of Physical National Research Council (2000) How People Learn:
Education, 18(1), 5–8. Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition.
Clark, DR (2015) ‘Bloom’s taxonomy: The affective domain’. Washington DC: National Academies Press.
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/Bloom/affective_ New South Wales Education Standards Authority
domain.html. Accessed 29 April 2017. (2014) Personal Development Health and
Clark, RE (2002) ‘Performance assessment in the arts’. Kappa Physical Education (PDHPE) K-6 Syllabus. http://
Delta Pi Record, 39(1), 29–32. educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/
Dave, RH (1975) Developing and Writing Behavioural f63e7d9d-fa2a-471b-bf3c-d5b362fddb00/k6_pdhpe_syl.
Objectives. Tucson, AZ: Educational Innovators Press. pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=. Accessed 7 January
Dudley, D & Baxter, D (2009) ‘Assessing levels of student 2017.
understanding in pre-service teachers using a two-cycle SOLO Oslin, JL, Mitchell, SA & Griffin, LL (1998) ‘The game
model’. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 37(3), 283–93. performance assessment instrument (GPAI): Development
Garrison, C, Chandler, D & Ehringhaus, M (2009) Effective and preliminary validation’. Journal of Teaching in Physical
Classroom Assessment: Linking Assessment with Instruction. Education, 17(2), 231–43.
Ohio: Measured Progress. Owen Wilson, L (2016) ‘Anderson and Krathwohl – Bloom’s
Hattie, J (2009) Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 taxonomy revised: Understanding the new version of
Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London: Routledge. Bloom’s taxonomy’. http://thesecondprinciple.com/teaching-
Hattie, J & Brown, GTL (2004) Cognitive Processes in asTTle: essentials/beyond-bloom-cognitive-taxonomy-revised/.
The SOLO Taxonomy. asTTle Report #43. University of Accessed 5 January 2017.
Auckland/Ministry of Education, New Zealand. Piaget, J (1964) ‘Part 1: Cognitive development in children:
Haynes, JES (2009) ‘Qualitative analyses of a fundamental Piaget: Development and learning’. Journal of Research in
motor skill across the lifespan: Linking practice and theory’. Science Teaching, 2, 176–86.
DPhil thesis, University of New England. Ramsden, P (2003) Learning to Teach in Higher Education.
Killen, R (2005) Programming and Assessment for Quality Teaching London: Routledge.
and Learning. Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. Schneider, W & Lockl, K (2002) ‘The development of
Illinois State University University Assessment Services (2015) metacognitive knowledge in children and adolescents’, in
‘Domains and taxonomies’. http://assessment.illinoisstate. T Perfect and B Schwartz (eds) Applied Metacognition.
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PART 2
Understanding and teaching

about personal, social and
community health
Teaching about personal, social and community health requires a planned suite of
learning opportunities and experiences that will help children to grow and develop
as individuals, as members of families and as vibrant citizens in their wider social
communities. High-quality health education contributes to children leading healthier
lives and adopting safer lifestyles. Teachers in contemporary Australian primary
schools are expected to help their students to make informed choices concerning
alcohol, tobacco, drugs, road safety, religion, employment and even sexuality. A well-
informed and sensitive teacher plays a key role in helping their students’ transition into
adolescence. As the following chapters will demonstrate, they do this by encouraging
children to make informed lifestyle choices and become healthily engaged in their own
lives and the lives of others.
CHAPTERS
5 Pedagogies and issues in teaching for health
6 Exploring identity, help-seeking behaviour and decision making
7 Communicating for healthy relationships and wellbeing
8 Whole-school approaches to promoting health
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5
Pedagogies and issues
in teaching for health
1 understand the role of health education as part of the
HPE learning area in Australian primary schools
2 discuss the role of the Health Promoting Schools
Framework in developing a comprehensive health
education programs for primary schools
3 determine what constitutes quality planning, pedagogy,
teaching and learning for health education in primary
schools
4 explore and evaluate resources that support the teaching
of health in primary schools.
Overview
In this chapter, we will look at the role of
health education, as part of the HPE learning
area, in Australian primary schools. From a
historical perspective, health education in
schools has shifted from a risk focus to a
strengths-based approach, and this means
that the teaching of health in primary
schools may change over the coming years.
To help you to navigate these changes and
become a quality teacher of health, we will
introduce, discuss and evaluate underpinning
frameworks, principles, pedagogies and
resources to help you support your planning
of health education programs. As such, by
the end of this chapter you will be primed to
be an inspirational, confident and competent
teacher of HPE in a primary-school setting.
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PA RT 2 U N D E R STA N D I N G A N D T E AC H I N G A B O U T P E R S O N A L , S O C I A L A N D C O M M U N I T Y H E A LT H
THE ROLE OF HEALTH EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLS
As stated by the World Health Organization, or WHO (2016), school health education is any
combination of learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities to improve their
health, by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes. In fact, the WHO Regional Office
for Europe (2000) suggests that the school setting is the context that has the greatest potential to
make valuable contributions to the simultaneous promotion of education and health – and that it
represents the most cost-effective avenue for doing so – because schools are able to offer continuous,
intensive contact throughout childhood and adolescence, and are able to reach large numbers of young
people from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. An added benefit is the knowledge, rapport
and support that school teaching staffs and external personnel can bring to school health education
are important, not only in the classroom but also in the wider school community and environment.
For example, schools introduce policies that reinforce curriculum and learning in the classroom, and
support students in adopting positive health behaviours. These include ‘sun-safe’, road-safety and anti-
bullying policies and practices that regulate the safe conduct of school sport and physical activities. The
combination of school infrastructure, physical environment and community linkages – which includes
HPE programs, co- and extra-curricular programs (e.g. school sport), and qualified and skilled staffs and
personnel – makes schools a viable forum for promoting health. However, it is important to note that
the WHO’s interpretation of school health education comes from a focus on improving the quality of
life and health status of individuals, families, communities and nation-states that is primarily aimed at
reducing premature deaths. As a teacher, you are probably thinking that that is a reasonable, albeit large
goal; however, it is also a contentious one. This will be further explored in the following section.
A brief history of health education in Australia

In terms of curriculum, health education in Australia has been directed or strongly influenced by WHO,
Commonwealth and state/territory governments and previous Australian schooling declarations –
notably, the 1989 Hobart Declaration on Schooling and the 1999 Adelaide Declaration on National
Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century. The Commonwealth Government’s influence is
evidenced by the establishment of national educational bodies, including the Curriculum Corporation
(in 1987), which in 2009 became the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, or
ACARA, which is accountable to the Commonwealth Government’s Education Council. These bodies
have determined the national profiles and learning areas in Australian schools since the mid-1990s, due
to the Commonwealth Government’s economic interest in curricula and goals to produce citizens with
certain characteristics (e.g. employable, informed, capable, ethical, healthy and able to contribute to a
democratic society). State and territory governments have had constitutional responsibility for schooling
and curriculum construction in Australia.
Up until recently, the curriculum has been open to differences in interpretation among states and
territories, since they have operated individually. This has meant that health education has been given various
names or has been subsumed under other learning areas across Australia, including ‘Personal development,
health and physical education’ (PDHPE), ‘Health studies’, ‘Life skills’, ‘Personal development’, ‘Personal,
social and community health’, ‘Human relationships education’ (HRE) and ‘Pastoral care’. Despite these
differences, one shared objective of health education in Australian states and territories, projected through
the rationales of each state and territory curriculum over many years, has been to enhance knowledge,
understanding, skills and values related to health that will empower students to choose positive health
behaviours and facilitate the health of others in their communities, both now and in the future.
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C H A P T E R 5 P E D AGOG I E S A N D I S S U E S I N T E AC H I N G FO R H E A LT H
Figure 5.1
Empower students to choose
positive health behaviours
iStock.com/GlobalStock
Additionally, it is envisaged that those students who continue to study health education into their
senior schooling years will advocate for their health, and for that of others in their communities, through
designing, implementing and evaluating health-promotion strategies, services and resources to make good
health accessible for all. This has meant that the main objective of health education curricula in Australian
schools has, since the 1990s, been concerned with personal health decisions and behaviours, and with
the impact of these on community structures and practices (Grundy & Bonser, 1997). This interpretation,
which is founded on a deficit or risk model (Baum, 2008; Evans & Davies, 2004; Gard & Wright, 2001;
Linley et al., 2006; Nutbeam, 2000), focuses on particular personal knowledge and a certain set of skills
that are essential to be successful, or to be healthy, or to eliminate patterns of ill-health and disease, or
to treat and/or prevent diseased conditions. Consequently, when employed within the context of school
HPE programs, such approaches emphasise the idea that a problem exists – one that must be fixed, and
fixed according to contemporary health-promotion theory, practice and evidence (McCuaig, Coore &
Hay, 2012). For some, this view of health education is limited to the individual, leading to tensions and
contradictions that emerge within the health education field. This is particularly true when we talk about
teaching health and trying to enhance students’ abilities to attain healthy outcomes. Some would prefer
health education to promote clear and critical thought about what it means to be healthy, rather than
promote evidence-based behaviours that reduce the prevalence and incidence of disease. This is due to
the assumption that this process does not consider that health is socially constructed (i.e. is influenced
by ethnicity, geography, gender and socioeconomic status, to name just a few factors).
To add to the controversy, health education is quite unlike any other learning area in the primary-school
curriculum, because its objectives are to produce changes in students’ behaviours. Most of the time, health
and health content is dynamic and fluid; therefore, there may be no specific answers or ‘right’ way of being
healthy. This is a large burden for primary-school teachers (and for specialist secondary teachers, too),
because health education comprises a number of different understandings and practices related to health.
From the brief chronological history presented above, it will be evident that there are ongoing tensions
in the taken-for granted assumption (grounded in biological, behavioural and health sciences) that there
is one scientific truth and one way of being ‘healthy’. This is especially true if it is determined without
critical thought or acknowledgement of gender, ethnicity, cultural and economic influences (Evans &
Davies, 2004). Add to this governmental pressure to house many public-health agendas in this learning
area, including immunisation and screening procedures, which often simplify health knowledge or limit
opportunities for schools, teachers and students to think critically about these procedures in health
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Figure 5.2
Contemporary public health
AAP Image/Beck Browne
Figure 5.3
Immunisation in schools
Getty Images/JoelJoson
education programs. However, what is clear is that curriculum documents reflect the power and politics
that are prevalent among government bodies, professional bodies, academics and researchers, and teachers
and students at the time of construction and development. Based on history and the tensions that prevail,
it is highly likely that health curricula will continue to undergo dramatic changes in the future.
To help you to navigate the complexities embedded in the Australian Curriculum: Health and
Physical Education, and the tension of how best to teach health to your students, it is important to
find evidence that demonstrates the best way for your students to engage with (sometimes) contestable
health content and knowledge, both within and beyond the classroom.
Reflection
Suppose that you are a teacher right now. Consider the beliefs, knowledge, skills and competence
that you bring to teaching HPE.
»» What is it that would make you a good HPE teacher?
»» What is it that makes you unique when it comes to teaching HPE?
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The Health Promoting Schools Framework

In order to navigate the complexities of the health curriculum and health education in schools, it is
important to look at current practices, and at the evidence that supports teachers to deliver quality
health education that goes beyond the classroom and has a positive impact on student learning.
As a consequence of the endorsement and advocacy of the WHO, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Union for Health Promotion and
Education (IUHPE), there has been increasing interest in health education internationally in settings-
based approaches, such as the ‘health promoting school’. Since the emergence of the idea of health
promoting schools in the 1980s, schools and teachers have needed to make a shift in conceptualisation
and practice when teaching health and addressing health outcomes. This shift has mainly focused on
moving from a fairly narrow approach based on classroom-based health education programs and the
provision of school health services, to addressing the school as a setting for improvement of health and
wellbeing. This requires a whole-school approach, so that strategies and actions that go beyond the
classroom may be developed. Following a contextual or socio-ecological approach to health, the whole-
school approach is driven by three main foci: (1) curriculum and pedagogy; (2) school organisation,
ethos and environment; and (3) partnerships and services (WHO, 1998). These are shown in Figure 5.4.
School
Curriculum organisation,
and pedagogy ethos and
environment
Partnerships
and services
Figure 5.4
The whole-school
approach
Briefly, the whole-school approach means that schools should focus on being health promoting
settings that enhance health not only through classroom, learning and teaching interactions but also
throughout the school day and in the broader school environment (e.g. at recess and lunch, in before-
and after-school activities, and in the playground), and for all school stakeholders (e.g. students,
teachers, parents, external personnel). An additional note is that strategies from each area of focus must
be implemented on a daily basis in order for a school to be considered health promoting. An example of
a whole-school approach to healthy eating, for instance, might look like the following:
• Providing a healthy breakfast as students arrive at school (foci involved: school organisation, ethos
and environment and potentially partnerships and services, depending on who purchases and
prepares the food)
• Teaching and learning activities throughout the school day (through curriculum, but also through
school organisation, ethos and environment if the school also has in place healthy-eating policies
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and practices, such as ‘Crunch and sip’ – a break in learning for a drink of water and a serving of
fruit and/or vegetables)
• A canteen that provides only healthy foods (foci involved: school organisation, ethos and environment)
• Newsletters sent home to parents to reinforce healthy eating patterns and choices (foci involved:
partnerships and services).
Disappointingly, as with previous school health education programs, achieving successful
implementation and sustaining the positive benefits of the Health Promoting Schools Framework
has proven to be challenging in evolving, complex school systems. After more than three decades, the
implementation of the health-promoting schools concept still lags far behind the vision for it (Lister-
Sharp et al., 1999; Rowling & Jeffreys, 2006, St Leger & Nutbeam, 2000; Stewart-Brown, 2006).
Currently, the operationalisation of how to implement actions to achieve a health promoting school has
been left to school leaders and teachers, whose practice-based knowledge and belief in the approach
varies. This has led to disparity in implementation, and therefore differences in health education and
program outcomes for students globally. To ensure efficient implementation of the health-promoting
school approach, recent research has focused on identifying implementation components that school
leaders and teachers can use to improve implementation of, and fidelity to, the health-promoting schools
approach (Samdal & Rowling, 2011). Eight theorised and practice-based components, which provide
a practical guide for schools, leaders and teachers to use in the implementation of health promoting
schools, have been identified (and are summarised in Figure 5.5):
1 Preparing and planning for school development
2 Policy and institutional anchoring
3 Professional development and learning
4 Leadership and management practices
5 Relational and organisational support context
6 Partnerships and networking
Figure 5.5 7 Student participation

Evidence-based
implementation of
health promoting 8 Sustainability
schools
For more detail about these implementation components, see Chapter 8; but, in short, these
implementation components suggest that health promoting schools:
1 involve every person in the school to identify an area that needs change, and design strategies or
actions that can help the school to achieve change. To do so, the establishment of a committee
with representatives from all relevant groups of stakeholders (i.e. staff, students, parents and
other external professionals) is necessary. While establishing a committee has been recommended
practice, the committee must be active through regular meetings in school time, include leadership
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staff, retain most team members over at least three years, and have clearly defined roles and shared
team responsibility
2 develop and/or review school- or district-level policies to include both cross-curricular plans for
health education and objectives, in order to improve the psychosocial school environment (e.g.
bullying policies and practices)
3 actively engage leaders and teachers by encouraging them to contribute to the development of
policies, actions, strategies and resources through professional development opportunities and
in-school professional learning. The consultation that develops from this process, whereby school-
based professional learning feeds back to professional development, ensures that teachers have
ownership of the actions and develop a higher level of self-efficacy when implementing these
actions
4 distribute leadership at the many different levels within a school setting. This is particularly
valuable in understanding school participation and ownership, a key element we have identified
previously. Distributed leadership, with school staff members and the principal involved in
problem solving and decision making, encourages and strengthens implementation across the
school
5 encourage pedagogic leadership. The strategies and actions developed need to be based on
evidence and practice
6 develop effective partnerships, which require stakeholder readiness, a new or renewed vision,
financial support, geographic space, distributed leadership, effective working relationships,
training and time. Clearly defined roles and institutional infrastructure are also needed. Strategies
to encourage effective partnerships and networks include:
– bringing together teams from several schools
– providing adequate time for most of the school community to work together in individual
school teams
– seeking the principal’s and other leaders’ participation with the team
– providing evidence- and practice-based strategies to facilitate change
– introducing a process for change that includes developing plans to involve the rest of the school
community in the change process
7 listen to student voices, so as to empower students and encourage student participation. Factors
involved in implementing effective participation among students include selecting, recruiting
and retaining interested students; engaging students to participate in committees; and leaders,
teachers and students meeting and communicating on a regular basis. Consultation with students
ensures that students develop a sense of control and connectedness, and gain a sense of meaning
that matches their cognitive and social skill levels
8 facilitate sustainability through long-term entrenchment of the initiative in the school policy
plan, provision of ongoing resources for professional development and learning, monitoring of
performance of agreed actions, and evaluation of progress. These are considered core elements in
keeping a focus on health-promoting school initiative and promoting it over time.
Recent studies that have used these eight implementation components to determine the structure
of the health-promoting schools approach in schools have found that this approach has had a positive
impact on student outcomes, giving credence to the theoretical and practice-based implementation
strategies listed above (Busch et al., 2015; Gardner & Ollis, 2015). Furthermore, the socio-ecological
approach to health, as demonstrated by the Health Promoting Schools Framework and its eight
implementation components, supports the current place of health education as it moves from a risk
focus to a strengths-based approach.
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Reflection
Think about your previous teaching experience placements and consider which schools taught
HPE using the Health Promoting Schools Framework.
»» What strategies did the school have in place across curriculum, teaching and learning; school
organisation, ethos and environment; and partnerships and services?
»» Using the eight health-promoting schools evidence-based implementation strategies listed
above, how could this school improve its teaching of HPE?
The current place of health education

Some of these key ideas have been part of previous state- and territory-based health curricula (e.g.
a focus on educative outcomes rather than on performative outcomes or the ill-health statistics of the
nation), but the most distinctive changes from previous curricula is the shift from a risk focus to a
strengths-based approach, noted above, and the development of health literacy using a critical lens
(as was addressed in Chapter 3).
A strengths-based approach to health is of growing international interest, largely founded on
Antonovsky’s (1996) ‘salutogenetic’ model of health, and can be defined as the process of moving
towards the health end of a ‘health-ease–dis-ease’ continuum. According to Antonovsky (1996), it was
more important to focus on people’s resources and capacity to create health than to focus on risks, ill
health and disease. This means that the goal of the strengths-based approach is to understand what
creates health, rather than to emphasise limitations on health and causes of disease. The key elements
in the salutogenic development are, firstly, the orientation towards problem solving and, secondly, the
capacity to use the resources available. This model therefore prioritises the question, ‘What keeps people
healthy?’ rather than taking a risk approach, which would prioritise the question, ‘What makes people
ill?’ (Bengel, Strittmatter & Willmann, 1999). It also supports a critical approach to health education,
which aligns with the Health Promoting Schools Framework and its focus on students being aware
of the broader school community’s social, physical and economic factors, and how these affect the
resources available for them and others to access enhanced health. For example, instead of exclusively
asking questions related to the need for poor nutritional choices to be avoided because of the association
between poor nutritional consumption and increased calorie, fat and sugar intake and ill health, we
could also ask how being health-literate strengthens students’ abilities to participate and critically
engage in nutritional discussions and decisions that consider socio-ecological influences (i.e. access to
healthy food options compared with take-away foods, and the cost of these healthy foods compared with
that of take-away foods in the local community). In this way, understanding nutritional consumption is
beneficial for students’ knowledge and health in many more ways – psychologically, socially, culturally,
environmentally and economically – than merely as a protection against disease and illness. Importantly,
this approach does not exclude the addressing of risks or illnesses that influence health development.
Now widely taken up in Europe, and particularly in Scandinavia (see, e.g., Thorburn & Horrell, 2014), a
salutogenic, strengths-based model of health is consistent with Australia’s preventive health aspirations
and actions to reduce health inequalities (an example of the power and politics that are prevalent among
government bodies) and a futures-orientation for schooling (e.g. interdisciplinary, student-centred and
advocacy-oriented).
Anticipating how the strengths-based approach is likely to be enacted in schools in the wake of
the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education is not an easy task.
Given the traditional or historical approaches to health education, it needs to be acknowledged that
a refocus towards socio-critical pedagogies embedded in a whole-school approach is challenging.
What school leaders and teachers are likely to require as a result of such a shift are some guiding
principles or pedagogies, delivered through strategic and sustainable professional development and
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learning programs, resources and mentoring, that will perhaps minimise slippage between curriculum
and practice. That is to say, if school-based health education is to align with the Australian Curriculum,
it is necessary for teachers to be supported in multiple ways, and over an extended period of time.
Reflection
Think about your previous teaching experience placements and consider how you and others have
taught HPE (in the classroom only).
»» To what extent did you and others teach HPE using a risk-based focus? Can you provide
examples?
»» How would you change this teaching to represent a strengths-based approach?
QUALITY HEALTH EDUCATION
This section addresses the components that will help you to plan and teach quality health education
lessons for primary school-aged students. It starts broadly, by presenting research that has highlighted
effective pedagogies for enhancing student learning, and then narrows to outline strategies that are best
suited for teaching health content, particularly sensitive or difficult knowledge.
Guiding principles and pedagogies

The issue of whether specialist teachers, generalist teachers or external providers should teach HPE in
primary schools is still a contentious one. In general, state and territory departments will support the
notion that the generalist classroom teacher is the best person to teach all curriculum learning areas
to their students. Hence, in the primary-school setting, the generalist classroom teacher is the person
responsible for ensuring that quality HPE is implemented in their school and for their students. In light of
the previous sections in this chapter, the Health Promoting Schools Framework and its implementation
components are the first guiding principles to ensure that HPE is taught across the school setting. One
of the other major benefits of implementing the Health Promoting Schools Framework is that state- and
territory-based guidelines for time allocated to each of the compulsory learning areas can be somewhat
marginalising in some learning areas. HPE is generally allocated a similar amount of curriculum time as
Humanities and Social Sciences, the Arts, Technologies and Languages. The writers of the Australian
Curriculum designed the primary-school (and secondary-school) curriculum outcomes and subject
matter on the basis of there being 80 hours of teaching per year allocated to HPE (which equates
to approximately two hours’ teaching per week). To be able to deliver the HPE curriculum with only
two hours each week can be quite challenging for most primary-school teachers. First, this is because
these hours are not mandatory, but rather a suggested guideline. This allows principals and teachers
the flexibility to use the guidelines in accordance with the policies of their school, school system or
state- or territory-based authority. Second, the introduction of national testing (through the National
Assessment Program of Literacy and Numeracy, or NAPLAN) and school leaderboards has highlighted
the importance that Commonwealth and state and territory governments place on literacy and numeracy
knowledge and skills, rather than on the broader development of students. As more time is committed
to literacy and numeracy (or to other academic learning areas deemed to be ‘core’), time allocated to
HPE declines. Hence, it is important to acknowledge that learning health subject matter and attaining
HPE curriculum outcomes go beyond the classroom; these can be taught and reinforced through the
environment and ethos of the school, and through connections between the school and local community.
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Another overarching principle or guideline for quality health education in primary schools is the
evidence-informed Quality Teaching, Successful Students document, which is, at the time of publication,
being implemented in New South Wales public schools (this document is available to download online).
Although this relates only to teachers in New South Wales, the guidelines are appropriate for teachers
in other states/territories and school settings, since most of the evidence given for quality teaching
comes from Hattie’s (2009) broad research on student learning. This document presents information
in a way that is digestible for teachers by providing a series of guidelines to ensure quality teaching.
Previously, there was limited evidence demonstrating that the quality of teaching and of assessment
strategies put in place by teachers has a direct effect on student achievement and the quality of work
students produce. However, a perceived decline in the performance of Australian students, as suggested
by trends in international assessment data in recent years (e.g. the Programme for International Student
Assessment, or PISA), has attracted significant commentary and efforts to produce clear, reliable and
accessible evidence about what really works to enhance student outcomes in classrooms. The Centre
for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) and the New South Wales Department of Education
reviewed the evidence available in the research literature, focusing on pedagogies and effects on student
learning (CESE, 2014). As a result of this review, seven pedagogies were found to improve the learning
outcomes of all Australian students. These pedagogies focus on informing students of the learning
outcomes and what success looks like, allowing students to practise tasks that lead to success and
evaluate the extent to which they have achieved the outcomes. These seven pedagogies are presented –
with the caveat that they should not operate in isolation, and will often be implemented together or with
other pedagogies – in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1 The seven pedagogies for improving student learning and a description of these in practice
Pedagogy Description
1 High expectations Teachers encourage students to work hard and challenge them to do their best
work.
2 Explicit teaching Teachers decide the learning intentions and success criteria, make these available
(verbally and written) to students, demonstrate by modelling the task and criteria,
and evaluate whether students understand the task and criteria. Closing the task
would entail informing students of what they have just learnt.
3 Effective feedback Teachers give feedback to students about their process or effort – e.g. ‘You put in
a lot of work and effort; well done’ – and feedback that encourages students’ self-
regulation – e.g. ‘You already know the key features of the opening of an argument.
Check to see whether you have incorporated them into your first paragraph’. This
feedback has been shown to be the most effective for improving students learning.
4 Use of data to inform practice Teachers use and implement formative assessment data to adapt and inform their
teaching practice, and to drive improvement in student achievement outcomes.
5 Classroom management Teachers use proactive and reactive management strategies that engage students,
establish routines and classroom rules and consequences, reinforce positive
behaviour and relationship-building, and are implemented consistently.
6 Wellbeing Schools and teachers create a safe environment, ensure connectedness, engage
students in learning, and promote social and emotional learning and a whole-
school approach to improving aspects of wellbeing, and therefore student learning.
7 Collaboration Teachers open their classrooms, use external expertise and have a whole-school
approach to learning.
Adapted from Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (2014) What Works Best: Evidence Based Practices to Help Improve
NSW Student Performance. New South Wales Government Department of Education and Communities. http://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/
images/stories/PDF/what_works_best.pdf. Accessed 13 May 2016.
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It is important to highlight that the seven pedagogies shown in Table 5.1 are not confined to what
happens in classrooms. While they offer solid strategies for primary-school teachers to consider as part
of their individual repertoires, evidence suggests that they are more effective if they are implemented
as part of a whole-school approach to improving student learning (CESE, 2014). This sits perfectly
within the Health Promoting Schools Framework and with the teaching of HPE in primary schools.
In addition, these seven pedagogies are effective for meeting the learning needs of all students, because
presumptions and prejudices about the abilities of individual students or student groups are annulled.
The main reason for some students not being successful is that access to these effective pedagogies
is unevenly distributed (CESE, 2014). The Commonwealth Government’s focus on disadvantage, and
on giving every Australian the help they need to access the opportunities that society has to offer, affects,
among many other facets, the capacity of schools to meet the needs of their students (ASIB, 2012).
Framed as such, social inclusion is important, and is about equity, equality, fairness and social justice.
Thus, social inclusion is presented at a national level as a method for overcoming disadvantage and
exclusion, as well as a way of supporting individuals and communities to work their way to a better life
(ASIB, 2012). This has encouraged state and territory governments to create their own strategies and
initiatives, with the New South Wales Government producing (in March 2012) the ‘Every Student, Every
School’ strategy for public schools (see https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/about-us/how-
we-operate/national-partnerships-program/every-student-every-school/learning-and-support.pdf).
An example of social inclusion in practice as a result of this initiative is the funding and development
of programs designed to build the capabilities of teachers in personalised learning and support for
students with disabilities or learning or behaviour difficulties.
Another example of social inclusion in practice when teaching HPE is the inclusion of a critical-
inquiry approach. Students should explore and question current understandings, examine issues from a
range of perspectives and consider matters such as inclusiveness, power inequalities, taken-for-granted
assumptions, diversity and social justice, in order to develop and implement strategies to improve their
own and others’ health and wellbeing.
The overarching principles covered in this section thus far show that it is important to narrow our
focus to health education. Socially inclusive practices in health education concentrate on increasing
participation among all students, and on decreasing social exclusion. (This may change slightly as we
teach students the varied content in the broader HPE curriculum.) Teachers are likely to see students
excluding themselves, or being excluded, due to certain teaching practices being used when sensitive
or difficult content knowledge is being taught. This content generally includes – but is not limited
to – subject matter addressing sexuality, drugs, mental health, families and relationships, identity, and
child protection. It is important for students to feel safe and comfortable sharing their knowledge, skills,
thoughts, feelings, values and experiences with their peers (and their teacher) and to listen to others
as they share; otherwise, learning for all students will be limited (especially if these discussions and
learnings are not experienced elsewhere). We need to celebrate the diversity of opinions and the range
of views among students, which are developed through varied life experiences, family backgrounds, and
cultural and social beliefs, and to use these resources appropriately to enhance student learning. In order
to do this, classroom teachers are the best people to teach sensitive content, and they should be pushing
for this content to be taught regularly and effectively (in both health programs and individual units of
work). Research in primary schools has found that some teachers and schools steer away from teaching
sensitive or difficult content, especially sexuality education (Milton et al., 2001). But classroom teachers
should teach this sensitive content knowledge, since they have specific knowledge about their students’
backgrounds, needs and capabilities, and can provide rich learning experiences across units of work
as they coordinate sensitive or difficult content knowledge with other learning outcomes and content.
External organisations and providers cannot do this, but they can enhance existing and ongoing units
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of work. Teachers have reported a lack of satisfaction with training, resources and external support, and
therefore highlighted a need for greater curricular and policy support, as well as for professional learning
opportunities for teaching sensitive or difficult content knowledge. Despite these apprehensions, there
is evidence – and supportive resources developed by state and territory departments – suggesting a
number of pedagogies and strategies for teaching sensitive or difficult content knowledge effectively
and appropriately (e.g. Graetz et al., 2008; Ollis, Harrison & Maharaj, 2013). These pedagogies and
strategies, some of which are illustrated in Example 5.1, include the following:
1 Use policy and processes to design the teaching of programs and units of work that have sensitive
or difficult content knowledge embedded in them.
2 Consult and partner with the school community to ensure that community views are reflected
during the planning process. Including parents and carers builds strong partnerships. Consultation
and open communication with the school community and inviting parents and guardians into
the classroom to experience learning strategies also reduce the risk of misconceptions of the
purpose and the content of sensitive or difficult content knowledge. Parents can be informed via
information letters, newsletters and information sessions.
3 Set rules and expectations before teaching sensitive or difficult content knowledge. The aim of
doing so is to increase the comfort levels of students when dealing with potentially sensitive or
challenging issues. Students also develop a mutual understanding of what is expected of their own
behaviour and the behaviour of others. Rules and expectations can also minimise opportunities
for students to offer an opinion if they find issues personally confronting, and protects them from
making harmful disclosures.
A useful strategy, depending on the age of your students – it is appropriate for, say, Year 3
upwards – is to engage students in developing some of the ground rules. You may like to start with
some of the following:
a Listen to a range of ideas.
b Everyone has the right to speak and offer an opinion.
c Each person is responsible for their own behaviour.
It is important that, once these rules and expectations (and any others that you and your
students think are appropriate) are set, the teacher upholds these. They can do so by:
a reinforcing positive behaviours
b being consistent when dealing with students
c modelling expected behaviours (e.g. affirming diversity, active listening)
d avoiding the imposition of their own values, attitudes and morals when answering questions or
leading discussions.
4 Use the ‘one-step-removed’ strategy. This strategy is a way of allowing students to explore a range of
sensitive or difficult content without fear of ‘put-downs’. The ‘one-step-removed’ strategy suggests
that teachers use case studies, moral dilemmas or any other fictional storytelling techniques. It is
envisioned that this will deter students from talking in the first person in response to these tasks
and further class discussions. That is, instead of the direct, ‘What would you do if … ?’ approach,
teachers instead say something like, ‘After reading the story, what advice would you give to help
the person in this situation?’
5 Use ‘protective interrupting’, which suggests that teachers interrupt students who begin to disclose
harmful (personal) information. For example, a teacher might interrupt a student by saying,
‘This sounds like personal information. Why don’t we talk about it after class?’ After protectively
interrupting the student(s) from disclosure, it is important that the teacher guide the discussion
back to ‘one step removed’ (see point 4 above) and mention any rules or expectations that they
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and their students have put in place. If students disclose harmful personal information to you in
private after class, you will need to follow child-protection guidelines in order to keep you and your
students safe. (We will return to the concept of protective interrupting in Chapter 6.)
6 Close the lesson by debriefing students in a positive way. This step is critical when teaching
sensitive or difficult content knowledge. Discussions need to be summarised, and case studies
or moral dilemmas should be brought to some point of resolution. When planning lessons that
will cover sensitive or difficult content knowledge, it is imperative to complete the lesson with
an appropriate closure. When scenarios have been used, or if you have had students who have
expressed a strong point of view, the closure may need to include a debriefing (either collectively,
as a class, or individually at the conclusion of the lesson). Provide opportunities for the expression
of strong feelings, reflect on situations and issues in the context of students’ life experiences
(personally), and then return students to the present situation.
In addition to these pedagogies and strategies, a deep understanding of the content is crucial.
It is impossible for a teacher to have all the knowledge required to answer all questions accurately
and on the spot, so if you are asked a question that you cannot answer, inform students that you
will find more information and answer it in the next lesson. In addition, a sense of humour can help
to ease anxieties for both you and your students. Students respond quickly to teacher attitudes,
so try not to be fearful! Be confident (even if you are not feeling confident), because students will
notice this through both your verbal and non-verbal communication methods, and will likely feel
comfortable participating.
Example 5.1
DISCLOSURES AND MANDATORY REPORTING
Suppose that, despite your extensive planning, integration of other learning areas, embedment of the
pedagogies and strategies listed above, and extra reading to ensure you are up to date with the latest
information about drugs, a small group of Year 5 students discloses to you information about drug
abuse and neglect experienced by one of their classmates. They inform you of this after class, out of
earshot of other students. What do you do?
When teaching sensitive or difficult content knowledge, it is highly likely that students will
inform you of personal or ‘local’ information about their lives. If this occurs, use relevant school and
system policies that deal with sensitive issues and student welfare (in particular, child-protection
policies and procedures). This will ensure that you follow appropriate procedures to keep yourself
and your students safe.
Teachers are considered mandatory reporters. If a student discloses personal information that
alludes to abuse or neglect, or to involvement in an unsafe situation, you will need to inform the
student – and it is best to do so before they disclose the information – that you will need to pass this
information onto the responsible school staff member (in primary schools, this is usually the school
principal).
If a student or group of students informs you of possible abuse or neglect experienced by another
student, you are expected to collect as much as information about this as possible (so that you
have reasonable grounds to suspect risk of harm). This information can come either directly, from
the student concerned, or indirectly, from others in the school community who are connected to
the student’s school participation and work (this could include other teachers’ interactions with the
student, absenteeism, a change in attitude or behaviour, or changes in schoolwork). Once you have
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reasonable grounds to suspect risk, take the information you have gathered to the staff member
responsible for such matters. This person is then expected to report the situation to a wellbeing unit
and/or the state’s or territory’s department of community services.
There is a great deal of responsibility associated with teaching sensitive or difficult content
knowledge and being a mandatory reporter. (For more information about mandatory reporting,
see Chapter 6.) Make sure that you are aware of the appropriate school and system policies and
procedures before teaching such knowledge.
Another subject area in HPE, nutrition, has shown that there are effective pedagogies and strategies
that you can use to influence students’ learning outcomes. A meta-analysis of interventions that have
focused on improving the eating habits of primary-school children worldwide found that experiential
learning approaches (e.g. school or community gardens, cooking and food preparation activities) had
the greatest impact on reducing overall food consumption and energy intake, and on improving the
nutritional knowledge of primary-school children (Dudley, Cotton & Peralta, 2015). In this review, the
pedagogies that had a lesser impact on improving primary-school children’s nutritional knowledge were
curriculum integration (also known as cross-curricular approaches – i.e. nutrition education programs
that were embedded in two or more primary-school learning areas) and quality curriculum interventions
(i.e. speciality nutrition education programs that extend beyond existing health curricula delivered by
classroom teachers). However, both cross-curricular integration and quality curriculum interventions
were effective in improving primary-school children’s fruit and vegetable consumption. The following
‘Cross-curricular possibilities’ box encourages you to think about other ways to use cross-curricular
integration.
Using your curriculum documents, think of how you might plan a nutrition lesson (you choose the year
group) that embeds the quality evidence-based pedagogies and teaching strategies outlined in this
Cross-
chapter, and integrate this lesson with at least one other learning area.
curricular
possibilities
EVALUATING CURRENT HEALTH PROGRAMS
When evaluating the health programs that are currently in place, you need to follow five main steps,
as represented in Figure 5.6. These five steps house the frameworks and the guiding principles and
pedagogies that we have introduced in this chapter. We will detail these in the following sections.
Step one: Guiding frameworks and principles

The first step requires you to review the current health programs in place at your school. In order to
do this, the first question you would ask is whether the health programs are underpinned by a whole-
school approach that follows the Health Promoting Schools Framework and social inclusion principles.
A further consideration would be to ensure that the evidence-informed Quality Teaching, Successful
Students document (discussed earlier in this chapter) is being taken into account. With these approaches
in place, schools should provide an environment that is conducive for quality HPE learning for students
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1. Guiding frameworks
and principles
5. Evaluate
2. Needs analysis
and update
4. Units of work 3. Scope and

and lesson plans sequence
Figure 5.6
Evaluation cycle for
health programs
(along with the staff and the school community), and that respects student diversity, social justice and
health policies, curriculum and programs that are being implemented. In terms of curriculum, this
means that you will need to consider the following questions:
• Are health outcomes integrated with each other, and with the other learning area outcomes,
to form integrated units of work? For example, are health outcomes related to healthy eating
integrated with related outcomes in Science and Technology?
• Does your school have in place planned, sequential and progressive health programs which use the
health curriculum outcomes from Foundation to Year 6?
• Are classroom teachers teaching HPE programs, or are external providers responsible for this?
How can we ensure that classroom teachers are responsible and that external providers will
support program implementation?
• Do classroom teachers respect their students and their diverse backgrounds?
• Do the programs, units of work and lesson plans have pedagogies that are considered best-practice
(based on the evidence presented in this chapter and other research)?
• Are teachers offered opportunities to train or professionally develop to improve their confidence
and competence in teaching HPE?
When focusing on school organisation, ethos and environment, you will need to consider the
following questions:
• Are health-related school policies (e.g. a health-promoting schools policy, a sun-safety policy)
embedded in HPE programs, units of work and lesson plans?
• Are adequate facilities and resources allocated for teaching HPE (e.g. designated classrooms with
access to technology)?
• Are programs, school leadership, teachers, and pedagogies and strategies respectful of diversity
and based on social justice principles?
• Is there a caring ethos that underpins the social interactions that occur within the school (between
teachers and teachers, between teachers and students, and among students)?
• Are policies and practices in place to protect and enhance the welfare of staff members and
students?
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When focusing on partnerships and services, you will need to consider the following questions:
• Do local health services contribute to the education of teachers, parents and students? Do they
provide expert advice on current screening and immunisation issues? Do they support and provide
guidance in the development of HPE programs?
• Does the community have access to school facilities during after-school hours, providing
opportunities for the school and its external community to be healthy?
• Are partnerships and networks formed with health, welfare and local community agencies that
provide learning development opportunities for teachers and enhanced learning experiences for
students?
• Do all school community members have an opportunity to be involved in the development and
implementation of school health policies and health education programs?
As you answer these questions, you will realise that you are determining whether your school and
its health programs adopt a holistic approach to health education. By doing this, you will highlight
significant strengths and flaws. The strengths can be harnessed (and celebrated), but the flaws can be
worked through as you start to complete each of the evaluation steps. Now we will focus on the next
step, a needs analysis, to determine if the planning of health education at this level is appropriate.
Step two: Needs analysis

Teachers need to conduct a needs analysis before designing school-based programs. This entails
reviewing, researching, collaborating and assessing the specific needs of their learning community
before establishing a scope and sequence and school-based health programs.
Factors to consider when conducting a needs analysis include:
• current and emerging health-related issues at a local, national and global level
• the support of local, state, national and global health-promotion initiatives
• curriculum content and subject matter
• relevance and meaning for students based on their local context
• any sensitive knowledge for the community (e.g. whether drug education should be a priority due
to the local context or based on cultural contexts – i.e. some content may not be taught or may be
modified)
• historical considerations for the learning community
• the current school management plan
• the employment of generalist or specialist teachers
• student diversity
• current school goals for NAPLAN
• current mandatory policies
• the length and number of HPE lessons each week
• the length of school terms
• major school events
• cultural or traditional celebrations
• staffing, environmental and resource constraints
• the role of parents and volunteers
• existing community and teacher assets.
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There may be many more factors, depending on the context of your school. Conducting a needs
analysis should help you to move onto the next step in the evaluation process, scoping and sequencing.
Step three: Scope and sequence

Programming is the process of constructively aligning learning experiences (discussed in Chapter 2)
that cater for the diversity of student learning needs (as determined by a needs analysis) in a particular
year and/or band (i.e. two year groups). The process of programming is typically shared in schools, and
offers an opportunity for collaboration, learning-area integration (or cross-curricular opportunities),
professional reflection and evaluation. For learning-area integration, we need to identify opportunities
for applying, integrating, transferring and extending health understanding and skills to a range of
other learning areas, including English, Mathematics, History, Science and Technology, Geography
and the Arts. In addition, programs should provide the flexibility required to personalise learning;
build on each student’s needs, strengths and abilities; take into account the different rates at which
students develop; and ensure that all students have equivalent opportunities and choices in their
education. Comprehensive planning should consider students with disabilities, gifted and talented
students, students for whom English is an additional language or dialect, and same-sex attracted and
gender-diverse students.
To begin the programming process, it is important to base all programming on curricular outcomes
(including the curricula of other learning areas), and to include a variety of teaching, learning and
assessment strategies and resources to address the learning needs of all students. You may also need to
include differentiation for students with special educational needs. Specifically, teachers need to start
with a comprehensive and detailed scope and sequence document.
Elements of a ‘scope and sequence’ include a title for each unit of work, the sequence (or order)
of each unit for the year or band, the duration of each unit, curriculum outcomes that are included in
each unit (these are commonly represented by outcome codes) and additional information based on
common practice in learning areas (e.g. major sporting carnivals) or particular school requirements
(e.g. examinations).
Scope and sequence documents for each year group or band of learning need to be planned. They
may consider the following questions:
• How many units of work will be included, and how long will each unit be?
• What will be the sequence of units of work in each year?
• Will all units of work integrate both HPE strands?
• What sensitive or difficult knowledge has been embedded, and how will it be supported?
• Which units of work will be integrated with other learning areas?
• How will subject matter be mapped to enhance principles of social inclusion and justice?
• Is there sufficient time to address additional local content and needs? Can this be addressed
through community partnerships?
• What whole-school events need to be considered (e.g. school carnivals, cultural celebrations)?
• What external constraints will need to be accommodated (e.g. representative sporting calendars,
NAPLAN examinations)?
• How and when will a review of effectiveness be conducted to inform future planning?
Programming must begin with the scope and sequence document. If your school is missing such
a document, it is important that you and your colleagues develop one. Figure 5.7 shows a blank
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Years/band of learning: ___________
2017 Week: Year: Year: Other considerations

(e.g. other school requirements):
1
Term 1 2 Unit title: Unit title:
3 Outcome codes: Outcome codes:

4
Length of unit: Length of unit:
5
6
10 weeks Unit title: Unit title:
7
9
10
1

4
5
10 weeks 6
7 Unit title: Unit title:

9
10
1

4
5
6
10 weeks
9
10
1
3
Outcome codes: Outcome codes:
4
5 Length of unit: Length of unit:
10 weeks 6
8
Outcome codes: Outcome codes:
9
10 Length of unit: Length of unit:
Figure 5.7 Blank planner for a scope and sequence document

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planner that you can use as a basis for your own scope and sequence. If your school already has scope
and sequences in place but they currently do not match the needs analysis, you may need to review
and update the documents before reviewing or designing the units of work and lesson plans.
Step four: Units of work and lesson plans

Units of work are introduced by a unit overview, which includes:
• a unit description
• curricular outcomes (including other learning areas)
• the duration of the unit (including number of lessons)
• the band or year group targeted
• the range of relevant curriculum subject matter and content
• integrated teaching, learning and assessment activities
• resources required
• reflection and evaluation
• differentiation for students with special educational needs, where appropriate.
Unit overviews make explicit reference to the curriculum through outcomes, strands, key ideas,
learning contexts, general capabilities and cross-curricular priorities. This also includes the other learning
areas that may be integrated with the HPE unit of work. As the unit of study is developed, evidence of
student learning is represented by the assessment, both formative and summative, embedded within
it. This should be clearly articulated in the unit overview, and will inform assessment and reporting
decisions. See Figure 5.8 for an example of a blank planner for a unit overview.
Once the unit overview is complete, the unit of study incorporates all the lessons that are housed
within that unit overview. The lesson plans should show:
• curriculum links, including those relating to outcomes, general capabilities and cross-curricular
priorities
• a range of engaging and quality pedagogies and teaching and learning strategies that support
student diversity (as indicated by the needs analysis and quality pedagogies discussed earlier in
this chapter)
• other learning area integration
• differentiation opportunities, outlined in general terms and more specifically, as required (both
modification and extension activities)
• relevant resources, including physical equipment, human resources, print and online materials
• processes that support the assessment of and for learning outcomes
• an evaluative framework to review lesson-plan effectiveness and inform future planning.
See Figure 5.9 for a sample blank planner for a lesson plan.
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Unit title: Band/year:
Unit description: Unit length:
HPE strand(s): Key ideas: Contexts for learning:
General capabilities: Cross-curricular priorities: Cross-learning area integration:
Knowledge and understanding outcomes: Evidence of learning/assessment strategies:

The student:
Skills outcomes:
Values and attitudes outcomes:
Content descriptions and elaborations: Focus questions:
Teaching and learning activities/strategies: Resources:
Unit evaluation:
Figure 5.8 Blank planner for a unit overview

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Unit title: Band/year:
Lesson description: Lesson length:
Lesson sequence:
HPE strand(s): Key ideas: Contexts for learning:
General capabilities: Cross-curricular priorities: Cross-learning area integration:
Knowledge and understanding outcomes: Evidence of learning/assessment strategies:

The student:
Skills outcomes:
Values and attitudes outcomes:
Content descriptions and elaborations: Focus questions:
Timing/part: Teaching and learning activities/strategies: Resources:
Introduction:
Body:
Conclusion:
Lesson evaluation:
Figure 5.9 Blank planner for a lesson plan

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As you start to plan a HPE lesson (from a scope and sequence and the unit overview) and take into
account the above information, the same process that you follow for any other key learning area should
be applied. A good place to start is by asking four key questions to guide pedagogy, assessment and
reflection; namely:
1 What do I want students to learn (i.e. learning outcomes and intentions)? To answer this question,
you will need to consider the following sub-questions:
– What are the key concepts identified in the curriculum through outcomes and subject matter?
– How do key concepts relate to each other?
– What key skills and processes do students need to learn?
– How will I know when students have achieved the outcomes?
– What opportunities will I give students to challenge and question knowledge?
– How can I sustain communication about the key concepts of the lesson with students?
– Are there any difficult concepts embedded in the lesson?
2 Why does the learning matter? To answer this question, you will need to consider the following sub-
questions:
– In what ways is the learning central to the topic?
– Does the learning have meaning in the students’ world beyond the classroom or learning
environment?
– How does the learning link to prior learning and students’ background and cultural knowledge?
– How can this lesson demonstrate links between and with other learning areas?
3 What do I want students to do or produce? To answer this question, you will need to consider the
following sub-questions:
– How will students demonstrate their deep understanding of key concepts?
– Does assessment have clear and direct links with curriculum outcomes and subject matter?
– Is assessment tied to key concepts?
– Which products or performances will be most meaningful to students?
– Are the assessment guidelines and success criteria clear to students?
– Do we affirm diversity in the responses of individual students by relating issues to students’
lifestyles and providing the opportunity for visiting speakers/presenters (i.e. community
participation)?
4 How well do I expect students to do it? To answer this question, you will need to consider the
following sub-questions:
– How are high expectations for student performance communicated?
– How do I establish and create a safe and supportive classroom environment?
– How will students know what a quality product or performance looks like?
– How will students know when they have achieved the outcomes?
– Is the work challenging for all students?
– Have we embedded differentiation strategies to meet the needs of all students?
– Are we encouraging students to research additional information and various opinions and
perspectives on an issue?
– Are we encouraging alternative solutions to problem solving?
– Are the available resources appropriate and accessible?
Once you have sketched your lesson by answering the above four questions, you will need to decide
how you will start the lesson (i.e. the introduction – otherwise known as ‘the hook’ – to entice students);
how you will introduce new subject matter and build upon students’ understanding, knowledge, skills
and values through critical inquiry, learning area integration (i.e. cross-curricular links) and practical
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application (i.e. the body of the lesson); and how you will conclude or summarise learning and lead
into the next lesson (i.e. the conclusion). We understand that this planning process may be limited
by everyday challenges (some of which are described in the ‘Teaching practice’ box below), but it is
important to plan thoroughly for quality HPE.
Finding opportunities to teach HPE

Thus far in this chapter we have strongly encouraged you to develop and implement health programs, Teaching
units of work and lessons that are directed by the HPE curriculum and integrated with other learning practice
areas. We are also aware that your experiences of teaching HPE on professional experience placements
may be somewhat limited, and that, therefore, what you have observed may show only glimpses of what
we are asking you to do.
If so, you are not alone in thinking this. As part of research conducted at a large metropolitan
university in New South Wales (Nguyen & Peralta, under review), a small number of primary generalist
pre-service teachers were interviewed after completing their final professional experience placement.
Most interviewees were disappointed that they had had only limited opportunities to teach health
(and physical education) throughout their university degrees, and their experiences and observations
showed that HPE was marginalised and not often integrated with other learning areas. Some of their
stories follow:
Based on NAPLAN and other things, literacy and numeracy are seen as the two main subjects. All the other
subjects, like Art, Drama, Music, HSIE and Science, often try to integrate and attach themselves to English or
Maths so that they can get more class time. There’s no reason you wouldn’t be able to do that for HPE, I just
don’t think it’s done very much because it’s often seen as a completely separate entity.
Tony, Master of Primary Teaching pre-service teacher (Nguyen & Peralta, under review)
Time is probably the biggest challenge … ‘No, Maths is more important, we need to dedicate more time to
Maths’ is what we often hear. You’d have to get other teachers to agree with you so you’re covering all of the
health content. If there’s a school that really values health, sports and fitness, then it would be possible to do
it well, but at most schools they just don’t value it.
Mary, Bachelor of Primary Teaching pre-service teacher (Nguyen & Peralta, under review)
Because HPE concentrates on the development of the whole student, it is important that we balance
our time and commitment across the range of learning areas, as well as ensure that we use the
allocated time for teaching health appropriately. As we are aware of the time restrictions and the focus
on literacy and numeracy in primary-school settings, this chapter has provided information, frameworks,
pedagogies and practices (or the ‘know-how’) to use a whole-school approach to teaching HPE in
primary schools, using the curriculum to integrate HPE outcomes with outcomes from other learning
areas. We would strongly encourage you to practice these strategies when you are on professional
experience placement. Practice will give you the confidence and competence to make positive changes in
this area well after you graduate from university.
Step five: Evaluate and update

Health-program evaluation is an ongoing, cyclic process. It is best if the evaluation is completed at the
individual-teacher reflective level, as well as at the band-group level, because the information collected
will then represent a clear picture of how effective the health program was for all students. Information
for use in evaluation may be gathered through student assessment; teachers’ reflections on their teaching
practices; written records, such as questionnaires, logs and diaries; submissions or records of meetings;
and discussion with general staff members, teaching staff members (including support staff), parents
and carers, and other community members. Teachers need to gather, organise and interpret information
in order to make judgements about the effectiveness and appropriateness of pedagogies, assessment
strategies, community engagement strategies, resources and staff development programs.
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The following questions may assist in ensuring that the information sought is relevant to the
evaluation:
• How did planning, programming and teaching contribute to student achievement of health
outcomes?
• Were the special needs of individual students catered for?
• Was adequate time allocated for the program/units of work and sequences of health units?
• How did students respond to the resources selected? Did the resources cater for the diversity of
your student body?
• Which pedagogies and learning experiences generated the most student interest and enjoyment?
• To what extent did assessment strategies and evidence of student learning show that students were
working towards and attaining health outcomes?
FINDING RESOURCES AND NEW SOURCES OF INFORMATION
One area of programming that has been mentioned, but not detailed, in the discussion of the evaluation
cycle above, is that of resources. Resources are important for supporting teachers in delivering quality
pedagogies that will engage students in learning experiences and enhance their ability to attain learning
outcomes. This is especially true if you are feeling underprepared, or if you have perceived or actual
low levels of knowledge, self-efficacy and skills to effectively deliver health education. Resources can
include a range of human and/or physical resources, and are often listed in the unit overview and
individual lesson plans. Obviously, it is imperative for the teacher to ensure that the relevant resources
are available, appropriate and accessible for students throughout each lesson. For example, resources
can include equipment, facilities, texts, technology, teacher aides, guest speakers or external personnel,
and parent volunteers. We often forget that the most important resources are those developed by external
groups or state or territory departments. These are accessible to support teachers in enhancing their
own knowledge of the subject matter, and inform teachers of the pedagogies and learning experiences
that have been found to enhance student learning of the subject matter. They may come in the form of
websites where the appropriate information is available, in the form of teaching kits, or both. When we
focus on HPE, many resources are available for primary-school settings and students. Table 5.2 provides
a snapshot of these.
Do not be surprised if you are feeling overwhelmed after looking at the range of resources available
for teaching HPE, especially since Table 5.2 notes just some of them. To overcome those feelings, it is
best to focus on the gaps or flaws that were highlighted in your needs analysis of your HPE programs.
Can these gaps or flaws be overcome by the use of one or more of the resources listed in Table 5.2?
Or are some of the resources in the table more current than the ones your HPE programs are using?
This last question is an important consideration. Resources should be continuously updated to ensure
that information is age- or band-appropriate, current and correct (as we know, HPE information is
constantly changing as more research comes to light). These topics will be explored further in the next
section. But how do you find new resources? The best way to stay abreast of current and new resources
is to keep an eye on your state’s or territory’s department websites, and to check the resources that you
currently use and their relevant websites to see if the information they provide is current and if there
are any updates to links (i.e. to other sites). You could also join the social-media networks of local, state,
national and (perhaps) international universities, professional learning organisations that focus on the
teaching of health, and other health organisations for the latest health updates and resources.
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Table 5.2 Online resources to support the teaching of HPE
Mental health Safety
MindMatters: http://www.mindmatters.edu.au Kidsafe: http://www.kidsafe.com.au/

ReachOut: http://au.reachout.com Sun safety: http://www.sunsmart.com.au/)
Bullying No Way!: http://www.bullyingnoway.gov.au/ Road safety (each state will have its own website; e.g.
Headspace: http://headspace.org.au/ http://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/)
Beyond Blue: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/ Water safety: http://www.royallifesaving.com.au/
Kids Helpline: https://kidshelpline.com.au/
Cybersmart: https://www.esafety.gov.au/
General health Child protection
Kids Health: http://kidshealth.com.au/ New South Wales Government Family and Community
Raising Children: http://raisingchildren.net.au/ Services: http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/for-
agencies-that-work-with-us/child-protection-services
Drug education Puberty and sexuality
Positive Choices: https://positivechoices.org.au/ Family Planning: http://www.fpnsw.org.au/

Life Education: http://www.lifeeducation.org.au/ The Hormone Factory: http://www.thehormonefactory.
Smarter Than Smoking: http://www.smarterthansmoking. com/?flashOK=1
org.au/for-schools/ Sexuality Education Matters: http://www.deakin.edu.au/__
data/assets/pdf_file/0004/252661/sexuality-education-
matters-april-2013-online.pdf.
Nutrition Identity
Dietary guidelines for Australians: https://www.nhmrc.gov. Butterfly Foundation: http://thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/

au/guidelines-publications/n29-n30-n31-n32-n33-n34 Completely Gorgeous: http://completelygorgeous.com.au/
National Healthy School Canteens: http://www.health.gov. Adios Barbie: http://www.adiosbarbie.com/
au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/phd-nutrition-
canteens
Nutrition Australia: http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/
For example, recent research has been conducted focusing on nutrition, primary schools’ curricula and
student learning. One part of this research examined the quality of resources available for primary-school
teachers to teach nutrition. The study found that – although other research suggests that a whole-school
approach that features curriculum, school environment and community engagement strategies is the
most appropriate and effective method for encouraging healthy eating among primary-school children –
resources that have been developed to aid this have often included only two of the evidence-based
quality strategies; namely: (1) curriculum approaches and (2) parental involvement (Peralta, Dudley &
Cotton, 2016). This means that resources are less likely to embed learning area integration (i.e. cross-
curricular links) and experiential learning approaches, which in turn means that, although resources are
available for teaching HPE in primary schools, we need to be able to determine which of them are of
high quality.
Select three of the online resources listed in Table 5.2. Locate how these resources can be linked to the
HPE curriculum and used to teach the subject matter and content. Once you have determined this, for
Cross-
each resource and health curriculum link, find at least one other learning area that can be integrated
curricular
with it. possibilities
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Quality resources
How do you know which resources are appropriate, current and correct? Ask the following
questions to determine whether HPE resources are of high quality (i.e. appropriate, current and
correct):
1 Are the resources funded or produced by the Commonwealth or state and territory governments
(i.e. sites that end with ‘.gov.au’)? Although some teachers might be critical of the information
presented in such resources, because it may contain bias based on the political climate at a
particular point in time, the information needs to be relatively objective, current and correct (and
based on evidence) in order to be endorsed. To double-check the currency of the information,
check when the site or resource was last updated (at the bottom of the homepage).
2 Are the resources produced and supported by educational sites, such as universities and education
departments (i.e. sites that end with ‘.edu.au’)? If so, the information will be tailored to the
curriculum and for teachers, which will mean that, by using it, you will not only be meeting the
specific requirements of your nation, state or territory (in terms of advice, policies and frameworks)
but may also be accessing programming ideas and quality pedagogical approaches. Again, check
for currency by verifying when the information was last updated.
3 Are the resources produced by a reputable organisation (i.e. sites that end with ‘.org.au’ or
‘.gov’)? If an organisation is reputable, it will likely be funded by the Commonwealth or state and
territory governments and/or supported by state and territory departments (this is usually noted
on the homepage or an ‘About us’ page), and will state that the information presented is valid,
reliable and derived from evidence (either from the organisation’s own research or from others
who have conducted the research). These sites may or may not have an education/teachers/
schools page, which means you may need to utilise the site for your own knowledge or to adapt
information for the classroom. Again, check for currency by reviewing when the information was
last updated.
4 Are the resources produced and based on Australian data, statistics, schools and curriculum (i.e.
sites that end in ‘.au’)? If not, there should be a similar site with an Australian focus, so keep
searching – and while doing so, check who the editor(s)/author(s) are, as this will indicate whether
the data are accurate and current. Try not to adapt resources from other nations, since they may
not present information that is accurate for the Australian context and for Australian schools and
curricula. If you do find overseas resources, as mentioned above, there should be a similar site
that is Australian-focused. Again, check for currency by looking at when the information was last
updated; statistics, promotion and prevention efforts change often.
5 To what extent do the resources embed the quality pedagogies, strategies and learning
experiences that have been shown to increase students’ attainment of outcomes? First, check
those resources with an education or schools page to see whether the seven quality pedagogies
described earlier in this chapter – high expectations, explicit teaching strategies, effective
feedback, use of assessment data to inform practice, classroom management strategies,
wellbeing focus and collaboration – are embedded in the resources that these sites produce.
Specific pedagogies that demonstrate quality practice for teaching HPE are also visible in many
resources – e.g. resources that utilise the Health Promoting Schools Framework, ‘One step
removed’, protective interrupting and debriefing strategies, experiential strategies and cross-
curricular integration.
If a resource has ‘ticked all the boxes’ as you moved through the five steps above, then it is a
quality resource that should be used to bolster or strengthen your HPE programs. You can make use
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of these resources as little or as much as you like – it is up to you and your colleagues’ imaginations
to determine the extent to which you use them – except for external providers or guest speakers.
Remember that you, the classroom teacher, are the best person to teach your students the HPE
curriculum.
When determining the quality of resources, you may want to ask additional questions about inclusivity
(using the key principles of diversity and social justice). This will mean that you are aware of
equity perspectives (through taking the perspective of marginalised groups in our society such as Tips for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, multicultural, gender-diverse, socioeconomically inclusive
disadvantaged people, people with disabilities, and rural and isolated people) when deciding which
practice
resource to use.
Does the resource:
▻▻ value a range of knowledge and skills?
▻▻ privilege particular population groups over others because of the knowledge, skills and values
promoted?
▻▻ cement societal stereotypes or homogenous understandings that are associated with certain
population groups?
▻▻ allow for students and teachers to challenge the norm and alter inequalities in practical ways?
▻▻ provide multiple entry points, and extension and modification activities?
Technology-related issues
Scholars of the future of schools and schooling predict that in years to come, the priority for schooling
will be teaching students to learn ‘how and where to access knowledge and how to handle it’ as a
lifelong skill, as well as equipping students to be producers of new knowledge (Beare, 2001: 157).
Ever-changing communication technologies and social media will dominate pedagogies, and schools
will need to teach children and young people how to effectively and safely navigate the digital world
(Watkins, 2009). A Mission Australia survey (2011) found that the proportion of young people
identifying the Internet as their top source of advice increased from 1 in 10 in 2002 to 1 in 5 in 2011.
In education more generally – and, perhaps, HPE more particularly – teachers’ work will be that
of a ‘knowledge broker’, guiding students through individualised learning, appraising resources and
directing students to learning partners and partnerships (Beare, 2001).
The disintegration of conventional schooling and the boundary-less resources available have generated
a scenario in which students can navigate resources more freely and independently seek learning
partners to assist their HPE learning. With increased exposure to technology and different mediums
for communication, collaboration and sharing information, safety and security remain priorities. How
can we, as teachers, ensure students’ safety while they are navigating resources to support and enhance
their own learning?
The Australian Curriculum has identified a comprehensive set of knowledge, skills and dispositions
(otherwise known as general capabilities) that will assist students to live and work successfully in the
21st century. One of the seven identified capabilities is the use of information and communication
technologies (ICTs). Integrating ICTs in HPE goes beyond using interactive whiteboards, blogs, wikis,
cameras, tablets, GPS, social networking and pedometers; it should also include cyber-safety (a topic
that is housed within the HPE curriculum, but should also be addressed in other learning areas).
This is particularly important for primary-school students, since they may be unaware of the impact
of posting personal information online, and that whatever they post online can be accessed across a
lifetime.
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A range of websites feature teaching and learning resources to support learning about cyber-
safety and digital citizenship in primary schools. The first is Cybersmart, a national cyber-safety
and cyber-security education program managed by the Australian Communications and Media
Authority (ACMA) (see http://www.amta.org.au/pages/Cybersmart). This site has nine primary-
school resources, which are usually based on a series of fun interactive games designed to reinforce
key cyber-safety messages. It also provides opportunities for schools and students to remove bullying
or inappropriate comments from online platforms. Your relevant state or territory departments will
also have information and resources related to cyber-safety (e.g. the NSW Department of Education
and Communities resource offers a section on digital citizenship and cyber security for primary-
school settings – see http://www.digitalcitizenship.nsw.edu.au/ and http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.
au/lrrSecure/Sites/LRRView/11565/), which may be more appropriate for use in the classroom
(because it is curriculum-based and gives access to programs and lesson plans). In addition to using
these resources, it is imperative that you embed the seven quality pedagogies and the HPE-specific
quality pedagogies and strategies whenever you design lessons that embed ICTs. In short, you
must comply with related ICT system and school policies and processes, which include following
cyber-safety guidelines; reviewing programs, units of work, lesson plans and online resources
before implementing programs, units of work and lessons; explicitly discussing and listing rules,
expectations and instructions that follow cyber-safety guidelines; and setting parameters in relation
to what online resources, sites and partners students can visit (as well as any time limits) when
researching or locating information. This should lead to safe and secure use of ICTs and online
resources for both you and your students.
Reflection
Think about your previous professional experience placements and consider how systems,
schools, teachers and students have addressed the use of ICTs as a pedagogical tool in a safe and
secure learning environment.
»» What strategies did this system, school, teacher and students have in place?
»» Are there any other strategies, based on your research and reading of the websites listed in
the previous section, that would strengthen the use of ICT and the teaching of cyber-safety in
primary schools?
Summary
• Health education plays an important role in Australian primary schools. However, health education is
unlike any other learning area in the primary-school curriculum, because its objectives are to produce
changes in students’ behaviours.
• Most of the time, health and health content is dynamic and fluid; therefore, there may be no specific
answers or ‘right’ way of being healthy. This makes planning and teaching health education complex for
primary-school teachers. The health-promoting schools model provides an ideal starting framework to
help you to overcome these complexities and challenges.
• The health-promoting school enhances health not only through classroom, learning and teaching
interactions but also throughout the school day, in the broader school environment and in the
playground, and for all school stakeholders.
• The Health Promoting Schools Framework uses eight evidence-based strategies. Once these are
implemented, the next step is to focus on planning for teaching health.
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• There are seven guiding principles and pedagogies for teaching based on Hattie’s (2009) research. As
we narrow our focus to teaching quality health education, we can add a number of other overarching
principles and pedagogies relating to teaching sensitive and difficult knowledge, social justice principles
and being able to integrate health subject matter with other learning areas.
• Knowing and using these evidence-based principles and pedagogies is only the beginning, so having a
deep understanding of health subject matter and being aware that it changes regularly will keep you
feeling confident and competent.
• The next step in the process is to determine whether current school health programs embed
the relevant evidence-based guiding principles and pedagogies, and whether these are current,
appropriate and supportive of student learning. To do this, you need to complete the evaluation cycle
on a yearly basis.
• In order to determine the appropriateness, currency and accuracy of resources, read through and
respond to the five questions discussed in this chapter. To increase the use of their resources, most
schools will map their resources to the curriculum.
• Technology is one available resource; however, there are a number of technology-related issues that
need to be addressed if it is to be used, including cyber-safety and digital citizenship.
Review questions
1 How has health education changed in recent years?
2 What do you predict will be future of health education in Australian primary schools?
3 Which of the three foci of the Health Promoting Schools Framework do you think will be the most
challenging to implement, and why?
4 What do you foresee to be the challenges for pre-service generalist classroom teachers when teaching
HPE:
a on professional experience placements?
b upon graduation?
5. If you were to design two items – (i) an HPE unit of work; and (ii) a resource for teaching drug education
in primary schools – which area would you focus on, and what would the resources look like?
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
This site provides up-to-date information on the Australian Curriculum and decisions made in regard to each
of the learning areas. However, check your own state or territory department for more specific information
about progress towards implementation in the schools in your state or territory.
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• Australian Health Promotion Association

http://www.healthpromotion.org.au/
The AHPA outlines the Australian context for designing, implementing and evaluating the health-promoting
schools model in both primary and secondary schools.
• New South Wales Department of Education and Communities (2015). Teaching Healthy Eating to
Primary School Students: A Review of Evidence and Best Practice.
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/schoolsweb/studentsupport/studenthealth/
conditions/childoverwtobes/Healthy_Eating_Review_Report.pdf
This report of the review conducted by Dudley, Peralta, Cotton & Baxter (2015) offers evidence-based
strategies for teaching nutrition in primary schools and considers the quality of current resources in
supporting this teaching.
References
Antonovsky, A (1996) ‘The salutogenic model as a theory to Graetz, B, Littlefield, L, Trinder, M et al. (2008) ‘KidsMatter:
guide health promotion’. Health Promotion International, A population health model to support student mental health
11(1), 11–18. and well-being in primary schools’. International Journal of
Australian Social Inclusion Board (2012) ‘Social inclusion in Mental Health Promotion, 10 (4), 13–20.
Australia: How Australia is faring’.http://apo.org.au/resource/ Hattie, J (2009) Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over
social-inclusion-australia-how-australia-faring-2nd-edition. 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London:
Accessed 13 May 2016. Routledge.
Baum, F (2008) The New Public Health. Melbourne: Oxford Linley, PA Joseph, S Harrington, S & Wood, AM (2006)
University Press. ‘Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future’.
Beare, H (2001) Creating the Future School. London: The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(1), 3–16.
Routledge Falmer. Lister-Sharp, D, Chapman, S, Stewart Brown, S & Sowden,
Bengel, J, Strittmatter, R & Willmann, H (1999) What Keeps A (1999) ‘Health promoting schools and health promotion
People Healthy? The Current State of Discussion and the in schools: Two systematic reviews’. Health Technology
Relevance of Antonovsky’s Salutogenic Model of Health. Assessment, 3(1): 207–17.
Cologne: FederalCentre for Health Education. McCuaig, L, Coore, S & Hay, PJ (2012) ‘Reducing
Busch, V, De Leeuw, JRJ, Zuithoff, NP, Van Yperen, TA & dissonance along health-education fault lines: Health-
Schrijvers, AJP (2015) ‘A controlled health promoting literacy and the case for efficacious assessment’. Asia-
school study in the Netherlands: Effects after 1 and 2 Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education,
years of intervention’. Health Promotion Practice, 16(4), 3(1), 3–15.
592–600. Milton, J, Berne, L, Peppard, J, Patton, W, Hunt, L &
Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (2014) What Wright, S (2001) ‘Teaching sexuality education in high
Works Best: Evidence Based Practices to Help Improve NSW schools: What qualities do Australian teachers value?’
Student Performance. New South Wales Government Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, 1(2),
Department of Education and Communities. http://www. 175–86.
cese.nsw.gov.au/images/stories/PDF/what_works_best.pdf. Mission Australia (2011) Insights into the Concerns of Young
Accessed 13 May 2016. Australians: Making Sense of the Numbers. Sydney: Mission
Dudley, DA, Cotton, WG & Peralta, LR (2015) ‘Teaching Australia.
approaches and strategies that promote healthy eating in Nguyen, H & Peralta, LR (under review) ‘Learning to teach
primary school children: A systematic review and meta- Health and Physical Education in professional experience
analysis’. International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and placements: Voices from Australian preservice generalist
Physical Activity, 12(1), 28–38. primary teachers’. Submitted to Teaching in Higher
Evans, J & Davies, B (2004) ‘Sociology, the body and health Education, September, 2016.
is a risk society’, in J Evans, B Davies & J Wright (eds) Nutbeam, D (2000) ‘Health literacy as a public health goal:
Body Knowledge and Control Studies in the Sociology A challenge for contemporary Health Education and
of Physical Education and Health. London: Routledge, communication strategies into the 21st century’. Health
35–41. Promotion International, 15(3), 259–67.
Gard, M & Wright, J (2001) ‘Managing uncertainty: Obesity Ollis, D, Harrison, L & Maharaj, C (2013) Sexuality Education
discourses and physical education in a risk society’. Studies matters: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Teach Sexuality
in Philosophy and Education, 20(6), 535–49. Education. Burwood, VIC: Deakin University. http://www.
Gardner, B & Ollis, D (2015) ‘“Change in schools: It’s more deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/252661/sexuality-
like sort of turning an oil tanker”: Creating readiness for education-matters-april-2013-online.pdf. Accessed 13 May
health promoting schools’. Health Education, 115(3), 2016.
377–91. Peralta, LR, Dudley, DA & Cotton, WG (2016) ‘Teaching
Grundy, S & Bonser, S (1997) ‘National initiatives and primary healthy eating to elementary school students: A scoping
schooling’, in L Logan and J Sachs (eds) Meeting the review of nutrition education resources’. Journal of School
Challenges of Primary Schooling. London: Routledge. Health, 86(5), 334–45.
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Rowling, L & Jeffreys, V (2006) ‘Capturing complexity: Thorburn, M & Horrell, A (2014) ‘Grand designs! Analysing the
Integrating health and education research to inform health- conceptual tensions associated with new physical education
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Research, Theory and Practice, 25(5), 705–16. Society, 19(5), 621–36.
Samdal, O & Rowling, L (2011) ‘Theoretical and empirical Watkins, SC (2009) The Young and the Digital. Boston: Beacon
base for implementation components of health-promoting Press.
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Stewart-Brown, S (2006) ’What is the evidence on school A Healthy Setting for Living, Learning and Working. Geneva:
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St Leger, LS & Nutbeam, D (2000) ‘A model for mapping World Health Organization (2016) ‘School and youth health’.
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school health’. Journal of School Health, 70(2), 45–50. 13 May 2016.
6
Exploring identity,
help-seeking behaviour
and decision making
1 explore the diversity of identities and the impacts of
changes and transitions throughout life
2 develop an understanding of current, local and timely
help-seeking behaviours that teachers are able to teach
students
3 explore health situations where decisions need to be made
and consequences identified.
Overview
In this chapter, you will be asked to think
about your values and views on diversity of
identities, changes and transitions throughout
life, which will affect how you approach the
subject of HPE. Help-seeking behaviours that
your students need to be skilled in accessing
will be described. Enabling your students
to experience situations with which they
may not be familiar will help them develop
decision-making skills in a health context, and
this is important to their future life choices.
This chapter will take a slightly
different format by focusing on the HPE
curriculum’s ‘Being healthy, safe and active’
sub-strand, giving examples of how to
support this approach. As you work through
the chapter, consider how you could assess
this sub-strand in creative ways.
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SUB-STRAND 1: BEING HEALTHY, SAFE AND ACTIVE
Health education, one of the two components of HPE, is a very interesting subject area to teach. Its
most important aspect is that it is relevant to your students for the whole of their lives. It is similar to
literacy in that students will use skills learnt in HPE every day when they make choices for their own
and others’ health and wellbeing. It is acknowledged that not everyone feels confident teaching health.
It can bring into play past knowledge, understandings and skills that are personal, and which teachers
may or may not want to revisit.
Health education is an integral part of the Australian Curriculum because it develops students’
knowledge, understandings and skills of a wide range of important topics that they face in their
day-to-day lives. The curriculum in Australia has always promoted students’ ability to access further
information when required, and in the contemporary world of readily accessible – and not always
reliable – information, this skill is required to an even greater extent. In our time-poor curriculum,
health education is sometimes taken out to provide more time for the three R’s (Reading, wRiting and
aRithmetic), which are often seen as being more important. This chapter and chapters 7 and 8 will
highlight the significance of health education and give you some ideas of how to integrate these across
the curriculum.
The first sub-strand in the Australian Curriculum strand area of HPE is ‘Being healthy safe and
active’; it is described as follows:
The content focuses on supporting students to make decisions about their own health,
safety and wellbeing. It develops the knowledge, understanding and skills to support
students to be resilient. It enables them to access and understand health information and
empowers them to make healthy, safe and active choices. In addition, the content explores
personal identities and emotions, and the contextual factors that influence students’
health, safety and wellbeing.
ACARA, 2012
We will unpack this sub-strand in the following sections.
Safe and supportive learning environments

Being safe at school is important for everyone in the school community. For you, as a teacher, this
includes knowing your state’s or territory’s structures – its policies, programs, procedures, and so on.
These are in place to keep everybody safe, not just students. It will give you peace of mind to know that
you are working within the rules and laws regarding education. Once boundaries are set, everyone can
get on with their jobs. Your classroom is your own environment (unless you are team-teaching), and you
have to set it up to be safe and supportive for you, your students and any visitors that enter it.
SCHOOL STRUCTURES
The school environment is also set up to keep you safe and supported. Policies and procedures have
been developed to allow you to work safely within the school setting. It is imperative that you know these
policies and how to access them in your school. Each state and territory will have its own names for
these, but they are similar across the country. They relate to topics that include, but are not limited to:
• student wellbeing • anti-bullying
• student engagement • drug education
• attendance • nutrition
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C H A P T E R 6 E x p lo r i n g i d e n t i t y, h e l p - s ee k i n g b e h av i o u r a n d d e c i s i o n m a k i n g
• online behaviour • mental health

• mandatory reporting • traffic safety
• anaphylaxis • being ‘sun-smart’
• students with disabilities • respectful relationships.
• nutrition
Policies regarding these topics are provided to keep the entire school community safe and healthy.
Example 6.1
KNOWING YOUR OWN STATE OR TERRITORY POLICIES
The policies set by state and territory governments exist to provide a safe and supportive environment
for everyone who accesses a school. They set guidelines for you to work within. If you are aware of
these, you will always know where to go if you have questions or are unsure of procedures to follow
within your school. Every school is tasked with making policies that are appropriate to their specific
school environment. The following activity will help you to familiarise yourself with your state or
territory policies.
Activity
You have a student in your class who is missing almost three full days a week, and he is late for school
nearly every day that he does turn up. You have filled in the roll and advised the assistant principal
of the situation. What can the school do to improve the attendance of this student? Go to your
state’s or territory’s education department website, review the following policies, and then answer
the questions below:
• Student wellbeing policy
• Student attendance policy
• Student engagement policy.
Questions
1 What do these policies say about a student being away from school?
2 Is it the teacher’s role to ensure that students are at school?
3 How will these policies help you to engage your students in your classroom and the school
community?
It is important that you know what the policies say and how they are implemented in your
school. This helps to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the whole school
community (i.e. teachers and other staff members, students, parents and carers and members of
the wider community). Policies are in place for most topics related to HPE, and you will need to
familiarise yourself with these.
YOUR CLASSROOM
How do you learn? What makes things easier for you? Consider the range of needs that you will be
faced with in a single classroom. How do we cater, as best we can, for all of these needs? We need to
support the physical, emotional and social needs of each of our students in the classroom environment.
In the area of health education, we will have a very real range of knowledge, skills and experience. Take
puberty, for example; in any Year 5 class, there will be some students who have entered puberty and
some who have not. So, pitching your classes at all students, you may find some who know all about
this topic, some who are very eager to listen and learn about it, and others who are ‘turned off ’ by it.
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Accounting for these differences, whatever learning area you are teaching, relies on your providing a
safe and supportive environment where each student is respected and can progress at their own pace.
Building relationships
The most important aspect of a safe and supportive classroom is you, as a teacher, building relationships
with your students. Students need to know that you understand them and are interested in helping them
to learn. Getting to know your students is a key part of the first few weeks of the school year – but it
certainly does not stop there, because we are continuously growing and developing. We should continue
this relationship-building for the full duration of students’ time in the school. This process lends itself
to meeting the emotional needs of each of our students – without knowing our students, how can we
know what they need? Finding out more about each student’s strengths, weaknesses, culture, religion,
abilities, interests, values, lifestyles, wants and needs, along with ways to challenge them, goes a long
way in helping them to feel like valued members of the classroom community. Examples of this include
having a child who already plays a certain sport assist in teaching that sport’s skills in physical education,
or allowing a child who has a deep knowledge of a subject showcase this in the classroom.
Figure 6.1
Showcase students’
strengths
Shutterstock.com/alexkatkov
Creating a safe and supportive environment is essential, whether you are a classroom teacher or a
specialist.
Cross-
In HPE, you need to ensure the physical safety of both the students and the environment. You also
curricular
possibilities need to be aware of social safety, since in this learning area, students have to put themselves ‘on display’,
which can sometimes lead to teasing by other students if an individual’s skills are not ‘up to standard’.
Safety is paramount in other learning areas, too. In the Art room, for example, physical safety is
also a significant concern. In addition, some Art teachers confess that when their students are engaged
in creative activities, they are often more likely to talk about what is going on in their lives. This can
significantly assist building quality relationships with your students.
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When you plan activities for your classroom, consider how they will lend themselves to learning
about your students. So perhaps, instead of using a worksheet to complete a task, turn it into a values
continuum whereby each student gets a chance to explain their thoughts on a topic(s) and you get
to learn more about them. In the primary-school setting, students are away from their parents and
want to know where they fit within a social situation. They are also looking to see if they are ‘normal’.
What is ‘normal’? In a sense, it is a word designed to elicit ‘failure’, since there is no situation in which
everyone will fit into this ‘box’, even if this is aspired to. Students need to know that a range of situations,
behaviours, skills, thoughts, morals and values are ‘normal’. (As an aside, a good response to this question
is, ‘Whatever is normal for you is normal.’)
The words that we choose to use can have an impact on our students – sometimes a negative one,
even if we did not mean them to have that effect. This impact may not be manifest at school; it may
have an effect when the student gets home. For example, a teacher might say, ‘Smoking is bad and it
will kill you’ to a student who lives with parents or carers who smoke and who have a totally different
attitude and make that clear to their child. The student now may no longer trust you, because, according
to them, you do not tell the ‘truth’. Sometimes, what you do not say can also have an impact on a
student. For example, if a student in your class says, ‘Miss, that’s so gay,’ and you do not address it, you
are essentially saying that that language is OK. Think about the young student who may already know
they are same-sex attracted – what will this statement, and your lack of response to it, say to them? See
Example 6.2 for a deeper discussion of why such language is not OK.
Example 6.2
WHY IT IS NOT OK TO SAY ‘HOMEWORK IS SO GAY’
Watch Roz Ward of Latrobe University talk about why it is important to address the statements like
the one above when your students say them. The video, entitled ‘Homework is so gay,’ is available at
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/big-fat-ideas/celebrating-pride-week-with-queer-ideas/homework-is-so-
gay-how-do-we-challenge-homophobia-in-schools. Once you have watched it, answer the questions
below.
1 Have you ever heard someone say something like this? If so, what, if anything, was done to
address it?
2 Do you agree that it is necessary to address this issue in the classroom? Why or why not?
3 Can you think of something you would feel comfortable saying when this situation arises?
▻▻ Use the term ‘parent or carer’ rather than ‘Mum and Dad’.
▻▻ Use the pronoun the individual child prefers; gender-diverse students may present as being one sex
but be registered as another. Tips for
▻▻ Use the term ‘partner’ instead of ‘boyfriend/girlfriend’ and ‘husband/wife’. inclusive
▻▻ Use the term ‘ability’ rather than ‘disability’ – i.e. speak about what the student can do, not about
practice
what they cannot do.
Classroom agreements
In providing an environment that is conducive to learning, everybody concerned needs to understand
what is expected of them and what they can expect of others. Developing a set of classroom rules or
agreements helps both students and the teacher to feel safe by negotiating the learning environment.
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(See Example 6.3 for an example of a classroom agreement.) It is important that the classroom
agreement is:
• developed and agreed to by all in the classroom; this is so that students will feel a sense of
ownership
• written as a strengths-based document. This will be discussed further later in this chapter, but as
an example, instead of writing ‘No running,’ write ‘Walking speed in the classroom.’ Turn the rule
into a positive statement of expected behaviour.
Example 6.3
SAMPLE CLASSROOM AGREEMENT
• Respect each other:

– Listen when others talk.
– Everyone can voice their opinion.
• No touching other people or their things.
• Keep my hands to myself.
• Hands up to ask a question.
• Walking speed in the classroom.
• Ask for help when I need it.
What others items can you think to add to the above list?
The classroom environment

A welcoming classroom environment starts with you as the teacher, but the physical environment can
also help or hinder the extent to which a classroom is a welcoming space. Here are some questions to
consider when setting up your classroom space for the new school year:
• Is a classroom with tables and chairs set out in rows the most conducive environment? Or would
you prefer working with group tables where students face each other and discussions can take
place without movement of chairs?
• Can students move safely around the classroom?
• Is there a space where you can all gather on the floor?
• Is there a space where a student can take some time out if they need to, or is there another agreed
quiet place in the school that students know about?
• Is student work displayed and treasured in the classroom? Do you have the space and materials
needed to display students’ work?
• Is a listing of what is going to happen during the day displayed, so that all students know what to
expect? Figure 6.2 provides an example of this.
Reflection
»» How do I feel about teaching health education?
»» What are my strengths in this area?
»» Do I have any fears or concerns about teaching in this area?
»» What three things will I do to start building strong relationships with my students?
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Figure 6.2
Example of a class
schedule
Erin Lukas, M.Ed, creatingandteaching.blogspot.com
Strengths-based approach
The strength- [or strengths-] based approach is an approach to people that views situations
realistically and looks for opportunities to complement and support existing strengths
and capacities as opposed to focusing on, and staying with, the problem or concern. The
problem and the person are separate; however, the problem is never minimised.
DEECD, 2012
As outlined in the previous chapter, a strengths-based approach to health promotion is based on the
salutogenic approach, which focuses on the elements that aid health rather than those that trigger
ill-health. These approaches require teachers to change their thoughts about what does not work (i.e.
a deficit approach) to a more positive identification of not only what works but how it works. As an
example, instead of teaching drug education because we have so many drug-related illnesses, injuries
and deaths, we teach using a strengths-based approach and focus on the skills that our students will
gain when participating in drug education – these include decision making, healthy life choices and
relationship-building to lessen the impact of peer pressure and other factors.
Each of your students will have unique abilities; these should be valued and built upon. Again, it
is apparent how important it is to really know your students. Equally, knowing their families plays an
important role. Getting to know families is another great way to build relationships with your students.
Having a comprehensive knowledge of your students’ lives outside school will help you, firstly, to find
what strengths they possess, and then allow you to build on these. Things that you might find helpful to
know about your students and their families include:
• languages spoken at home
• culture and cultural holidays or activities
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• family members and extended family members

• significant others
• pets
• activities the family participates in
• employment
• special interests.
Another aspect required by the strengths-based approach is the teacher’s ability to reflect. You may
find that in your studies, you are constantly asked to reflect on your practice. Reflection is our own
evaluation of our practice. Unfortunately, there will not be a lecturer or tutor sitting in the back of your
classroom telling you whether or not you are doing a good job! So it is crucial that you critically reflect on
your own practice – otherwise, you will merely keep doing the same things. A strengths-based approach
requires you to build your abilities, not just those of your students.
The strengths-based approach requires a change in thinking; however, the outcome of strengthening
students’ capabilities will remain the focus. So consider how you might start to think about teaching
in this way. Reflect on how you can develop your own framework to develop children’s individual
knowledge, understandings and skills.
▻▻ In your health education class, ask your students to write you a letter or a persuasive piece of writing
explaining their strengths. This will help them to think about what they can do well.
Tips for ▻▻ In any subject area, a skills evaluation will help you to identify strengths and be able to plan your
inclusive lessons accordingly.
practice ▻▻ In any subject area, allow diversity in assessments; students might be great filmmakers and be
able to show their learnings better with a camera, or perhaps might be better at presenting their
learnings to a class. If possible, make various options available.
▻▻ Some students may not be able to identify their own strengths. So it may be useful to provide some
self-esteem-building opportunities for these students to be able to identify things that they are good
at. Opportunities could include brainstorming strengths that individuals have, and students having
to pick a few that apply to them; the ‘Who am I?’ activity described in Example 6.4; interviewing a
partner and writing a report about them; and students writing an ‘advertisement’ about themselves.
TAKING A STRENGTHS-BASED APPROACH

As has been discussed, the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education is informed by a
strengths-based approach. Through this, students are given opportunities to reflect on the strengths
that they possess. By knowing these, teachers can then support students to develop their knowledge,
understandings and skills. This, in turn, will assist students to make informed, timely and healthy
decisions for themselves and others. Students are aware of their capabilities, and are able to access
support when required. The curriculum recognises that students have varying levels of access to personal
and community resources depending on a variety of contextual factors, and this will certainly have an
impact on how they make decisions and how they behave.
THREAD 1: IDENTITIES
How do you characterise yourself? What words would you use to describe yourself? What would a word
cloud of yourself look like? The Australian Curriculum recognises the importance of students being able
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to identify their own personal strengths and achievements, and of looking at others and seeing their
strengths, too. By doing this, we can then see how these strengths contribute to making us who we are.
Our identity is unique, and it can change over time. Challenges in life, along with success and failure,
can strengthen identities. Our identities can also be influenced by places and people in our lives.
Who am I?
Who are you, and what makes you, you? Our own grasp of our identity goes a long way to helping us to
meet the needs of our day-to-day lives, form and maintain relationships, and even set and achieve goals.
Those among us who struggle with their identities face challenges that often go unnoticed by others, yet
create inner turmoil for the individual. As primary-school teachers, we can help our students to learn
more about themselves and be proud of who they are.
Figure 6.3
Who are you?
Shutterstock.com/B and T Media Group
Example 6.4
‘WHO AM I?’
Write a list of all the things that make up you. You might first think of physical attributes, then delve
deeper and think about social, emotional, spiritual and financial factors; sexual attributes; skills;
achievements, and so on. The list could be never-ending!
Next, think about what your friends would say about you. What would they write on your list?
What about your family? What about your university peers, some of whom may not know you very
well? What would they say? Sometimes we hear something about ourselves that we have never heard
before, and it starts us thinking about ourselves in a different way. An example of this is given below.
Rachel had been constantly looking out the window and daydreaming in class. She had not been
listening to instructions, and she would become very disruptive when she did decide to do the work
because she had to ask the teacher what to do.
One day, Miss Galo set the class a task, but saw Rachel daydreaming and staring out the window. She
went to Rachel and said quietly, ‘I wish I could see all the amazing things that you can see out there. I bet
you are such a creative person. Let’s start writing a story about what’s out there.’
Rachel was taken aback – she usually got into trouble for not being able to concentrate or focus on
her schoolwork. Her new teacher was seeing a positive side of her, and it made her feel good about herself.
Sometimes just hearing something different can make a difference.
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Be a teacher who finds something positive about every student. For most children, this will be easy; for
some, you may need to ‘spin’ a negative behaviour around like Miss Galo did for Rachel in Example 6.4.
Tips for Find the time to tell each student what they do well. Celebrate the diversity of students in your
inclusive classroom. See Example 6.5 for a demonstration of this.
practice ▻▻ Display a map of the world and pinpoint where each student, or student’s family, originated from.
▻▻ Have ‘circle time’ to discuss what students did on the weekend or on holidays.
▻▻ Celebrate student achievements both inside and outside school.
▻▻ ‘Get to know’ one student per week – through show and tell, an article for class newsletter, circle
time, or any other activity that will allow you to really get to know each student.
▻▻ Encourage your students to critically reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. An activity that helps
students to see what others see in them is an effective tool, as they may be egocentric.
Example 6.5
I AM A STAR!
Have each student choose a coloured piece of paper.

• Ask each student to write on their piece of paper their name, followed by ‘is a’, and to then
draw a star. (Figure 6.4 gives an example.)
Muhallum is a
Figure 6.4
I am a star!
Shutterstock.com/Belausava Volha
• Bring students into a circle and give them each a marker pen.
• Tell them that you are going to pass each person’s piece of paper around the circle, and that
everyone is to write or draw one good thing about the person whose piece of paper they end
up holding. You will need to discuss what sorts of responses you are expecting, and what a
student might write if they do not know someone very well. Try to encourage positive aspects
other than the physical.
• When everyone has finished, allow each student some time to read their returned piece of
paper and to reflect on what others see as their positives. Do these match up with what they
saw as their strengths?
• Ask students how this information has an impact on their own identity and that of others.
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Who am I at primary school?

Primary school is a big step for most children; for some, it is the start of formal education, while for others
who have been to pre-school or kindergarten, it is another step in their educational journey. Education
departments have been proactive in developing processes to ease this transition for students, parents and
teachers. As an example, the Victorian State Government has developed a transition kit called Sharing Our
Journey (see http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/parents/transition/sharingourjourney.
pdf). The document gives parents and carers some very clear strategies and ideas about their expectations
and suggestions as a way of assisting with their and their child’s experience of beginning primary school. The
parent or carer, along with the early childhood educator, can then provide all the necessary information that
the child’s teacher may need. This provides the primary school with very clear information about the child
that will assist in building relationships with teachers and staff, and in planning individual learning needs.
Look at Figure 6.5. How does this student’s identity at this age play a part in how her first year, and
subsequent years, at primary school will go? What influences are there at this stage of development that
will have an impact on her successes at school? What challenges does she face in the coming weeks?
Who will have an impact on how the next few months will go for her? What can the primary school do
for her to ensure that she has a positive experience?
Now look at Figure 6.6. How does this student’s identity differ from that of the student shown in
Figure 6.5? What factors might have had an impact on his current identity? What challenges is he
facing? What challenges will he face in the next few months, as he enters secondary school? What
can the primary school do to improve his chances of succeeding in secondary school?
Figure 6.5 First day of primary school Figure 6.6 Graduating from primary school
(left) Fairfax Syndication/The Canberra Times/Colleen Petch
Our identity is shaped by many factors. Why does life seem so easy for some children and not so
easy for others? This can be related to how the child was raised and to the impact of risk and protective
factors that have been present in the child’s life (see Figure 6.7). Risk factors are things that put the
child at risk – factors that do not support the healthy development of the child. Protective factors are
those that strengthen the child and promote healthy development. Knowing this, it will be easier
to work with your students to ensure that, at least from the school’s perspective, you are enacting
protective strategies in their lives. Working with parents and carers or families can help to strengthen
protective factors; thus, building relationships with these people is seen to be a high priority.
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RISK FACTORS PROTECTIVE FACTORS
– Difficult temperament – Easy temperament

– Low self-esteem
Child – Good social and emotional skills
– Negative thinking style Abilities and needs – Optimistic coping style
– Any form of child abuse, including neglect

– Family disharmony, instability or break-up Family – Family harmony and stability
– Harsh or inconsistent discipline style Circumstances and – Supportive parenting
– Parent/carer with mental health or substance relationships – Strong family values
abuse issues
– Positive school climate that enhances

– Peer rejection School
belonging and connectedness
– Failure of school Practices and
– Involvement with caring adult
– Poor connection at school environment – Support available at critical times
– Difficult school transition Life events

– Involvement with caring adult
– Death of a family member Opportunities and
– Support available at critical times
– Emotional trauma stressors
– Discrimination – Participating in community networks

– Isolation
Societal – Access to support services
– Socioeconomic disadvantage Access, inclusion – Economic security
– Lack of access to support services and social cohesion – Strong cultural identity and pride
Figure 6.7
Risk and protective factors
Adapted from Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, 2000; Spence, 1996, https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/
default/files/public/images/healthcommunity/Risk-and-protective-factors-diagram-large.jpg. Accessed 5 January 2017.
Example 6.6
MAX
Max, shown in Figure 6.8, is an interesting

case to consider when talking about identity.
He is the middle child of a very sporty family.
His brother and sister both play netball. Max
has been teased about playing netball himself,
yet he has encouraged other boys to join the
school netball teams. He not only plays but
also umpires and coaches netball. He is the
only boy on his team, and he gets on very well
with the girls. He also plays football, and also
gets on well with the boys on his team. Max
gets called a ‘girl’ quite frequently, due to his
long hair. This does not bother him; he mostly
just ignores it.
Figure 6.8 Max
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• What protective factors has Max likely grown up with?

• Identify five specific things the school might do to strengthen Max’s identity (using the concept
of school protective factors).
• Can you think of anything Max might need before he transitions to secondary school?
Our identity can also depend on our resilience. Think about Max’s resilience. Developing the
resilience of our students is a part of our job.
RESILIENCE
Developing resilience in a student is a key goal for teachers. We work towards building resilience so
that our students can go out into the wider world and survive it. Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce
back’ after something bad happens. Think about Max, described above; his ability to bounce back after
someone labels him a ‘girl’ is very strong. He does not let it bother him and gets on with life (perhaps
even telling the person that he is, in fact, a boy!). Other students, though, may not be as resilient as
Max, and a similar experience might affect them more than it does Max. Imagine yourself not doing
well on an exam, losing a pet or hearing that a grandparent has cancer. How would you bounce back
after each of these events? It is important to remember that our resilience is not something that is
set in stone. We may have times in our life when our resilience is very good and nothing worries us.
Sometimes, it may not be good, and something small may occur from which we simply cannot seem
to bounce back. Resilience is something we can work on, and teachers can assist their students in
becoming more resilient. Review the items in the following ‘Tips for inclusive practice’ box. Which of
these practices do you currently follow? As teachers, we do these things with our students every day,
sometimes without even knowing it. But do we do them for ourselves? Resilience is similar to our
wellbeing – if we don’t look after it, who will?
▻▻ Make connections with people.

▻▻ Do not see crises as unsolvable problems.
▻▻ Accept that change is a part of life. Tips for
▻▻ Move in the direction of your goals. inclusive
▻▻ Make your actions decisive.
practice
▻▻ Look for chances for self-discovery.
▻▻ Cultivate a positive view of yourself.
▻▻ Keep everything in perspective.
▻▻ Stay optimistic.
▻▻ Practise self-care.
Adapted from American Psychological Association (2016) ‘The road to resilience’. Washington DC.
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx. Accessed 29 April 2016.
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The impact of success and failure on identity

Does success build up a person and failure cut them down? The answer to this depends on how you
view success and failure. In general, success is seen to strengthen one’s identity. It is a reward for hard
work, persistence and challenging oneself. But can you think of an example of a situation where success
does not strengthen one’s identity? Consider a student whose success goes ‘straight to their head’, and
who ‘big-notes’ themselves around others to try to make themselves feel better. Such a student, although
appearing to be confident, probably has low self-esteem and a poorer concept of their identity.
Some people would say that failure has a negative impact on identity. What do you think about this?
When you fail at something, is it really a failure if you learn from the experience and do not make the
same mistake again? Of course not. Hence, failure can strengthen identity. If a student does not pass an
examination, and then reflects on and understands the reason(s) why they did not pass, they have learnt
a valuable lesson. There are many reasons why this may have occurred:
• They may need to put more work in before the exam.
• They need more help understanding the material.
• They may need help or more experience being in an examination environment.
• They may have had something personal on their mind that distracted them.
As long as the student recognises, through reflection, what went wrong, they can change their
behaviour before the next examination. In other words, they will have strengthened their identity.
Sometimes, not passing is referred to as ‘failing’ an examination, test, subject or year level. But using this
language does not convey a strengths-based approach to teaching.
Example 6.7
RECOGNISING SUCCESS
We live in a world where every child ‘has to win’ at ‘Pass the parcel’; where a ribbon must be given
for participation. In your class, set up a line debate and then get into small groups to discuss the
following questions.
• Where do we get our ideas about success and failure?
• Think back to when you were in school. Were there pressures to be successful?
• Do you think the pressures to be successful are the same now as they were when you were in
school? Why or why not?
• Given that some students feel pressure to be successful, where do you think these pressures
come from?
• What can you, as a teacher, do to lighten the pressures to succeed that these students feel?
When everyone receives a prize, ribbon or trophy, does the reward for ‘success’ become token?
In life – for example, in the workplace – not everyone is recognised for their input, nor praised for
their work. Every student should be meaningfully recognised for their efforts at some stage, but this
does not always have to take the form of being ‘best’ at something.
As an example, suppose you had a student who used to come to school only two days per week
(and was usually late both days), but has become a student who turns up every day and is mostly on
time. Does this child deserve recognition or a ‘prize’ for their improved school attendance?
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Who’s more deserving?

‘When I think back to Year 5, when I cried because I didn’t receive the dance trophy, I’m embarrassed. I Teaching
was a good student: I came to all the rehearsals, helped my teacher when I could and had a great attitude. practice
When I found out that the girl who won it struggled to get to school every day (let alone early for our dance
rehearsals), that she often had very little lunch in her lunchbox and that she lived in a violent household –
yet always came to rehearsal with a smile and put 110 per cent into every dance we did – I realised that
she deserved the trophy much more than I did. It taught me that some people have amazing obstacles they
need to overcome just to be able to participate. Those are the true champions.ʼ
Martika, pre-service teaching student
Martika, whose experience is described in the ‘Teaching practice’ box above, teaches us an important
lesson about our students: that they consider things mainly from the perspective of their own lives,
because they are doing their best to learn to adapt to an environment. They often do not know about or
understand the difficulties that some other students carry with them on a day-to-day basis. As teachers,
we can teach diversity in our classrooms, helping students to recognise that diversity is not limited to
skin colour, culture or other well-known factors, but that it exists in almost everything we do.
Reflection
»» How would you rate your own sense of identity? What about your identity as a pre-service
teacher? You will have an impact on your students – whether you like it or not. How will you use
your experiences of forming your own identity to help your students to form theirs?
»» What positive impact did your primary-school teachers have on the formation of your identity?
»» How will you provide positive experiences to enhance your students’ sense of identity?
THREAD 2: CHANGES AND TRANSITIONS
Teaching about the body is often seen to be a difficult subject to cover, especially when it comes to
puberty. Students need to know how the body changes across a lifespan, because these changes will
happen to them, and are happening to them. In general, students are more interested in the stages that
they or their family and friends are experiencing – for example, if a relative or friend is having a baby; if
they are going through, or are about to go through, puberty; or if they or someone they know are dealing
with death and dying. Each stage of life teaches us a lot about our bodies and the way they work, as well
as about our identity, as discussed previously.
Throughout the Australian Curriculum, content descriptions build on each other to develop students’
knowledge, understanding and skills. They are also developmentally appropriate for students. In the
following sections, we will describe how students from Foundation to Year 6 are taught about changes
to the body, based on the Australian Curriculum.
Foundation year
At the Foundation level, students are asked to ‘[n]ame parts of the body and describe how their body is
growing and changing’ (ACARA, 2017a). They will look at how much they have grown since they were
born and consider all the new things that they can accomplish now that they could not do when they
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were younger. Learning about body parts is also important for the safety of the student, and knowing
the correct terminology for body parts is a protective strategy. Foundation students should feel positive
about themselves and their bodies and make decisions based on keeping their bodies healthy. This
includes information about public and private body parts and about who is able to have access to
these. They should develop the confidence to speak up if they feel that someone has overstepped these
boundaries. They should also develop confidence in knowing that if they tell someone about this, they
will get help.
Example 6.8
PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOURS: A PERSONAL SAFETY PROGRAM
The following extract outlines the Protective Behaviours program, a strategy that you should keep in
mind when teaching, especially in the area of sexuality education, and which some teachers feel is
quite tricky to teach:
The Protective Behaviours program has universal appeal as it can be applied in a range of
settings (including health, welfare, education, violence prevention and crime prevention) to
enhance resilience, encourage a positive sense of self, and promote wellbeing.
Theme 1: We all have the right to feel safe all of the time
Discussion of the first theme of Protective Behaviours including shared rights and responsibilities,
the continuum of safety, and early warning signs/body signals.
Theme 2: Nothing is so awful that we can’t talk about it with someone
Explores the effects of talking to people about problems, how to talk to people and how to
establish an effective personal network.
The seven protective behaviours strategies
A range of strategies are used to implement the core ideas of the program:
1 Theme reinforcement: Reinforcing the two themes verbally, visually and by example.
2 Network review: Establishing and regularly reviewing an effective network.
3 One-step-removed: Using a ‘third-person’ approach for problem solving, to seek assistance or
to check out someone’s ideas before making a disclosure. This includes role-play, videos and
asking for help on behalf of another person.
4 Protective interrupting: Any action we take to interrupt a potentially unsafe situation. This
includes keeping children safe from making inappropriate public disclosures.
5 Persistence: Persisting in seeking help until we feel safe again and our body signals have gone
away.
6 Risking on purpose: Deliberately choosing to take a risk when we desire the possible
outcome (e.g. going for a job interview). This also involves remembering and honouring our
responsibilities towards the safety of others.
7 The language of safety: While this is one of the seven protective behaviours strategies, it is
discussed at the beginning of the training, as it provides the platform for the entire program.
From KidsMatter, ʻProtective Behaviours: A personal safety programʼ,
© Commonwealth of Australia 2017, reprinted with permission.
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Years 1 and 2
In this band level, students are taught to ‘[d]escribe physical and social changes that occur as children
grow older and discuss how family and community acknowledge these’ (ACARA, 2017b). The physical
changes that students are experiencing themselves are generally the easiest to teach. In most cases,
these are ‘factual’, and each person follows a similar developmental process. Social changes are more
difficult, because these will be different for each student you have. There are many factors that have
an impact on a student’s social development, including, but certainly not restricted to, self-esteem,
identity, maturity, language, physical appearance, emotional regulation, strength, culture, religion and
values. Even differences in the ages of our students can have a great effect on the social workings of
the classroom or playground. Some students can be a year or more older than their peers – this could
be because a child was ‘held back’ from starting school at the recommended age, or because their
ability restricts them. A clear message that you will want your students to understand is that diversity
is something to celebrate, and that each member of the school community brings a unique quality
that helps to define the school.
Many cultures around the world celebrate milestones in life that we pass through. Here in Australia,
we may have baby showers, 18th or 21st birthday parties, hen’s or buck’s nights prior to weddings, and
so on. Example 6.9 discusses some cultural rituals around the world.
Years 3 and 4
In years 3 and 4, students are asked to ‘explore strategies to manage physical, social and emotional
change’ (ACARA, 2017c). By the time they reach this band, students will have identified the
changes that they are experiencing and will be exploring strategies that are appropriate for them
to manage these changes. In this process, parents and carers and respected family and friends
are great resources; they can help students because they have likely already acted as role models
for coping with change. (See the ‘Teaching practice’ box ‘Building relationships’ for a way to bring
parents and carers ‘on board’).
At this level, students can look at different strategies for managing change through a wide
variety of pedagogic methods, such as interviews, surveys, research, case studies and role-plays
(this also sets up skills for years 5 and 6, where they will be working with different resources –
see below). Students do not merely need to know about the various strategies that are helpful in
managing change; they also need to understand that a strategy that works for one person may not
work for another. So in this phase of learning about the body, students should be provided with a
safe, supportive environment in which to practise or try out these strategies, to see if they work for
them.
Years 5 and 6
In this band, students are to ‘[i]nvestigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions
associated with puberty’ (ACARA, 2017c). They will look at help-seeking behaviours, as well as
practical skills that students can use as they progress through puberty. Developing the role-plays
described in the following ‘Cross-curricular possibilities’ box, and allowing students to come up with
solutions and practise decision making, are key skills. The resources that students choose to access
will have an impact on the information that they are able to gain. (See the material under ‘Thread 3:
Help-seeking behaviour’ later in this chapter.)
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The practical skills that students need to cope with the physical changes they are experiencing
include taking a close look at menstruation products, a topic that will be as interesting for boys as
for girls. The girls will have different questions, so – if appropriate for your class – it is sometimes
better to do this activity with the girls separated from boys. Students may ask questions about sanitary
products regarding how to use and get rid of them, as well as questions about menstruation – how it
occurs and what they are likely to experience. Boys will ask different questions; these may include,
‘What if the string comes off?’ If this question comes up, a great activity is to pass a few tampons
around the class and see if students can pull off the string. Students will also be interested in how
much liquid the product can hold. To demonstrate this, have a couple of glasses half-filled with water.
Get students to measure how much water is in the cups, then insert a pad or tampon into the cup and
let it soak up the water. Then have students re-measure the water in the glass. Compare the results
with the few tablespoons that an average period will yield. If either of the following questions come
up from the boys or the girls, you will know that you need to do more work on the anatomy of the
female body:
• How do you go to the toilet (urinate) when you have a tampon in?
• What if the tampon gets lost up there (i.e. travels past the vagina)?
Hygiene is an important skill to address – in particular, at this level, oily skin, perspiration
and general cleanliness. (Year 5 and 6 classrooms after lunchtime on a hot summer’s day can
be incredibly smelly places!) You can address myths surrounding hygiene, such as deodorant and
whether it is linked to skin cancer; douches for women, and whether they are really necessary;
hair on people’s bodies (especially in the genital region); and why you need to change your socks
every day!
Students also need to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in dealing with emotional and
social changes that occur during puberty. These are harder to teach than factual knowledge about
menstruation. Each student will go through emotional changes during this time, some of which they
will barely notice, some of which are significant and will have a real impact on their lives. Students need
to understand why these changes are happening and how they can best deal with them as they arise.
Their school friendship groups will provide social changes, as will relationships with family and friends
outside of school. As noted earlier, the biggest question students at this level are trying to figure out is,
‘Am I normal?’ So they compare themselves to others, and sometimes try to be like others, in a quest to
find what ‘fits best’ for them.
Building relationships
Teaching ʻSomething I learnt from a fellow teacher was how important it is to get parents on board with the topic
practice of sexuality education. She would send notes home telling parents and carers that their children would
be participating in this unit, and that they should expect questions. She gave parents and carers some
resources that they could access if they wanted information about the curriculum, including a list of
relevant books that they could read with their children.
As part of the curriculum, she would send homework for parents/carers and students to complete
together. In Foundation, this included finding baby photos and identifying changes that had occurred.
This continued right up to Year 6, where students would talk to their parents or carers about puberty
and the changes occurring. This started great communication between the parent/carer and child, and
hopefully gave the child the knowledge that their parents/carers do want to talk to them about this topic,
and that they aren’t too scary!
I never would have asked my mum or dad about this, and they never approached me about it. I see
that today’s students are so much more open and honest about this topic than I ever was.ʼ
Simone, first-year teacher
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In classes covering sexuality education, it is a good idea to ask students to pack a ‘puberty first-aid kit’.
Get students to identify everything they might need for the physical, social and emotional changes that
may occur during puberty. These could be drawn on a poster, or items could be collected to represent
them. For example, a key might represent becoming more independent; a stress ball could signify those
times when you get angry or stressed; a ruler could show growth; a mirror could represent identity; a toy
cow could be indicative of extra nutritional needs (i.e. for calcium); a toy phone could stand for social
connections, and soap for hygiene. A list of phone numbers that shows where students can seek help
could also be included.
Following on the theme of family and community acknowledging physical and social changes,
celebrating milestones from around the world and opening spaces for discussion about these milestones,
Example 6.9 describes cultural celebrations related to young people from around the world. Why does
the onset of puberty appear, in these examples, to be more significant for girls than boys?
Example 6.9
MILESTONE CELEBRATIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
In Sri Lanka’s Tamil community, the onset of a girl’s first period is celebrated with a traditional
ceremony. This is to acknowledge the transition between girlhood and womanhood.
In Ghana, the Krobo people celebrate Dipo every April. This is a celebration of a
girl’s transition into adolescence. If a girl participates, it is thought that she will make a
good wife.
In Indonesia, in Balinese culture, a tooth-filing ritual occurs when a boy or girl reaches a certain
age. It is believed that this ceremony will rid their body of the forces of evil. (It is said to be a painless
process.) (Bachai, 2016)
Consider role-play as a pedagogic approach that allows the trialling of effective strategies for dealing
with social changes. An example of such a role-play would be one in which an incident of bullying occurs.
Students could come up with a few different strategies to try, and through dramatic play could see some
Cross-
curricular
possible outcomes.
possibilities
‘Freeze, rewind and play’ is a useful tool in this process. If students realise that a certain strategy
may not work, or that it does not fit with their capabilities, they can ‘freeze’ the action, ‘rewind’ back to
when the incident occurred and then ‘play’ an alternative strategy. Other topics that could be covered
through a role-playing approach include peer pressure, decision making, drug education, respectful
relationships and safety, to name a few.
THREAD 3: HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIOUR
Students are more likely to seek help from those teachers they can trust, and who they
find to be friendly and non-judgemental.
Cahill et al., nd
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In the past, prior to the advent of the Internet, when information was not so readily accessible,
teachers had to source information for their students, or take students on lengthy journeys to find
information. Today, students have information at their fingertips, and the teacher’s role is to help them
access reliable and timely sources.
The Internet as a source of help

Prior to the Internet’s existence, we taught students how to access information from libraries or other
organisations. Today, we teach them how to access such information online, and how to recognise worthy
sources of information. Contemporary students have information at their fingertips. There is a wealth
of information online – an overload of it, in fact – that often confuses adults, so imagine how students
process this mass of data. Being able to narrow down or filter information is a wonderful skill to have.
The first few resources to come up following a Google search are not necessarily the most appropriate!
Additionally, they are also not always the most relevant or up to date. To address this issue, as a start,
teachers can help students to recognise that Web addresses hold many clues about the trustworthiness
of a website, a topic we touched on in the previous chapter. As an example, sites that end in ‘.com’ are
designed to sell a product or service. This is not to say that the product or service should not be trusted,
but it is an indicator that the site’s claims can be based on restricted or biased information. Table 6.1
outlines some of the clues that Web addresses and other factors provide when we are trying to assess a
website’s reliability.
Table 6.1 How do I find trustworthy information online?
.ac This refers to an academic institution, such as a university website.
.com This refers to a commercial business, such as Amazon.
.edu This refers to an educational institution, such as the Centre for Adult Education
(CAE).
.gov This refers to a government site, such as the Australian Government website.
.net This refers to a network site, such as the Raising Children Network.
.org This refers to an organisation or charity, such as The Red Cross.
Where was the site created? URLs provide information about a siteʼs country of origin. Sites that end in .au , for
example, were created in Australia.
Who is the author or owner of the This can usually be determined by referring to sections called ʻAbout usʼ or
site? ‘Contact us’.
Is the content current? The copyright information at the bottom of the homepage should indicate when a
site was created. Established sites may have a ʻWhatʼs new?ʼ section for recently
published content or updates.
Does the site provide supporting A reliable site should include up-to-date references and sources to support the
evidence? claims it makes.
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The community as a source of help

Beyond the Internet, the wider community is another source of information and support for students.
We need to link students with their community so that they will be able to access assistance when
required. Who are the people in the community who are there to protect students and keep them safe?
Depending on the year they are in, students will generally recognise police, firefighters, ambulance
officers, family and friends as people to whom they can go for help. As they grow up, their access to
the community widens, and they may partake in sporting, arts-related or musical opportunities. They
may also engage with cultural or religious groups, libraries and community organisations; start to see a
regular GP or other health practitioner(s); begin to use different forms of transportation; be placed in
before- and/or after-school care; develop relationships with families of their school friends; or engage
with support workers. In each of these contexts, they will find people who can assist them when they
need help.
The circle concept, described by Autism Spectrum Education Services (2011), is a way of teaching
students with special needs about relationships with the people in their lives – who they can trust and
who can help them. Tips for
A series of circling representing different parts of the self help students to form clear ideas about inclusive
the levels of intimacy they should have with people in their lives and what are appropriate talk, touch and
practice
trust levels with these people.
The further away you get from the centre (i.e. the individual), the less you talk, touch and can trust
these people. (For futher details, see http://www.autismspectrumeducation.com/uploads/6/6/6/1/699189/
ases_e-news_oct_2011.pdf.)
Ideally, there will always someone around to offer help when students need it. We can teach about
preventive measures, so that if something occurs, the student will know what to do. Examples of such
measures include setting up a meeting point in case someone gets lost; knowing where neighbourhood
watch houses are located so that students can access these if they are afraid; and mapping local phone
booths, police stations and community organisations in their local community. Today, many students
have mobile phones, and the easiest way out of a situation could be phoning a family member and
keeping them on the phone until the student feels safe or has been collected. Give your students
examples of situations that they might find themselves in, and help them to work out the best strategies
to prevent these and/or to get out of trouble. Unfortunately, sometimes students find themselves in
situations where there is no one who can help, or where they do not feel comfortable approaching the
people around them. But if your students have had practice in developing preventive skills and know
where to access help in the community, they are far less likely to find themselves in a position where
they are scared and do not know what to do.
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Example 6.10
ROLE-PLAYS FOR HELP-SEEKING (YEARS 3 AND 4)
Work in pairs or trios. Choose one of these three ‘Can you help me?’ scenarios:
• Scenario 1: Your parent didn’t arrive to pick you up after school.
• Scenario 2: A friend is trying to force you to do something that you know is wrong.
• Scenario 3: You’ve been away sick and don’t know how to do the new Maths problems.
Design and prepare a help-seeking role-play related to your chosen scenario.

1 Explain how you feel.
2 Name the problem.
3 Make a request for help.
Watch the role-plays and ask:

1 Have they named the problem?
2 Have they got their message across clearly?
3 What else could they do or say?
4 Can you help me?
From Freeman, E (2015) ‘Student wellbeing: Making a difference - what does it take?’ Presented at WISA Wellbeing in
Schools Conference, Adelaide, 9 November, p. 6. http://www.wisawellbeing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/PDF/Adelaide/Student-
Wellbeing-Liz-Freeman.pdf. Accessed 25 April 2016.
Protective behaviours
Protective behaviours are actions that someone takes to protect themselves. As teachers, we can set up safe,
supportive environments in our schools, and we are mandated to report if we believe or have reasonable
grounds to think that a student of ours is experiencing abuse, a topic introduced in Chapter 5. We can
also use protective interrupting – which we also touched on in Chapter 5 – to help to keep students safe.
Students can also develop skills to protect themselves. We will now elaborate on these three points.
MANDATORY REPORTING
Mandatory reporting is a term used to describe the legislative requirement imposed
on selected classes of people to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect to
government authorities. Parliaments in all Australian states and territories have enacted
mandatory reporting laws of some description.
AIFS, 2016
Each state and territory has its own specific requirements related to mandatory reporting (see this
chapter’s ‘Further readings’), yet speaking broadly, as a teacher you are mandated to report in every
part of Australia. This is a responsibility you must take on in the role of teacher. Mandatory reporting is
legislated to keep children who may not have a voice safe. Where you teach will determine exactly what
type of potential abuse must be reported, but these will generally include physical, emotional, sexual
abuse and neglect. Some states and territories include exposure to domestic violence. The law also
keeps the person who reported an incident safe – their identity cannot be disclosed (AIFS, 2016). It is
vital that you are aware of the relevant legislation for the state or territory that you will be working in.
PROTECTIVE INTERRUPTING
As we introduced in Chapter 5, protective interrupting is another strategy that you can use to keep your
students safe. It is a strategy that you should practise when you think that a student is about to divulge
information that may not be appropriate for the class to hear, or may be about something that you are
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mandated to report. Through protective interrupting, you can halt the student. This is done: (a) for the
student’s social safety; and (b) because if students do not know about your requirement to report, they
may think differently about saying something. There is debate about whether, as a teacher, you should
let the student tell you about the issue first, because if students are aware of mandatory reporting, they
may never tell you, and you therefore cannot help them. We argue that it is always the best option to
tell the student(s) about your requirement to report first. They will then tell you about their situation at
some stage if they want to. Often, you will see students testing you out: telling you small things – things
you might consider to be insignificant – and looking for your reaction. If students feel they can trust you
and they need help, they will tell you.
Example 6.11
THE HELPING HAND
‘The helping hand’ is an old activity, one that is used worldwide to help children and young people to
identify the people in their lives who they can talk to and ask for help. In it, students draw an outline
of their own hands, which they decorate in any way they want. Either on the fingers and thumb or
at the tip of each, they write or draw one specific person who they know they could go to if they
needed help.
Some students will have many people; some will find it hard to identify such figures. For help
with this dilemma, refer to the ‘Inclusive practice’ box on the circle concept; this activity can help
students. You may need to work closely with some students to help them.
The result of this activity is that when your students are in a time of need, they will have ‘on hand’
a list of people they trust. It is important to highlight that if they ask one person on their hand for help
and that person does not help them, they should go to the next person, and then the next, until they
get the help they need. For some students, it might be a good idea to draw two hands.
DEVELOPING SAFETY STRATEGIES WITH STUDENTS

Students need to understand the concept of feeling safe. In the Australian Curriculum, students, starting
in Foundation, are taught safe practices such as safe storage of medicines, traffic safety, being ‘sun-
smart’, and so on. Along with feeling safe, we must ensure that students understand what feeling unsafe
means. This sensation may be simply a thought they have or a feeling in their body, such as butterflies in
their stomach (see Chapter 7 for a discussion of the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response, a natural response
of our bodies to keep us safe). Teaching students how to recognise this feeling, and how to implement
strategies to get help, is key.
In developing skills to keep themselves safe, students practise:
• identifying people and places that are/are not safe
• identifying when they do not feel safe or are uncomfortable
• identifying strategies that they can implement when they do not feel safe or are uncomfortable
• asking for help.
Numerous protective behaviour resources have been used successfully around Australia. These
include, but are not limited to, KidsMatter, NAPCAN, Child Wise, Bravehearts and CASA Houses
(information about all of these resources can be found online). Can you think of any protective behaviour
strategies that you have seen at work schools?
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Reflection
Knowing policies and procedures for teaching your students is part of building protective
behaviours for both you and your students. Imagine the following situations. How would you
respond to them? (You may need to do some research to help.)
»» How do you help a student who needs some one-on-one time with you when you are mandated
not to spend time with a student one-on-one in an out-of-sight situation?
»» How will you respond if a Foundation student is upset and missing home and wants a hug?
»» What will you do if you know that your Year 5 students are using Facebook when they are not
yet 13?
»» What will you do if you see your Year 6 students smoking off school property?
THREAD 4: MAKING HEALTHY AND SAFE CHOICES
In this thread, students are taught firstly to ‘[r]ecognise situations and opportunities to promote health,
safety and wellbeing’ (ACARA 2017b). As an example, in the lower year groups, students may be taught
about medicines. This includes what medicines are, where they should be kept, why you should not
take someone else’s medication, and so on. Pairing an activity like this with a homework activity through
which parents and their children have the opportunity to discuss this issue will help to bring parents
on board. Students and their parents may look around their home to see where medicines or other
dangerous items reside, and make a plan together to store them all in a safe place.
In the next progression, students are required to ‘[i]dentify and practise strategies to promote health,
safety and wellbeing’ (ACARA, 2017c). This may involve developing a strategic checklist to ensure that
the school environs are safe for all students. Students could carry out a check of the school grounds,
identify any hazards and put in place warnings or instructions for equipment. In the final progression,
students develop skills to ‘[p]lan and practise strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing’ (ACARA,
2017b). This might involve having a health day, or similar, where students who have worked on projects
addressing particular health issues can promote these to the whole school.
Over the years, the progressions allow students to build on what they have previously learnt, and to
identify skills required to reach the higher expectations placed on them. Students develop higher-order
skills while learning to work with others to achieve an outcome. When teachers design projects that
employ a student-centred approach, the students have ownership of that project, and therefore take
their roles seriously. These skills are easy to integrate across the curriculum.
As students learn about health issues and situations that they may find themselves or friends and
family in, they will need to do the following in order to make well-informed decisions:
• Identify diversity and how different people may look at the situation.
• Identify values people hold and how these values have an impact on our decisions.
• Identify changes and transitions that are occurring and how they play a role in our choices.
• Identify consequences of decisions made, and weighing them up.
• Identify potential outcomes that may affect the rest of their lives.
When students are given a chance to practise skills in a safe and supportive environment, they are
more likely to be able to recall these skills and replay them in situations that may arise in later life.
For example, if students are given opportunities to practise refusal skills, when they are faced with a
situation in which they are offered something that they do not want to partake in, they are able to bring
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those skills to the fore and say ‘no’. If they are not given time to practise these skills, they are more likely
to be pressured by others and do what others say. Role-plays are an excellent pedagogical approach to
aid in honing these skills. So are activities such as ‘the hot seat’. This involves a seated student who
must make a decision between the ‘angel’ and the ‘devil’ sitting on their shoulders (one student stands at
each shoulder – one trying to convince the person in ‘the hot seat’ to do something, the other trying to
convince them not to do something). Students can make up their own scenarios; that way, you will know
that the scenarios are appropriate for their level.
Teaching health literacy (see chapters 2 and 7) in schools helps students to make safer choices.
Health literacy involves teaching students a common language so that they will be able to openly
discuss and ask questions about aspects of their health; know how to access reliable and safe sources of
information; understand the media and the role that marketing and advertising play; and be equipped to
critically analyse the health messages and information they receive. Developing health literacy empowers
students in a number of ways. Firstly, it helps them to develop the knowledge, understandings and skills
required to identify and make informed choices. It also gives them a better understanding of possible
consequences. They will become better informed and better able to access support services when they
or their family or friends need them. They will become more likely to understand the health issues
facing their local communities, and possibly participate in local initiatives. All of this makes for a student
who is connected to their community.
Example 6.12
EXAMPLES OF HEALTH LITERACY ACTIVITIES
Activities designed to develop students’ health literacy also provide opportunities for authentic
assessment (see Chapter 4) when students are engaged and proactive in promoting health messages
in their school and local surrounds. This could take the form of:
• debating health issues
• taking up a health or wellbeing issue with the Student Representative Council and supporting
students in their response to it
• designing posters or brochures for display around the school, or writing articles for the school
newsletter
• assessing the canteen and policies related to it, and providing alternative healthy-eating
options, if they are deemed necessary
• having a health day or week where stalls are set up with researched literature about health
issues. Community groups could also be invited to attend.
CONCLUSION
To conclude this chapter, Example 6.13 will get you thinking about some of the issues we have discussed
in this chapter that you will need to address at a pre-service teacher level. Consider how you might
approach the issue it describes, what follow-up you might need to carry out and how you could support
students like Troy in the future.
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Example 6.13
WHAT IS A TEACHER TO DO?
Troy is a Year 5 student originally from Malaysia. He was recently given a tablet device for his
birthday. He has signed up for Facebook so that he can keep in contact with his family and friends
in Malaysia. Troy has been friend-requested by many people he does not know. He accepts these
requests because he doesn’t want to appear unfriendly.
Troy has no one to talk to about this, because in a cyber-bullying session at school, a teacher
said that students cannot have Facebook until they are 13. Troy is 11. He does not want to get into
trouble.
• How might this situation have an impact on Troy’s health (physical, mental and social)?
• What values do you think Troy holds in regard to family and friends overseas? What lengths
will he go to to keep in touch with them?
• What are the potential safety issues in this situation?
• What role could a teacher play in this situation?
• What consequences might Troy face if he tells someone that he has joined Facebook?
Students will present with varying knowledge, understandings and skills in HPE. In a strengths-
based approach, we take the student from where they are and help them to develop further. The health
issues you will need to address will vary depending on where you teach. One solution does not fit all
schools! This is an opportunity for you to get to know your school’s local community for the benefit of
your students and their families.
Reflection
»» How do you make healthy and safe choices?
»» What skills do you need to make these choices?
»» How can you allow opportunities for your students to build and practise these skills in a
developmentally appropriate manner? What might this look like in your classroom?
Summary
• Creating a safe and supportive learning environment for our students is important in building
relationships with them.
• Diversity of identities has an impact on changes and transitions throughout life.
• Understanding current, local and timely help-seeking behaviours assists students when they need to
access help.
• Protective factors are those which strengthen a student’s resilience and help them to feel connected in a
safe, supportive environment.
• Health situations often appear in life in which decisions need to be made and consequences identified.
Review questions
1 Name three policies that may have an impact on a student’s health.
2 How does language play a role in whether a student feels safe and supported in your classroom?
167
3 What is a strengths-based approach? Why do you think the Australian Curriculum places importance on
this method?
4 What protective factors can we enact in our schools to build resilience in students?
5 Why do we need to know about protective behaviours?
6 What transitions and changes do our students face in their years of primary schooling?
7 Why is it important to teach help-seeking skills?
8 Why is health literacy so important to teach in schools?
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
• Australian Institute of Family Studies: ‘Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect’
https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/mandatory-reporting-child-abuse-and-neglect
Mandatory reporting requirements are different in the different states and territories. This site tells you what
your legal requirements are as a teacher wherever you are in the country.
• Autism Spectrum Education Services: ASES e-News: Circles I: Intimacy and Relationships
http://www.autismspectrumeducation.com/uploads/6/9/9/1/699189/ases_e-news_oct_2011.pdf
A newsletter from Autism Spectrum Education Services describing how ‘circles of intimacy and
relationships’ work. It has many tips for working with students who are on the autism spectrum, such as
using their strengths, routines and sensory toys. The site also features resources for teachers.
• KidsMatter: ‘Building protective factors: Suggestions for school staff’

https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/default/files/public/KMP_C3_RPFCMH_BuildingProtectiveFactors_
SuggestionsFor%20SchoolStaff.pdf
A factsheet from KidsMatter outlining strategies that teachers can use to build protective factors within a
school.
• Lopez, SJ & Louis, MC (2009) ‘The principles of strengths-based education’. Journal of College and
Character, 10(4)
http://www.dowhatmatters.umn.edu/sites/default/files/public/The%20Principles%20of%20Strengths-
Based%20Education.pdf
An essay that talks about the strengths-based approach and how educators can achieve high rates of
engagement and productivity in their classrooms.
• Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (2016) Child Safe Standards

http://www.vrqa.vic.gov.au/childsafe/Pages/default.html
The Child Safe Standards are minimum requirements for all Victorian schools to protect their students from
abuse and/or neglect. They align with and support current policies in schools, and attempt to identify gaps to
improve these.
168
References
American Psychological Association (2016) ‘The road to Autism Spectrum Education Services (2011) ASES
resilience’. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience. e-News: Circles I: Intimacy and Relationships. http://www.
aspx. Accessed 29 April 2016. autismspectrumeducation.com/uploads/6/9/9/1/699189/
Australian Communications and Media Authority (2011) ases_e-news_oct_2011.pdf. Accessed 24 April 2016.
‘Finding and identifying appropriate online content’. http:// Bachai, S (2016) ‘4 puberty rituals from around the world;
www.cybersmart.gov.au/Schools/Teacher%20resources/~/ some involve tooth filing and head shaving’. MedicalDaily.
media/Cybersmart/Schools/Documents/Lesson_Plan_ http://www.medicaldaily.com/4-puberty-rituals-around-
Middle_Primary_Appropriate_Online_Content.pdf/. world-some-involve-tooth-filing-and-head-shaving-273044.
Australian Government Accessed 25 April 2016. Accessed 24 April 2016.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Cahill, H, Beadle, S, Farrelly, A, Forster, R & Smith, K
(2012) ‘Health and Physical Education F-10 Curriculum: (nd) Building Resilience in Children and Young People: A
Sub-strand 1: Being healthy, safe and active’. http://www. Literature Review for the Department of Education and Early
australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/ Childhood Development. Carlton: Melbourne Graduate
structure. Accessed 29 April 2016. School of Education, University of Melbourne.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
(2017a) ‘Health and Physical Education: Curriculum: (2010) ‘Sharing our journey: The transition from
Foundation Year’. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ kindergarten to school’. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/
health-and-physical-education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1. Documents/childhood/parents/transition/sharingourjourney.
Accessed 4 January 2017. pdf. Accessed 28 April 16.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
(2017b) ‘Health and Physical Education Curriculum: Years (2012) ‘Strength-based approach: A guide to writing
1 and 2’. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health- transition learning and development statements’. www.
and-physical-education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level1-2. education.vic.gov.au/earlylearning/transitionschool. Accessed
Accessed 6 January 2017. 25 April 2016.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Freeman, E (2015) ‘Student wellbeing: Making a difference –
(2017c) ‘Drama Curriculum: Years 3 and 4’. http://www. what does it take?’ Presented at WISA Wellbeing in
australiancurriculum.edu.au/the-arts/drama/curriculum/ Schools Conference, Adelaide, 9 November. http://www.
f-10?layout=1. Accessed 4 January 2017. wisawellbeing.com.au/wp-content/uploads/PDF/Adelaide/
Australian Institute of Family Studies (2016) ‘Mandatory Student-Wellbeing-Liz-Freeman.pdf. Accessed 25 April 2016
reporting of child abuse and neglect: What is mandatory KidsMatter (2017) ‘Protective Behaviours: A personal safety
reporting?’ Australian Government. https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/ program’. https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/primary/programs/
publications/mandatory-reporting-child-abuse-and-neglect. protective-behaviours-personal-safety-program. Accessed 26
Accessed 30 April 2016. April 2016.
7
Communicating for
healthy relationships and
wellbeing
1 identify effective communication skills which play
significant roles in relating to others
2 understand your own emotions and the significance of the
diversity of emotions that people feel
3 develop your own health-literacy skills and critically reflect
on current discourses.
Overview
In this chapter we will explore
communication types, communication
skills and how important it is to develop
relationships with others. We will also
investigate emotions and the varying ways
in which people express them. Finally, this
chapter aims to enable you, as a pre-service
teacher, to enhance your own health-
literacy and critical-inquiry skills, and
in turn to teach students these
important skills.
169
170
COMMUNICATION
Communication is the art of sending a message from one source to another source. When you hear
the word ‘communication’, what does it make you think of? We all have strengths and weaknesses in
our communication skills. Have a look at the word cloud shown in Figure 7.1. Are there any words you
would add to it?
Figure 7.1
Communication word
cloud
Communication is a key role of teaching. As a teacher, you convey messages (i.e. educate) in
various forms, and in such a way that every student will have the capacity to develop their knowledge,
understandings and skills. With this in mind, it is important to understand the different ways of learning
so that you can cater for all learning types. It is not enough to give one set of instructions and expect
everyone to understand and be able to follow them.
Communicating effectively
Teaching ‘There were some days when I felt like I was repeating myself over and over again. It was so frustrating,
practice I’d go home with a headache! I just couldn’t get my students engaged – they seemed bored and
uninterested in the topic. I spoke to another teacher, who said that the problem might not have been the
students, but how I was communicating with them.
After I “got over myself”, I realised that she was probably right. So now, I say instructions in a
couple of different ways. I also make sure that I take extra time to ensure that certain students have
understood exactly what I have said by going to them individually after having given instructions. I also
try to remember to write the instructions on the board, so students can check these as they progress.
I realised that if your students aren’t doing what you have told them, then you have to find different ways
of telling them!’
Callum, second-year teacher
Teaching provides a broad range of experiences in communication – for example, through the wide
range of people you communicate with. You do not only need to communicate with your students,
other teachers and leadership teams at your school; you also need to communicate effectively with
parents and carers. Remember that parents and carers have a different perspective of their child than
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C H A P T E R 7 CO M M U N I C AT I N G FO R H E A LT H Y R E L AT I O N S H I P S A N D W E L L B E I N G
you do. They generally have only one child in your class; you have many. Their interests are focused
specifically on their child, while you must focus on the class as a whole and what is best for everyone.
Communicating with parents and carers is essential to building relationships with your students. It
can be difficult to approach parents and carers about certain issues (e.g. bullying, behaviour, school
attendance and educational achievement); however, keeping parents and carers abreast of situations
is a ‘must’. Sensitivity, confidentiality and communicating in an effective, timely manner are essential.
The following ‘Tips for inclusive practice’ box provides tips on communicating with parents and carers.
▻▻ Keep in mind what you want to achieve.

▻▻ Discuss the student’s strengths.
▻▻ Ensure that conversations are a discussion, rather than just you talking. Pause occasionally to allow Tips for
the parent to reflect. inclusive
▻▻ Ask the parent whether there is anything that they are concerned about.
practice
▻▻ Talk about specific behaviours.
▻▻ Talk about the classroom experience, while keeping other students’ information and behaviours
confidential.
▻▻ Pay attention to the parent’s or carer’s body language and tone and pitch of voice.
▻▻ Make a plan, and show how the school can help.
▻▻ If necessary, reiterate that you became a teacher in order to help students and that you are always
working towards their best interests.
▻▻ Sometimes you simply have to hear a parent or carer out. They may be confused about the
educational system or other matters. Don’t take it personally.
▻▻ Remember that parents and carers are just people too!
Types of communication
Communication types vary depending on the situation you are in. Types of spoken communication
range from highly formal lectures or speeches – in which one respected person delivers a prepared
monologue and the audience or listeners usually only get to speak at the end, if they have questions –
through to a party where many people are taking at the same time. In the latter situation, it might be
hard to hear, so some people may be shouting; or perhaps people are moving from person to person in a
relaxed and carefree environment.
There are also varied written texts; a journal article requires very different language, and is for a
different audience, from a text message or a blog. Art, singing and dancing also provide varied portals for
communication. Even in HPE, communication methods can be very different. Specialist PE teachers
are often in a large gym or outside, and therefore need to shout or use a loud voice. They are also
frequently in a rush to get equipment out (and back in) while fitting meaningful activities in between, in
a limited amount of time. This may be perceived as being very different from a specialist health teacher,
who is usually in a classroom (and is more than likely the student’s classroom teacher) and who has to
create an inclusive environment in order to be able to address sometimes tricky topics.
If you were to have your students brainstorm all the words that they think about when you say the
word ‘communication’, as in the word cloud in Figure 7.1, there would be many responses. Some aspects
of communication are more important than others. This section will focus on three of them: body
language, listening and negotiation. We often expect our students to understand or to have skills in these
areas without having explicitly taught them. Body language is frequently taken for granted by adults,
and is not necessarily even considered by students. But if we give students opportunities to identify and
critique body language, it sets up an environment for addressing certain HPE issues, such as respectful
relationships. Listening, similarly, is often simply expected; however, if we can fine-tune our students’
listening skills, classroom management can become much easier. Negotiation is a required skill, and
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becomes more and more difficult as we age and negotiations become more and more complex. These
three elements of communication assist us in providing a safe and supportive classroom environment.
BODY LANGUAGE
Body language plays an important role in giving and receiving an intended message. What is said needs
to be backed up by our body language in order for the message to be believable. Indeed, sometimes our
body language ‘speaks’ louder than our words. Gestures, facial expressions, body placement or posture,
tone of voice, eye contact and touch all have an impact on what we are saying.
Have you ever played ‘Charades’? Imagine playing this game and having to act out an emotion.
Would it be easy? Perhaps simple examples – happy, sad, nervous, excited, angry, bored – might be easy.
But what about emotions like anticipation, hatred, cruelty, envy, indignation, courage, pity, suspicion
and cowardice – would these be harder to convey? Would you be able to guess them if someone else
was acting them out? How would you act them out? It appears that some people are great at hiding their
emotions. Imagine that you found out that a student in your class, one who always seemed to be happy
and engaged in school, had depression. You would be shocked, since you thought you knew them well.
How can we cater for students like this who hide their emotions?
The tone of someone’s voice is considered to fall within the realms of both body language and spoken
language. It can relay meaning, with some tones of voice, such as shouting, being easy to decipher, and
others being harder, as in the case of sarcasm or irony. Sarcasm is quite commonly used in the Australian
vernacular, and people from other countries who are not used to it can sometimes think that Australians
are being quite rude.
Body language can be used as a tool to enhance teaching and learning. When expression and body
movements are paired with the spoken word, meanings can be conveyed more easily, particularly when
they are aimed at second-language acquisition. For example, if you are teaching about the word ‘dog’,
you could imitate the dog through sound (‘Woof ’) and movement (crawl, wag tail, etc.). This can lead
to a deeper understanding of the word. Think about whether you use body language when you teach or
when you are in conversations with others.
Having a comprehensive understanding of body language can also assist, and be required, in some
jobs. For example, law enforcement agencies observe body language in perpetrators, witnesses and
victims to compile a more comprehensive account of the incident. Body-language tactics used to elicit
information may alleviate witness concerns or intimidate perpetrators. Micro-expressions can also be
studied to detect whether someone is lying. (This can be particularly helpful if you want to win a game
of poker.)
On top of all of this, we can conduct ourselves in an assertive, aggressive or passive manner, each of
which sends a particular message of its own:
1 An assertive manner is one that seeks to get across a message clearly, but in a way that is not
intended to hurt the feelings of the listener. The communication is direct and honest. Being
assertive is a powerful position to be in, one in which your wants and needs are conveyed. You are
in control of yourself and your message is generally heard. Body language plays a role in assertive
behaviour. In an assertive person, you will observe eye contact, a confident yet relaxed stance and
language spoken at a normal volume.
2 An aggressive manner is one that has the intent to ‘win’ or to cause some sort of harm to the
listener. This form of communication can stem from frustration, and the speaker can appear rude,
loud, hostile or even attacking. Even though the speaker may feel powerful, this is not a powerful
position to be in, because the listener can be scared, not listen, get upset or angry, fight back or
possibly walk away. The body language you might observe in an aggressive person could include the
person making themselves appear bigger, intruding on personal space or increasing the movement
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of their hands or arms to push a point. Their face might turn red, and the volume of their voice
will often be higher than normal.
3 A passive manner can appear to be one that is polite and interested; however, when you are passive,
you are not prepared to put forward your needs, and as such they may be ignored or not considered.
The passive person will often not put their point across, because they are not interested in getting
involved in any type of conflict; indeed, being passive could be a coping mechanism to avoid
conflict. This could mean the person will put up with aggressive behaviour or bullying and have
their opinions ignored just so as not to ‘upset the apple cart’. The body language you might see in
a passive person could include limited or no eye contact, being softly spoken, physical distance,
agreeing with everybody, being reluctant to say anything and having a closed-off body stance.
Over the course of time an individual may display all three of these traits, depending on situations
or on the people they are speaking with. Power also plays a part; for example, an owner or manager may
be more likely to ‘get away with’ an aggressive manner than an employee, whose job may be at stake.
Body language can differ from country to country, culture to culture and even person to person. In
some cultures, it is rude to not look someone in the eye – this might lead to a belief that the person
they are talking with is lying or has a passive manner, because they do not use eye contact. Some people
naturally stand with their arms crossed or with their hands on their hips, but this does not necessarily
mean that they are closed off to communication or being aggressive. This is where building strong
relationships with your students is important. If you know students’ mannerisms and what to expect
from them, you are more easily able to pick up when something is wrong, at which point you can ‘have
a word’ and show them that you care.
Body language is an interesting field. In some cases, people have no idea that what their body is
doing might complement or clash with their speech. Generally, body language can be ‘read’ within the
specific context. Developing students’ skills in this area will help them to ‘read’ situations and to consider
their own body language as a tool for effective communication.
Reflection
Suppose you are a teacher right now, and consider the body language you might observe in your
class on a daily basis (e.g. boredom, engagement, excitement, tiredness). Perhaps even think about
the messages that your own body language sends to your students.
»» How will I teach students about the impact of body language?
»» Why is body language an important topic for students to have knowledge, understandings and
skills in?
»» Consider the types of body language that students witness at home, and how this might be
reflected in the classroom.
LISTENING
To be able to understand a spoken message, it is essential to listen. Think back to your early educational
experiences. Were you ever taught how to listen? We would suggest that most people likely were not,
but were simply expected to do it! However, in classrooms across the nation, we often hear statements
such as ‘Are you listening to me?’, ‘Did you listen to what I just said?’, ‘If you listened you would know
what to do,’ ‘Everyone please be quiet and listen,’ and so on. So perhaps if we did teach children to listen
effectively, we might be better off in our classrooms – and you will not hear yourself saying any of the
statements above.
When you have a spare moment in class, take a minute to talk with a partner. Have each person
spend one minute talking about the best thing that has happened to them at university. After you have
both had the opportunity to speak, rate your partner’s listening skills on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being
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‘the worst possible listener’ and 5 ‘the best possible listener’. Then consider the types of things that your
partner did to deserve their score. This can yield insights into what makes a good listener and who might
need some help.
We also use body language, which we described above, to show that we are listening, by leaning
towards the person talking, establishing eye contact, having an open body stance, nodding and perhaps
repeating or asking questions. Such body language indicates that we are interested and open to hearing
what is being said. The communication tool of repeating and asking questions shows that the listener
has heard what the speaker is trying to say, and that they possibly want to hear more information.
Figure 7.2 shows the role that body language can play in indicating interest (or lack of interest).
Figure 7.2 Who’s really listening?
(left) iStock.com/asiseeit; (right) iStock.com/robertmandel
Example 7.1
EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES TO BUILD LISTENING SKILLS
Role-modelling listening skills is a great way to help your students to learn how to listen. Here are
some other activities that can help to build listening skills:
• In pairs, have students tell each other one thing that no one knows about them. They will then
introduce their partner to the class and relay that information.
• Pick a word that is often repeated in a particular song. Then ask students to count how many
times they heard the word while listening to the song.
• Play ‘Celebrity heads’, in which students ask and answer questions to determine which celebrity
they have been assigned.
• Have ‘circle time’ during which only one person can talk at a time. You could extend this to memory
games, where one student starts a story and others have to repeat it and add more information.
• Give students instructions for a treasure hunt based on clues that they hear, instead of read.
Listening takes concentration – sometimes at a low level, as when listening to a song to relax, and
sometimes at a high level, as when listening to multiple instructions for a project. Whatever it is that
we need to listen to, we should clear our heads and focus on what we are hearing. Too many times we
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are caught self-listening (even if it is only ourselves we get caught by!). Self-listening refers to when we
are acting as if we are listening, but inside our head we are actually doing other things – planning what
we will do for the rest of the day, being distracted by side conversations, or preparing a rebuttal or a
solution to the speaker’s problem. In these moments, if we recognise self-listening, we can practise
mindfulness to help get us back to the topic at hand – that is, we can listen.
Another type of listening we do is to our own self-talk. This internal communication can have as much
of an impact as if someone else said it to you – sometimes more so, because we can repeat it until we
believe it. Saying things like ‘I’m not good enough,’ ‘I’ll never be able to …’ or ‘Why would others like me
if I don’t like myself?’ is negative self-talk. If negative self-talk leads you to believe what you are saying,
and therefore to act in a way that promotes that feeling, unfortunately, sometimes others can reinforce
the message and you then imagine it to be true. This is a vicious cycle that is very hard to get out of. As
teachers, we need to help our students to recognise when this negative self-talk is occurring and change
the message before it is too late and they start to believe the negativity. Practising alternatives is a good
start. Instead of saying ‘I’m no good,’ for example, you could suggest ‘I’m going to get better;’ instead of
‘I’m a loser,’ you could suggest ‘I’m a good person.’
The impact of positive self-talk is shown in many spheres of activity around the world. Athletes, for
example, are encouraged to use positive self-talk, which leads to positive self-efficacy, which in turn
leads to improved performance. This is an important skill to teach students while they are young, to
minimise any damage that negative self-talk can do.
Example 7.2
A LISTENING ACTIVITY
Ask your students to find a partner, or assign them one. Either instruct each partner to draw a unique
but simple picture, or hand a previously drawn picture to each partner. Tell them not to show their
partner their picture. Students will each need a piece of paper and a pen, pencil or marker pen.
Have each pair sit back to back and take turns describing their picture to their partner. Their
partner has to draw it, trying to make it look exactly like the picture being described. They are not
allowed to use any words to describe the shape – e.g. ‘It is shaped like a house.’ They are only allowed
to instruct their partner on how to draw the picture – e.g. ‘Draw a 10-centimetre line across the
bottom of the page.’ When they have finished one of the drawings, get them to look at how similar
(or different) the pictures are. Then get them to swap roles.
This can be a challenging listening activity, because, being back to back and in a classroom where
others are talking, it can be hard to hear.
It is always amusing, when observing this activity, to see the body language, sweeping of arms and
pointing that takes place, even though the partner cannot see these things!
NEGOTIATION
Negotiation is another key skill that people require in their daily lives. The purpose is to come to a
mutually agreed upon result, where both parties can live with the decision made.
Think back to a time when you had to negotiate with someone. What skills did you need? Possibly
listening, assertiveness, confidence, a sense of give and take, understanding, and so on. These are all
skills that we need to teach our students in order to enable them to navigate the negotiational terrain
they will undoubtedly travel in life. Example 7.3 provides you with a negotiation activity for students.
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Example 7.3
A NEGOTIATION ACTIVITY
Have your students partner up and prepare to have a conversation. Discuss what negotiation means
(i.e. two or more people trying to come up with a mutually agreeable solution). Next, tell students
that the pair of them are going to go to the movies, and that they have to choose one movie to see.
Have your students negotiate a fair option. When they are finished, ask them:
• What types of things did they talk about?
• How did they make their decision?
• Was the outcome fair? Were both people happy with it?
• How did they make the negotiation fair, or how could they do so?
There is a strategy you can use to negotiate effectively. Again, teaching students these skills, and
allowing them to practise them, will give them more confidence when they are in a situation in which
they need to negotiate. The first step is to define the issue; that is, what does each person want? Then
each person needs to explain why they are making that choice. This step might highlight reasons that
others had not thought about, or may absolutely put them off wanting to change their mind. Next, you
can identify all the options available, including the ones already discussed. In Example 7.3, the types
of movies available might be a deterring factor; money, or lack of it, may also be an issue. You may be
able to do both options, or you may come up with an even better idea. The last step involves making
a decision that you are both comfortable with. This may not mean that both people get their own way,
though. Sometimes it is a matter of agreeing that ‘we will do what you want today, and next time, we will
do what I want’. As long as the decision is a mutually agreeable solution and is fair, your negotiation has
been successful.
Deciding which movie to see is a fairly easy negotiation to have, but is similar to other negotiations
we often face. Practising simple negotiations will improve skills for harder negotiations that will occur in
life. For your students, these more difficult negotiations may be related to peer pressure. Students need
to have the skills to make decisions for themselves and to not be swayed by others. Part of this is about
respecting themselves enough to want to make the best decisions for themselves. It is also about them
knowing when they are ready to take part in certain activities.
Respecting themselves and wanting to make the best decisions for now and in the future can help
students to ignore peer pressure. Role-plays are a great way to help students learn the skills required to
fend off these pressures. Here are some examples to role-play:
• A friend of yours is pressuring you to smoke. You don’t want to. What do you do?
• You are on your way to school and some children at the local park suggest that you hang out with
them for the day and ‘wag’ school. They said you’ll be really cool if you do. What do you do?
Ask your students to come up with some solutions to the above scenarios and analyse the
consequences of these solutions, both positive and negative. Have them role-play one of the scenarios
and see what happens. If they are not happy with the results, get them to ‘stop, rewind, press play’ and
start again. It is important for students to see that each action has a different consequence, and that
some consequences can be long-lasting.
ACKNOWLEDGING DIVERSITY IN COMMUNICATION

As noted in our earlier discussion of body language, there might be cultural or religious reasons
why people display different stances, levels of eye contact, customary greetings, and so on. In
Australia, we have a highly multicultural population, and understanding in this area is required to
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decrease incidences of racism and discrimination. A good way to start is to openly acknowledge these
differences. One way to do this with, for example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students,
is to recognise the importance of the land we live on and the traditions that existed long before we
did. Today, many organisations will do this as a matter of course at school assemblies, at the start
of conferences and in speeches. It is a form of respect and understanding. Figure 7.3 provides an
example from KidsMatter’s homepage.
Figure 7.3 Acknowledgement of traditional land owners
From KidsMatter, Acknowledgement of traditional land owners, © Commonwealth of Australia 2017, reprinted with permission.
As a teacher in Australia, you can expect to be teaching classes of students who have many different
backgrounds. This ensures that there will be diversity in communication in your classroom. The barriers
to communication can be difficult to deal with; however, if we acknowledge these and work together to
overcome them, schools will be better places.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Communication occurs every day in many different contexts. Communication is generally an

effective method of getting information to someone else, conveying an opinion or negotiating a course
of action. Unfortunately, though, sometimes there are barriers to effective communication. It is
important to acknowledge these so that we can assist students and the school community to enhance
communication.
Language
Language is an obvious barrier when communicating. Parent/carer–teacher (and sometimes student)
interviews are regular occurrences at schools. A typical interview is held in English and does not last
for very long. If English is not the first language of parents or carers attending interviews, an interpreter
can sometimes be brought in, or the child of the parent/carer can translate. This can cause concerns,
though, because some issues that the teacher may want to bring up may be too complex for the child
to understand, or the child’s English may not be developed enough to decipher ‘adult speak’. Also, the
teacher may not want to bring up particular topics with the child present. Cultural differences might
also become a barrier – if, for example, the parent or carer has been taught to revere the teacher and
simply agrees with everything the teacher says, whether they approve of it or not.
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Time
Time can be a very frustrating barrier to good communication. It takes time to build rapport with
educational professionals, especially if language is an issue. Often, family members need to be consulted
before any decisions about their children are made, and organising a translator can be time-consuming.
This can necessitate many visits to the school and can often end up being very frustrating.
Understanding and empathy is required to build relationships and ask questions about families’
specific needs, so that schools can get students the specific help they require. If teachers are able to help
their students to understand just a little bit, this may be of great assistance to families when accessing
healthcare, government agencies, and so on.
Emotions
Emotions can also be a barrier to communication. Imagine having to tell a student that they did not
make the sports team they wanted to play in, while knowing that, eventually, they will find out that
all their friends made the team. How would the student feel? They might be angry, in shock or upset.
Suppose you later have them in an HPE class and they look as if they have been crying and do not
want to participate. They clearly do not want to talk to you, or even look at you; in fact, they appear to
be staying as far away from you as they can. What could you do to help this student? What messages
would be important for them to hear, and how could you get those messages across when they are
feeling so hurt?
What emotion are you feeling today? Has it changed during the course of the day? Of course,
emotions are not static: they are ever-moving, and they depend on how you are feeling and what has
gone on, or what is going on, in your day. (If you were to list as many emotions as you could over the
course of a day, you might fill a few pages!)
Babies and small children have a hard time understanding, or even knowing, what emotion they are
feeling; as a result, a negative emotion will come out as a cry or a tantrum, and a happy emotion as a giggle,
laugh or jump. In the Foundation year, you will notice that students may still not understand their simple
emotions. You may see tears, anger, frustration and confusion among many of them. They may not yet
be able to control their emotions. As they progress through school, they have to face different emotions,
and they also get better at hiding them. They may hold onto emotions longer, especially negative ones,
if they do not have an outlet for expressing them. Other issues, such as puberty, can also kick in, and
dealing with friendships or relationships can become very different from before. Therefore, changes to
emotions or to the strength of emotions can be significant as students move from their parents/carers
and teachers being the most influential figures in their lives to their peers taking on this role.
As we get older, we start to recognise what the emotion we are feeling is, and to act in an appropriate
(or inappropriate) manner as a result. This includes our body language as well as the way that we speak
(or do not speak). Sometimes our emotions are so strong that we cannot control the way our body reacts
to them; for example, if you win the lottery, you might whoop loudly and run around, whereas if you
fail a test, you might swear and immediately find somewhere to hide and cry. Our bodies can enact the
‘fight, flight or freeze’ response. This is an automatic response wherein you either face the issue (i.e. fight;
note that this does not mean actually fighting someone); get away from the issue (i.e. flight; again, not
literally); or ‘freeze’ and do nothing. This response can happen whether the issue is a positive one or a
negative one; the body’s physiological responses are similar either way. It is a response designed to keep
you safe. You may respond in different ways each time it happens. Suppose you have to get up and give
a speech in a lecture hall with 300 people. Do you fight your nerves and ‘just get on with it’, run away
from the lectern, or stand up there and freeze, not saying anything?
Some people are so good at hiding or masking their emotions that you may not even realise that they
are nervous. Some people appear to be happy all the time; it is as if nothing ever fazes them. A small
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percentage of these people may be masking mental-health issues such as depression, since they either
do not know what is happening to them, do not want people to know, do not want to talk about it, do
not know how to talk about it, do not know how to ask for help or do not see any point in talking about
it or asking for help.
Why are some people more emotional than others? In the stereotypical historical view, women or
girls are more emotional than men or boys, and so it is socially acceptable for them to show emotions.
Historically, if a male did the same, he would probably be labelled a ‘sissy’, ‘gay’ or ‘a girl’ and told to stop
it right away. Why have boys and men not been afforded the same freedom to express emotions as girls
and women? Stereotypically, it is because this labels them as weak and unmanly. These stereotypes, for
both males and females, have changed over time, but remain to varying extents in different situations.
Individuals are also brought up in families that are varied in origin. Some promote the expression of
emotion and some do not. In some families, this is a non-issue and is not even spoken about. You can see
that children grow and learn about expressing emotions in the same way as they do manners, language,
and so on. They have role models to assist their learning journey. There is no right or wrong amount of
expression that should or should not be displayed. There are, however, expected behaviours in certain
situations, which we also learn as we are growing up.
In most cases, it is not a problem to show emotion; it makes you human, after all. People like to see
the positive emotions; they are often not so comfortable dealing with the negative ones. We learn that
when we receive a gift, we should show that we love it and thank that person very much, even if we do
not like the gift at all. If we are in class and someone upsets us, we have learnt that it is not OK to throw
a chair across the room because we are angry. Some children do not have this filter, either because they
have no role models or have not been taught, and so coming to school can be a fairly uncomfortable or
alien feeling for them.
Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have trouble reading other people’s emotions,
and their social interactions can come across as awkward. Some people wrongly think that students
with ASD do not have or do not experience emotions themselves. But this is not true. See the following
‘Inclusive practice’ box for ideas to help children with ASD to develop or express emotions.
The Raising Children Network offers the following advice for parents and carers of children with autism
spectrum disorder (ASD):
Tips for
You can use everyday interactions to help your child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) inclusive
learn about feelings and improve her ability to express and respond to emotions. practice
Here are some ideas:
▻▻ Label emotions in natural contexts: when you’re reading a book with your child,
watching videos or visiting friends, you can point out emotions to him. For example, you
might say, ‘Look – Sally’s smiling. She is happy.’
▻▻ Be responsive: respond to your child’s emotions by saying for example, ‘You’re smiling,
you must be happy.’ You can also play up your own emotional responses – for example,
‘I am so excited! Give me a high five.’
▻▻ Get your child’s attention: if you speak to your child and get no response from her, speak
again. You might need to do this in an exaggerated way early on to get her attention.
▻▻ Encourage looking and eye contact: you can encourage your child to look at you when
you’re interacting, perhaps by joining in with whatever he’s doing. Or if your child asks
for something, you could wait until he looks at you and then give him what he wants.
Use a bright voice with lots of expression to get his attention.
▻▻ Draw your child’s attention to another person. For example, ask someone else to tell your
child what you said, to draw your child’s attention to another person who is speaking.
From Raising Children (Australia) Network (2016) ‘Emotional development in children with autism spectrum disorder’.
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/autism_spectrum_disorder_emotional_development.html. Accessed 12 August 2016.
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There are some wonderful resources available that can be used with children to help them to
understand and recognise emotions in themselves and others, and to help others recognise emotions
in them. Figure 7.4 is one such resource. It is a poster for the classroom; students are given a sticky
label, or similar, with their name on it, and every morning are to stick their name on the face that best
represents how they are feeling that day. This can also be done with individual pictures at students’ desks
(on a cube, or similar, that they can turn as their emotions change).
Figure 7.4
How are you feeling
today?
Shutterstock.com/Lyudmyla Kharlamova
Here are some ideas to help students to understand and express emotions:
• Using music is a good way to get students to identify emotions.
• Ask about the emotions that characters in storybooks might be feeling.
• Use puppets to express emotions.
• Play ‘Charades’ with emotions – a student makes a face and the others have to guess the emotion.
• Role-model using emotion-words with students and other teachers.
• As they walk in to class, ask each student what emotion they are feeling. Do the same as they walk
out at the end of the day.
• Sing ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ with different emotions and actions.
• Play mirror games in which one child mirrors another’s emotions.
• Have students read storybooks that examine emotions.
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Reflection
When you teach, you bring to school your emotions. For example, something may have happened
the night before to have made you elated or sad.
»» In this situation, how will you role-model appropriate emotional responses?
»» What types of communication might you need to be aware of, especially if what happened made
you angry or sad?
»» How can you help your students to express emotions and access support when they need it?
Emotions are such a key part of our society that you are now able to communicate solely in emotions,
through emoticons, when using electronic devices (see the following section). We are not only shortening
the words we write to communicate but also substituting those words with pictures, as is demonstrated
in Figure 7.5.
Figure 7.5 Emoticons: a

method of communicating how
we are feeling
Shutterstock.com/ober-art
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)
Today, much communication is conducted solely via ICTs, and this type of interaction has significantly
changed communication. When an electronic message is sent, no tone or body language is attached to
it. Emoticons are often used as a way of combating this. However, the person receiving the message still
has to try to decipher what was intended.
With the rise in use of ICTs, there has been an increased amount of cyber-bullying, a topic we
introduced in Chapter 5. Once, a victim of bullying was safe as soon as they walked through the
front door of their home, where perpetrators could not reach them. But today, people have access to
their devices 24/7. Students can take their smartphones and tablets to their bedrooms and receive
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messages through the entire night. Many young people today have been labelled as having ‘fear of
missing out’ (or ‘FOMO’); this refers to the amount of time that they may spend on their mobile
devices, particularly on social media, and the pressures they may face to keep up with what is going
on in their social world.
There is also the anonymity aspect of using ITCs for communication; that is, cyber-bullying can
happen without the victim even knowing who is sending the message(s) they receive. Cyber-bullying is
also compounded for the person being sent the message(s) by knowing, or even by not knowing, how
many people can see the message. The emotional impact of this can be extreme; young people have
suffered depression, and worse. They often feel as if there is no help, and that if they do ask or tell an
adult, nothing will be done or the situation will get worse. The ‘fight, flight or freeze’ reaction, described
above, kicks in, and each person will make a different decision. Two protective factors that a young
person has are a parent or carer who they can talk to, and a supportive adult outside the family. Protective
factors are those which help to strengthen a young person’s resilience and mental wellbeing. Tables 7.1
and 7.2 show the other protective and risk factors that have an impact on a student’s resilience.
Table 7.1 Protective factors
Individual Family Peers School Community
Easy temperament Positive parent or Positive peer role models Supportive Participation
(e.g. sociable) carer relationship and influences (e.g. peer relationships in community
group with pro-social networks
values and activities)
Socially and Family provides Inclusive group norms: Opportunities for Access to
emotionally structure, limits, • Mental health status academic or other support services
competent (e.g. monitoring and • Same-sex attraction school achievement (e.g. mental
able to regulate predictability • Disability health care and
emotions) • Open group membership family support)
Good coping and Clear expectations Opportunities to Economic

problem-solving for behaviours and participate in a range security
skills values of activities
Optimistic (e.g. Supportive Physically and Safe and inclusive

a belief life has relationships among psychologically safe community
meaning and hope) family members environment
Physically healthy Support available at Clear policies on

critical times behaviour and
bullying
Positive sense of Support available at

identity and cultural critical times
heritage
Positive attitude to Connections to

help seeking competent and
caring adults
Connected to School acknowledges

family, school and and respects
community diversity (inclusive
environment)
Positive approaches
to behaviour
education
From beyondblue (nd) Module 1.3 Protective and Risk Factors, ‘Common protective factors for mental health difficulties, https://
www.mindmatters.edu.au/docs/default-source/learning-module-documents/mm_module1_3-protectiveriskfactors.pdf?sfvrsn=2.
Accessed 13 November 2016. Reprinted with permission.
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Table 7.2 Risk factors
Individual Family Peers School Community
Difficult Family conflict, Poor peer role Poor student– Social or cultural
temperament including models teacher discrimination and
(e.g. overly shy or domestic violence relationships racism
aggressive)
Low self-worth Inconsistent or Exclusive or rejecting Difficult or Socioeconomic

unclear discipline peers inadequate disadvantage, including
student transition limited access to
management support services
Low IQ and learning Lack of warmth and Peer norms Bullying or Neighbourhood violence
difficulties affection by parents favouring excessive discrimination and crime
use of drugs, alcohol
and violence or anti-
social behaviour
Impulsivity Parent(s) with mental School community

illness or substance is not inclusive
abuse problem
Poor social skills School violence
Significant negative Low teacher

life events relating expectations of
to loss, trauma and students
abuse
Alcohol and drug use Lack of parent

and community
involvement
Chronic illness, Poor absenteeism

physical or structures and
mental disability processes
From beyondblue (nd) Module 1.3 Protective and Risk Factors, ‘Common protective factors for mental health difficulties, https://
www.mindmatters.edu.au/docs/default-source/learning-module-documents/mm_module1_3-protectiveriskfactors.pdf?sfvrsn=2.
Accessed 13 November 2016. Reprinted with permission.
As teachers, we are not always able to do a lot about factors that occur in students’ homes. We can,
though, have an impact on those that occur at school. Which of the protective factors can you support
at school? How will you do this?
HEALTH LITERACY
Along with a strengths-based approach, the Australian Curriculum also promotes students developing
health literacy:
Health literacy can be understood as an individual’s ability to gain access to, understand
and use health information and services in ways that promote and maintain health
and wellbeing. The Health and Physical Education curriculum focuses on developing
knowledge, understanding and skills related to the three dimensions of health literacy.
ACARA, 2016
As we have touched on in earlier chapters, the three dimensions of health literacy are the functional,
the interactive and the critical (ACARA, 2016). There is a progressive increase in the skill level required
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and the complexity involved in these dimensions. They are seen as core skills that are required for
quality of life, and can be described as follows:
1 The functional dimension of health literacy is development of the student’s ability to access relevant
and recent information and services relating to health issues. Students should be able to answer
questions based on their research. An example of such a question would be, ‘What local services
would provide a support group for people living with a disability?’
2 The interactive dimension has more challenging aspects, and requires deeper knowledge, understanding
and skills to respond to a health issue. For example, students should be able to research a health topic
and identify the historical changes and challenges that have been apparent in it.
3 The final dimension of health literacy, the critical dimension, extends these skills further and asks
students to take a critical look at a health issue. Students should be able to read information on a
topic with a critical eye, understanding genres of text and how they may be pitched. They utilise
these information sources to put into action health-promotion strategies for themselves or others
(ACARA, 2016).
The three dimensions are sequential, and students must have practice at the first before moving on
to the second, and so on.
At no other time have children and students been exposed to the litany of information to which
they are exposed today. What do they make of it? How do younger children make sense of issues that
were once the realm of adolescents or adults? They may be exposed to horrific incidents on the news,
sexualised media and seemingly unrated talkback radio on the way to or from school. (An illustration
of this is given in the Dove Campaign ‘Onslaught’, available on YouTube, which attempts to show
the messages that young girls receive about beauty every day.) You can imagine that this incessant
bombardment must have an impact on their body image.
Making sense of messages

The Better Health Channel was developed to improve the health literacy of Victorians (Department
of Health, 2013), but it has application for all Australians. It is a useful website to which specific
organisations with expertise in specific areas are asked to contribute. The messages that we receive can
be confusing, and they are often conflicting, especially for students. The Better Health Channel is a
good place to find specific answers to health questions.
One of the most confusing areas that our students come up against every day is that of body
image. The media is constantly showing all of us what an ideal body looks like – and how great life
is if you have one! Primary school-aged students are feeling the impact, with some not happy with
their bodies and already trying to change them. The media has much to answer for in this regard.
As teachers, we need to show another side to the constant messages of perfection.
THE MEDIA’S ROLE IN SELF-ESTEEM, BODY IMAGE,

STEREOTYPES AND GENDER ROLES
When it comes to entities that send messages to all Australians, the media is probably the most prolific.
From the moment we get up in the morning until the moment we sleep at night, there are opportunities
for the media, in particular advertising, to reach their intended audiences.
Advertisements are aimed at audiences who have the money or desire to purchase particular goods
and services, and certain advertisements are targeted at certain demographics. Stereotypically, in the
past, men worked and women stayed at home, looking after children and cooking and cleaning; so the
sexist advertisement shown in Figure 7.6 was aimed at males. (The females always look so happy in
these types of advertisements, as if pleasing their husband is their most important job.) The messages
these advertisements sent to women were very clear, and confirmed existing stereotypes. Although
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Figure 7.6 Portrayal

of women in advertising
ʻYou mean a woman can open it?ʼ AAP Image/The Advertising

Archives
advertisements have changed over time, the messages delivered to men and women are still not equal;
women are often still portrayed as objects, and you will frequently see advertisements for products for
use on a woman’s body or body part, as shown in Figure 7.6. Indeed, if you took away the product,
it would often be difficult to know what the advertisement was actually about.
More and more people are speaking up about not wanting to be exposed, or not wanting their
children, especially girls, to be exposed to advertisements which demean and belittle women. Globally,
there is a serious problem with gender-based violence. If advertisements depict men as being able to do
whatever they want to a woman, or as being able to ‘have’ any woman they want, this merely reinforces
the damaging message that gender-based violence is OK.
Certain types of music videos offer prime examples of depictions of men dominating women. In
many such videos, women are scantily clad and dancing, generally in very provocative ways, around
men (and there are often a higher number of women than men). Women are shown as being happy for
the male to do whatever he wants to to them. The men in these videos, on the other hand, have full
control of the women. They are generally wearing more clothes than the women, and often have more
than one woman on their arm or hanging off them. Again, this sends the message to men that this type
of behaviour is acceptable – in fact, that it is how one attracts women. (Viewers may forget that the
women are being paid to behave in this way.) These videos are shown on television and online, and they
are watched by young viewers.
Example 7.4
A MODEL LIFE: IS IT ALL ITʼS CRACKED UP TO BE?
Watch Cameron Russell talk about the realities of a model’s life. In a TED Talk, Russell speaks about
what it really means to be a woman in the modelling industry. When asked why she likes the job, she
responds honestly, instead of with the usual platitudes (i.e. something along the lines of, ‘I get to keep
free things and it’s great to travel’). Details of the talk are included below.
Source: Russell, C (2012) ‘Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model’. TED talk. TEDxMidAtlantic. https://www.ted.com/
talks/cameron_russell_looks_aren_t_everything_believe_me_i_m_a_model?language=en. Accessed 29 September 2016.
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The next step up from this sexualisation of the media is, of course, the pornography industry. There
are all kinds of pornographic material, and with the rise of the Internet, individuals are able to get
together and film themselves in sexual situations, then upload the video for others to view for free.
Other pornographic images are directed to a paying audience, so they portray what their customers will
pay for. Filmmakers do their research so that they will know exactly what these preferences are. Any
stereotypes that are portrayed in the films are reinforced – for example, what a woman or man looks
like, expectations about sexual activity, and issues of consent and who is responsible for what happens.
So what does all this say about women’s bodies? Is it any surprise that we have a nation of girls and
women who are not happy with their bodies? There are now many support services and organisations
that help girls and women with body-image issues (e.g. the Butterfly Foundation and SeeMe). Boys
and men also suffer, because the push to be big, strong and ‘buff ’ is rising. Body-image problems are
often seen to be a female issue, and so some men will not seek help as a result. This can lead to an
internal struggle in which men want to access help, yet do not want to appear ‘weak’ – and then struggle
in silence.
It seems unfair to be dealing with all these issues in primary schools. But small things can be
done in schools that make big differences. A student wellbeing coordinator, for example, has relevant
resources at their disposal and can recruit teachers to assist in the identification of students at risk.
School uniforms can be made gender-neutral, where girls are able to wear long pants or shorts instead
of dresses and skirts. Buddy programs, anti-bullying policies and self-esteem-building activities all help
within the school setting.
What can we do in our role as teachers? The overarching worldwide issue of gender-based violence
can be addressed in primary schools. As with any health issue, it is a matter of identifying the skills
that people need, such as being able to assert themselves against pressures to look thin (for women)
or ‘buff ’ (for men), or to be sweet and innocent and love pink (for girls), or strong, aggressive and
love blue (for boys). Such skills can then be practised, at an age-appropriate level, with your students.
It is about bringing adult concepts down to the age or maturity level of your students, and finding
appropriate activities that will engage them while building their knowledge, understanding and skills.
You do not even have to mention body image to teach about it; Example 7.5 outlines how to indirectly
teach students about body image.
Example 7.5
INDIRECTLY TEACHING ABOUT BODY IMAGE
You do not even have to mention body image in order to teach about it. The following are indirect
methods of helping students to build skills related to body image:
• Self-esteem and self-worth: Being the best me that I can be. Knowing what I am good at and what
I can achieve, having confidence in myself and continually trying to improve.
• Decision making: Being able to identify options and the consequences of each option, and then
being able to confidently make the decision that will have the best effect for me.
• Being a good friend: Being able to talk to a friend about what is realistic, and being honest and
supportive of their needs.
• Help-seeking behaviours: Knowing when and where to get reliable and timely help.
• Goal-setting: Having direction in life and knowing what will help and what will hinder reaching
the goals set, and being able to work towards the goals, without getting side-tracked.
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As you can see, these skills are general and will assist with many health education topics. Giving
students opportunities to practise these types of skills and build on them each year offers a valuable
life lesson. As they get older, students have to deal with harder issues that have much more significant
consequences. However, the foundational skills that you have taught them, and that they have practised,
will set them on the road to success.
COMMUNICATION TO ACCESS HELP

Knowing the types of questions to ask about a health issue can sometimes be the difference between
getting the health access you need and wasting your time. How do we know what to ask? What should
be your first point of call? The answer relates to the three dimensions of health literacy, which we
described above. We start at the functional level, where we need to understand what makes a reliable
source of information. As has been noted, with ICTs, we have the world at our fingertips. Sometimes
this can be dangerous. As people decide not to go to their local healthcare provider and instead ask
‘Dr Google’ what their symptoms mean, they are often faced with a litany of possible scary conditions.
But ‘Dr Google’ has not completed a medical qualification; it just collects all the information it can
find about your chosen inquiry. In a matter of seconds – depending on your Internet speed – you have
apparent ‘mastery’ of the subject. No: what you have is information sources that might explain what the
symptoms you typed might mean.
Teaching your students about reliable sources is a good step to take to discover where trusted
information can come from. Table 6.1 in the previous chapter lists ways in which students can develop
the skill of determining which websites are reliable sources.
High health literacy
Having good health literacy has been seen to have positive effects on quality of life:
Health literacy is essential for maintaining good health and improving quality of life. It is
regarded as a highly valuable and important individual and societal asset which can lead
to improved self-reported health status, increased healthcare knowledge, lower healthcare
costs, less frequent use of healthcare services and shorter hospitalisations.
Department of Health, 2013: 5
People with high health literacy are able to navigate the multitude of skills that are required
for optimal health. It is necessary to have knowledge, understandings and skills related to, and in
accordance with, healthcare systems, as well as the ability to keep up with, and on top of, the demands
of healthcare systems and contexts. In addition, people need to be able to manage the requirements
of the healthcare system – for example, filling in forms, knowing how to access local and specialist
providers, having the complex communication skills required to share information such as histories
and symptoms, and being able to care for themselves or engage or employ a carer if required
(USDHHS, ndA).
Low health literacy
If you have low health literacy, you are more likely to struggle in using healthcare services and have
poorer health outcomes (Berkman et al., 2011). There are certain factors that have an impact on an
individuals’, families’ or communities’ level of health literacy:
Health literacy is impeded by a range of determinants … including socio-economic status,
disability, remote or rural habitation, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, culture,
language, refugee and asylum seeker experience, and social connectedness.
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Example 7.6
LOW HEALTH LITERACY AND HEALTH OUTCOMES
People with low health literacy are more likely to:

• not access preventative healthcare services, and therefore have less knowledge about
chronic health issues and how to manage them
• have higher rates of preventable hospitalisations and use of emergency services
• report their health as poor
• have healthcare costs that are generally higher
• report a higher sense of shame about their health-literacy level (USDHHS, ndB).
Recommendations for optimal health literacy

Being able to take a critical look at the information that is presented, to understand the reasoning
behind it and to make good health choices are the goals of a health education teacher. We learn these
critical-inquiry skills in other subject areas, so integration across the curriculum should be easy to enact
in schools.
The Australian Medical Association, or AMA (2016), contends there are strong links between health
and education. Better health outcomes are associated with higher levels of educational attainment. The
AMA also strongly suggests that both institutions – education and healthcare – need to work together
in cross-sector collaborations to improve health literacy. The AMA collected data from the Australian
Bureau of Statistics and found a high percentage of Australians (60 per cent) have low health literacy
(AMA, 2016). The AMA’s position on Australian health literacy is reproduced in the following ‘Cross-
curricular possibilities’ box.
The AMA states its position on the teaching of health literacy in schools as follows:
▻▻ That health and education sectors should work together to ensure the best health and
Cross-
education outcomes for all children and young people.
curricular
possibilities ▻▻ All levels of Government should support ongoing dialogue and collaboration (where
possible) between the health and education sectors that aims to improve education
and health outcomes.
▻▻ Health literacy should be included in all school curricula. Delivery of this education
should be well supported and informed by the latest evidence.
▻▻ Research that identifies evidence based and cost effective interventions that improves
the health and wellbeing of students must be supported. This research should be
collated and promoted by a national clearinghouse for school health research.
▻▻ School canteens should support efforts that encourage children and young people to
eat a well-balanced diet.
▻▻ Immunisation status should be collected as part of the preschool and school
enrolment process.
▻▻ Comprehensive, age appropriate sexual health and relationships education should be
available to all students.
▻▻ Schools should be well supported in the delivery of resilience and mental health
identification and awareness education.
▻▻ Chronic medical conditions and special needs should not prevent children and young
people from engaging with education.
▻▻ Educational opportunities should be available to children and young people who spend
significant periods of time in hospital of those who are absent from school for health
reasons.
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▻▻ Teachers should be educated and well supported in appropriate levels of medical

care, particularly if they are responsible for students who are at risk of significant
medical emergencies, such as anaphylaxis, asthma and epilepsy. Management plans
informed by the child or young person’s treating doctor should help inform appropriate
management and responses to these situations as they arise.
▻▻ Training and support should be available to medical practitioners and medical students
who engage with school students in programs that aim to help improve student health
and wellbeing.
From Australian Medical Association (2016) ‘Health in the context of education’.
https://ama.com.au/position-statement/health-context-education-2014. Accessed 24 November 2016.
The AMA’s recommendations suggest that health literacy should be taught right across the
curriculum, in programs associated with schools, in organisations affiliated with the school, and in
organisations that look after students who are not well enough to be at school. They also suggest that
teachers need professional learning opportunities in order to keep students safe at school. These are
fairly big asks; but the premise of a whole-school approach to education about a health issue – in this
case, health literacy – is not a new concept, and this approach is generally more sustainable when
partnerships are formed to improve overall health outcomes.
CURRENT HEALTH DISCOURSES

No matter what the current health discourse is, we all have our own opinions on it. It is our role as teachers,
however, to show both sides to a story; to be value-fair and let everyone have their say, rather than value-
free. The topic of same-sex marriage is a germane example; around the world, many countries have voted
for marriage equality for LGBTI (i.e. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) couples. Australia is
yet to do so. Some teachers are afraid to talk about this issue, perhaps because they are worried about what
parents or carers might say. Our students are not immune to the news, though; in fact, it appears that they
are more in tune with it than we ever were at that age. Additionally, this topic provides a great way to teach
about our government and how legislation is enacted in Parliament.
Other current health topics that you may be asked about include, but are not limited to, superbugs (i.e.
bacterial infections that have developed resistance to antibiotics), mental health, cyber-bullying, natural
disasters, global warming, the use of palm oil, drugs and obesity. You do not need to be an expert in the
relevant field in order to respond. It is OK to tell your students that you do not know much about any of
these topics, and that you all can find out about them together. Improving health literacy is important for
you as well as for your students. Sometimes all that will be required is to explain what certain topics mean;
sometimes students will have heard something that they are confused about and need some clarification
on. Sometimes they will want to hear your opinion on a topic. This can be tricky, because you do not want
to sway their opinion either way. Students may agree with you because they look up to you. It is therefore
important to give both sides of a story and encourage students to be critical thinkers.
Reflection
»» How would you rate your own health literacy?
»» How will you ensure that you develop a common language in your classroom so that everyone
will understand and be able to participate in conversation?
»» How will you go about learning which health services are available in your school’s community?
»» How will you ensure that students have an understanding of relevant, accurate and timely resources?
»» What else can you do to continue to build knowledge, understanding and skills in this area?
Your skills and ability to model reflection to your students will have an impact on their ability
to reflect. Allowing them to practise reflection skills may set them on a course of continuous
improvement in all aspects of their life.
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REFLECTION
Reflection may be defined as ‘careful thought about something’. In your role as a teacher, reflection
is one of the most important tools you have for improving your practice. In this respect, it also is a
significant skill that you can teach your students that will have an impact on their lives. If you do not
reflect, you will never understand why something did or did not work. You will never be able to identify
what exactly it is that made your lesson, interaction, strategy or plan fail, and you will therefore make
the same mistakes over and over again. In any program’s implementation phase, you have an evaluation
period. This is necessary to allow you see how the program is progressing and make changes where
required. If evaluations or reflections are performed continuously, you will have a better chance of
making changes when they are required, not just at the end of the process, when it may be too late.
Reflection has been seen to have an impact on learning (see Harvey et al., 2016, in this chapter’s
‘Further reading’ list), and this reflexivity (or meaning) can be taught (Schirato & Webb, 2002).
Reflection activities and tools

As with any new skill, practice will help reflection to feel more natural and allow it to happen more
readily. Some people prefer to reflect on their own, not being comfortable doing so in the presence of
others; some will happily share in groups. In groups, some people do not need time to think and will
answer straight away; but it is important to consider the opinions of those who require some thinking
time – to allow for this, and then ask for reflections. Example 7.7 lists some tried-and-tested activities
which help to elicit good reflection.
Example 7.7
ACTIVITIES TO ENCOURAGE REFLECTION
• Brainstorming: Pouring out ideas, in any form.

• Mindmaps: A structured brainstorm, with related ideas grouped together.
• ‘What? So what? Now what?’: Define the issue and answer the questions, ‘What?’ (i.e.
what is this?), ‘So what? (i.e. what does this mean?) and ‘Now what? (i.e. what might be
the consequences?).
• Sentence stems: For example, ‘I expected … ’; ‘I was pleased with … ’.
• Role-plays: Acting out the situation. ‘Pause, rewind and play’ to see different alternatives.
• Debates: Allowing access to both sides of an issue.
• Circle time: One at a time, each person ‘has the floor’ and can say whatever they are
thinking; alternatively, a significant item can be passed around, and only the person
holding the item can talk. Everyone must have a turn talking. (This is even more fun if
you use a ball of string and pass one end of it across the circle until everyone has spoken,
each keeping hold of their place on the string. It ends up looking like a spider’s web – or
web of knowledge.)
• ‘Chug circle’: Pairs form an inner and outer circle facing one another and address a
reflection issue. When time is up, the inner circle rotates to the right and starts again as
a new pair.
• ‘Lucky dip’: Each person lists a dilemma they are having and puts it in a box. One by one,
the dilemmas are brought out and students reflect on strategies they have used in the past
that have had positive outcomes.
• Guided imagery: A facilitator guides participants to help to build solutions through the use
of their imaginations.
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Reflection
Reflect on reflecting by answering the following questions:
»» Why is reflection such an important part of your job as a teacher?
»» What happens if you never reflect on your teaching?
»» Do you have the skills needed to critically reflect on your practice?
»» What should you do with your reflections?
»» How will you improve your reflection skills?
Summary
• Effective communication skills are an important way to relate to others.
• Effective communication takes practice and consideration of the barriers that can often be in place.
• It is important to recognise and understand your own emotions and the diversity of emotions that
people feel.
• It is important to develop health-literacy skills and understand how these affect the way in which we
reflect on current discourses.
• The media plays a role in reinforcing stereotypes and providing a homogenous view of the world.
• Reflection is a key skill for teachers and will have a significant impact on their teaching ability.
Review questions
1 How can we develop listening skills among our students? Give four examples.
2 What is self-listening? How can we teach our students to listen and not self-listen?
3 What is the outcome of a good negotiation?
4 What barriers exist to good communication?
5 Choose one barrier to good communication and discuss how we can overcome it.
6 Why is it important to recognise emotions?
7 How does being emotional have an impact on communication?
8 ‘ICT has improved the way we communicate.’ Come up with two statements for and two statements
against this proposition.
9 What is health literacy, and why is it important to teach our students about it?
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
192
Further reading
• Australian Curriculum, Reporting and Assessment Authority (2012) The Shape of the Australian
Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. Sydney: ACARA.
https://acaraweb.blob.core.windows.net/resources/Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_Health_and_
Physical_Education.pdf
This resource, which is integral reading for all HPE teachers, discusses the direction that the Australian
Curriculum is headed in, and includes discussion of the strengths-based approach, health literacy and
critical inquiry.
• Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2011) Catching On Early: Sexuality
Education for Victorian Primary Schools. Melbourne: State of Victoria.
https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/catchingoneyrsv.pdf
This is the Victorian Education and Training Department’s sexuality-education curriculum for primary-
aged students. The curriculum is ready to use in your school and free to access. The featured activities are
developmentally appropriate, and the curriculum gives information that could be used if you were to hold a
parent/carer information evening.
• Harvey, M, Coulson, D & McMaugh, A (2016) ‘Towards a theory of the ecology of reflection: Reflective
practice for experiential learning in higher education’. Journal of University Teaching and Learning
Practice, 13(2), 1–20.
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1650&context=jutlp
An in-depth look at reflective practice and how it supports student learning. A new theory of reflection is
discussed and assumptions tested. This is an interesting look at a process that we often take for granted or
leave out of our practice because of a lack of time.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Raising Children Network (2016) ‘Emotional development
(2016) ‘Health and Physical Education: Key ideas’. http:// in children with autism spectrum disorder’. http://
www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical- raisingchildren.net.au/articles/autism_spectrum_disorder_
education/key-ideas. Accessed 30 January 2017. emotional_development.html. Accessed 12 August 2016.
Australian Medical Association (2016) ‘Health in the context Russell, C (2012) ‘Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a
of education’. https://ama.com.au/position-statement/health- model’. TED talk. TEDxMidAtlantic. https://www.ted.com/
context-education-2014. Accessed 24 November 2016. talks/cameron_russell_looks_aren_t_everything_believe_
Berkman, ND, Sheridan, SL, Donahue, KE, Halpern, DJ, me_i_m_a_model?language=en. Accessed 29 September
Crotty, K (2011) ‘Low health literacy and health outcomes: 2016.
An updated systematic review’. Annals of Internal Medicine, Schirato, T & Webb, J (2002) Bourdieu’s rotion of reflexive
155(2), 97–107. knowledge’. Social Semiotics, 12(3), 255–68.
Department of Health (2013) ‘Health literacy: Enabling United States Department of Health and Human Services
communication and participation in health’. Background (ndA) ‘Health literacy and health outcomes’ Office of
paper. Melbourne: State of Victoria. Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://health.
KidsMatter (2017) Acknowledgement of traditional land owners. gov/communication/literacy/quickguide/factsliteracy.htm.
https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/. Accessed 4 January 2017. Accessed 22 June 2016.
MindMatters (nd) ‘Common risk factors for mental health United States Department of Health and Human Services
difficulties: Module 1.3: Protective and risk factors’. https:// (ndB) ‘Health literacy basics, Office of Disease Prevention
www.mindmatters.edu.au/docs/default-source/learning- and Health Promotion’. http://health.gov/communication/
module-documents/mm_module1_3-protectiveriskfactors. literacy/quickguide/factsbasic.htm. Accessed 22 June
pdf?sfvrsn=2. Accessed 13 November 2016. 2016.
8
Whole-school approaches
to promoting health
1 identify what health promotion is and develop an
understanding of local health-promotion strategies
2 develop skills to assess the local environment, and identify
ways to connect children and schools to their communities
3 understand whole-school approaches to addressing health
issues in schools, including the Health Promoting Schools
Framework
4 identify the diverse nature of communities and learn ways
in which they can assist their children to celebrate the
diverse nature of their school and community.
Overview
In this chapter you will develop your knowledge
and understanding of health promotion, whole-
school approaches and health promoting schools.
The focus will be on gaining an understanding
of how these strategies are used, locally as well
as internationally; the way they are employed to
teach children how to locate and access health
providers; and how they assist children to build
partnerships and have an healthy impact on
their community. Examples will be given to
allow for greater understanding and to generate
ideas for schools and communities.
The chapter will also cover the skills needed
to critically engage with local communities and
access information regarding local needs. While
reflecting on their own skills, teachers can develop
pedagogies to build their students’ skills in
accessing and promoting local health initiatives.
193
194
HEALTH PROMOTION: A COMPONENT OF HEALTH DELIVERY
Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to
improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being,
an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs,
and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for
everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social
and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not
just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy life-styles to well-
being.
The fundamental conditions and resources for health are:
• peace
• shelter
• education
• food
• income
• a stable eco-system
• sustainable resources
• social justice, and equity.
Improvement in health requires a secure foundation in these basic prerequisites.
WHO, 2017a
Many of us likely take for granted the fundamental conditions listed by the World Health Organization
(WHO) above. But consider children in countries that are at war who cannot attend school; or where
only male children are afforded an education; or Australian children who sleep in their parents’ car and
do not eat breakfast before they go to school. How can these children be truly healthy? In addition to
the WHO’s list, we can consider Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs, in which physiological needs such
as air, water, food and shelter form the base of the pyramid of need (see Figure 8.1). Maslow contends
that unless the lowest group of needs is met, one cannot progress to the next levels of the pyramid.
Above physiological needs, these are, in order, needs for safety, love and belonging, esteem and, finally,
self-actualisation. Again: think about your future students. If they have not had breakfast or did not have
safe place to sleep, how can they be expected to attain the level of self-actualisation that we demand in
schools?
Health promotion is a way of helping individuals and groups to meet these needs. It is a strategic
process that builds capacity in students. Although it is complex, in terms of its cost to the population
it is possibly the cheapest stage of health delivery for achieving good health, and is therefore highly
encouraged by governments.
Health promotion is the first stage of health delivery. It attempts to up-skill individuals and build
capacity in communities as a way of enabling people to look after their own health. It is a method of
empowering people to look after themselves and others and to achieve a better quality of life.
The second stage of health delivery is the prevention of illness, disease and incapacity. You may
frequently hear the adage, ‘Prevention is better than cure.’ This is correct, because it costs the health
system far less to attempt to prevent an illness than it does to cure it. Prevention takes the form of
healthcare, including specialists, and the taking of days off work when required for health reasons, as
sick leave or carer’s leave.
The next stage of health delivery is early intervention. This refers to when a health concern has
arisen – for example, a single high blood pressure recording – and steps need to be taken to reduce
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C H A P T E R 8 W h o l e - s c h oo l approa c h e s to pro m ot i n g h e a lt h
Morality,
Self-actualisation creativity,
spontaneity,
problem solving,
lack of prejudice,
acceptance of facts
Self-esteem, confidence,
Esteem achievement, respect of others,
respect by others
Love/belonging Friendship, family, sexual intimacy
Security of body, of employment, of resources,

Safety
of morality, of the family, of health, of property
Physiological Breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion Figure 8.1
Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs
Adapted from Maslow, AH (1943) ‘A theory of human motivation’ Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–96.
the risk of it becoming worse; a doctor might ‘keep an eye on it’. The fourth stage is treatment, where a
healthcare professional needs to be involved in treating a condition; this could include short-, medium-
or long-term treatment. The final stage of health delivery is rehabilitation, where the patient needs to
progressively improve in order to be able to return to a better quality of life.
Health promotion as a concept has been around for a very long time, but was not always a
coordinated effort. In the 1980s the WHO began the process of compiling strategies used and put
forward recommendations for the future.
The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion

The WHO’s Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was developed as part of the First International
Conference on Health Promotion, convened by the WHO and held in Canada in 1986. The Charter built
on previous targets, declarations and assemblies related to global health. It presented a clear direction
for achieving ‘health for all by the year 2000 and beyond’ (WHO, 2009: 1). There was recognition in
the Charter that there were vast differences in the capabilities of countries providing healthcare
around the world. Because health was seen as an important aspect of quality of life, and as a means
of improving a nation’s outlook, the Charter emphasised equity for all. It held that each nation must
develop strategies and programs related to local areas, a process that requires a considerable amount of
work. The development of targeted local initiatives, according to the Charter, ultimately have an impact
on state, national and international health (this will be discussed later in the chapter).
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The Charter defined action that nations can take in relation to health promotion as the following:
• Build healthy public policy.
• Create supportive environments.
• Strengthen community actions.
• Develop personal skills.
• Reorient health services.
WHO, 2009: 6
The planning, development, implementation and evaluation of health-promotion strategies lie

with many bodies, rather than one body. The partnerships developed through health promotion act to
strengthen the strategies and encourage longevity. All partners ‘own’ the strategies and therefore have
responsibility for their success.
Heath promotion in Australia

The Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) is aligned with the WHO’s commitment to
health for all. Health promotion is a process, and this process aims to have individuals take control of, or
increase their control over, their health and improve their health (WHO, 2009). Doing this requires many
strategies, and the AHPA has committed itself to these. It lists the following as fundamental for success:
• Ethical practice: Supporting culturally informed, participatory, respectful, and safe
practice
• Health equity: Addressing the social determinants of health in order to build health equity
• Innovative and evidence-informed approaches: Promoting and supporting evidence-
informed research, policy and practice
• Collaboration: Working in partnership with other organisations to improve health and
wellbeing.
AHPA, 2014: 2
As you can see, the AHPA’s goals are aligned with those stated by the WHO and in the Ottawa
Charter. This alignment ensures that international organisations indirectly provide support or direction
to grassroots-level communities and that the latter will have access to equitable health services. Local
communities are supported to enact international, national and state directions for the provision of
healthcare so as to specifically meet the needs of their own unique community.
In the following sections we will discuss each item in the AHPA’s list of factors it deems essential
for successful health promotion. As you read, think about what can be done at a local level to improve
a community’s health.
ETHICAL PRACTICE
Ethical practice should be something that we can assume will take place in health promotion, yet it
cannot be taken for granted. Ethical practice refers to the standards of professional conduct that any
industry professional is expected to uphold. From medicine to business, all industries have some form
of ethical practice required of their professional members.
Ensuring that everyone has the same access to information and courteous service will help, not
hinder, the dissemination of health-related information. As an example, imagine that you were someone
with English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D). If you were rushed in and out of a 10-minute
consultation with a doctor, how much information would you understand, let alone retain? Even if
a translator were present, the short amount of time that some doctors have in which to complete
consultations (not always through their own fault; sometimes the requirements of larger bulk-billing
surgeries set time limits for consultations) would be of minimal help if the issue were complex, perhaps
even if a translator were present. There needs to be a means of providing the necessary factors – time,
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space, interpreter(s), access, well-planned hours of operation – in a short amount of time to ensure that
patients’ experience of a health service are positive. Aspects of this include front-desk staff members
who are able to assist patients; calling patients if the health provider is running late; possibly providing
on-site counselling if bad news has been delivered; and providing a ‘one-stop shop’ for the elderly (i.e. a
service that provides multiple agencies in the one place, so that a patient could see a doctor, pharmacist,
dentist, optometrist and audiologist in the same location.). The options for providing ethical practice are
endless, and small, positive steps can create big improvements.
HEALTH EQUITY
The health equity component of health promotion deals with the social determinants of health.
These relate to respect for self and others, communication skills, and interactions and the building of
relationships with other people. Health promotion can help to connect communities and individuals,
mediate between disputes, negotiate community harmony and link communities to their environment.
This obviously needs to be done by people within the relevant community, who will know what issues
are important and who can be driving forces for a healthy community environment. Sometimes we refer
to ‘equality’ when it is in fact equity that we are really talking about, as Figure 8.2 demonstrates.
Figure 8.2 Equality
vs equity
Craig Froehle
INNOVATIVE AND EVIDENCE-INFORMED APPROACHES

Innovative and evidence-informed approaches support the notion of a best-practice-based approach. Why
reinvent the wheel if it is already working? Differences stem from the fact that each community will
have its own specific needs and challenges, and approaches may need to change in order to fit with these
and with the community ethos.
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COLLABORATION
Effective health promotion practice places people at the heart of all activities. Health
promotion needs to be carried out by people and with people, rather than on people or to
people. This requires us to engage with communities in ways that allow people to have
ownership of and involvement in all stages of health promotion activities.
DHHS, 2017
Collaboration is a significant aspect of health promotion. In health delivery, the health of individuals and
groups is what is at stake, and so these individuals and groups need to be ‘on board’. Collaboration must
take into account all relevant organisations, groups, facilities and institutions. As an example, suppose a
school has planned a health-promotion week, and one of the topics it will be promoting is sexual health.
They have done an amazing job setting up the school hall for the event, yet wonder why not many students
are participating. Little do they know that during Ramadan, a holy month for the Islamic faith, sexual
health would not be an appropriate topic for Muslim students to discuss, and so those students are not
attending the event. This example illustrates how in health promotion, consultation must occur at all levels.
Collaboration is encouraged, perhaps even necessary, to apply for health-promotion funding. It
could be argued that government departments are less likely to give funding to organisations acting
on their own and more likely to look to funding requests from partnerships. Each state and territory
has its own health-promotion organisation. These provide connections between local communities
and national and international health directions. Community groups are able to contact these health-
promotion organisations to help to link themselves with others working in the field, or to provide
or receive expert advice. The impact of health promotion is made significant through the sharing of
resources from the international to the local community level.
The effects of health promotion, from global to local

Global health goals are set as a way of giving direction to local initiatives, and are therefore designed to
improve the health of all people in the world. Different countries have different health needs, budgets,
experience, philosophies, targets, facilities, professionals, and so on, and so their ways of carrying out
health promotion will necessarily be different. However, global goals have an impact on goals at the
national level, which in turn have an impact on state and local communities. Similarly but in reverse, if
a local community is doing something that has a positive impact on its members, this can be replicated
across state, national and even international levels. As such, health promotion at a local level can have
vast implications for broader health around the world.
THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the leading and best-recognised health-promotion
organisation in the world. It coordinates health promotion internationally as an arm of the United
Nations (UN). The UN has branches across the world that provide a coordinated approach. Research
teams keep the WHO in touch with issues that are current and needing attention. The WHO has
global priorities as well as local priorities for specific countries. It sets goals for health outcomes and
continually keeps track of these. Sometimes a health issue will suddenly emerge that the WHO has
to deal with, such as HIV/AIDS or, more recently, the ‘bird flu’ or the Ebola or Zika viruses. In such
situations, specialists are recruited to help to contain, reduce and, if possible, eradicate these. Educators
take steps to inform and up-skill the people in areas that are at risk. In the past, it was easier to contain
such outbreaks, especially in isolated places like Australia. But with the increasing ease of international
travel, viruses, bacteria and disease can spread to other countries far more quickly, sometimes without
the knowledge of the travellers who carry them.
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In 2000, the UN created the Millennium Development Goals, which 189 UN member states
agreed upon and worked towards until 2015 (WHO, 2017b). New targets are called Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), and include 17 goals; all 191 UN member states have agreed to work
towards achieving these (WHO, 2017c). Leaders of these countries must use these goals to guide the
health priorities in their respective nations.
Although these global goals ‘trickle down’ from the international to the national, state and then
community levels, there will obviously be differences at each of these levels, since each country, state
or local community does not face the same health issues. For example, certain countries are landlocked –
totally surrounded by other countries – and so SDG 14 (see Figure 8.3), ‘Life below water’, may not
be as relevant to landlocked countries as it is for Australia, which is surrounded by water. Even within a
country, different types of health promotion will be carried out for different populations or geographical
areas. Take SDG 10, for example. We know that in Australia, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander
people are far worse off in terms of access to health (see Example 8.6 later in this chapter). And
the geographical isolation of some of Australia’s remote communities means that in terms of health
promotion, they need to be considered much differently than a city or even a small country town.
Figure 8.3
Sustainable
Development Goals
(SDGs)
From Health in the SDG era, http://www.who.int/topics/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-banner.jpg,

reprinted with permission of WHO.
The SDGs are seen as an investment in the health of communities globally. They target all populations,
genders, cultures, religions, sexualities, socioeconomic statuses, ages, geographical areas and education
levels, and have a special focus on improving the health of the most disadvantaged. When countries
adopt these goals as ongoing strategies, the health of the nation, right down to its local communities,
will improve.
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THE AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT

Health promotion is a constant feature of the lives of Australians – here, you cannot go very far or watch
television for very long without hearing or seeing something to do with health. Advertisements proliferate
on television, billboards and the sides of buses, at tram stops, on the backs of public-toilet doors, on
the Internet and through community organisations promoting local programs, debates and forums on
gender-based violence and other issues. Can you think three national health-promotion campaigns? We
have come a long way from the ‘Life. Be in it’ campaign featuring ‘Norm’, the couch potato whose belly
was the perfect resting spot for his can of drink (see http://vic.lifebeinit.org/). In the 1970s, ‘Norm’ was
the poster child for an average middle-aged Australian man. In advertisements, his wife, an aerobics
lover, would try to coax Norm out of his chair (where he would be watching television) and live a more
active life. (You can search YouTube for the original advertisements, which are quite catchy.) Think
about whether this campaign would work today, and why or why not. Since the 1970s Australia has
seen many health-promotion strategies designed to try and get people active and to lower overweight
and obesity. These have included the ‘Get moving’, ‘How do you measure up?’, ‘Go for 2 & 5’ and ‘Swap
it don’t stop it’ campaigns.
Australia is one of the few countries that uses ‘shock value’ in its health-promotion campaigns; people
from other parts of the world have likely been horrified at how graphic these can be. Examples include
the Grim Reaper bowling people down in a 1980s HIV/AIDS campaign, and the Traffic Accident
Commission’s (TAC) campaigns featuring highly graphic transport accidents. (You will notice that each
of these advertisements is usually on television for only a very short period of time, and that each new
one seems to be more graphic than the last. Shock value, perhaps, has a time limit.)
Today, there are far more modes of getting health-promotion messages across to people. Research
is constantly being done to determine the best mode of delivery – that is, which is most successful at
changing certain behaviours. Remember that we need to inform, help people to understand and give
people skills to change their behaviour, as well as evaluate if something is going wrong, so that people
can change rather than give up. On top of this is the motivational aspect that helps people to keep going.
Most contemporary Australians have a smartphone or tablet, and apps are being generated to
promote health. Dental Health Services Victoria, for example, has an app for children to help them
remember to brush their teeth for at least two minutes (see https://www.dhsv.org.au/professionals/
health-promotion-resources/smartphone-apps-and-games). It uses catchy tunes, music uploaded by
the user or a Disney timer to measure the time it takes to brush your teeth. There are many other apps
that, for instance, measure caffeine intake, encourage self-talk, or are related to yoga, mindfulness and
exercise-tracking – the list goes on. There are also a number of electronic fitness products that can
link up to computers and record exercise levels, and challenge and motivate the user. Social media
spreads messages quickly, and people are often willing to support health-related issues that they
care about. However, even with all these ‘toys’, we continue to have an overweight and obesity issue
in Australia. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014) states that the occurrence of
overweight and obesity is still on the rise.
We need to look at how Australians are faring to know where to concentrate the health-promotion
work we do. This is not to say that efforts will stop in certain areas, but other areas might need additional
funding as their cost to the nation rises. An interesting exercise is to ask your students what they think
are the health issues that need promotion in Australia. Get them to come up with a list and rank that
list in order of where they think governments should be spending their health-promotion dollars. Your
students may have a very different perspective of the importance of certain health issues, possibly based
on their family of origin, their socioeconomic status, their parents’ level of education, the type of school
they are attending, and their religion, sexuality, gender, and so on. After you have taught students about
the health of Australians – described in the following sections – you can see if their ideas have changed.
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THE HEALTH OF AUSTRALIANS
How would you rate the health of Australians? Take some time to consider this. It is likely that, compared
with other countries, you would expect that we are doing fairly well. Example 8.1 outlines what the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has to say about how well we are faring.
Example 8.1
AUSTRALIA’S HEALTH: THE GOOD NEWS
The AIHW’s most recent (at the time of writing) biennial health report made the following findings
about the health of Australians:
• Australia spent $140.3 billion on health in 2011–12.
• A boy born in 2012 could expect to live until the age of 79.9, and a girl to the age of 84.3.
This is considered excellent in relation to world standards.
• Vaccination rates are increasing.
• Smoking rates are falling.
AIHW, 2014
Example 8.1 paints a quite rosy picture; and if this were the only information we had, we would think
that Australia was quite healthy. And, indeed, why should we not be? We have access to excellent health
services: the Medicare system, hospitals, education and health promotion for every age and stage of life.
Compared to other countries, then, we should be doing very well. So why do we need health-promotion
campaigns, such as the ones described above? Why do we still have problems with inactivity? Why do
we have food insecurity and poverty in such a well-resourced nation? In opposition to Example 8.1, the
AIHW (2014) also looked at where Australia is not doing so well in regards to health; its findings are
outlined in Example 8.2.
Example 8.2
AUSTRALIA’S HEALTH: NOT FARING SO WELL
AIHW’s 2014 report also made the following findings:

• The number of adults who are overweight or obese has increased.
• Diagnoses of dementia are rising and are estimated to almost triple by 2050.
• Diagnoses of diabetes are rising.
• The health of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Australians is far worse than that of non-
Indigenous Australians. For Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Australians:
– The rate of kidney disease is seven times higher.
– Diabetes rates are 3.3 times higher.
– Youth suicide rates are:
» 5.9 times higher for Indigenous Australian females
» 4.4 times higher for Indigenous Australian males.
AIHW, 2014
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Does the information given in Example 8.2 alter your initial thoughts on Australia’s health? Did any
of the statistics surprise you? Did they change your opinion of how healthy Australians are?
It is important to understand that there are specific initiatives that help to raise awareness, access,
knowledge and understandings, and to change behaviour with a view towards better health. Can you
think of any such initiatives in your local area? The overweight and obesity epidemic that we have been
through has had an incredible impact on programs and services, since the cost of this epidemic was
crippling to healthcare providers. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and high blood pressure are
all on the rise because more Australians are overweight or obese (AIHW, 2014). Why would Australians
be at risk of this? We are considered an active nation with (in some locations) incredible sporting and
recreational facilities, beaches, national parks, sporting programs and pathways for young children
that extend through adulthood. Yet three out of five adults do not meet the recommended exercise
guidelines (AIHW, 2014). Why do you think this is so? A good place to start may be to consider your
own behaviours. Ask yourself:
• Do you eat two servings of fruit every day?
• Do you eat five servings of vegetables each day?
• Do you know that the Department of Health (2015) recommends this number of servings of fruit
and vegetables? If you know that these are the recommendations, do you eat two serves of fruit
and five serves of vegetables every day? If not, why not?
As health educators, we need to recognise that knowledge alone does not change behaviour;
understanding also plays a role. We need to be able to understand certain practices and recommendations,
and understand what would be the impact of not following them in our lives. Only then will be we able
to make educated choices about what we put in our mouths.
However, just because we make a choice to, say, eat the recommended number of servings of fruit
and vegetables, does that mean we will actually do this? Not necessarily; we also require the skills
necessary to be able to enact this choice. The skills required would depend on an individual’s past
experience, knowledge, understanding, ability and culture, but could include things like cooking and
food presentation (if you are a parent or carer who wants to make food look enticing for children),
gardening, shopping, washing, peeling, and so on. For some, these skills may come easily; for others,
they may be insurmountable challenges. Motivation to change behaviour might also play a part; it may
be easy to make a change for a short period of time, but harder to sustain it. What will keep you on track?
Perhaps setting goals, having friends or family to support you, or recording the benefits so you can see
them when you do not feel motivated – there are endless possibilities.
Remember that what will work for you may not work for someone else. Lunchtime can be a very
difficult experience for some students. Many students look forward to lunchtime, so that they can
get something to eat, have a break or socialise. But there are some students who abhor lunchtime,
for reasons that include, but are not limited to, being teased for what they bring to school for lunch,
not having any lunch, preferring to keep working rather than take a break, not having a social group to
spend time with, or fighting with or being isolated by peers. In terms of nutrition and what is brought to
school in lunchboxes, teachers can have a positive impact. Packed lunches can vary enormously from
the traditional ‘sandwich and fruit’. Culture, time, preference, allergies and other factors can all affect
what a student will be given to eat at school. Some students make their own lunches, and so have the
responsibility of packing the foods they enjoy. The following ‘Tips for inclusive practice’ box offers ideas
to encourage diversity at lunchtime.
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Ideas to encourage diversity at lunchtime

▻▻ Be a role model for variation in your lunchbox. Tips for
▻▻ Implement the curriculum and practise planning and packing healthy lunchtime options (see the
inclusive
practice
following websites for ideas: http://heas.health.vic.gov.au/schools/healthy-lunchboxes; http://www.
healthykids.nsw.gov.au/parents-carers/healthy-eating-and-drinking/lunch-box-ideas.aspx).
▻▻ Have your students analyse the school canteen or tuckshop, looking for healthy, culturally diverse,
seasonal foods and a variety of options.
▻▻ Promote diverse food and encourage safe tastings of it, e.g. through planning recipes, cooking
together, having a Harmony Day.
▻▻ Integrate information about food across the curriculum – teach about cultural differences and seasonality
in Geography, or about the history of food choices in different countries in History, for example.
What does all this mean for you as a teacher? These are lifelong skills that we pass on to our students.
Acknowledging that healthy behaviour change does not happen by teaching knowledge alone, you can
strategically help students to build their knowledge, understanding and skills and identify what motivates
them. Consider something as simple as being a role model, allowing your students to see you eating fruit
and vegetables at lunchtime, right up to something as experiential as implementing a kitchen-garden
program at your school, whereby students can develop skills in planting, growing, harvesting, planning
recipes, cooking, eating and evaluating food. The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation is an
example of this type of program (see https://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/).
Cross-curricular ideas for a kitchen-garden program

Cross-
A kitchen-garden program can address content in the following areas of the Australian Curriculum:
curricular
1 Cross-curriculum priorities: Sustainability. Example: Learning about how the planning, constructing possibilities
and implementation of a garden can be a more sustainable way of living.
2 General capabilities: Personal and social capability; ethical understanding; intercultural understanding.
Example: Developing an understanding of the many complex ethical issues related to the environment.
3 Learning areas: English; Mathematics; Science; Humanities and Social Sciences; the Arts and HPE.
Example: Investigating and testing hypotheses.
The state and territory context

Each Australian state and territory determines its own health-promotion directives, again determined by
local need. Example 8.3 gives a snapshot of a health promotion directive from Western Australia (WA).
Example 8.3
ABOUT THE HEALTH PROMOTION STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 2012–16
The WA Health Promotion Strategic Framework 2012–2016 builds on the previous HPSF
(2007–2011) and sets out WA Health’s strategic directions and priorities for the prevention of
chronic disease and injury over the next five years.
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The HPSF adopts a comprehensive approach to health promotion by using a broad range of
intervention ‘levers’. These are:
• development of healthy policy at government and organisation level
• legislation and regulation
• economic interventions
• creating environments for living, working and relaxing which support healthy behaviours
• raising public awareness and engagement
• community development
• targeted interventions
• strategic coordination, building partnerships and capacity building.
Priorities for each type of intervention are identified for the HPSF’s key areas. These are as
follows:
• Eating for better health
• A more active WA
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Making smoking history
• Reducing harmful alcohol use
• Creating safer communities.
Department of Health, 2012
These frameworks are supported by other government-department initiatives and policies. It will
be interesting to look at the new framework, when it is developed, and see whether priorities have
changed over the stated timeframe. Look online to determine whether WA has identified any new
priority areas for the 2017–21 period. (There is a possibility that mental health could be on the next
list of priorities.)
Local community context

Health promotion in a local community requires identification of the local context and specific health
needs. This includes understanding diversity within the local context.
Each community has its own set of similarities and differences. The basic format is a group of
people living in a similar area who live, love, play and, possibly, work together. The formation of each
community depends on individuals and families. Many factors have an impact on how the community
exists, including, but not limited to:
• the natural and built • age • entertainment
environment • gender • food
• access to services • sexuality • water
and information
• culture • sleep
and communication
• religion • recreational facilities
technology (ICT)
• ability and opportunities.
• educational institutions
• accommodation
• socioeconomic status
• transport
• educational level
As teachers, we need to know our local community so that we can access help or support when
we need it. We also need to be able to identify key health issues in the community. You might already
identify these in the school environment, but what is being done in the community to support the
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school? Which health-promotion strategies work and which do not work? Finding this out may involve
going out and talking to service providers, local council members/staff, and other relevant parties,
especially if you are new to an area.
As discussed, even in communities that are close to one another, issues can be different, so it is
important that you know how to access information about your specific community Such information is,
for the most part, easy to access; for example:
• The My School website (https://www.myschool.edu.au/) can show you the index of community
socioeducational advantage (ICSEA), including for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students
and students with English as an additional language/dialect (EAL/D).
• A map of the local area that shows services such as transportation options, organisations, and
so on. Maps featuring activities will also show places of worship, cultural groups, recreational
opportunities and entertainment, all of which will give insight into the community.
• The local council will have a great deal of information about a community – its political
demographics and services, breakdown of age and gender distribution, accommodation, and so
on – and provide information regarding the key health issues of the community.
Can you think of other places that you could go to for further information about your local community?
The Australian Curriculum and previous curriculum documents from various states have sent very
strong messages about students knowing where to access help. As a result, it is important that teachers
are also aware of places and faces in their communities. This knowledge should be cross-curricular and
proactive in nature, arming students to be well informed and to have the skills needed to be able to
access appropriate local or Internet services.
Local community members as resources

ʻI moved to a small country town to work as the youth worker at the local public school. The best thing Teaching
I ever did was to go and talk to the owners of the local newsagency and milk bar, and one day start a practice
conversation with the council’s gardener. These people knew everything about the town and were able to
give me some really useful information about what resources were available and what types of things the
town lacked, especially for the students of the local schools.ʼ
Lily, youth worker
As noted above, local community initiatives must be designed to address the specific needs of the
community. For example, if your community was a low socioeconomic area with members struggling with
food insecurities (see this chapter’s ‘Further readings’ for more information on this topic), your health
promotion may fail before it was even implemented. In this situation, a strategy such as that used by Food
Cent$ at the Foodbank (see Figure 8.4) could be employed. This 1990s program provided nutritional
education and awareness to welfare agencies, focusing on the importance of the people receiving food
aid to receive healthy, nutritious food. The focus was not on the individuals who accessed the food, but
rather on the people working in the organisations that these individuals accessed. The education that
needed to be delivered was to a much smaller group, who could in turn be there to educate their clients
and follow up or re-provide the information (Government of Western Australia, 2014).
There are countless local initiatives that have been specifically designed for and by local communities,
as well as international, national or state initiatives that have been tweaked to fit a local community. The
following are examples:
1 The Port Macquarie–Hastings Council initiated a falls-prevention program for older adults. The
success of the program was largely based on relationships built with other local programs that
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Figure 8.4
Food Cent$ at the
Foodbank
From ‘Food Cent$ at the Foodbank’, courtesy of the Western Australian Health Promotion
Foundation (Healthway).
were already running, which enabled access to facilities, equipment and classes, as well as the
implementation of additional experiences. It even linked up with the Heart Foundation and
provided pedometers on loan (Local Government NSW, nd).
2 The City of Ipswich developed a ‘mums and bubs’ activity group. Free and low-cost activities were
designed to improve the health of mothers and to help infants to ‘learn about their bodies, keep
healthy, keep their brain busy and develop senses’ (Ipswich City Council, 2017).
3 In the Australian Capital Territory, a grant was given to Hepatitis ACT to develop ‘It’s easy being
green’, a health-promotion strategy targeted at those living with hepatitis. The strategy was developed
to encourage people living with hepatitis to eat more vegetables, particularly green ones, and fresh
fruit. This can help to reduce the risk of complications of hepatitis (Hepatitis ACT, 2016).
Where specific communities have particular health needs that need to be addressed, funding bodies
will advertise these, and community partnerships are formed to develop programs, projects or strategies
to address these. Partnerships are looked upon favourably by funding bodies for many reasons, mainly
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because they build engagement in communities. Schools are able to form partnerships with organisations
if they can assist in addressing the identified health issues. These partnerships can be quite effective,
since the messages that students get from their school will be backed up in the community. These
partnerships link communities and initiate whole-school approaches to health.
Reflection
»» Count how many health-promotion strategies you come across over the course of one day.
»» Which health issues do they target?
»» Do you think these strategies are effective for you, or are they targeted at a different group(s)?
»» Can you think of a strategy that did work for you, and why it worked?
»» Which of these health-promotion strategies are targeted at primary school-aged children?
»» Do you think these are effective? Why or why not?
WHOLE-SCHOOL APPROACHES TO HEALTH
A whole-school approach is one in which the entire community has input into the planning, development,
implementation and evaluation of – in this case – health and wellbeing strategies or initiatives. Everyone
knows what is going on, what to do and what to expect; everybody has a role.
Response Ability, an Australian Government initiaitive, describes the key aspects of a whole-school
approach as follows:
• It involves a systematic focus on wellbeing through all aspects of the school or centre.
• It must be inclusive of everyone: children, parents, staff and other professionals who
might work with the school or centre.
• The entire school community works together.
• Provision of professional learning for staff.
• Ongoing and sustained action.
• It is supported by policies and procedures.
Response Ability: Whole school approach. © Commonwealth of Australia 2015.
Whole-school approaches have been found to be effective in addressing health and wellbeing issues
in schools. They take a great deal of planning and commitment, but results can be rewarding for the
entire school community (i.e. students, teachers, other staff members, leadership teams, parents and
carers, and the local community). Each involved party has a vested interest in having the approach
work. If we use truancy as an example, we might ask: if students are truant, where will they be during
the day? They might be hanging out with their friends in local shopping malls or parks, be on public
transportation or be in other public places. Do shopkeepers, parents and carers with small children or
other visitors want truants hanging around these places? The answer is likely no, and so these parties
have an interest in keeping those students at school. Whole-school approaches consider schools to be a
part of the community, in which all members look out for one another.
Example 8.4
EXAMPLES OF WHOLE-SCHOOL APPROACHES TO HEALTH
Australian education is very much supportive of whole-school approaches, and the resources supplied
to schools on this subject are extensive. The following are examples of whole-school approaches;
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investigating them will give you a feel for how you can address health issues in the whole school
community:
• Achievement Program (Health and Wellbeing): http://www.achievementprogram.health.vic.
gov.au/schools
• Healthy and Active School Communities (Healthy Eating and Physical Activity): http://www.
healthyactive.gov.au/internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/Content/schoolcommu_
resourcekit.pdf/$File/schoolcommu_resourcekit.pdf
• Safe Schools: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/Pages/safe-schools-coalition.aspx
• KidsMatter: http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/
• Response Ability: http://www.responseability.org/
• Victorian Government (Sexuality Education): http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/
teachingresources/social/physed/Pages/wslearning.aspx#1.
By utilising whole-school approaches that your state or territory government has set up, you are
supporting your state’s or territory’s directions in health promotion, and in linking with outside organisations
to support the work that you do in schools, you are strengthening the community for your students.
A whole-school approach to mental health

Tips for Watch the short video ‘Video 2: Keep an eye out for your kids’ from KidsMatter (Component 4:
inclusive Professional learning): https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/primary/resources-your-journey/c4-helping-
practice
children-mental-health-difficulties/professional-learnin-0. This is a discussion about what can be done
in a whole-school approach to mental health.
▻▻ What health issues do these students face?
▻▻ What strategies did they say they had implemented?
▻▻ Where or to whom could these children go to for help?
▻▻ What are the differences between this school and other schools you have observed?
▻▻ Who is available to help you address these health issues?
▻▻ Give an example of how a teacher, school, parent or carer and the community could be proactive in
dealing with young people’s mental health.
The following ‘Teaching practice’ box gives an example of a proactive, whole-school approach to
health promotion. It demonstrates how community members – in this case, parents and carers – can get
involved in their children’s learning, as well as their health education.
The kitchen-garden program

Teaching ʻI had heard that when you start a kitchen-garden program in your school, the number of gardens
practice that children get their parents or carers to start at home is phenomenal. It’s true – well, it was at our
school. We aligned the curriculum, so students were talking about their gardens in many subject areas.
The children would bring in their harvests, and they were so proud of what they had grown. We started
looking at recipes that could use all the pumpkins and zucchinis they had grown. We even got in a parent
to talk about how you can use your food scraps for composting.ʼ
Kyle, Year 5 teacher
The kitchen-garden example could be extended by having volunteers from the community come
to do gardening and interact with the students, teaching, telling stories and building relationships. An
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article in the school newsletter or a ‘recipe of the week’ could also be regular occurrences. Parents could
learn about seasonality and about the types of vegetables to grow at certain times of the year. There
could be information evenings and community displays; the opportunities for learning and building
partnerships are endless.
In primary schools, parents are welcomed to participate in their child’s education. This is encouraged
in many forms, such as reading with children at home, school-council membership, helping on excursions,
parent/carer information evenings, parent/carer–teacher (and sometimes student) interviews, and so on.
Students who see their parents showing interest in their schooling often place more importance on their
education, because they see that it is valued. Parents have every right to have a say in how schools are
run, and schools should encourage this. Whole-school approaches value input from parents and carers
and continued partnerships that allow for working together to provide the appropriate education for every
child. Building relationships with each parent is an important element of a teacher’s role. There will be
parents/carers who involve themselves and others who do not. But ensuring that every parent/carer is
given the opportunity to play a role is vital to the whole-school approach. Example 8.5 shows a whole-
school approach that has been evaluated and shown to bring about change in the school environment.
Programs like this, though, cannot be successful and have a wider reach within the community if parents
are not aware and supportive of the program.
Example 8.5
RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS: A WHOLE-SCHOOL APPROACH
Respectful Relationships Education in Schools (RREiS) came about as a result of the high levels of
family violence across Australia. Our Watch implemented RREiS, a pilot project in schools which
evaluated the impact of a whole-school approach to respectful relationships. Schools are seen as
prime locations to achieve shifts in community values, and relationships with all members of the
school community represent opportunities to develop and show respect. The project looked at
schools as workplaces as well as educational institutions. The whole-school project was trialled,
and feedback was then gathered from the students, teachers and leadership groups who had been
involved. Our Watch concluded:
Overall, the RREiS pilot had clear, consistent and positive impacts on students’ attitudes,
knowledge and skills and showed the beginnings of change in school policies, culture and ethos.
Our Watch, 2016
HEALTH PROMOTING SCHOOLS
A health promoting school is one that constantly strengthens its capacity as a healthy
setting for living, learning and working.
WHO, 2017d
As discussed in Chapter 5, the concept of a health promoting school – a component of the whole-school
approach – is one specifically designed to address health issues within the whole school community. It
is an approach that considers the school as a learning environment, as a workplace and as a community
space. In a health promoting school, all members of the school and local communities are welcome –
indeed, encouraged – to work towards improved health and wellbeing for all.
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Health Promoting Schools Framework

The Health Promoting Schools Framework, developed by the WHO, is based on the Ottawa Charter
for Health Promotion, which we described earlier in this chapter. It outlines a whole-school approach
that addresses health topics. The school that takes on the challenge of adopting this approach will be
continuously building its capacity to be a healthy place to live, work, learn and play. The effects of being
a health promoting school are felt within the school grounds, at home and in the local community, and
have the ability to spread further. All members of the school community are invited to be involved in this
approach and play a role in the success of its implementation.
In offering some guiding principles, the WA Health Promoting Schools Association states that a
health promoting school:
1 promotes the health and wellbeing of students
2 enhances the learning outcomes of students
3 upholds social justice and equity concepts
4 provides a safe and supportive environment
5 involves student participation and empowerment
6 links health and education issues and systems
7 addresses the health and wellbeing issues of all school staff
8 collaborates with parents and the local community
9 integrates health into the school’s ongoing activities, curriculum and assessment
standards
10 sets realistic goals built on accurate data and sound scientific evidence
11 seeks continuous improvement through ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
WAHPSA, 2014: 3
The Framework utilises a whole-school approach to implementing strategies across three areas, or
components: curriculum and pedagogy; school organisation, ethos and environment; and partnerships
and services (these were introduced in Chapter 3). These interact to create a school that comprehensively
addresses the health of the entire school community.
CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY

The curriculum and pedagogy component addresses the curriculum and how it is taught and assessed.
This includes considering of the learning styles and needs of all students; addressing key local
issues; developing, implementing and evaluating the curriculum; and the resources that are required
to effectively address the specific needs of the school (WAHPSA, 2014). Following is a list of some
strategies that can be implemented in curricula, teaching and learning at this stage, adapted from
suggestions from the Government of Western Australia’s Department of Health (2014):
• Integrate learning across the curriculum.
• Gather the input of students.
• Make use of peer role models.
• Display student work.
• Utilise curricula developed by your state’s or territory’s Department of Education.
• Provide or source teaching materials and professional learning opportunities.
SCHOOL ORGANISATION, ETHOS AND ENVIRONMENT

The school organisation, ethos and environment component addresses the school’s support for the building
of capacity across the school community. This requires support from all involved parties, including the
school’s leadership team. Policies and procedures are developed or rewritten to build safe, supportive
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environments where everyone knows what is expected. Also considered is the physical environment
of the school – that is, the grounds, including, for example, the canteen, equipment, quiet spaces and
access for students with disabilities (WAHPSA, 2014). The following is a list of some strategies that are
useful in the implementation of this component:
• Write or review school health policies.
• Use student, teacher and parent feedback.
• Use inclusive posters displayed around the school.
• Provide student wellbeing staff members.
• Provide healthy programs for staff members.
• Organise a health education week with activities.
• Celebrate diversity in the school community (adapted from WAHPSA, 2014).
Integration with other learning areas

Cross-
Consider how school organisation, ethos and environment might be integrated into other subjects such
curricular
as Maths, Integrated Studies, Music, Language and IT. An example could be in Environmental Science, possibilities
where the school premises could be mapped for access for students with disabilities, including danger
points, changes in ground coverage, a yard-duty roster for teachers and other staff, and so on.
PARTNERSHIPS AND SERVICES

The partnership and services component involves getting members of the local community engaged
to support the health-promoting schools concept. Links are made with parents and carers, families,
local organisations, other local education facilities, local services, volunteers, and local, state or federal
health-promotion organisations. This community support is invaluable for schools, since it provides help
for students at home, at school and in their local community. The community may provide support in
many ways; for example, by:
• keeping watch over the school during the school holidays
• giving financial support (e.g. donations)
• acting as guest speakers
• being involved in community programs
• providing help with excursions
• offering professional learning for teachers.
The list above could go on and on. Following are some strategies that are useful in implementing this
component:
• Send homework for parents/carers and students to complete together.
• Conduct parent-information nights based on need.
• Display student work in community organisations, local shopping centres, etc.
• Organise health conferences with other schools or universities.
• Encourage local health providers to attend school functions and talk about their services.
• Promote health-related activities in the school newsletter (adapted from WAHPSA, 2014).
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Getting to know the community

Teaching ʻI started teaching at a school that was not in my local area. My principal said that I should go out and
practice spend some time getting to know the area and what services were available: health, transport, education,
government, business, and so on. I thought it was such a good idea that I went one step further and
introduced myself to some of the people working in these areas, so that I now know people who I can
refer parents to – community members who are interested in the safety of our children, and businesses
and organisations that can support what the school is doing. I couldn’t recommend this approach highly
enough!ʼ
Jacqui, third-year teacher
THE FRAMEWORK DEVELOPED FURTHER

The Health Promoting Schools Framework (see Figure 8.5) was developed on the basis of previous
recommendations. The three components described above – curriculum and pedagogy; school
organisation, ethos and environment; and partnerships and services – remain central; the new strategies
are placed around and support them. You will notice that at the top, you are asked to create a vision.
CREATE A VISION
Audit (what is already happening?)
Re-evaluate/revise/refine Re-evaluate/revise/refine
Talk and share ideas
Identify next steps

to build on achievements Develop a committee
and maintain sustainability
Curriculum, School
teaching and organisation,
learning ethos and
Communicate experiences widely
Identify what you want to achieve,

Curriculum, teaching and environment Ethos and environment
DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN

Obtain feedback and reflect
learning Linking of
priorities and timeframes

• Library/front office displays
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
whole-school • Staff health promotion

• Adequate budget
programs • Leadership and management
• Support different student
and policies • Policy or guidelines development
learning styles
• Build a range of quality teaching • Support services for young people.
resources and keep an inventory Partnerships
• Curriculum planning and resources and services
• Giving young people a voice
• Assessing, recording and reporting
student's achievement.
Partnerships and services

Resources required
• Professional development opportunities for parents
(People, time, finance)
• Parent involvement and input into topics/decisions
• Newsletter 'snippet' information
• Outside agencies support curriculum (where appropriate) Identify and consult
• Partnerships with parents and local communities. with all stakeholders
Consult with other schools

(Don't revent the wheel!)
IMPLEMENT THE PLAN
Work together Monitor progress
Re-evaluate/revise/refine Keep everyone informed Re-evaluate/revise/refine
Figure 8.5 A new Health Promoting Schools Framework
From Cancer Council Western Australia.

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This may be for a whole-school health promotion program, or for each individual strategy that you
plan to implement. The blue circle continues around with helpful steps to implement and continue
the planned strategies. On the outside, one of the most important steps, the framework, encourages
you to evaluate, revise and refine at most stages. This type of formative evaluation allows for things
that are not working to be changed at all stages, rather than waiting until the end, as in summative
evaluation.
The successes of the health-promoting schools approach can be seen worldwide. It would be
interesting for you, when you are doing your next school observation or teaching rounds, to observe
all the strategies that the school uses to work within this model. You could write these down, adding
them to a list of ideas of strategies you could implement when you have your own classroom. A key
strength of the health-promoting schools model is that there are many people and organisations that
can help at any stage of the model. Each state and territory has a health promotion or health-promoting
schools organisation, along with the national body the Australian Health Promoting Schools Association
(AHPSA), which is a good place to start when looking for information about this model.
Reflection
Think back to your time in schools, as either a student, an observer or a student–teacher, and the
strategies you saw being used. Which strategies might fall under the following categories?
»» Curriculum and pedagogy
»» School organisation, ethos and environment
»» Partnerships and services.
What types of evaluation could you do to ensure that these strategies were being effective?
HEALTH-PROMOTING SCHOOLS INITIATIVES

In Australia, there are many successful health-promoting school initiatives. Some of these were
developed by schools to meet specific local needs, while others were adapted from state, national or
international programs. Following are examples of some health-promoting school strategies that specific
schools have implemented:
1 The ‘walking school bus’: The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) funded the
Walking School Bus Program to increase the amount of time children spent engaged in activity.
Children walked to school gathering ‘passengers’ along the way. (See https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.
au/programs-and-projects/walking-school-bus.)
Similarly, Diamond Creek Primary School, in Melbourne’s outer north-east, operates a four-
mornings-a-week ‘walking bus’, supervised by two trained volunteers. Parents may also ‘walk the bus’
with their children. Along with benefits of regular exercise, this initiative assists in reducing traffic
congestion, increases traffic-safety awareness, improves attendance, fosters social interaction and
provides access to a safe and free mode of transport. (See http://www.diamondcreekps.vic.edu.au/
index.php/parent-info/walking-school-bus.)
2 The SunSmart program: The SunSmart program, another Victorian initiative, is funded by the
Cancer Council of Victoria and VicHealth. It aims to reduce the impact of harmful UV exposure.
(See http://www.sunsmart.com.au/about/sunsmart-program.)
St Andrews Catholic College is a SunSmart School. It recognised the need to look into what
its school was providing in this area, and developed an action plan to better address the needs
of the school community. (See http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/healthy/docs/sunsafety-case-
study-standrews.pdf/.)
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3 KidsMatter: KidsMatter is an Australian primary schools initiative. It advocates a whole-school

approach to mental health and wellbeing. (See http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/primary.) Each
school that is registered as a KidsMatter School must develop locally based initiatives to implement
at their school. The following are examples of what some schools have done:
• Pomona State School (QLD): https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/default/files/public/31_QLD_
PomonaSS.pdf.
• Glen Huon Primary School (TAS): http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/default/files/public/
images/km_primary/kmp_general/44_TAS_Glen_Huon_PS.pdf.
• Wanniassa School (ACT): http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/default/files/public/ACT
WanniassaSSstory.pdf.
Health promotion initiatives: the SunSmart program

Cross-
Health promotion can be taught in different subjects in the following ways:
curricular
possibilities ▻▻ Learning about the role of the sun and its impact on the earth (Science and Sustainability)
▻▻ Learning about the health benefits and harms of the sun (HPE)
▻▻ Debating the pros and cons of the statement ‘We can live without the sun’ (English)
▻▻ Developing a persuasive writing piece to encourage a politician to give the school money for
SunSmart shading (English)
Linking the community

Teaching ʻMy school has a kitchen-garden program, which one grandfather who came to volunteer thought was
practice excellent. It turned out that he was the chair of a local multicultural group’s board, and he wondered
how the two groups could work together. My school has a high percentage of families with English as
an additional language or dialect (EAL/D). He suggested expanding the cooking program to include
students’ parents and carers. The program was expanded, and it became a way for all the parents to get
together, socialise and learn to cook new international meals. EAL/D families could meet new friends
while improving their English skills through communication. The program has now been running for over
a year, and the parents and carers who attend love it.ʼ
Ava, parent and volunteer who runs this program
HARMONY DAY
The Australian Government Department of Social Services promotes Harmony Day each year. Harmony
Day is a great example of how schools can promote a health and wellbeing issue in their community. As
the following extract describes, it is a celebration of the cultural diversity in Australia:
Harmony Day is held every year on 21 March to coincide with the United Nations
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The message of Harmony
Day is ‘everyone belongs’. The Day aims to engage people to participate in their community,
respect cultural and religious diversity and foster sense of belonging for everyone.
Department of Social Services, 2017. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia.
Diversity extends beyond culture to language, food, stories, songs, dances, paintings, television
shows, sports, workplaces, festivals and other cultural or religious events.
215
Schools are encouraged to participate in Harmony Day. The official colour of the day is orange, and
so school students are often encouraged to wear that colour for the day. Many schools also encourage
students to wear a cultural outfit that represents the country they or their family originated from.
Figure 8.6 Statistics for Harmony Day
From Department of Social Services (2017) Harmony Day infographics. Australian Government. http://www.harmony.gov.au/resources/infographics/.
Accessed 4 January 2017. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia.
Food is a great and inclusive way to celebrate diversity. (Note that allergies need to be taken into
consideration.) Many local councils hold multicultural festivals for Harmony Day that schools participate
in. At their own Harmony Day events, schools can encourage parents to cook foods from different
cultures and share it with students. Because food is such a significant part of Australian multiculturalism,
the Harmony Day promoters developed a recipe book to introduce students to diversity in food. The
book is supported by a teacher’s resource guide with classroom-based activities and lesson plans for
primary-aged students.
Examples 8.6 and 8.7 describe other ways that Harmony Day has been celebrated.
Example 8.6
HIP-HOP FOR HARMONY DAY
For Harmony Day, we organised for Stomp Dance Company to come out and run a hip-hop
workshop for all the students. Students attended one dance workshop and then had the
opportunity to perform for the rest of the school later in the day. It was wonderful to see so
many of the students wear something orange and get into the spirit of Harmony Day, cheering
on the other levels as they performed their dance items.
BHPS, 2017
216
Example 8.7
EXAMPLE OF A SPORTING CODE CELEBRATING HARMONY DAY
Figure 8.7
The AFL and
Harmony Day
Michael Willson/AFL Media
The AFL [Australian Football League] has also been a long-time supporter of Harmony
Day. The Australia Post AFL Multicultural Programme aims to strengthen communities and
inclusion. The programme includes a multicultural schools program that consists of weekly
clinics including footy skills while exploring themes such as respect, team work and leadership.
There are also Australia Post AFL Multicultural Community Ambassadors who work with
multicultural communities to promote AFL and inclusion.
From Department of Social Services, 2017. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia.
Reflection
Look at the Harmony Day website (http://www.harmony.gov.au/) and list some of the ways that it
promotes health.
»» Why do you think that Harmony Day has been a successful initiative, particularly in primary
schools?
»» In the context of your local community, how could you support your students to celebrate the
diversity of the community?
»» How could you modify some of the strategies described in this chapter to deal with other
health issues?
Summary
• Health promotion is a way of empowering individuals and communities to take care of their health.
• Health promotion is strategically planned – on an international level as well as at the local level
• Schools, teachers and students need to know how to access, and be able to access, services in their local
communities.
• Health promoting schools adopt a whole-school approach to health and wellness that requires input
from the whole school community.
• Diversity is a part of Australia’s landscape, and as such it should be recognised and celebrated.
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Review questions
1 What is the Ottawa Charter, and how does it support health promotion?
2 What is the whole-school approach? Provide an example.
3 Why is it so important for students to have access to the services in their community? Provide examples.
4 What are the three components of the Health Promoting Schools Framework?
5 How do initiatives like ‘the walking bus’ address multiple health issues? Do you think such programs are
an effective way to promote health? Can you think of some other examples?
6 Why would sporting associations like the Australian Football League get involved in health-promotion
strategies such as Harmony Day?
Online resources
Visit http://login.cengagebrain.com and search for this book to access the bonus study
tools on the companion website for Teaching Quality Health and Physical Education. It
contains resources for this book, including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
• Australian Institute of Family Studies (2016) ‘Food insecurity in Australia: What is it, who experiences it
and how can child and family services support families experiencing it?’
https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/food-insecurity-australia-what-it-who-experiences-it
This publication addresses food insecurity: what it is, who is affected by it and its results. The paper also
looks at how services can better support their clients.
• Ferreira, J, Ryan, L & Tilbury, D (2006) Whole-School Approaches to Sustainability: A Review of Models
for Professional Development in Pre-Service Teacher Education. Sydney: Australian Research Institute
in Education for Sustainability.
http://aries.mq.edu.au/projects/preservice/files/TeacherEduDec06.pdf
Research set out to determine effective whole-school approaches to sustainability in pre-service education.
Pre-service learning in sustainability is seen to be successful when it is integrated across the curriculum.
• Laurence, S, Peterken, R & Burns, C (2007) ‘Fresh Kids: The efficacy of a health promoting schools
approach to increasing consumption of fruit and water in Australia’. Health Promotion International,
22(3), 218–26.
http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/22/3/218.full.pdf+html
An example of how a health-promoting schools approach can have an impact on healthy behaviours in
primary schools, with examples of specific strategies that are effective.
• Our Watch (2016) Respectful Relationships Education in Schools: The Beginnings of Change: Final
Evaluation Report.
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/programs/health/ourwatchrespectfulrelationships.pdf
This resource is a report on the Respectful Relationships Education in Schools (RREiS) project. It evaluates
the impact of a whole-school approach. The project looked at schools not only as institutions of education
but also as workplaces. It provides recommendations for schools based on feedback from the students,
teachers and leadership groups in the schools that participated in the pilot project.
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PA RT 2 U N D E R STA N D ING A N D TE A C H ING A B O U T P E R SON A L , SOCI A L A N D CO M M U NIT Y H E A LT H
• Potvin, L & Jones, CM (2011) ‘Twenty-five years after the Ottawa Charter: The critical role of health
promotion for public health’. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 102(4), 244–8.
A look at the Ottawa Charter, 25 years later. This paper explores the changes that have occurred since the
Charter was ratified and the continued need for research in the areas it is concerned with.
• Ronin Films (2001) Kim, Harley and the Kids: Family Foibles. Dir. Katrina Sawyer.
http://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/622/kim-harley-kids-family-foibles.html
One of five films looking at Australian families and the struggles they live with. Kim and Harley are parents
to four young children living in socioeconomic disadvantage. With little support, they struggle every day. This
resource considers food insecurity and gives examples of some of the issues described in this chapter. The
film can be bought, but also accessed from libraries. A study guide to work through is also available. (Note
that this is a resource for audiences over 15 years of age.)
References
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July 2016. http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/residents/healthy_lifestyle/
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assets/pdf_file/0015/12075/Whole-school-approach.pdf. Maslow, AH (1943) ‘A theory of human motivation’.
Accessed 22 June 2016. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–96.
Department of Health (2012) Western Australian Health Our Watch (2016) Respectful Relationships: Education
Promotion Strategic Framework 2012–2016. Perth: In Schools: The Beginnings of Change Final Evaluation
Government of Western Australia. Report. Victorian Government. (http://www.education.
Department of Health (2015) ‘Recommended number of vic.gov.au/Documents/about/programs/health/
serves for adults’. Australian Government. https://www. ourwatchrespectfulrelationships.pdf. Accessed 19 June
eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need- 2016.
each-day/recommended-number-serves-adults. Accessed 6 WA Health Promoting Schools Association (Inc.) (2014)
June 2016. Strategic Plan 2014–2017. http://wahpsa.org.au/wp-content/
Department of Health (2016) Growing and Developing Healthy uploads/2015/05/WAHPSA-Strategic-Plan-2014-2017-
Relationships: Background Notes: Health Promoting Schools FINAL.pdf. Accessed 29 June 2016.
Framework. Government of Western Australia, https://gdhr. WA Health Promoting Schools Association (Inc.) (2016) ‘What
wa.gov.au/-/health-promoting-schools-framework. Accessed does a health promoting school look like?’ http://wahpsa.
8 June 2016. org.au/resources/health-promoting-schools-framework/.
Department of Health and Human Services (2017) Accessed 9 June 2016.
‘Community participation’. Tasmanian Government. World Health Organization (2009) ‘The Ottawa Charter
Tasmanian Government. http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/wihpw/ for Health Promotion: First International Conference
principles/community_participation. Accessed 22 June 2016. on Health Promotion, Ottawa, 17–21 November 1986’.
Department of Health (2012) WA Health Promotion Strategic http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/Milestones_Health_
Framework 2012–2016. Perth: Government of Western Promotion_05022010.pdf. Accessed 29 June 2016.
Australia. World Health Organization (2017a) ‘Health promotion: The
Department of Health (2015) Health Promotion Strategic Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion’. http://www.who.int/
Framework 2011–2015. Northern Territory Government. healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/. Accessed
http://www.health.nt.gov.au/library/scripts/objectifyMedia. 9 January 2017.
aspx?file=pdf/66/68.pdf. Accessed 8 June 2016. World Health Organization (2017b) ‘Health topics: Sustainable
Department of Social Services (2017) ‘Harmony Day: AFL’. Development Goals’. http://www.who.int/topics/sustainable-
Australian Government. http://www.harmony.gov.au/afl/. development-goals/sdg-banner.jpg?ua=1. Accessed 4 January
Accessed 7 January 2017.Department of Social Services, 2017.
(2017). ‘Harmony Day’. Australian Government. http://www. World Health Organization (2017c) ‘Health in the SDG era’.
harmony.gov.au/. Accessed 7 January 2017. http://www.who.int/topics/sustainable-development-goals/
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Healthway projects: Food Cent$ at the Foodbank’. https:// World Health Organization (2017d) ‘School and youth health:
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the-Foodbank.pdf. Accessed 30 January 2017. school_youth_health/gshi/hps/en/. Accessed 8 January 2017.
PART 3
Understanding and teaching about

movement and physical activity
Children require many opportunities for play, practice and skill development in order
to promote their ongoing engagement in physical activity. Quality HPE curricula and
pedagogy are structured to provide developmentally appropriate experiences that will
build a child’s confidence, competence and self-efficacy through movement. This acts as
the foundation for lifelong participation in meaningful physical activity. As the following
chapters will demonstrate, understanding your strengths and limitations as a teacher
will enable you to foster a growth mindset, as well as a commitment to teaching children
about movement and the vital role it plays in their lives and their understandings of the
world they live in.
CHAPTERS
9 Planning for developmentally appropriate learning
10 Moving for purpose: skills, knowledge and values
11 Moving for life: experience and expression
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220
9
Planning for
developmentally
appropriate learning
1 outline a range of health benefits of physical activity for
primary school-aged children
2 understand several theories of children’s cognitive, social
and motor development
3 describe physical development and consider its
implications for teaching physical education
4 give an overview of the stages of learning
5 design a range of developmentally appropriate activities
6 outline a range of physical-activity opportunities to
enhance students’ health.
Overview
In this chapter we will examine a range of physical, social, psychological and emotional benefits to young
people that come from being active. Some strategies and processes for linking curriculum, pedagogy
and assessment with the needs of learners, and how these are used to inform planning frameworks, will
be outlined. We will also discuss characteristics of learners in different developmental stages, explore
the implications of these for teachers and consider strategies to be implemented. We will look at brain
development, neural wiring and plasticity, and the importance of movement and ‘brain-break’ activities.
The chapter will also examine different stages of learning and discuss their implications for you as a
teacher working with students in different stages. We will look at the basic notion of skill development
and consider the importance of learning fundamental movement skills (FMS), as well as how these relate
to learning more-advanced, sports-specific skills. (FMS will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 10.)
We will describe the importance of creating developmentally appropriate learning activities and outline
considerations that are relevant for learners at different stages. We will consider a range of differentiated
learning opportunities for modifying activities to cater for a diverse range of skill levels, backgrounds and
abilities. Finally, we will explore a range of potential strategies that you could implement in your school
to encourage students to be physically active.
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PA RT 3 U N D E R STA N D I N G A N D T E AC H I N G A B O U T M OV E M E N T A N D P H Y S I C A L ACT I V I T Y
HEALTH BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR PRIMARY

SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN
Numerous health and other benefits to young people are associated with regular physical activity. These
include physical, mental and social benefits, in addition to potential academic, financial and career
advantages, as are documented in the literature. Figure 9.1 uses the example of twins to compare the
lives of an active child and a sedentary child, outlining the effects of their respective activity levels on
their health during childhood. Ultimately, a sedentary lifestyle is associated with not only a lower quality
of life but also a shorter life expectancy.
Lifestyle of an active twin
PHYSICAL MENTAL SOCIAL ACADEMIC

• Increased ﬁtness • Reduced symptoms of • More socially active • Better school
• Less body fat depression and anxiety performance
• Less risk of cardiovascular • Better
disease concentration
and memory
• Better bone health
CHILDHOOD
CHILDHOOD
PHYSICAL MENTAL SOCIAL ACADEMIC

• Obesity/overweight • Heightened risk of • Reduced • Poor school
• Poor bone density depression/anxiety self-worth performance
• Poor muscular ﬁtness • Poor pro-social behaviour • Lower IQ
Lifestyle of a sedentary twin
Figure 9.1 Lifestyle of an active twin versus a sedentary twin

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C H A P T E R 9 P la n n i n g fo r d e v e lo p m e n tally app ro p r i at e l e a r n i n g
As a species, we were designed to move. Sadly, as a human race we have evolved over time to
live our lives in a largely sedentary way, expending low amounts of energy while sitting for prolonged
periods (see Figure 9.2). Most children are innately active as pre-schoolers, and want to constantly
move, bounce, chase and climb as they explore and make sense of the world around them and their
relationships. Upon commencement of primary school in Australia, children are forced to be sedentary
for long periods of time. During a typical school day, children are required to spend many hours sitting
while reading, writing, working on an electronic device, listening or doing collaborative tasks. This is
not a healthy environment for children, and many schools of the future will no doubt invest in standing
desks and place more emphasis on giving students opportunities to move throughout the school day,
rather than just in HPE class or during recess and lunch breaks.
PHYSICAL MENTAL SOCIAL CAREER/FINANCES LIFE EXPECTANCY

Less risk of: • Less risk of • More socially • Greater workforce • Less risk of
• Heart disease depression, anxiety involved participation, less disability or
absenteeism, more premature death
• Stroke
income stability
• Some cancers
• Less health costs
• Type 2 diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• Obesity
ADULTHOOD
ADULTHOOD
PHYSICAL MENTAL SOCIAL CAREER/FINANCES LIFE EXPECTANCY

Greater risk of: • Greater risk of • Less social • Lower workforce • Greater risk of
• Heart disease depression, anxiety interaction participation, disability,
higher premature death
• Stroke
absenteeism, less
• Breast cancer income stability
• Colon cancer • Higher health costs
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Osteoporosis
• Obesity
From VicHealth (2014) Active for Life © Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth).
Source material available at www.vichealth.vic.gov.au.
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Figure 9.2 The

evolution of the
sedentary human
Getty Images/d-l-b
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2006 found that children aged six
to 12 accumulated 6.5 hours per day in sedentary tasks, 6.4 hours in light-intensity activity and only
1.1 hours per day in moderate to vigorous physical activity (Evenson et al., 2016). An Australian study
examining whether time spend outdoors was associated with physical activity and weight status among
children reported that every additional hour outdoors resulted in an additional 27 minutes (girls) and
20 minutes (boys) of moderate to vigorous physical activity (Cleland et al., 2008).
We know, from the evidence base, that healthy children are better learners (Basch, 2011). The
Lifestyle of our Kids (LOOK) longitudinal study, which was conducted with 29 Australian primary
schools, reported that 90 minutes per week of specialist-taught HPE resulted in an increase in both
numeracy and writing scores (Telford et al., 2012). A report published by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) summarised that there was no evidence to suggest that increases in
the amount of time dedicated to physical activity opportunities had an adverse impact on academic
achievement (CDC, 2010).
The benefits of movement for the brain

Movement has numerous benefits for the brain. Figure 9.3 outlines these benefits, which include
improved brain function, alertness and motivation; increased blood supply, neural wiring and plasticity;
and improved mood, attention, processing capacity and memory. Movement is incredibly important for
the developing child, and it significantly enhances learning outcomes. Let’s take a closer look at the
effect of movement on the neural wiring of the brain.
The nervous system is made up of cells that develop into a sophisticated and complex set of branches
and interconnected pathways, and these link together to send and receive information. Exercise prompts
the brain to send out growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF
has been described as ‘Miracle-Gro [fertiliser] for your brain’, because it enhances the environment in
which neurons can flourish, and so the formation of new connection between brain cell is also enhanced
(Ratey & Hagerman, 2008).
Exercise increases the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline.
These are all important, because they regulate signalling in the brain. They are the same neurotransmitters
that are acted upon by medications prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and
depression. Therefore, taking your students out of the classroom for a ‘run around’ for 20 to 30 minutes
is the equivalent of the students taking calming medications, in terms of calming then down. Movement
not only boosts endorphins but also increases blood flow to the brain, allowing it to work more effectively.
Movement has the power to calm children as well as sharpen their levels of alertness: ‘Exercise
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Increases Improves Enhances

glucose and motivation motor
oxygen to
learning
the brain
Spurs Prepares
development and encourages
of new nerve nerve cells to
cells in bind and log
the brain information
Improves Improves
mood alertness
Neural Movement
wiring and and the Improves
plasticity for brain brain
movement and function
thinking
Enhances
Improves growth and
attention function of
the brain
Improves Reduces
problem depression
solving
Improves
Improves
long-term
reasoning
memory Figure 9.3
Movement and the
brain
increases oxygen flow into the brain, which reduces brain-bound free radicals . . . an increase in oxygen
is always accompanied by an uptick in mental sharpness’ (Medina, 2008).
Rather than considering the mind and body separately, neuroscientists have outlined compelling
biological relationships among the body, the brain and the mind. Exercise creates the ‘building blocks’
of the brain, affects mood, anxiety and attention, and guards against stress. Figure 9.3 outlines all the
benefits to the brain associated with movement.
So what does all this mean for you as an educator? There is compelling evidence for the importance
of physical activity, in relation to its physical and social benefits (Clemes et al., 2015) as well as its
benefits for the brain. Activities designed to activate the brain are often referred to as brain breaks.
You need to get your students up and moving at least once every hour. Sitting passively for prolonged
periods is unnatural and not conducive to effective learning and development or good health for your
students. Prior to introducing a new topic in which you want children to brainstorm, create or problem-
solve, you need to get them moving: go for walk or run around, or even bounce on the spot to ‘get those
endorphins going’.
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BRAIN BREAKS
The aim of brain breaks is to use any form of movement during class time to:
• assist in re-oxygenating the brain
• invigorate and train the vestibular system, vision and proprioception (provides information on body
positioning; if a person is blindfolded, they know, through proprioception, if, for example, their
arm is above the head or hanging by the side of the body)
• stimulate both hemispheres of the brain, thereby including the right-hemispheric creative processes.
The brain works far more efficiently and effectively if it is energised regularly. There are three basic
ways to energise the brain: exercise, meditation and brain breaks. A classroom teacher can provide one
Cross-
or, preferably, a combination of these to maximise the learning of their students. It is often possible to
curricular
possibilities observe that attention drops dramatically after 10 minutes of class time. As a teacher, you need to aim
to change the activity – both in the classroom and outdoors – every 10 minutes (e.g. by telling a story,
showing a video, completing an activity, playing a game).
Think about how you could incorporate movement and physical activity into learning activities as a
brain break in a way that relates to an integrated topic area you are working on or could teach in the
future. For example, if you were talking, in Science, about the solar system and the movement of the
planets in relation to the moon and sun, you could have students pretend to be rocket ships, orbiting the
earth or blasting through the solar system and calling out the planets as they pass by.
Using your syllabus documents, think of how you might incorporate movement into a lesson plan for
an activity involving Drama.
BONE DEVELOPMENT
Participating in regular physical activity that is weight-bearing and/or high-impact is essential for both
the development and the maintenance of strong bones. Childhood and adolescence are key periods for
developing bone density. Engagement in activities (during childhood in particular) such as skipping,
jumping, hopping, running and gymnastics is the ideal way to maximise the mineral deposits that are
responsible for bone strength. Poor bone-mineral density can result in a condition known as osteoporosis,
which can lead to fractures, particularly in older people.
Example 9.1
TRANSFORM-US!
Transform-Us!, led by Professor Jo Salmon at Deakin University (Salmon et al., 2011), was a
comprehensive primary school-based initiative. The research employed a cluster-randomised
controlled trial to promote children’s physical activity and break up prolonged sitting. A range of
innovative behavioural and environmental strategies were implemented within the classroom, school
and home settings. The strategies did not focus on sport or physical education, but were instead
employed in addition to these. Over 1600 children (aged eight to nine years) and 226 teachers from
20 government primary schools in Victoria participated. After 2.5 years of program delivery, children
who received the program spent, compared with their usual practice, approximately one hour more
being physically active during recess and lunch breaks, and 2.8 hours’ less time sitting across the
school week. The program was cost-effective – less than 10 cents per child – and most of the
outcomes showed moderate to strong effect sizes, which would have substantial health effects at a
population level. Table 9.1 outlines the mediators that were targeted within the Transform-Us! study
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and the program’s objectives. The constructs used in the study were underpinned by several theories
of physical-activity behaviour. Table 9.2 displays the intervention components used in the program,
and Table 9.3 presents the findings in relation to sedentary time and physical activity.
Table 9.1 Theoretical* basis of the Transform-Us! intervention and links to program objectives
Construct Mediator or determinant Program objectives

Intrapersonal
Confidence Self-efficacy Improve confidence in ability to be active or reduce
sedentary time
Preference Enjoyment Increase enjoyment and preference for physical activity
Expectations Benefits/barriers Increase knowledge of benefits and strategies to

overcome barriers
Expectancies Evaluation of anticipated outcome Alter perception of pros and cons of being more active
Skills Self-management Self-rewards, self-instructions, TV viewing styles
Behavioural rehearsal Self-monitoring and contracting Goal setting, contracting with others, rewards
Interpersonal
Observational learning Modelling by parents/siblings Encourage parents and siblings to reduce their own
SB and increase PA
Social support Modelling/social support Encourage parents and siblings to support child to
spend less time in SB and more time in PA; teachers
encourage/support PA during recess/lunch
Social structure Rules Parents enforce rules regarding limiting screen time at
home, during meals, during daylight hours
Environmental
Imposed environment Availability Increase the amount of PA equipment available at
school and home. Reduce the availability of TVs/
computers/electronic games at home
Imposed environment Access Increase access/opportunities for PA at school and at

home. Decrease access to TV/computers/electronic
games at home
Imposed environment Policy Interrupted sitting during class-time; presence of

supervising teachers during recess/lunch
* Based on social cognitive theory, behavioural choice theory and ecological systems theory
PA = physical activity; SB = sedentary behaviour; PA-I = physical activity intervention; SB-I = sedentary behaviour intervention
Adapted from Salmon, J, Arundell, L, Hume, C and colleagues (2011) ‘A cluster-randomized controlled trial to reduce sedentary
behavior and promote physical activity and health of 8-9 year olds: The Transform-Us! Study’. BMC Public Health, 11(759).
doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-759, Open Access, Creative Commons Attribution License.
Table 9.2 Transform-Us! Intervention components
SB – I PA – I SB + PA – I
School setting
Curriculum 18 key learning messages 18 key learning messages 18 key learning messages
component (9 per year) (nine per year) (nine per year)
Class strategies Standing lessons NA Standing lessons

(1 × 30-minute/day) (1 × 30-minute/day)
Active 2-minute breaks after Active 2-minute breaks after
30-minute class time 30-minute class time
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Table 9.2
Physical Standing easels Provision of sporting Standing easels

environment Novelty timer equipment, line markings Provision of sporting
and signage equipment, line markings
Provision of pedometers and signage
Provision of pedometers
Family setting
Homework tasks Reduce sitting time while Homework tasks Homework tasks incorporate
completing homework incorporate PA PA and reductions in sitting
time
Newsletters Tips for reducing sitting time at Tips for increasing PA at Tips to reduce sitting time
home home and promote PA at home
PA = physical activity; SB = sedentary behaviour; PA-I = physical activity intervention; SB-I = sedentary behaviour intervention
Adapted from Salmon, J, Arundell, L, Hume, C and colleagues (2011) ‘A cluster-randomized controlled trial to reduce
sedentary behavior and promote physical activity and health of 8-9 year olds: The Transform-Us! Study’. BMC Public Health,
11(759). doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-759, Open Access, Creative Commons Attribution License.
Table 9.3 Children’s physical activity: sedentary time per intervention group relative to usual practice
(controls) after 2.5 years of the Transform-Us! program*
PA only group SB only group PA + SB group
Sedentary time (minutes/school week) +34.5 -170 -100
Light-intensity (minutes/week recess–lunch) +19.5 +15 +26.0
Moderate/vigorous (minutes/week recess–lunch) +17.5 +9.5 +32.5
* Accelerometer assessed
PA = physical activity; SB = sedentary behaviour
Adapted from Salmon, J, Arundell, L, Hume, C and colleagues (2011) ‘A cluster-randomized controlled trial to reduce
sedentary behavior and promote physical activity and health of 8-9 year olds: The Transform-Us! Study’. BMC Public Health,
11(759). doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-759, Open Access, Creative Commons Attribution License.
In an interview, Professor Salmon said:
One of the significant outcomes of this study was the results got stronger over time. It is rare for
an intervention study to show strengthening of results in this way, and this suggests that changes
to the environment and teaching practices in this instance led to sustained changes, rather than
diminishing over time.
Interview with the author, 2016
Tailoring curricula and instruction to learners’ needs

In this section, we will describe a range of theories that underpin child development in relation to
cognitive, physical and social development and the stages of learning. As you work through these
sections, we will provide you with examples and activities to encourage you to think about how you can
apply this knowledge and the theoretical models to your teaching through the medium of movement.
Here are some strategies to assist you with thinking about this process:
• Think about what these concepts might mean in terms of planning units, lessons and learning experiences.
• Of course, the most complex challenge for any teacher is the fact that every child will be at
a different stage and level in relation to their development. Learning to provide differentiated
learning experiences that are tailored to individual needs is the ultimate challenge (and is more
commonly implemented by an experienced teacher).
• As part of your continuous reflection on both student progress and your own teaching, consider
which strategies could be implemented to cater for learners at different stages of development.
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• As a teacher, it is important to understand the level that a child is operating at, so that you can aim
to teach them at the next, more advanced level.
• Think about ways you that can construct the environment in such a way as to engage children,
keep them moving and encourage active exploration. This can be done by modifying the
equipment, the surrounds, tasks and facilities so as to foster the construction of knowledge about
movement.
• In this chapter you will learn about students developing schemas. Learning is maximised when
the environment around the child does not match the child’s schemas. This incongruity develops
children’s problem-solving skills, and allows them to explore, experiment and ‘get things wrong’.
• Design learning activities that foster social development, require students to work collaboratively
and discourage egocentric behaviour. In HPE, students need to work as a team, encourage each
other and share equipment via constant social interaction.
• When designing a particular learning activity to address a specific strand, sub-strand, key idea,
focus area or content descriptor, consider how you could apply the theoretical models described
in this chapter.
• Be mindful that children need time to develop fundamental movement skills (FMS) in your
classroom, and so FMS classes need to be regular – at least weekly, and preferably on several
days per week. Children need plenty of time to practise FMS during class, during breaks (in the
form of free play) and via the provision of active homework.
• Classrooms must create a positive emotional environment in which children feel safe to try, fail
and succeed while free from undue surveillance from peers, or embarrassment, humiliation or
ridicule from their teacher or their peers.
• Programming needs to be sequential and developmentally appropriate, and to enable high rates of
success and tailoring to the needs of individual students based on previous movement experiences,
fitness and skill levels, age and body size, and based on best practices.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
When planning, designing and implementing HPE programs, units and lessons, an educator must carefully
consider the characteristics of the learner in relation to the latter’s developmental stage in life. In an ideal
world, we would teach a homogenous cohort of learners who all had similar interests, backgrounds, needs
and abilities. But we are far more likely to teach in our classes more heterogeneous groups who have a
huge diversity of needs, interests and abilities – and this makes our job far more complex. Of course, the
developmental stage that a child is in significantly influences their capacity to learn. A child’s physical,
cognitive and psychosocial maturation will determine their readiness to learn at any given point. There is
an old proverb that ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink’; the same can be said of any
learner: their readiness to learn is entirely dependent on the growth and development of the individual,
and their willingness to learn and take feedback during instructional opportunities. In other words, we
cannot force a child to learn. In this chapter, we want to reinforce that an age-based reference to specific
criteria for the categorisation of learners (particularly when based on chronological age) is not always a
suitable predictor of learning ability (Vander Zanden, Crandell & Cramdell, 2007).
There is a huge variation, at any given age, in the acquisition of abilities relating to the three major
domains of development; namely:
230
• physical (biological) maturation

• cognitive maturation
• psychosocial (emotional–social) maturation.
As mentioned above, the approximate age ranges provided in this chapter are just a guide. Maturation
and the child’s interactions within their environment, in addition to their background, physical and
emotional health status, personal motivation and support systems, significantly influence the child’s
growth, development and readiness to learn.
Developmental characteristics
When considering the teaching–learning process, it is essential that we consider the developmental
phases that occur as children progress from infancy to adulthood. For the purposes of this chapter,
we will focus on toddlerhood to late childhood in relation to behavioural changes that occur in the
cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. We mentioned earlier that we cannot force a child to
learn – they will only learn when they are ready and receptive to learning. As educators, our ultimate
role is to support learners to move from being totally dependent on an adult to provide direction to learn
how to be lifelong independent learners. The process described by Covey (1990) involves moving along
a maturity continuum, which comprises three major phases:
1 Dependence: Many young children you will work with in primary schools will be totally dependent
on you as their teacher (and other adults) to provide direction, support and nurturing from a
cognitive, emotional and physical perspective. Some people progress further along the continuum
very young, while others become seemingly permanently stuck in this stage even as adults,
displaying behaviours such as an inability to listen or to accept responsibility for their own actions,
instead blaming others and being generally manipulative. (Now that you understand this concept,
you may notice these behaviours in other people.)
2 Independence: During this stage, the child has more control over their own decision making,
learning and self-care. The child develops the ability – cognitively, emotionally and physically – to
take responsibility for their own learning.
3 Interdependence: In this stage, an individual has become self-reliant, developed a sense of self-
esteem and matured enough to demonstrate respect for others. During this advanced stage, people
develop an ability to give and receive. Being able to receive feedback is critical to progress in
learning. Cognitive, emotional and physical development are interrelated; however, when a person
reaches physical maturity, this is not necessarily accompanied by cognitive and emotional maturity.
So what does this mean for you as a primary teacher? Considering that you are likely to have students
in each of these stages within any given class, you can deliberately mix groups based on maturity levels.
For example, learners within the interdependence stage may be able to assist a peer who is still within
the dependence stage. Students within the independence stage could either be paired up with each
other or be paired with a peer within the interdependence stage.
Reflection
Consider the maturity continuum described by Covey (1990), which moves from dependence to
independence and interdependence.
»» Can you think of at least one person in your life who could be classified in each of these three
stages?
»» How might having learners in each of the three stages in the same classroom at the same
time influence your teaching?
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The developmental stages of childhood

Developmental theorists and educational psychologists characterise different stages of childhood based
on specific patterns of observable behaviour that are associated with different phases of growth and
development.
The biggest challenge for an educator is not only to determine when is the most opportune time or
‘window’ during which to teach the learner but also to create opportunities for children to enhance their
readiness to learn. The ability to do this successfully requires an understanding of:
• each learner’s needs
• each learner’s interests
• the stages of development
• each learner’s knowledge and skill base to begin with.
It also requires an ability to:
• assess each child’s readiness to learn
• determine if prerequisite knowledge and skills have been mastered
• match teaching and learning opportunities to the development level of the learner (Leifer &
Hartson, 2004; Santrock, 2006).
Vygotsky’s social development theory

Vygotsky’s social development theory was developed by Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), a Russian
psychologist. Vygotsky (1978) described the development of children from infancy to adolescence as a
series of fairly long periods (of one to four years) interspersed with shorter periods of crisis. He believed
that children learn actively, through hands-on experiences. Vygotsky’s theory underpinned the early
foundations of constructivism. Constructivist teaching approaches are based on the notion that learners
should be actively engaged within the learning process in order to make meaning and knowledge through
their lived experienced, as opposed to simply passively receiving information. Vygotsky’s theory consists
of three major themes:
1 Vygotsky believed social interaction plays a critical role in the process of cognitive development,
and that social learning must precede development. He stated:
Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level
and later on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside
the child (intrapsychological).
Vygotsky, 1978: 57
2. Vygotsky believed that the presence of the more knowledgeable other (or MKO) is a key influence
on a learner. An MKO can be a teacher, a coach, an older adult, a peer, a young person or even a
computer. An MKO is simply anyone who has a greater level of knowledge, understanding, skill or
ability than the learner in relation to a given task.
3. The zone of proximal development (or ZPD) refers to the distance between a student’s ability to
perform a task with adult support and guidance and/or peer collaboration, and the learner’s ability
to solve problems independently.
There is a plethora of information available relating to Vygotsky’s broader social development theory;
however, for the purposes of this chapter, we will focus on ZPD.
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ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (ZPD)

According to Vygotsky, the ZPD changes as teachers and students transition through the different
levels of development towards new areas of knowledge. It relates to:
the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem
solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving
under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers.
Vygotsky, 1978: 86, cited in Schunk, 2008: 245
Vygotsky holds that ‘what the child is able to do in collaboration today [s/]he will be able to do
independently tomorrow’ (Vygotsky, 1978: 86, cited in Schunk, 2008: 245). The ZPD places a focus on
the relationship between instruction and development. Vygotsky considered interactions with peers to
be a powerful medium through which skills and strategies could be explored and experimented with.
Cooperative learning experiences are particularly useful when placing less competent children with
their more competent peers, as long as the less skilful learner is within the ZPD. If a student is within
the ZPD, Vygotsky was of the belief that, via the provision of appropriate assistance (or scaffolding), this
would enhance the learner’s chances of succeeding at the task. Scaffolding can include modelling a
skill, providing hints or cues and adapting material or activity (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009). Scaffolding
refers to ‘those elements of the task that are initially beyond the learner’s capacity, thus permitting him
[or her] to concentrate upon and complete only those elements that are within his [or her] range of
competence’ (Wood et al., 1976: 90). Eventually, once the learner has mastered the task, the scaffolding
can be removed, the student can be removed and the student can capably complete the task again
independently.
Scaffolding
Anxiety occurs through
the support of
What the learner will the ‘more
be able to achieve t
en knowing other’
independently pm
elo
dev
Level of al
challenge im What the learner can currently
ox achieve independently
pr
of
e
Zon
Figure 9.4
What the learner Boredom
Vygotsky’s zone
of proximal can achieve with
development (ZPD) assistance Level of competence
From State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training), adapted from Hill & Crevola (unpublished).
Tips to aid effective scaffolding:

• Assess the learner’s current level of skill or knowledge and experience in relation to the academic
content.
• Relate the content to what learners already know or can do.
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• Gain and maintain the learner’s interest in the task.

• Make the task simple.
• Break the task into smaller, more manageable tasks that provide opportunities for intermittent
feedback.
• Emphasise certain aspects that will help with the solution using verbal cues and prompts to assist
students.
• Control the student’s level of frustration.
• Demonstrate the task.
A key role of a teacher is to mediate students’ learning as you interact with them. Scaffolding is an
important strategy, and can include giving a demonstration (i.e. modelling a skill), providing teaching
cues and modifying materials or an activity (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009).
Applying ZPD
I take my Year 2 students out for physical education daily. Occasionally, I ask my students to design a target
Teaching
using chalk, and then practise throwing a ball against the wall at their targets. The targets are often theme-
practice
based on a topic we are studying in class, and I allow children to decorate these at recess and lunch. Most
students really enjoy this task and have some success hitting the large targets.
I noticed that one of my students, Jack, was having no success hitting the target – he was consistently
missing off to the right. So I observed his technique. He appeared to be throwing with correct form: standing
side-on while aiming at the target, getting full extension before bringing his hand through. I noticed, however,
that Jack was not crossing his body after releasing the ball. So I encouraged him to pretend to put his hand
in his opposite pocket once he released the ball. This cue was designed to reinforce Jack to follow through
down across his body when throwing. Rather than describing all of this at length, I simply modelled the
correct follow-through and used the catchy cue, ‘Follow through, put your hand in your pocket.’ Before long,
Jack was experiencing success hitting his target.
Sarah Year 2 classroom teacher
In this example, Jack was in the ZPD for successfully performing the overhand throw. He was doing
everything correctly, but just needed some assistance in the form of scaffolding from an MKO (i.e. Sarah,
his teacher) to help him succeed at this task. Once assistance was provided, he was able to achieve
the goal. Provided with the right support at the right moments, students in all classrooms can achieve
results that would otherwise be beyond them.
How does ZDP affect you as a teacher?

Vygotsky’s theories relate directly to collaborative learning approaches, wherein mixed-ability groupings
mean that more advanced peers can assist less advanced group members to learn within the ZPD.
Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Jean Piaget (1896–1980), a psychologist, studied his own family members during infancy, toddlerhood
and childhood, which helped him to learn about basic categories of thinking. His work had a profound
impact on both psychology and education. Piaget concluded that children’s minds were not simply
miniature versions of adult minds. He believed that intelligence develops in sequential stages, and is
dependent on biological maturation, experience with the physical environment, experience with the
social environment and equilibration (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998). Equilibration ‘refers to a biological
drive to produce an optimal state of equilibrium (or adaptation) between cognitive structures and the
environment’ (Duncan & Duncan, 1995, cited in Schunk, 2008: 337) and therefore continues to drive
the process along.
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Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes a systematic restructure of cognitive processes as

a result of experiences within the environment and biological maturation. Ultimately, children foster the
capacity to develop hypotheses, use reason, understand the world around them and seek answers from
their environment to discover what they do not know.
Piaget’s cognitive theory is composed of three components:
1 Schemas (building blocks of knowledge)
2 Adaptation processes (equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation)
3 Stages of development:
– Sensorimotor
– Preoperational
– Concrete operational
– Formal operational
These four stages will be explained in the following sections.
SCHEMAS
For Piaget, cognitive models are composed of schemas, the basic foundations or ‘building blocks’ that
form a person’s mental perception of the world. Schemas are simply ways of organising knowledge as
‘units’ of knowledge, and a means of interpreting that information. Each unit relates to an aspect of the
world, such as objects, actions or abstract (i.e. theoretical) concepts. Schemas act like index cards that
instruct the brain how to react to incoming information. A schema can consist of a set of linked mental
representations of the world. We draw on schemas as needed. For example, a child might have a schema
for playing hopscotch which is only retrieved from the brain when playing this game during recess.
So what does this mean for you if you are teaching young children? Here are some examples of
schemas used by young children to make sense of the world around them:
• Enclosure: You often see children surround themselves with building blocks, walls made of boxes,
Lego blocks or branches while pretending to be animals in a cage, cave or kennel, or building
homemade ‘castles’ or cubby houses. Be sure to provide materials in your classroom, such as
cardboard boxes, that children can use to create enclosures during free-play and class activities.
• Enveloping: Enveloping refers to wrapping toys or objects with fabrics, such as students dressing
up dolls or each other.
• Connection: The connection schema involves joining things together, such as chain links, Lego
blocks, jigsaws, puzzles and train carriages.
• Core and radial schema: This schema involves drawing circles, such as the sun.
• Rotation: The rotation schema involves spinning log rolls, running in circles and playing with
cars or toys with wheels. Ensure that you build into your classes a range of activities that involve
rotation, such as spinning in a circle or spinning tops or hoops. These activities are effective for
the development of the vestibular system, which is responsible for monitoring and adjusting the
body’s sense of balance and orientation to the world. This sense is what keeps us body-upright
while standing, sitting or walking, and is primarily located in the inner ear.
• Trajectory: Trajectory refers to propelling toys, balls or objects via throwing, kicking or launching,
or through the pouring of fluids. In your HPE classes, ensure that students spend lots of time
propelling a range of objects.
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• Positioning: The positioning schema involves children lining up food, toys or other objects – for
example, parking small cars in a sequence, or putting Lego blocks in a particular order.
• Transporting: Children – particularly those aged two to three years, but also primary school-aged
children – love playing with objects that are moveable from one place to another and relocating
objects as part of imaginative and collaborative play. Build into your lessons opportunities for
children to move around equipment and transport objects within free play, or in more structured
minor games, circuits or even relay formats where they must pass a baton, ball or object.
Consider the example schemas for children’s play described above.

Reflection
»» Think about two of these schemas in terms of how you could encourage children to engage in
them during: (a) physical education; and (b) free play.
»» Brainstorm an activity involving rotation that you could use to develop children’s vestibular
systems.
»» Discuss why the vestibular system is important to children’s development.
ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION

Piaget described intellectual development as a process of adaption (or adjustment) to the environment
via a process displayed in Figure 9.5. Assimilation, according to Piaget, is a method by which a
person responds to new experiences by using existing schema (in other words, existing concepts and
knowledge) to interpret new ideas and experiences (Hoffnung et al., 2010). For example, a learner kicks
a stationary ball based on observing an adult kick a ball. As learners, we get frustrated if learning does
not fit with our existing schema (assimilation). Therefore, the brain forces the learning process forwards
(disequilibration) in an attempt to restore balance by mastering the new task (accommodation).
Equilibration continues to move the development along. A new challenge (e.g. the learner is passed a
moving ball and encouraged to kick it) generally upsets our equilibrium, because the information does
not fit into existing schemas. Via frustration (e.g. the learner misses the ball several times), the mind
attempts to restore balance by mastering the new challenge (e.g. a teacher might demonstrate how to
Accomodation Assimilation
Disequilibrium Equilibrium
Figure 9.5 Process

New situation
of assimilation to
accommodation
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trap the moving ball before passing it). Accommodation is where a new schema is developed by the
learner, and used and stored for future reference.
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Although the timing of the four stages may vary from person to person, the hierarchical nature and
sequence of the stages do not. The stages are universally generalisable to all, and are not culturally
specific. The following section describes each stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, which are
summarised in Table 9.4, and outlines potential strategies you can implement for learners in each stage.
Table 9.4 Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operations Formal operations
Age Birth–2 years (infancy) 2–7 years (toddler 7–12 (primary–early 12–adulthood
–early childhood) adolescence)
Description • Actions and • Child begins to • Child can reason • This stage brings
spontaneous classify the world logically about cognition to the
attempts to with language concrete events and form in which
understand the world and symbolism classify objects into it uses more
through sensory beyond just sensory different sets sophisticated
experiences (e.g. information and • Understands cognitive
seeing, feeling, physical actions conservation of mass, processes
sucking) • Use of imagination number and volume • The adolescent
• Child focuses on is more obvious • Child develops reasons in
the sensation and • Child uses symbols an ability to think more abstract,
movement in each to represent objects abstractly and idealistic and
moment • Language to make rational logical ways
• A further division into development is judgements • Logical reasoning
three sub-categories, sequential about concrete processes can
primary, secondary • Children can and observable be applied to
and tertiary circular recall and discuss phenomena abstract concepts
reactions, can be things beyond • Egocentric thinking in addition to
made their immediate occurs concrete objects
• Symbolic thought experiences • Approximately one- and situations
develops towards • Imaginative play third of secondary- (capabilities
the end of the features school students reach essential for
sensorimotor stage • Egocentrism this stage advanced
• Schemas are based present • As an example, if you reasoning in
on behaviours and pour a set volume science and
perceptions of water from a mathematics)
• Reactions to sensory short, fat glass into • Able to plan
stimuli occur via the a tall, skinny glass actions in
reflexes and other which holds the advance
responses same amount, a • Can develop and
Infants develop new younger child will use strategy
intellectual and think the volume has • Egocentric
language skills increased, whereas a thinking
child in the concrete– diminishes
operational stage • Greater ability
realises there is no to evaluate
change in volume hypotheses,
re-evaluate and
use higher-order
thinking
237
Table 9.4
Limitations • Children only • Start to reason in • Has trouble • None beyond

think about things logical, adult-like reasoning about the occasional
immediately in front ways abstract concepts irrationalities
of them • Lacks certain and hypothetical of all human
• Child cannot operations (e.g. situations thought
comprehend object reversibility mental • Children will be
permanence in the processes) inconsistent in
early part of this stage • Does not their ability to apply
• Experiences ‘stranger understand concepts of time,
anxiety’ the notion of space, quantity
conservation and volume to new
• Focuses on different situations
concepts one at a
time (e.g. height
or width), but not
simultaneously
• Has difficulty
contrasting and
distinguishing
between appearance
and reality
Strategies • Child needs exposure • Play imaginary • Provide concrete • Have student
for to a diversity of games, such as analogies (e.g. to develop
educators exploratory sensory pretending to be encourage a child to hypotheses and
experiences for all animals, which keep the ball of their test them
senses requires use of foot on the ground • Develop and apply
• Encourage active play imagination and as they swing during strategies
with parents language – use a two-handed strike • Goal-setting
• Play ‘Peek-a-boo’ animal-like noises you could tell them to • Encourage
to establish the and movements to squash the bug) student to
permanence of develop locomotor • Perform consider different
objects so that infants patterns (e.g. gallop mathematical perspectives
understand the object and neigh like a transformations/ • It is more
(i.e. you) are still horse, bounce like a operations effective to
behind your hands, kangaroo) • Provide the child with explain things
even though they • Visual opportunities to ask verbally or use
cannot see your face demonstrations and questions symbolism to
touching things are • Provide the child help children
more effective for opportunities to master concepts
learning than verbal explain concepts back or principles
explanations to you to allow them • Encourage
to mentally process imagination
the information
• Classifying activities
(e.g. sorting foods into
food groups)
(images, left to right) Dreamstime.com/Szefei; iStock.com/Steve Debenport; Getty Images/Gary John Norman;
Shutterstock.com/bikeriderlondon
THE PHASES OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Motor development is a continuous process that occurs throughout the lifespan (see Figure 9.6).
Changes to our movement behaviour, regardless of our age, are influenced by an interaction between: (a)
individual factors (e.g. biology); (b) environmental factors (experience); and (c) the task itself (physical/
mechanical) (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998).
In our daily lives, the world’s constant changes influence how we move and learn to move. We
will soon explore the three main classifications for movement behaviour (locomotor, stability and
238
manipulative); but first, let’s consider the phases of motor development, which are sequential across
the lifespan. Keep in mind that the control and competence that each person develops is context- and
skill-specific. In other words, you might be an excellent swimmer, but this does not necessarily mean
that you are a competent tennis player.
Table 9.5 The phases of motor development
Phase Description
Reflexive movement • This stage includes first reflexive movements of the foetus.
phase (in utero to • Reflexes (i.e. involuntary movements) are the result of a reaction to touch, sound, light or
4 months old; pressure.
4 months to 1 year • Example movements, known as primitive reflexes, relate to information-gathering,
old) nourishment-seeking (e.g. sucking) and protective responses.
• From the foetal period until about four months, these reflexive movements are known as the
information encoding stage.
• After about month four, the sensorimotor activity controlled by the lower brain centres is taken
over by the information-decoding stage controlled by the motor area of the cerebral cortex.
An infant’s perceptual–motor ability is based on their voluntary control of skeletal movement.
Within this stage, children do not simply react to stimuli, but rather start to process sensory
stimuli with information stored in their brains (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998).
• The stepping, crawling and palm-grasping reflex all closely resemble the voluntary
movements of walking, crawling and grasping (developed later).
Rudimentary • These movements are determined by maturation and appear in a set sequence. The rate at
movement phase which each child exhibits and performs each ability varies among individuals, depending on
(birth to 1 year old; 1 the biological, environment and task factors afforded to them.
to 2 years old) • These movements are voluntary and fundamental for survival.
• Movements include manipulative tasks such as reaching, grasping and releasing.
• Stability movements include head, neck and trunk control.
• Locomotor movements include creeping, crawling and walking.
• This stage is further divided into two stages:
– Reflex inhibition stage: During this stage there is a transition where two reflexive
movements are superseded by voluntary movements. Voluntary movements are
deliberate, have a purpose but appear uncontrolled and lack control.
– Pre-control stage: This is the beginning of more precise voluntary movements:
» Children can engage in whole tasks and start to gain and maintain their equilibrium.
» In this stage, children manipulate objects and locomote far more competently. The
maturational process during this stage is rapid.
Fundamental • Children start to explore and explore the movement potential of their rapidly growing bodies.
movement phase • They further develop stabilising, locomotor and manipulative movements.
(2 to 3 years old; 4 to • Children initially experiment with these skills in isolation, and then combine them.
5 years old; 6 to • This stage is characterised by increased control of movements and the development of FMS
7 years old) such as running, jumping, kicking, throwing and walking along a balance beam.
• These skills are not developed automatically via maturation, but instead are a result of
opportunities to practise, instruction, encouragement and the environment itself.
• This stage can be further subdivided into three stages (note that these stages can overlap with
one another):
– Initial stage: Characterised by missing or improperly sequenced parts, lack of control,
flow and coordination sometimes appearing exaggerated
– Elementary stage: Associated with greater control, flow and coordination. Temporal and
spatial components are more synchronised. Many people (even adults) never progress
past this stage in many FMS.
– Mature stage: Characterised with more efficient, controlled and coordinated performance.
The manipulative skills that require the eyes tracking and/or intercepting moving objects
(e.g. catching, striking) are the last to be mastered, since the eyes are not fully developed
(i.e. the myelin surrounding the nerves supplying the eyes, which are responsible for
tracking, are not fully myelinated until the child is over 10 years of age). Children will not
automatically reach this stage without hours of opportunity to practise these skills.
239
Table 9.5
Specialised • Involves the application of FMS into more complex and sophisticated movement activities for
movement phase (7 daily living, and locomotor and manipulative skills.
to 10 years old; 11 to • Integration of multiple skills is required; for example, the basic overhand throw can be applied to
13 years old; 14 years more sport-specific skills such as the overhand clear in badminton, the serve in volleyball, the
old and up) javelin throw or the overarm throw performed by a cricketer at the stumps to run out a batter.
• This phase can be further subdivided into three stages:
– Transitional stage:
» During this stage, individuals start to integrate and apply FMS to more specialised
sport-specific contexts or recreational settings.
» The FMS are more accurate, controlled, refined and can be applied to game-like or
game situations/performances.
» It is very important at this stage not to insist a child specialises in only one or two
particular sports.
– Application stage:
» The individual is able to draw on a more advanced cognitive ability and a broadened
experience base to process information and make decisions under a wide range of
circumstances (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998).
» Decision making is influenced by the nature of the task, the individual and the environment and
whether participation in the task will enhance enjoyment and lead to success. Emphasis for
you as the teacher should be on refining skills, application via lead up games, selected sports.
– Lifelong utilisation stage:
» In this stage, interests, competencies and choices made in the previous stages are built
upon, further developed and applied to lifelong participation in physical activities within
the contexts of daily living, recreation and organised sports.
» This is the pinnacle of motor development and ultimately contributes to an individual’s
happiness, health and social benefits.
(images, top to bottom) Getty Images/Nick Veasey; Shutterstock.com/Oksana Kuzmina; Shutterstock.com/Daxiao Productions;
Dreamstime.com/Altaoosthuizen
As an educator, it is essential to keep in mind that children are not merely miniature adults. Children
should not specialise in one or two skill areas, since this will limit their opportunities to develop their
abilities in and appreciation for other areas (Gallahue & Ozmun, 1998).
Lifelong Lifelong Lifelong

daily living recreational competitive
utilisation utilisation utilisation
APPROXIMATE AGE PERIODS THE STAGES OF

OF DEVELOPMENT: MOTOR DEVELOPMENT:
14 years and up Lifelong utilisation stage

11 to 13 years SPECIALISED Application stage
7 to 10 years MOVEMENT PHASE Transitional stage
5 to 7 years Proficient stage
3 to 5 years FUNDAMENTAL Emerging elementary stages
2 to 3 years MOVEMENT PHASE Initial stage
1 to 2 years RUDIMENTARY Precontrol stage

Birth to 1 year MOVEMENT PHASE Reflex inhibition stage
Figure 9.6
4 months to 1 year REFLEXIVE Information decoding stage The phases and
In utero to 4 months MOVEMENT PHASE Information encoding stage stages of motor
development
From Gallahue, D & Ozmun, C (1998) Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults. McGraw-Hill, Boston: 50.
240
Reflection
Refer to Table 9.5, which outlines the phases of motor development. Consider, in particular, the
fundamental movement phase and the specialised movement phase.
»» Reflect on which of the focus areas within the Australian Curriculum relate to these phases.
»» Consider what the implications of these would mean for you as an educator when working
with learners within each stage.
Motor learning
‘Motor’, as used in the phrase motor learning, refers to any neurological impulse (e.g. a thought or reflex)
that is generated and transmitted via neural pathways to the working muscles to cause movement. Our
neural pathways are complex and intricate networks that continuously develop through our sensory
experiences. We maximise our learning by doing (this makes sense when you think about babies – this
is the only way that they can learn). The more that children move and explore their world through
movement, the more their neural pathways will develop and become effective.
Sensory play
Sensory play is incredibly important to a child’s development. Sensory integration is the process by
which children receive information via their senses and organise and interpret this information – which
comes to the brain from the senses – in order to make sense of the world around them. You probably
have a clear understanding of the commonly known senses (i.e. sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste);
however, Table 9.6 summarises two very important areas for sensory play: the vestibular system and
proprioception. It outlines why each of these is important to children’s development and learning, and
outlines a range of example activities and other learning opportunities that you could incorporate into
learning experiences within your classroom.
Table 9.6 Summary of proprioception and the vestibular system
How it can be developed in a

Sense What and why is it important? primary-school context
Proprioception • The ability to sense stimuli arising within the body regarding • Animal walks
position, motion, and equilibrium. Often referred to as the • Play-dough kneading
deepest sense. • Hand-clapping and finger plays
• Even if a person is blindfolded, they know, through • Hammering
proprioception, if an arm is above the head or hanging by the • Cookie cutters
side of the body. • Digging in a sandbox
• Proprioception assists children develop a sense of self and • Hiding under pillows; pillow
helps them self-regulate their behaviour. fights
• Proprioception helps children to achieve success in fine and • Sipping water through a straw
gross motor skills. • Pushing
• This sense allows children to develop an awareness of their • Pulling a heavy wagon
‘personal space’ and learn not to invade others’ personal • Climbing a rock wall
space, as well as become aware of other social concerns, • Swinging on monkey bars
such as hugging without asking or not using enough eye • Trampolining
contact. • Jump rope
• Wet-sand play
• Squeezing toys
• Use of crunchy foods
• Use of climbing equipment
• Yoga exercises
• Leap-frog games
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Table 9.6
Vestibular • Balance and equilibrium of movement in the body (both static • Going upside-down
and dynamic). • Spinning
• Activating the vestibular system awakens the brain and • See-sawing
assists the development of nerve cells. • Rocking slowly on back
• The role of the vestibular system is to relay to the brain your • Running in large circles
position in space relative to gravity – whether you are moving • Playing on playground
or still – if you are moving, how quickly you are moving, and in • Doing work standing up (e.g.
what direction you are moving. The vestibular system gathers standing desks)
information from the inner ear, which responds to movement • Lots of self-propelled
and to changes in direction, head position and gravitational pull. movement
• The vestibular system: • Playing on abdomen with toys

– coordinates eye and head movements, such as: • Log roll
» copying from a whiteboard • Riding a scooter (e.g. active
» following a moving ball through the air homework)
» scanning across a page to be read. • Hopscotch
– maintains normal muscle tone and the ability to sustain a • Use of jump rope
contraction, allowing children to: • Playing ‘tag’ games
» hold their body in one position sit up. • Dance
– affects a child’s balance and equilibrium • Skating
– helps a child to coordinate both sides of their body for • Swinging
activities including: • Sliding
» bike-riding Note: Avoid excessive spinning or
» catching a ball twirling.
» zipping up clothing
» cutting with scissors.
Occupational therapists working with children or children with sensory integration dysfunction
disorder have used activities aimed at developing proprioception, the vestibular system and the other
senses for decades. However, all children need help in learning how to use their senses. From birth,
we explore the world via our senses. Think of a newborn child who touches and puts everything in
their mouth. Similarly, children constantly explore different tasks, sounds and sensations via spinning
until they are dizzy.
Sensory play goes far beyond the sandpit, playdough and water tables. Most children have access at
some stage to childcare and/or kindergarten programs in which sensory play should be a core feature.
Sensory play should engage all of the senses, and preferably multiple senses at one time. A simple
activity to engage multiple senses would be to make objects with bright-coloured playdough, maybe
adding some glitter and even a scent, such as rose, vanilla or herbs. As a child plays with this, they will be
using their sight, colour, shapes and kinesthetic senses, as well as touch, to feel the weight and texture
of the playdough. The scent will engage their sense of smell.
Through the provision of activities that require the use of the senses, children can explore, examine,
discover, categorise, interpret and make sense of their world.
SENSORY PLAY ENHANCES LANGUAGE SKILLS

Exposing children, through play, to different surfaces, textures, colours, tastes and objects assists them
to think about new ways of communicating about the world. For example, rather than simply talking
about a tree being tall, we might say that the tree has crunchy and crackly leaves, rough bark, pinecones,
or the smell of a eucalyptus or pine. Water is not just wet; it can be like jelly, near-frozen, clear, slippery,
bubbly, cold, warm or translucent.
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SENSORY PLAY DEVELOPS FINE AND GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

Movements such as kicking, running, throwing and striking are performed using gross motor skills, which
engage large muscle groups. Sensory play allows children to develop gross motor skills via hitting objects,
catching, squashing, throwing, spinning, rolling and walking along tactile paths.
Sensory play also develops fine motor skills, which are very important for writing and for basic
self-management skills such as shoelace-tying, buttoning and using zippers. Sensory play activities
involve manipulating objects; examples include using paintbrushes, pouring, dotting, tracking, tracing,
pounding, poking, threading, posting, lacing, drawing, pinching and grasping. These important skills
need to be developed.
SENSORY PLAY IS CALMING

Children find comfort in sensory-play activities such as running their fingers and toes through sand,
water, grass, spaghetti, jelly, beans or ‘slime’. Rocking, spinning and rolling, punching objects and ‘rough
and tumbling’ are also soothing.
Sand play can be incorporated across nearly every learning area. Learning is maximised when activities,
tasks and questions are open-ended. Playing with sand is relaxing and completely open-ended – there is
Cross-
no correct way to play with sand. Sand can be dug up, shaped into castles, mountains and moats, sifted,
curricular
possibilities scooped, dripped or used to bury objects. Playing in a sandpit can not only be a free play activity during
break periods but can also have enormous potential for cross-curricular integration.
The benefits of sand play include the following:
▻▻ Develops fine motor skills: Manipulation of shovels, buckets, moulds and toys
▻▻ Increases eye and hand coordination: Watching, doing and coordinating these
actions
▻▻ Develops creativity through creative play, role-play and imaginative stories
▻▻ Sensory: Sense of touch; feeling and manipulating objects and moulding the sand
▻▻ Language development: Playing with sand is a social activity requiring speaking
and listening, and also developing vocabulary through practising and experimenting with
language
▻▻ Encourages independence, because children can be supervised from a short distance
▻▻ Develops muscle strength via lifting, digging, squatting, carrying sand around in buckets and using
trucks
▻▻ Fosters social skills via sharing, negotiation and teamwork with other children (working together to
build cities or tell stories)
▻▻ Promotes cognitive development, since children learn what happens to sand as water is added when
they process what effect this can have on the weight and form of sand
▻▻ Develops numeracy (i.e. mathematical concepts) through an understanding of less, equal and more,
empty and full, heavy and light, and concepts of volume and measurement
▻▻ Encourages scientific experiments: For example, burying metal treasure and using magnets, using
pulley systems with buckets (punching holes in plastic buckets of different sizes). If you provide
funnels, ramps and rolling pins, children will make up their own experiences to learn about basic
scientific concepts
▻▻ Artistic expression is enhanced: For example, by drawing in the sand with hands, combs or objects;
decorating ‘buildings’ and ‘towns’ with objects and natural materials like rocks and flowers. Children
can use imaginary play to create little worlds, kingdoms and scenarios.
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Figure 9.7 Sand

play
Alamy Stock Photo/ian west
Questions
1 Think about an activity that you could design to foster a cross-curricular activity encompassing sand
play for a Foundation class.
2 Consider what stimulus materials and equipment you could provide to foster a cross-curricular
activity.
3 Discuss the potential to set this activity as an active homework task for children to engage in at the
local park, at home or in the playground at school.
Fundamental movement skills (FMS)

We touched on FMS earlier, in Chapter 3, when we discussed focus areas in the Australian Curriculum.
These are the essential movement skills that form the building blocks of more complex and sport-specific
movement patterns. FMS can be broken down into three major sub-classifications, which are shown
in Table 9.7. Refer to ‘Get Skilled, Get Active’, a program developed by the NSW State Government,
for a comprehensive resource on FMS development, teaching cues, learning activities, and programing
and assessment tools (see https://www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au/downloads/file/teacherschildcare/Get_
skilled_get_active_booklet.pdf). FMS will be discussed further in Chapter 10.
Table 9.7 FMS classification and examples
Classification Introductory activity examples
Stability skills (e.g. static balance, • Balance on one leg.

bend, sway, twist and turn) • Balance on a low beam.
• Balance on a log or on a rock.
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Table 9.7
Locomotor skills (e.g. run, hop, • Hop on spot markers.

skip, leap, dodge, roll, gallop, jump • Jump over obstacles such as hurdles, objects and agility ladders.
and slide) • Log-roll down a wedge.
• Hopscotch; leap over chalk or line markings.
Manipulative skills • Kicking:

(e.g. throw, kick, catch, throw, – Kick a ball towards a wall or target (e.g. cones, fence, partner).
forehand strike, two-hand strike) – Have students blow bubbles and their partner kick the bubbles.
• Striking:
– Keep a balloon aloft using the hand or another body part.
– Alternate preferred and non-preferred hands.
– Variations:
» Perform in pairs or in groups.
» Increase the number of balloons.
» Introduce a striking implement, such as a fly-swatter, bat or PET bottle.
(images, top to bottom) Dreamstime.com/Cynthia Farmer; Alamy Stock Photo/Blend Images; Shutterstock.com/ziggy_mars
STAGES OF LEARNING
Even if an individual has a genetic predisposition that suits them to a particular physical activity or sport,
unless they also have both the opportunity and the motivation to develop their skills, they will not reach
a high level of performance. As a teacher, it is important to have an understanding of the developmental
needs of beginners compared with more advanced performers, in order to enable differentiated teaching
strategies, instructional approaches and types of feedback, so that these can be tailored more specifically
to enhance the learning process. While there are numerous models that categorise motor-skill learning
into distinct stages, one that is regularly used in HPE is that proposed by Paul Fitts and Michael Posner.
Fitts and Posner (1967) proposed that learning could be sequentially classified into three distinct stages
(see Figure 9.8):
• cognitive (beginner)
• associative (intermediate)
• autonomous (advanced/elite).
We will describe these stages in the following sections.
Cognitive stage Associative stage Autonomous stage

Figure 9.8 ‘What is to be done?’ Refining technique Focus is on strategy
The skill-learning and tactics
continuum
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Cognitive stage
During the cognitive stage, beginners try to mentally comprehend and process the requirements of the
motor skill to be performed. Within this stage, beginners often need the opportunity to ask questions and
be supported within an environment that is encouraging and allows for many successful experiences.
Production of movement during the cognitive stage is often inconsistent, jerky, stiff, unrefined and
unsuccessful in terms of the final product of the performance.
Learners within the cognitive stage are often aware of what is wrong without knowing how to correct
the problem, because they are yet to develop their error-detection and correction abilities. Although
individuals in this stage may lack confidence, they generally exhibit rapid improvement when provided
with ample opportunities to practise and achieve success, supported by developmentally appropriate
feedback.
In primary HPE, it is important to incorporate plentiful learning opportunities for children to
practise new skills (e.g. blocked practice) in a similar, predictable and stable environment. There are
considerable cognitive demands for children during this stage, so you should keep your directions and
teaching cues short and simple.
Associative stage
In the associative stage, sometimes referred to as the practice stage, the learner starts to develop and
refine the efficiency and effectiveness of the technique they use and their movement patterns, resulting
in enhanced consistency and a reduced error rate. The cognitive demands of performing movement
patterns are reduced, allowing the learner more time to focus on external stimuli (e.g. the trajectory of
a ball or the positioning of the opposition’s defence). The learner is capable not only of detecting errors
but also of developing effective strategies to reduce the number of errors being made.
As consistency increases, the rate of improvement slows down to a more gradual level. The learner is
more capable of focusing on how to perform the particular movement skill and more capable of coping
with more sophisticated practical applications of the skill learnt – for example, during a game situation,
throwing the ball to second base to throw a base runner out. Some learners, though, will never advance
through this stage to the autonomous stage.
Autonomous stage
The final stage is the pinnacle of an individual’s learning, and their movement behaviour within this
stage is now largely automatic; the performer no longer has to consciously think about how to perform
the skill. By this stage, an individual can focus on other considerations, such as employing a tactical
move (e.g. an elite basketball player calling plays while dribbling up the court).
In the autonomous stage, individuals have developed a high level of anticipation for a range of
possible scenarios that could potentially occur, and the consistency level in performing skills is high.
Individuals are able to detect their own errors and have an understanding of how to correct them. As
a primary teacher, it will be rare to teach children who are at this level, unless they are also regularly
participating in a particular physical activity outside of school. When working with children at this level,
offering precise feedback is still essential.
THE SKILL-LEARNING CONTINUUM

Consistent with other skill learning models, it should be noted that it is not possible to determine
precisely when an individual student moves from one stage to the next. Fitts and Posner’s three-stage
model should be viewed as a skill-learning continuum. Learners can be at different stages of learning for
different movement skills; for example, although a child might be at the associative stage for kicking a
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soccer ball, they may be within the cognitive stage for performing a set shot in basketball. Additionally,
it is important to understand that it is possible to be in different stages for even the same skill, if the
skill is to be performed within different contexts. For example, you might be at the autonomous stage
for freestyle in a heated, 25-metre indoor swimming pool with no one else in your lane, but at the
associative stage while performing freestyle in open water around large waves during a crowded
swimming race (you may simply be concentrating on catching a breath).
So what does this all mean for you as an educator? We have talked about the characteristics of
learners who are in each stage of learning, based on the Fitts and Posner model of stages of learning. To
improve their skills, learners need different things within different stages of learning. Table 9.8 outlines
a range of strategies that you can employ while working with individuals in each of the three stages of
learning.
Table 9.8 What learners in different stages need
To improve their skills, learners in the cognitive stage need:
• only two simple instructions at a time to focus on

• plenty of demonstrations (live and digital) to give them a visual (i.e. a mental picture of the task)
• complex skills to be broken down into smaller parts
• a focus on simple FMS
• their motivation to be kept high
• positional and constructive feedback.
Example: In tennis, a learner needs to concentrate on standing side-on and keeping the racquet head parallel to the
ground.
To improve their skills, learners in the associative stage need:
• regular feedback to refine skills and reduce the chance of poor habits developing
• opportunities to practise with increased variability.
Example: In tennis, the person can hit the ball over the net but not always at the desired accuracy and speed; corrective
technical feedback should be given.
To improve their skills, learners in the autonomous stage need:
• practice, using game-like situations to focus on, for example, tactics and shot selection
• psychological-skills training for coping under pressure
• practice opportunities with a high level of variability
• practice that challenges them to use higher-order thinking via a range of problem-based learning scenarios.
Example: In tennis, practise a return passing shot against a left-hander using a kick serve.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR DESIGNING DEVELOPMENTALLY

APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNERS AT
DIFFERENT STAGES
Learners are either ready or not ready to achieve success, depending on a range of physical, cognitive,
emotional and psychological factors. For example, children under the age of 10 generally find it difficult
to track an object in a vertical plane, such as when catching a ball. This is because physically. the myolin
(the sheath surrounding the nerves supplying each eye) is not fully developed until around the age of
11. This is one of the major reasons for the need to use modified equipment, such as softer balls, when
appropriate, to maximise safety. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see untrained teachers, coaches
and well-meaning parents throwing tennis balls for young children, who miss the ball and get hit in the
face or head, causing injury – or, at the very least, an aversion to catching objects.
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One of the key challenges for any teacher is the selection and design of learning activities that are
developmentally appropriate for each learner. HPE teachers are no exception, and in any given classroom,
student abilities can span multiple achievement levels. For every learning activity, think about how
you could modify it to ensure that it is inclusive and caters for a range of ability levels and backgrounds.
The TREE model, which is described in the following ‘Tips for inclusive practice’ box, provides a user-
friendly framework for considering how we can modify activities for all students. Modifying an activity
might include a change to rules, competition structure or equipment.
How to modify a sport using the TREE model
The purpose of adapting and modifying a sport is to minimise or eliminate disadvantage caused by the Tips for
environment in which that sport is played. This strategy also enables new rules and equipment to be inclusive
introduced as players mature and their skills improve. All modifications should be continuously reviewed practice
and, if appropriate, phased out over time. However, some modifications may become accepted as part of the
regular program, making a program that is suitable for all abilities, such as modified junior sport programs.
The TREE model:

The TREE model is a practical tool designed to help you modify your activities or programs. There are four
essential elements of an activity that can be modified to make it more inclusive.
Teaching style
Rules
Equipment
Environments.
Teaching style:
Teaching style refers to the way the sport or activity is communicated to the participants. The way an activity
is delivered can have a significant impact on how inclusive it is. Strategies you may use include:
▻▻ being aware of all the participants in your group
▻▻ ensuring participants are correctly positioned (e.g. within visual range)
▻▻ using appropriate language for the group
▻▻ using visual aids and demonstrations
▻▻ using a buddy system
▻▻ using appropriate physical assistance – guide a participant’s body parts through a movement
▻▻ keeping instructions short and to the point
▻▻ checking for understanding.
Rules:
Rules may be simplified or changed and then reintroduced as skill levels increase. Strategies you may use
include:
▻▻ allowing for more bounces in a game such as tennis or table tennis
▻▻ allowing for multiple hits in a sport such as volleyball
▻▻ having a greater number of players on a team to reduce the amount of activity required by each player
▻▻ reducing the amount of players to allow greater freedom of movement
▻▻ regularly substituting players
▻▻ allowing substitute runners in sports such as softball and cricket or shortening the distance the hitter needs
to run to be safe
▻▻ reducing or extending the time to perform actions
▻▻ allowing different point scoring systems
▻▻ varying passing styles: try bouncing, rolling or underarm toss, instead of overarm throw
▻▻ reducing competitive elements.
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Equipment:
Strategies you may use include:
▻▻ using lighter bats or racquets and/or shorter handles
▻▻ using lighter, bigger and/or slower bouncing balls, or balls with bells inside
▻▻ using equipment that contrasts with the playing area – white markers on grass, fluorescent balls.
Environments:
Strategies you may use include:
▻▻ reducing the size of the court or playing area
▻▻ using a smooth or indoor surface rather than grass
▻▻ lowering net heights in sports such as volleyball or tennis
▻▻ using zones within the playing area
▻▻ minimising distractions in the surrounding area.
Things to consider:
▻▻ C hanges do not have to be permanent – some may be phased out over time as skills and confidence
increase.
▻▻ Try as much as possible to include all the members of your group in the game. Be conscious of keeping all
participants challenged.
▻▻ Engage individuals in modifying the activities when appropriate, as they will be your best source of solutions.
▻▻ It may not be necessary to modify the game’s rules or equipment for everybody just to include one person; it
may only require a change for that one person.
▻▻ There are situations where including everybody all the time may not be possible. Safety considerations are
always a priority for each individual and the entire group. Use your common sense.
▻▻ Always maintain the integrity of the game – do not modify a game so much that it no longer resembles the
game you were playing at the outset.
From Australian Sports Commission (2016) ‘Adapting and modifying for people with disability – Part one’.
http://www.ausport.gov.au/participating/resources/disability/factsheets/adapting_and_modifying_for_people_
with_disability_-_part_one. Accessed 14 November 2016. Reprinted with permission.
Questions
1 Consider how you could modify a throwing activity for a student who is partially (legally) blind. How
would the student know if they had had success in, for example, hitting a given target?
2 Discuss how you could incorporate a student who requires a wheelchair into a lesson on tennis. What
modifications could you make to be inclusive and maximise the student’s opportunity to experience
success and enjoy the learning activity?
STRATEGIES FOR FOSTERING PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY

OPPORTUNITIES IN SCHOOLS
As an educator, there are a range of strategies that you can incorporate, into both curricular
time and non-curricular opportunities, to get children moving. It is important to provide students
with a wide range of physical activities beyond traditional individual and team sports. Physical
activities should encourage movement across all domains: at school, through active transport, and
in domestic and recreational activity. Here are a range of strategies that you could incorporate into
your school:
• Set active homework, such as taking your dog for a walk, going for a walk with your siblings or
parents or going to the local park to throw a Frisbee or play in the playground.
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• Set students an assessment task that involves the collection of data about their activity level (e.g.
a diary or wearing a pedometer). Analyse their data in relation to compliance with Australia’s
Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Children (see http://www.health.gov.au/
internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-phys-act-guidelines#apa512).
• Provide physical-activity equipment for use during break times (e.g. skipping ropes, balls, bats,
flying discs).
• Install line markings to foster play (e.g. hopscotch, ball games) and other prompts for throwing,
such as painted targets.
• Provide non-traditional sporting equipment, including moveable materials, for use during breaks,
such as boxes, pool noodles, hoops, hay bales, tyres and buckets.
• Schedule active breaks or brain-break activities during classroom time.
• Provide standing desks (at least three to five in every classroom, to give students the opportunity
to rotate to a standing desk at some point during each day).
• Establish walking or cycling groups, in order to encourage activity during lunch breaks.
• Encourage staff members to be active role models during break times and during class time by
joining in with physical activities with their students (even if it is just throwing a ball or Frisbee or
playing a game of handball).
• Install bike racks within the school, with lockable areas for bikes and helmets.
• Build walking and cycling trails around the perimeter of the school grounds that students can
access before and after school, and during breaks and class time.
• Integrate movement opportunities across the entire curriculum (e.g. have students draw and
decorate a map of Australia in Geography; integrate movement when teaching literacy and
numeracy).
• Set a homework task for students to collect information about local physical activities accessible
within their local community (e.g. local swimming pools, bike paths and sporting clubs). Ensure
that they collect information on prices, programs and times and consider how they could get there
if they were to participate.
• Schedule access to gymnasium for different year levels on different days of the week.
• Develop peer programs whereby older year levels facilitate programs for younger year levels (e.g.
taking on coaching or officiating roles, or simply running informal activity opportunities, such as
jump-rope, hopscotch, gutter-ball or bat tennis).
• Organise a staff–student competition in a range of sports (e.g. Ultimate Frisbee, bocce, quoits,
netball, orienteering, bat tennis and carpet bowls).
• Have regular walk-/ride-to-school days.
• Ensure that you have bike-education and aquatic-education programs.
• Organise a ‘walk-a-thon’ as a fundraiser.
• Encourage families to walk their dogs to school; have a walk-your-dog-to-school day.
• Ensure that all students have access to participation in sport, not just students who compete in
inter-school competitions.
• Connect students with local sporting clubs via visits by and introductions to local coaches.
• Stage a showcase of the physical activities that students participate in at home.
• Get students to design a fitness circuit using school playground equipment.
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• Encourage students to create a game that they could play at home using household items (e.g.
buckets, blankets, tarps and brooms).
• Avoid activities that involve elimination or exclusion of any kind (e.g. musical chairs), or modify
these to ensure that no child is excluded.
• Use smaller versions of games rather than their full versions (e.g. three on three or two on two
soccer, rather than 11 on 11) when encouraging students to play sport.
• Use lots of equipment – preferably providing one ball per student, where possible – rather than
having whole-class games that use one ball and leave large numbers of students waiting for a turn
and disengaged.
• Organise for a sports star from your local community to visit the school to talk about the effect that
participating in sport has had on their life.
• Organise an excursion to a local physical-activity facility or setting. Have students participate
in the activity and record a range of information about it in a physical-activity journal about the
benefits of the activity and how it made them feel.
Reflection
Reflect on a school where you have spent time. Discuss the range of strategies that were
implemented there to promote physical activity among students.
»» Was there a good balance between opportunities considered to be lifelong physical activities
(e.g. walking, bike-riding, tennis, swimming, golf) and traditional team sports (e.g. netball,
basketball, cricket, soccer)?
»» Of the strategies outlined in this chapter, which would you want to implement in your school?
Summary
• Regular physical activity confers numerous health and other benefits to young people. These include
physical, mental and social benefits, in addition to academic, financial and career advantages.
• Movement has numerous benefits for the brain, including improved brain function, alertness and
motivation; increased blood supply, neural wiring and plasticity; and improved mood, attention,
processing capacity and memory.
• When planning, designing and implementing HPE programs, units and lessons, an educator must
carefully consider the characteristics of the individual learner in relation to the latter’s developmental
stage in life.
• There is a huge variation, at any given age, in the acquisition of abilities relating to the three major
domains of development: physical (biological) maturation, cognitive maturation and psychosocial
(emotional–social) maturation.
• You should consider the range of theories that underpin our understanding of child development when
planning your HPE programs.
Review questions
1 Describe the effects of exercise on the brain, and reflect on how these inform your teaching, including
the need to incorporate ‘brain breaks’ during class time.
2 Discuss the intervention components of the Transform-Us! study, led by Professor Jo Salmon, and
outline the key findings of this research. Consider three strategies used in this study that you would like
to implement in your classroom or school.
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3 Explain what Piaget meant by the notions of assimilation and accommodation, and provide an example of
each of these.
4 Discuss the importance of sensory play, particularly during the early years, for children’s development.
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
• Anton-Hem, L (2005) Fundamental Motor Skills and Literacy. Melbourne: Eleanor Curtin Publishing.
This resource provides early-years teachers with a range of activities that are designed to incorporate
rhymes and chants with movement, in order to develop both FMS and literacy.
• Gallahue, DL & Ozmun, JC (1998) Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents,
Adults (4th ed.) Boston: McGraw-Hill.
This text outlines a range of learning theories relating to motor development and learning across the
lifespan, and includes programming considerations.
• Hyndman, BP, Benson, AC & Telford, A (2014) ‘A guide for educators to move beyond conventional
school playgrounds: The RE-AIM evaluation of the lunchtime enjoyment activity and play (LEAP)
intervention’. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(1).
This article evaluates the implementation of a range of moveable items that can be used to promote physical
activity during breaks, and outlines considerations for primary teachers in relation to policy development,
safety and inclusion.
• New South Wales Department of Education and Training (2000) Get Skilled: Get Active. Sydney:
Curriculum Support Directorate.
https://www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au/downloads/file/teacherschildcare/Get_skilled_get_active_booklet.pdf
This resource provides teachers with an understanding of FMS. It outlines strategies to develop these skills,
teaching cues, common errors and assessment resources.
• Ratey, JJ & Hagerman, E (2008) Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. New
York: Little, Brown.
This text discusses the effects of exercise on the brain.
• Salmon, J, Arundell, L, Hume C et al. (2011) ‘A cluster-randomized controlled trial to reduce sedentary
behavior and promote physical activity and health of 8-9 year olds: The Transform-Us! Study’. BMC
Public Health, 11(759), 1–14.
This study outlines a range of strategies that can be implemented within a school to potentially increase
physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour.
References
Australian Sports Commission (2016) ‘Adapting and resources/disability/factsheets/adapting_and_modifying_for_
modifying for people with disability – Part one’. Australian people_with_disability_-_part_one. Accessed 14 November
Government. http://www.ausport.gov.au/participating/ 2016.
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PA RT 3 U NDER STA NDING A ND TE A C H ING A B O U T MO V EMENT A ND P H Y S I C A L ACTI V ITY
Basch, CE (2011)’ Healthier students are better learners: A Hoffnung M, Hoffnung RJ, Siefert K, Burton Smith, R & Hine,
missing link in school reforms to close the achievement gap’. A (2010) Childhood First: Australasian Edition. Melbourne:
Journal of School Health, 81(10), 593–8. John Wiley & Sons.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) The Leifer, G & Hartson, H (2004) Growth and Development Across the
Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Lifespan: A Health Promotion Focus. St Louis, MO: Saunders.
Physical Education, and Academic Performance. Atlanta, GA: Medina, J (2008) Brain Rules. Seattle: Pear Press.
US Department of Health and Human Services. Ratey, JJ & Hagerman, E (2008) Spark: The Revolutionary New
Cleland, V, Crawford D, Baur L, Hume C, Timperio A & Science of Exercise and the Brain. New York: Little, Brown.
Salmon, J (2008) ‘A prospective examination of children’s Santrock, JW (2006) Lifespan Development (10th ed.) Boston:
time spent outdoors, objectively measured physical activity McGraw-Hill.
and overweight’. International Journal of Obesity, 32, Salmon, J, Arundell, L, Hume, C et al. (2011) ‘A cluster-
1685–1693; doi:10.1038/ijo.2008.171; published online 14 randomized controlled trial to reduce sedentary behavior
October 2008. and promote physical activity and health of 8–9 year olds:
Clemes S, Barber S, Bingham D et al. (2015) ‘Reducing The Transform-Us! Study’. BMC Public Health, 11(759).
children’s classroom sitting time using sit-to-stand desks: doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-759.
Findings from pilot studies in UK and Australian primary Schunk, DH (2008) Learning Theories: An Educational
schools’. Journal of Public Health, 38(3), 526–33. Perspective (5th ed.) Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Copple, C & Bredekamp, S (2009) Developmentally Appropriate Telford, RD, Cunningham, RB, Telford, RM, Riley, M &
Practice in Early Childhood Programs. Washington, DC: Abhayaratna, WP (2012) ‘Determinants of childhood
National Association for the Education of Young Children. adiposity: Evidence from the Australian LOOK study’. PLoS
Covey, S (1990) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. ONE, 7(11), e50014.
New York: Simon & Schuster. Vander Zanden, JW, Crandell, TL & Crandell, CH (2007)
Duncan, TE & Duncan, SC (1995) ‘Modeling the processes of Human Development (8th ed.) Boston: McGraw-Hill.
development via latent variable growth curve methodology’. Vygotsky, LS (1978) ‘Internalization of higher psychological
Structural Equation Modeling, 2, 187–213. problems’ (M Lopez-Morillas trs.), in M Cole, V John-
Evenson, KR, Wen, F, Hales, D & Herring, AH (2016) Steiner, S Scribner and E Souberman (eds) Mind in
‘National youth sedentary behavior and physical activity daily Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
patterns using latent class analysis applied to accelerometry’. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 79–91.
International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Vygotsky, LS (1987) ‘Thinking and speech’ (N Minick trs.), in
Activity, 3(13), 55. RW Rieber and AS Carton (eds) The Collected Works of LS
Fitts, PM & Posner, MI (1967) Human Performance. Belmont, Vygotsky: Volume 1: Problems of General Psychology. New
CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co. York: Plenum Press, 39–285.
Gallahue, DL & Ozmun, JC (1998) Understanding Motor Wood, D, Bruner, J & Ross, G (1976) ‘The role of tutoring
Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults (4th ed.) in problem solving’. Journal of Child Psychology and Child
Boston: McGraw-Hill. Psychiatry, 17, 89–100.
10
Moving for purpose:
skills, knowledge
and values
1 critique and implement quality learning experiences that
enhance a student’s fundamental movement skills (FMS)
2 apply the basic principles of at least three popular models
used in the teaching of HPE curricula
3 understand what it takes to create a ‘thinking’ student in
your HPE classes
4 understand the type of learning environment that is needed
to allow students to explore the context and culture of
sport
5 discover opportunities for teaching personal and social
responsibility through HPE.
Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to challenge
teachers in primary schools to create active,
creative learners in their classes and to
reconceptualise the notion of teaching
HPE for educative purposes. To achieve
this aim, the chapter focuses on applying
outcomes-based education in the teaching
of fundamental movement skills (FMS),
exploring the idea of developing thinking,
culturally aware and socially responsible
players. It does this by exploring some of
the more dominant and evidence-based
models of practice that are employed by
teachers in primary schools. These models
often require deep pedagogical knowledge
and continuous refinement in order to
make them effective in your own physical
education practice.
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INTRODUCTION
This chapter deals exclusively with the physical education component of HPE. Evidence of what it
takes to create effective physical education programs in primary schools is controversial (Dudley et al.,
2011). Primary classroom teachers frequently focus on ‘playing games’. While children usually enjoy
these activities, these ‘games’ lessons are often conducted in an ad hoc manner, with little planning
for the necessary long-term educational objectives beyond enjoyment and involvement in regular
physical activity. This may be perceived as being an admirable outcome, but many would claim that it
is educationally insufficient.
WHAT ARE FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS (FMS)?
Traditional models of motor learning and development categorise movement skills as being either
phylogenetic or orthogenetic movement sequences (Magill, 2011). Simply put, phylogenetic movement
sequences develop without instruction, because they are essential for human survival (e.g. crawling,
walking, running). On the other hand, orthogenetic movement sequences are not required in order
to function in normal everyday activity, and are socially driven. Therefore, they are more likely to be
affected by practice (e.g. a tennis serve, kicking a football) (Magill, 2011). However, it becomes hard to
distinguish between the two types of skills once a child reaches around three years of age. In educative
settings, this thinking brought about the notion of fundamental movement skills (FMS).
FMS might be defined as those skills that are required for most people to live and function as
‘normal’ human beings. They are often characterised as being the physical skill sets possessed by adults
that are employed when participating in leisure, recreation and sport-specific settings. There is a very
compelling argument that without a learned set of FMS and a perceived competence in their execution,
individuals will be predisposed to engage in less physical activity, and will therefore have poorer health
in later life.
The learning of FMS contains three components; namely, the acquisition of the following:
• Locomotor skills: Moving the body from one place to another or propelling the body upward
(e.g. running, jumping, skipping, galloping)
• Stability skills: Performed, without appreciable movement, when moving from place to place
(e.g. balancing, bending, stretching, twisting, turning)
• Manipulative/object-control skills: Involve manipulation of an object (e.g. kicking, striking, catching,
throwing).
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C H A P T E R 1 0 M ov i n g fo r p u rp o s e : s k i lls , k n owl e d g e a n d va lu e s
The following ‘Teaching practice’ box will further develop your understanding of FMS.
Contexts for teaching FMS

Complete Table 10.1 by filling in the blank spaces. (Note that some online research may be required.) Teaching
practice
Table 10.1 Classifying FMS
Skill classification Example of FMS Activity in which skill is used

Locomotor Hopping Hopscotch
Stability Pivoting Netball
Manipulative/object-control Striking, catching Hockey
Locomotor Running Water polo
Stability Surfing
Manipulative/object-control Yoga
Applying outcomes and standards when teaching FMS

In recent times, we have seen numerous educational bureaucracies advocating an outcomes- and
standards-based focus on curriculum design, teaching and assessment (Killen, 2005). To understand
how these approaches influence the teaching, programming and assessment of FMS, we should be
guided by four simple questions:
1 Why do we want students to learn FMS?
2 Which FMS do we want students to learn?
3 How can we best help students to learn these FMS?
4 How will we know when students have learned FMS?
These questions will be explored in detail in the following sections.
Why do we want students to learn FMS?

A predominant feature of the majority of HPE curricula in most developed nations is that they help
students to acquire the FMS needed to access a wide range of physical activities across their lifespan
(Jess & Collins, 2003; Welk, 1999). Without this foundation, children find it difficult to pass through
the proficiency barrier that exists between simple activities and the more complex activities and games
of later adolescence and adulthood (Seefeldt, 1979).
This notion is supported by Barnett et al. (2009), who found, in one of the few longitudinal studies
published on the topic, that FMS proficiency developed in the primary-school years has a significant
impact on physical activity in adolescence and adulthood. Furthermore, object-control skills, rather than
locomotor skills, appear to be more crucial to total activity time, as well as to activity of a higher intensity
and the types of activity undertaken in later life.
Therefore, we should want our students to learn FMS, because there is an increasing body of
evidence (much of which will be cited throughout this chapter) to suggest that having these skill sets
will contribute to their growth, development and health. Further, this evidence should have influenced
the development of the curriculum to which you are expected to teach, thereby providing a clear set of
broader skill outcomes and expectations.
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CURRICULAR LINKS
In New South Wales, the K–6 Personal Development, Health, and Physical Education (PDHPE)
(2007) syllabus answers, in the document’s rationale, the question of why we want teach our students
FMS. It states:
Children do not naturally develop fundamental movement skills as they grow. Opportunities
should be provided for these skills to be taught, practised and encouraged. Having mastery
of the fundamental movement skills such as throwing, catching, running and jumping
opens up a vast array of sport, leisure and recreation options for the individual. Skills are
developed through play, dance, gymnastics, games, sports, aquatics and other recreational
activities. The quality of movement is further enhanced through exploring, composing,
performing and appreciating movement.
NSW BOSTES, 2007: 8
Similarly, the rationale statement of the Queensland School Curriculum Council, Health and
Physical Education Years 1–10 syllabus states:
The key learning offers students opportunities to develop knowledge, processes, skills and
attitudes necessary for making informed decisions about:
• promoting the health of individuals and communities
• developing concepts and skills for physical activity
• enhancing personal development.
QSCC, 1999 :1
In Victoria, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority justifies the inclusion of teaching
FMS in its opening learning focus statement:
[FMS] focuses on the development of fundamental movement skills that provide the
foundation for competent and confident participation in a range of physical activities,
which include:
• locomotor and non-locomotor skills: rolling, balancing, sliding, jogging, running, leaping,
jumping, hopping, dodging, skipping, floating and moving the body through water to safety
• object control skills: bouncing, throwing, catching, kicking, striking
Victorian Curriculum Foundation–10, Focus Area – FMS, VCHPEP001, VCAA (AusVELS 2015; now archived)
Linking with curriculum

Teaching Using the HPE curriculum from your state or territory, highlight a statement in the document’s rationale
practice or justification that alludes to evidence supporting the teaching of FMS in primary schools.
Which FMS do we want our students to learn?

The question of which FMS we want students to learn is requires us to unpack our individual HPE
curriculum documents and search for the answer. We will need to know a few things before we can find
these answers, though. These questions include:
• Who are my students (e.g. age, level of development, special needs)?
• What does the curriculum say that they should be able to do?
The reason we ask the first question is that children do not learn FMS at the same rate, and nor
do they start from the same point of learning. It is therefore important to make the curriculum fit the
student’s needs, rather than force the student to fit the needs of the curriculum. By having a picture of
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who your students are, you can then ‘enter’ a curriculum and, with a critical eye, see what it expects in
terms of FMS development throughout the primary years.
Let’s now examine why we need to make the teaching of FMS more inclusive.
Using the template given in Table 10.2, create a hypothetical class profile of 15 students. Ensure that the
class has a gender balance and at least two students with special needs.
Tips for
inclusive
Table 10.2 Student profile practice
Name:
Gender:
Age:
Enjoys playing the

following games:
Does not enjoy playing the

following games:
Cultural background:
Special needs (if any):
Now, based on the hypothetical class you have constructed and the FMS and level of proficiency
required, answer the following questions:
1 Are there any students who will be incapable of achieving any of these FMS? Why?
2 Reflecting on the profiles of the students, can you foresee any particular FMS that may be difficult to
teach to specific students? Why?
3 Given what you know of FMS and your students, list what would be the advantages and
disadvantages of using each of the following HPE providers in teaching FMS to your hypothetical
class:
▻▻ Primary classroom teachers
▻▻ Specialist HPE teachers
▻▻ A corporate provider.
How can we best help students to learn these FMS?

Traditional physical education lessons take on a ‘skill, drill and game’ format. This lesson model typically
relies upon the direct teaching of new skills in isolation, followed by a drill to practise the new skill via
repetition, and then concludes with a game (or modification thereof) to apply the skill in context. This
form of PE instruction largely revolves around direct-instruction teaching strategies. Unfortunately, many
pre-service and experienced teachers consider direct instruction to be a ‘poor’ teaching approach, as
opposed to ‘good’ constructivist teaching approaches. The evidence is, however, quite to the contrary.
Hattie’s (2009) synthesis of meta-analyses found that direct instruction (done well) is one of the most
effective teaching strategies, and is associated with improved student achievement. The use of direct
instruction as a teaching strategy in physical education is no exception. In fact, some of the most
evidence-based physical education curricula have been based on direct-instruction teaching methods,
and controlled trial studies of these have demonstrated improved FMS within primary schools (Dudley
et al., 2011).
According to Hattie (2009), direct instruction is frequently and incorrectly confused with teacher-
led ‘talking from the front of the class’-style teaching, whereas, in contrast, it can in fact be used to
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create a very powerful physical education lesson that will improve movement-skill development in your
students. Direct instruction involves seven major components, as follows:
1 Before the lesson, be prepared and have a clear focus on what the learning intentions or lesson
outcomes are. These should match both student and curricular needs, as discussed above.
2 The teacher needs to know what the success criteria of FMS proficiency are, and how people
learn. The success criteria should be communicated to your students.
3 There is a need to build in a ‘hook’ to capture students’ attention and commitment. The aim here is
to put your students in a receptive frame of mind while also focusing their attention on the lesson,
and, as a teacher, to be able to share your learning intentions and lesson outcomes with students.
(Note that this requires more than simply playing a game at the end of class. In these cases, the
game at the end of the lesson is quite often a sort of ‘bribe’ to control student behaviour throughout
what is an otherwise didactic PE lesson.)
4 There are aspects of best practice that relate to direct instruction. These include inputs, modelling
and checking for understanding:
• Input is the method of providing information. It is essentially the medium used to teach your
students to gain the FMS. This might include pictures, video or diagrams.
• Modelling refers to when the teacher (or a student who is proficient) shows the class examples
of what is expected. Many classroom primary teachers are reluctant to demonstrate these skills
if they are not proficient in them themselves. If this is the case, identifying other students,
parents or staff members to assist in modelling is perfectly acceptable. The important aspect,
from a teaching point of view, is that the critical aspects of the skill are labelled (using
appropriate meta-language), categorised (e.g. locomotor, stability, manipulative/object-control)
and compared with examples and non-examples of proficient movement.
• Checking for understanding is the teacher continuously validating that students are learning
what is being taught while it is being taught. It provides the teacher the chance to move
learning forward based on student responses throughout the learning process.
5 Direct instruction will also involve a ‘drill’ or session of guided practice. This provides an
opportunity for students to demonstrate their proficiency of the FMS under the direct supervision
of the teacher. It should involve the teacher ascertaining levels of proficiency, giving positive
and meaningful feedback, and identifying those who require additional assistance or instruction.
Remember that the adage ‘practice makes perfect’ is untrue; only ‘perfect practice makes perfect’.
6 Following a drill or session of guided practice, most physical education lessons conclude with a
game (or modification thereof). This is a time of independent and cooperative practice, and it can
be done once students have started to master the skill. The game becomes an important way to
apply learnt skills in context. The teacher should grasp the need for these games to cover enough
different sporting contexts that the skill may be applied to any relevant situation. The game(s)
should never be limited to the situation in which the skill was originally learnt.
7 All physical education lessons need closure and a means whereby the teacher can demonstrate
or make statements to bring the lesson to a conclusion. Students are thereby helped in bringing
together in their own minds what they have learned. Concluding a lesson with a simple ‘Are there
any questions?’ will not provide closure to the lesson. Lesson closure involves reviewing the key
learning points and tying them together in a relevant context related to the following questions:
• What skills were learnt?
• How were they applied?
• Why are they important?
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The message from the evidence on direct instruction is that its efficacy is based on its strategy of
stating the success criteria, and then moving students towards these. Teachers need to invite their
students to learn while concurrently providing numerous opportunities for the learning of skills, as well
as lots of teacher and student modelling, deliberate practice and appropriate feedback (Hattie, 2009).
Direct-instruction teaching strategies

Using one locomotor, one stability and one manipulative/object-control FMS that you listed in Table 10.1, Teaching
design a lesson plan based on direct-instruction teaching methods, ensuring that you incorporate the practice
seven key major steps articulated in Hattie’s (2009) explanation, outlined above. Review the lesson plan
shown in Figure 10.1 (below) and follow the template provided (or create your own).
Subject and year Health and Physical Education, Dudley Primary School, Year 4
Objectives and Mastery of the overhand Required materials and • Beanbags
goals throw for distance equipment • Marker cones
Lesson introduction
(a) What skills are we learning? (Overhand throw)
(b) Why are we learning this skill? (So that we can participate in a range of sports and games, such as cricket,
softball, baseball, javelin, etc.)
Direct instruction
• Break the class into three groups. Assign one group to be ‘legs and feet’, one to be ‘hips and shoulder’ and
one ‘arms and hands’
• Demonstrate a proficient overhand throw using a beanbag. Ask the groups to tell the rest of the class which
body parts they see moving when you throw the beanbag and how these body parts move.
• Explain to students the technique of the overhand throw.
 Critical instruction points:
– Eyes are focused throughout the throw
– Stand side-on
– Throwing arm nearly straightened behind the body
– Step towards the target with the foot opposite the throwing arm during the throw
– Marked, sequential hip-to-shoulder rotation during the throw
– Throwing arm follows through down and across the body.
• Demonstrate this technique, pausing at each of the critical instruction points.
Guided practice
• Have students face the wall of a building or gymnasium and each throw a beanbag at it. If they hit the wall, they
are to then take two steps backwards. (Observe each student and give corrective feedback where necessary.)
• Bring the group back together, and model common errors in technique and how to correct them.
Independent practice
• Break the class into several small teams of four to five, based on ability, and play games of ‘Force them back’.
In this game, every student takes a turn in throwing a ball as far as they can towards the opposition’s goal line.
If a player throws the ball past the goal line without it being caught, their team gets a point. (Note that it is best
to play this game outside!)
• Since the rules of this game are fairly simple, it should give you plenty of time to observe individual student
technique. Provide instructional feedback to individual students as required.
Closure
• Review the critical instructional points relating to the overhand throw.
• Review how this skill was used in ‘Force them back’.
• Review the sports for which the overhand throw is an essential skill.
Assessment and follow-up

• Note each student’s process towards mastery on your FMS checklist.
• The next lesson will link the overhand throw with the two-handed catch.
Figure 10.1 Model of a traditional HPE lesson plan using explicit direct-instruction teaching strategies
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How will we know when students have learned FMS?

There are numerous ways of assessing proficiency in FMS. FMS assessments will generally be one of
two types:
1 process-orientated: a sliding measure score is given according to the level of proficiency achieved
within a descriptive criterion
2 product-orientated: pass/fail, based on descriptive criteria.
Obviously, process-orientated assessments of FMS are preferable to product-orientated assessments,
because the former are more accurate in identifying specific topographical aspects of movement
patterns (Ulrich, 1987). However, process-orientated assessments may also be over-prescriptive in
describing what constitutes skill proficiency, regardless of whether skill execution is indeed successful
in context.
Assessing FMS should be conducted throughout (i.e. before, during and after) your HPE program,
and not simply at its conclusion. Only by conducting pre-program assessment can teachers identify
specific FMS learning needs. By frequently interweaving further assessments into the program, they
able to receive the feedback necessary to inform future teaching instruction decisions for any particular
student. The need to be continuously (both formatively and summatively) assessing FMS cannot be
overstated if one is seeking to truly capture the level of FMS proficiency and the level of development
achieved. Example 10.1 gives an illustration of an FMS assessment.
Example 10.1
AN FMS TEST
Table 10.3 is an excerpt from a Victorian FMS test. It is typical of a process-orientated model that
identifies the progression to FMS competence and contains many steps.
Table 10.3 Victorian FMS test
Skill Description of components
Run 1 Eyes focus forward throughout the run

2 Knees bend at right angles during recovery phase
3 Arms bend at the elbows and move in opposition to the legs
4 Contact with ground with front part of foot
5 Body leans slightly forward
Catch 1 Eyes are focused on ball throughout the catch

2 Preparatory position with elbows bent and hands in front of body
3 Hands move to meet the ball
4 Hands and fingers positioned correctly to catch the ball
5 Catch and control of the ball with the hands only
6 Elbows bend to absorb the force of the ball
From Department of Education (1996) Fundamental Motor Skills: A Manual for Classroom Teachers.
Melbourne, State of Victoria.
Identify three locomotor, three stability and three manipulative/object-control FMS from the
HPE curriculum that you are studying in your degree. Construct a process-orientated assessment
checklist for the execution of these nine skills that are in line with the proficiency criteria stated in
the curriculum.
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The limitations in assessing FMS

The debate over what constitutes a fundamental movement skill, or even the execution of one, is not
surprising given the sheer number of FMS tests available and the diverse criteria on which these are
based. There may also be differences in the ability of different genders to perform certain tasks within
any given test; this has been demonstrated in studies showing that girls typically perform better in
balancing and rhythmic tasks, while boys more typically excel in tasks that involve running, jumping,
kicking and throwing (Gabbard, 2004; Garcia, 1994).
Furthermore, many FMS assessments involve skills being performed in isolation – that is, outside the
context of the game or sport in which they will later be executed. This creates a ‘test-tube’ environment
in which FMS have been performed, but this may not necessarily be indicative of the actual level of
FMS competence needed to achieve success in a competitive or recreational environment.
However, the weight of evidence linking FMS to lifelong physical activity behaviour cannot be
ignored (see Barnett et al., 2009; Wrotniak et al., 2006). A focus on FMS is a persistent theme in all of
the other physical education models that we review in this chapter, and FMS should not be excluded
or undervalued. The models we describe will demonstrate some of the encouraging teaching strategies
and pedagogical models that may be employed when you are teaching so as to make FMS meaningful,
relevant and achievable.
Conclusions on teaching FMS using a traditional

physical education instruction model
As demonstrated in the discussion so far, the traditional physical education instruction model can be
highly effective in developing FMS when it is implemented using proven direct-instruction techniques.
However, probably the strongest aspect of this model is the amount of control it affords a teacher in
controlling classroom behaviour. According to Mawer (1995), a regimented structure gives the teacher
of a physical education lesson sufficient control and discipline of the class. Control and discipline are
seen as essential foundations of teaching physical education, and only when they have been established
can a teacher move on to teaching and enjoyment; without these two foundations, there can only be
chaos and potential danger (Mawer, 1995). Furthermore, most practising teachers will also recall this
teaching strategy as the predominant physical education discourse during their own years of formative
education, and therefore often resort to it due to its familiarity.
Focusing on skills and drills in isolation in this way, and only finishing a lesson with a game is an
approach at odds with supporters who advocate that it is important to use play as a means of attending
to the interests of children during a physical education class (Quay & Peters, 2008). As highlighted in
the models of play described in the seminal work of Csikszentmihalyi and Bennett (1971), gameplay
holds greater meaning (both psychological and social) than involvement in skill and drills sessions. It can
inculcate not only the physical skill but also many cognitive and affective aspects of learning. While a
FMS- or skills-driven session requires an individual to perform in relation to particular skill benchmarks,
games are largely social practices (Quay & Peters, 2008). Therefore, the individually focused situations of
skill-based physical education lessons may actually marginalise students, even going so far as to blatantly
rank them in ‘can’ and ‘cannot’ groups which seem, for many students, to have little connection with life
beyond the lesson.
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MODELS-BASED PRACTICE IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION
A models-based approach has been proposed as a means of overcoming some of the limitations and
concerns of traditional approaches to physical education (Kirk, 2013). One of the difficulties of models-
based approaches is that they are considered to be pedagogically difficult, and to require a high degree of
discipline and theoretical knowledge in teachers if they are to be enacted effectively (Dudley & Baxter,
2009, 2013; Randall, 2003). Teachers have also sought to use models-based approaches to achieve
diverse, and sometimes competing, educational benefits (Kirk, 2013).
Effective models-based approaches can be incorporated into teaching practices more effectively
by limiting the range of learning outcomes, subject matter and teaching strategies to those that are
appropriate to each pedagogical model (Kirk, 2013). This section examines two well-established
pedagogical models: teaching games for understanding, or TGfU (or games-centred approaches) and
sport education. Although the information provided will furnish a teacher with sufficient information to
use the models, as you read, you should ask yourself some important questions:
1 What are my students’ learning needs at this time?
2 Does the model I am using cater to those needs?
3 How do I make modifications to my teaching and use of pedagogical models based on evaluation
of the effect that my teaching is having?
Keep these in mind as you undertake the learning tasks in the following section.
Teaching thinking players: using games-centred approaches

Some of the earliest research to be critical of the tradition of direct-instruction models in physical
education was conducted by British researchers David Bunker and Rod Thorpe in 1982. They discovered
that physical education lessons generally consisted of extremely organised and overly structured lessons
that relied far too heavily on the teaching of techniques in isolation. In worst-case scenarios, many
physical education lessons relied on students to sustain their own interest in the game. It was the belief
of Bunker and Thorpe that these approaches to physical education have led to:
• very little individual student success due to an overemphasis on performance (i.e. ‘just doing stuff ’)
• very few students leaving their physical education curriculum experiences ‘knowing’ about the
games they have participated in
• students with very little plasticity in terms of technique and who possess poor decision-making
skills
• students who are very dependent on their teachers in order to learn.
As we saw earlier in this chapter, a significant amount of time is spent playing games within
a primary HPE program; it is therefore startling that little attention is given to the many possible
ways in which games can be taught. According to Bunker and Thorpe (1982), traditional physical
education pedagogy tended to focus on specific FMS responses (i.e. techniques), and therefore failed
to accommodate the contextual and cognitive challenges presented in games, such as ‘what to do’ and
‘how it is done’.
An example of the contrast between games-centred approaches and traditional approaches to
physical education is that it is usual to teach a proposed reaction before students have understood the
importance of the skill. Take the serve in tennis, for example. It is used to commence play and move the
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opponent out of position on the court. But many students are excluded from playing, because the skill is
one of the most complicated to execute in sport. Teachers’ inclination is often to teach the ‘how’ before
teaching the ‘why’. It is the belief of Bunker and Thorpe that if the focus shifts to the decisions or tactical
considerations that need to be made in a game, students will appreciate that games can be stimulating,
and therefore enjoyable. In their later articulation of the TGfU model, Bunker and Thorpe (1986) stated
that the goal is to teach your students to make correct decisions based on tactical awareness of the
game in context. Your students should then start to see the relevance of specific skills and sequences of
skills as they are required in specific game situations. This is in stark contrast to the classic reaction to
a physical education lesson based on the teaching of techniques, which could be described as, ‘When
can we play a game?’ This approach should instead produce the response, ‘How can we do it?’ Hence,
students will understand the tactical necessity of improving their specific techniques, as required in
particular game situations (Bunker & Thorpe, 1986).
Reflection
‘I hated PE at school. The teacher made us stand in lines, and you only ever got one or two goes
in any given activity. What’s worse, even if you were really good at a skill, you still had to do it
like the kids who were bad at it – and I always felt sorry for the uncoordinated kids, because
they were often teased by the other kids when they were in front of the class. Sometimes the
teacher would make fun of them as well. I also hated having to do the ‘boy sports’, like football.
Because we had more boys in the class, that’s what we always ended up playing.’
Corrine, pre-service primary teacher
Now it’s your turn. Write a brief (one-page) reflection on your own experiences of physical education
at school. Feel free to share these with your peers and see if there are recurring themes you can
identify as strengths or weaknesses for your future HPE pedagogy and programs.
Imagine that you are back in the time when you were a young child in primary school. Write a one-page
diary entry highlighting what you remember from your PE lessons. Write about your feelings, how you
were taught and the relevance of PE in your life at that stage. Tips for
inclusive
practice
Before we introduce in detail the games-centred approach to instruction, it is worthwhile to note

that this model is found in HPE curricula in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US, but
has been adapted into many different forms across these countries; it may therefore also be known as
any of the following:
• Games sense approach
• Play practice approach
• Games concept approach
• Games-centred learning
• Tactical strategy.
The name given to this approach in your specific curriculum and literature is unimportant. What
is important is that all of these models – even though they may change slightly based upon specific
interpretations, contexts and educative agendas – are derivatives of the original TGfU model of Bunker
and Thorpe (1982), which is discussed throughout this chapter.
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The games classification system

All of the games-centred models that we have mentioned are underpinned by the games classification
system, whereby Bunker and Thorpe (1982) categorised games of similar intent as either ‘Target’, ‘Net/
wall’, ‘Striking/fielding’ or ‘Invasion (or territorial)’ games. This system can assist teachers and students
by emphasising that skills and tactics learned in one particular game or sport can in fact be transferred
into other games of similar intent. Secondly, it removes any preconceptions or subtle biases that a
teacher or student may hold towards a particular game, sport or activity (e.g. ‘That’s a boy’s sport,’ or ‘I’m
not good at netball’), instead allowing knowledge to be shared and enthusiasm maintained. We shall
now briefly examine how the games classification system links games that share similar intent and how
these games can be modified according to the developmental level of your students.
TARGET GAMES
Target games, such as golf, lawn bowls and ten-pin bowling, involve the stability skill of balance and
the object-control skill of sending-away (i.e. throwing or striking). In target games, the aim is to place a
ball or other type of projectile near, onto or into a target. Doing this achieves the best possible score in
the game. Target games foster an improved degree of precision in hand–eye coordination and the act
of concentrating on a particular target, and allow students to practise these skills. These games are all
classified as either opposed or unopposed. In unopposed games, the shot you play is not affected by
that of your opponent; in other words, you will always play the best shot you possibly can in order to
score the most points or win the game (examples include golf, archery and ten-pin bowling). In opposed
games, your opponent’s shot will affect the decision you have to make and the shot(s) you are able to
play (e.g. lawn bowls, snooker, bocce) (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982).
Modifications can be made to the following aspects of target games to suit particular needs:
• Distance to target
• Size of target
• Position of target
• Weight and/or size of projectile
• Scaled or bonus-scoring system (Australian Sports Commission, 1999).
NET AND WALL GAMES

Net and wall games, such as tennis, volleyball, badminton, squash and racquetball, involve both
locomotor and stability skills, including running, stopping, turning, jumping and guarding, as well as
the object-control skills of sending-away and preparing to receive. The aim of net and wall games is to
send a ball or projectile into an opponent’s court so as to make your opponent unable to play or return
it (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982).
Modifications can be made to the following aspects of net and wall games to suit particular
needs:
• Weight and/or size of the ball
• Shape and/or size of the bat or racquet
• Size and dimensions of court space
• Net height
• Number of bounces allowed before the ball is returned
• Number of teammates or opponents (Australian Sports Commission, 1999).
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STRIKING AND FIELDING GAMES

Striking and fielding games include such sports as cricket, softball and baseball. These games involve
complicated, diverse movement skills, which may include locomotor skills such as running, walking and
jumping, and object-control skills such as hitting a ball, catching a ball, stopping a ball that is moving along the
ground, throwing to a target and bowling or pitching. The aim is to score more points than the opposition within
a certain amount of time. Striking and fielding games allow students to participate in various aspects of the
game by taking up in different positions (e.g. batter, runner, pitcher, fielder, bowler) (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982).
Changes such as the following can be made to certain aspects of striking and fielding games to
suit particular needs:
• Size of bats and balls used
• Size and dimensions of the playing field
• Hitting and delivery mechanisms (e.g. tee)
• Number of players on each team
• Time allowed to hit and field the ball
• Scoring system (e.g. bonus points) (Australian Sports Commission, 1999).
INVASION (OR TERRITORIAL) GAMES

Invasion (or territorial) games, such as soccer, ice hockey, basketball, rugby and netball, involve both
locomotor and stability skills, including running, stopping, turning, jumping and guarding, as well as the
object-control skills of sending-away, receiving (i.e. catching and trapping) and retaining (i.e. dribbling
and carrying). Invasion games are generally physically active, and they provide opportunities to develop a
variety of skill suites, including disposing of the ball, foot–eye and hand–eye coordination, and challenging
other players for possession of the ball. They also require students to develop communication skills with
team members, and group decision making is vital for success.
There are two types of invasion games. In goal-based invasion games, points are predominantly
scored by putting a ball or projectile into a goal or net, as in soccer, lacrosse, water polo, Gaelic football,
basketball, netball or hockey. In ‘end-zone’ invasion games, points are predominantly scored by taking
a ball or projectile into a designated scoring zone, as in rugby, American football, Ultimate Frisbee and
touch rugby (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982).
Changes can be made to certain aspects of invasion games to suit particular needs. The following
are listed in order of tactical complexity (i.e. simplest to most difficult):
• Weight, size and shape of equipment
• Scoring targets and points system
• Game rules (e.g. time allowed in possession, areas allowed in, types of passes and movements)
• Size and dimension of playing areas
• Roles and number of teammates and opponents (Australian Sports Commission, 1999).
Tactics that a student will acquire in target games will be used in all other game types. All goal-
invasion games, for example, involve hitting a target of some description in order to score points.
Games classification
Review your HPE curriculum and identify whether it uses games classification system terminology (e.g. Teaching
target, net/wall, striking and fielding, invasion/territorial) rather than referring to specific sports. If it practice
does use this terminology, it is a good indicator that a TGfU-based pedagogy is the preferred curriculum
instruction model in your curriculum.
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Games-centred approaches based on the teaching games for

understanding (TGfU) curriculum instruction model
According to Quay and Peters (2008), stimulating our students to find solutions to problems is an
essential feature of using a games-centred approach to physical education. Within a games-centred
approach to physical education – and the teaching games for understanding (TGfU) instruction model
more specifically – students are confronted with problems that relate to how to better their own and
their team’s performance. Unlike in the traditional direct-instruction approach, the tactical impetus
and structure of gameplay is the pedagogical driver of learning. Bunker and Thorpe’s (1982) TGfU
model, which sparked the wider games-centred approach pedagogy, was constructed due to the authors’
identification with rising displeasure with technique-driven pedagogy.
In order to excel in a games-centred approach, students and teachers need to focus on broader
questions than those that may traditionally be explored in direct-instruction models. These questions
may include, ‘What does the team need to do, and what do I need to do in order to succeed in this
game?’ (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982; 1986). Furthermore, Bunker and Thorpe stress the notion of the ‘team’
and the ‘game’, but also the need to inspire students to think about their team and individual tactics,
and to reflect on the strategies they use in playing the game as a team. The concepts of strategies (i.e.
overall plan) and tactics (i.e. the means of achieving the objective) require investigation. It is important
to clarify for students the significance of these concepts and to present other opportunities to teach the
meta-language of games.
Bunker and Thorpe (1982) first described their substitute pedagogical model as an ‘understanding
approach’ to physical education, an expression that advanced into the pedagogical model we know today
as TGfU. This label has been the impetus for the wider games-centred approach. In order to properly
understand the TGfU model, teachers must first understand the six basic phases of the model. These are:
1 Game
2 Game appreciation
3 Tactical awareness
4 Making appropriate decisions
5 Skill execution
6 Performance.
The TGfU model is depicted in Figure 10.2.
In looking at Figure 10.2, you will notice that the learner is central to the model, and that their
interaction is with the ‘game’, which forever evolves as the instruction passes through its six steps. This
is significant because in order to attend to the learning interests of children, this approach emphasises
the ‘student-centeredness’ of this approach to learning.
Let’s now examine each of the steps in the TGfU model, bearing in mind that chronological
progression through the steps of the model is pedagogically critical:
• Step 1: The game: Participation in the full version of a particular sport can always remain a long-
term goal and act as a guideline for the teacher. However, in primary school especially, you need
to introduce your students to a wide range of game forms in each games classification category.
In doing so, teachers can, and should, pay careful consideration to the area of play, the numbers
of students to be involved and the equipment being used to present students with the problems
involved in playing games (Bunker & Thorpe). As a general rule, games-based activities should be
started at as simple a level as possible.
• Step 2: Game appreciation: Giving students the rules of a game from the outset acts as the primary
cognitive activator. The importance of this step cannot be overstated. Teachers should immediately
267
1 Game
Learner
2 Game 6 Performance
appreciation
3 Tactical 5 Skill execution

awareness
4 Making
appropriate
decisions
What to do?
Figure 10.2
How to do it? The TGfU curriculum
instruction model
From Webb, PI, Pearson, PJ, Forrest, G, ‘Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) in primary and secondary physical
education’, Faculty of Education Papers Archive, University of Wollongong Research Online, 2006,
http://ro.uow.edu.au/edupapers/74/ Open Access.
pose questions and highlight limitations of the game for their students. Remember that it is the
rules that give a game its shape. Rules that we intentionally leave out will alter not only the game
but also the questions and thinking that need to take place in relation to it in order to achieve
success (Bunker & Thorpe).
When deciding on the rules of the games that you teach, the following list can be used as a
template to ensure that the game will have the necessary structure for later cognitive and skill
development to occur. The four considerations for rules are:
1 The modalities of scoring: What is the game’s target, and what are the skills needed in order to
score?
2 The players’ rights: What offensive and defensive rights are players entitled to? (These are based on
the modalities of scoring, which define those rights with respect to the equality of chances to score.)
3 The liberty of action: What rights do players have with the ball that give the game a specific
character?
4 The modalities of physical engagement: What rules ensure the respect of the three previous
rules? (Gréhaigne, Richard & Griffin, 2005: 4)
The rules of a game will additionally place constraints on the game’s time and space, state how
points are scored and, most importantly, determine the skill sets required to participate. It needs
to be acknowledged, therefore, that modifications to the rules of a game will have implications for
team strategy, and hence for the tactics that need to be employed to achieve success.
• Step 3: Tactical awareness: Students should commence playing the game at this stage. After
students have been given some understanding of the rules (and even explored any flaws in them),
it is necessary for students to consider the tactics that they will choose to employ, and those that
they could employ, in the game. The principles of play, which are common to all games, form
the basis for a tactical approach to the game. Some examples of this include having students
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examine the ways and means of creating or denying space, or asking them to think about ways
to achieve more penetration as a result of practising fast-break attacks. There is always a need to
have students understand that game plans do not always work, and their tactics must therefore be
changed to meet the needs of the game in the moment (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982).
It should be added that tactical awareness leads to students being able to recognise their
opponents’ weaknesses (e.g. a poor backhand, premature challenging for possession, a reluctance
to catch a high ball). However, this approach should not be allowed to destroy the game experience.
If it is observed, the teacher may see it as an indicator that a modification of the game is needed
in order to restore competitive balance. The reason for this is that healthy competition is essential
for learning to occur in all games-centred approaches to physical education.
• Stage 4: Making appropriate decisions: This step involves using effective questioning to ‘drill down’
and establish deep understanding of games. Depending on a student’s stage of learning, it may
take them only a fraction of a second to make a decision between the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. But
these decisions are significant. In the games-centred approach, a distinction is made between
decisions that are based upon the questions of what to do and decisions based upon the question
of how to do it. The use of the following questions permits both student and teacher to recognise,
and to understand reasons for, the consequences of their decision-making process:
a ‘What to do?’ It is in the very nature of games for circumstances to continuously change.
Therefore, tactical awareness is necessary if a student is going to make successful decisions
during a game. In deciding ‘what to do’, each game condition has to be assessed; as such, as
teachers we are looking for a student’s ability to recognise critical game cues, and to predict,
and even anticipate, possible outcomes of the decisions they make. An example is if a student
attacks space near the goal in an invasion game, but fails to balance this with the increased risk
of losing possession. The cues for when the student should and should not attack space need
to be recognised in the first place.
b ‘How to do it?’ The second half of this equation for students to solve is, ‘What is the best way
to do it?’ The selection and execution of an appropriate response is critical to the learning
outcomes in HPE. An example is when, in an invasion game, a large space has been made
available by the opposition, but the time available to exploit this is limited. In this instance, a
quickly executed response may be the most appropriate. In a contrary situation, when ample
time is available and accuracy is paramount, some element of controlled execution may be
necessary (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982).
• Stage 5: Skill execution: During the skill execution stage, teaching movement skills remains
significant. Skill execution describes the necessary production of the movement skills required
in the game, as foreseen by the teacher. This needs to be seen in the context of the student, by
recognising the student’s own constraints. Execution must be viewed as separate from performance
(see below). That does not preclude execution from assessment, though. Bunker and Thorpe
suggest that this may even include some quantitative or qualitative determination of both the
mechanical efficiency of the movement and its relevance to the particular game situation. A good
example is a student performing a drop shot in tennis. If there is appropriate racquet-head speed
and a good angle of contact to put the ball well in front of the student’s opponent, this may be
seen as an excellent shot even if the ball fails to reach the net of the full-sized court due to a lack
of strength and/or technical development. Skill execution is therefore always seen in the context
of the student and the game.
• Stage 6: Performance: According to Bunker and Thorpe, performance is the observed learning
outcome of all the earlier processes, measured against criteria that are independent of the student.
It is a mechanism through which teachers determine whether a student is competent or not yet
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competent. This determination largely depends on curricular outcomes, and there should be a
measuring of appropriateness of response as well as efficiency of technique.
To summarise, the games-centred approach, and the TGfU model more specifically, start, unlike
traditional physical education teaching models, with a game and its rules (Bunker & Thorpe, 1986).
This sets the landscape for progress in the cognitive domains of games, which include tactical awareness
and decision making. These always come in advance of the physical elements of skill execution and
performance. Successful accomplishment of the steps outlined above will require the teacher to again
modify the game, as well as carry out a considered evaluation of the necessities of any new game. The
cycle then begins again. While students may be preoccupied with any one element of the model at any
given time, the games-centred approach will always occur in the context of a game, with the result that
many students will ultimately experience at least some of the pleasure associated with being a skilful
player (Bunker & Thorpe, 1986).
Conclusions on adopting a games-centred approach to teaching

The original games-centred approach model (i.e. TGfU) not only considers strategy but also places an
emphasis on skill execution, attest Werner and Thorpe (1996: 29), ‘but only after a student sees the
need for a particular skill’. TGfU presents a more realistic view of what games are about – teamwork,
communication, decision making, rules, and so on – rather than focusing on the technical execution of
skills in isolation from the context of a game, which is where they find meaning. In the hands of a skilled
teacher, this removes the clinical, ‘test-tube’ aspect of FMS instruction and assessment, and creates an
authentic and meaningful learning and assessment.
The games-centred approach can allow a teacher to take on the role of facilitator, so that players take
on more responsibility for their own development and learning. This develops critical-thinking players
who can solve problems that arise in a game situation through tactical awareness and understanding.
Probably the strongest argument for adopting TGfU in your teaching practice is that it allows your
lessons to cater for variations in student ability. Proficient students will find even the simplest tactical or
skilled games engaging, and while they continue to play, you, as teacher, can target those students who
need additional instruction (Werner & Thorpe, 1996).
TGfU is, however, a very difficult pedagogical process. Research has shown that pre-service teachers
struggle to comprehend and execute TGfU in practice and theory (Dudley & Baxter, 2009; Randall,
2003). This is also the case with the possession of deep conceptual understandings of TGfU: a study
of 150 pre-service teachers found less than eight per cent of them to be capable of dealing with more
than one predominant concept of TGfU at any given time. Furthermore, less than two per cent of
respondents could synthesise the underpinning concepts of TGfU, thereby exhibiting relational or
formal understandings of the curriculum method (Dudley and Baxter, 2009).
It is therefore imperative that when using this model, adequate professional development and guided
practice support your teaching.
EXPLORING THE CONTEXT AND CULTURE

OF SPORT USING THE SPORT EDUCATION MODEL
There is a strong body of thought among scholars and teachers alike that participation in sports and
games brings more than just physical and health benefits. Schirato (2007) argues that sport played a
central, civilising role in every culture on the planet, and it is safe to assume that sport is central to the
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culture and citizenship in every country to this day. This is, at least in part, because sport embodies
certain cultural values that particular cultures wish to transmit to future generations. Furthermore, sport
practices will, and must, evolve. Indeed, they are always evolving – and not necessarily for the better.
Sport practices can be as destructive as they are constructive, and can even contribute to the demise of
a culture through the spread of values that are hostile to a free, enlightened and progressive society – but
that is a topic for another book.
Stepping into practice

Teaching Access and read: (i) the short essay ‘The Sporting Spirit’ by the renowned author George Orwell (or Eric
practice Arthur Blair); and (ii) the essay ‘Olympism’ by the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin.
(Both of these are available online.) Reflecting on these essays, create a collage of images and words that
reflects the positive and negative influences that sport can have on a nation’s culture.
Example 10.2
Think about a particular sport that a nation sees as being essential to its cultural identity (e.g. Canada:
ice hockey; New Zealand: rugby; England: football; Australia, India and Pakistan: cricket). Select a
news provider (television or print) from that country. Conduct a search of the news provider’s website
for all the most recent stories related to the chosen sport, and see how many of them you would
classify as:
• contributing positively to the identity of the nation’s culture
• contributing negatively to the identity of the nation’s culture.
You likely realise by now that there is a common fallacy related to sport and learning, one that says
that children will turn into great citizens if they experience significant exposure to sporting competition.
Much of the ongoing perpetuation of this fallacy can be attributed to the 19th- century headmaster of the
elite Rugby School in England, Thomas Arnold, who instigated the philosophy that if boys experienced
sporting competition, it would (seemingly automatically) give them the qualities of character needed to
be honourable and righteous citizens (Elias, 2000).
But playing sport was not the only way to reap potential character rewards from it. As we know,
sport evolved from undisciplined, chaotic and violent games (Carter, 1985; Elias, 2000), and these are
not the types of qualities that we wish to perpetuate in our societies. Numerous other roles, such as
those related to leadership, officiating and administrative duties, need to be filled, and these can be
equally, if not more, character-influencing experiences than playing sport, and contribute to the culture
of sporting pursuits. A properly conceived and conducted physical education curriculum model can
teach important qualities of character through sporting experiences, but these qualities do not come
automatically, and poorly conducted sport can also teach many negative qualities.
The sport education model of physical education

Sport education is a model of physical education that is designed to provide authentic, educationally
rich sport experiences for students. It was introduced by Daryl Siedentop in 1984, and has since been
adapted and implemented into countless physical education curricula and programs around the world.
Essentially, it asks students to participate, as members of teams, in ‘seasons’ that are longer than the
usual physical education unit. They take an active role in their own sporting experience by serving in a
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range of ‘real-world’ roles that we commonly see in sport settings. Teams develop camaraderie through
constructing their own team uniforms, names and team songs as they work together to learn and develop
their collective team skill, tactics and strategic play (Siedentop, 1994). It should be noted that sport
education has an important curriculum-planning implication, in that it cannot be fitted easily into a brief
unit or multi-activity program. Sport education also has important instructional implications, in that its
purposes are best achieved through combinations of other teaching strategies and models. These can
include a combination of direct instruction, cooperative small-group work and peer teaching. It does
not survive on a total reliance on didactic and traditional skill- and drill-oriented teaching methods.
The sport education curriculum instruction model, therefore, has three primary goals: it seeks to help
students to become competent, literate, and enthusiastic sportspeople (Siedentop, 1994). These qualities
are explained further in Table 10.4.
Table 10.4 Goals of the sport education curriculum instruction model
Competent Have sufficiently developed skills and games understanding and can execute strategies
sportspeople appropriate to the complexity of play so as to be able to participate as a knowledgeable games
player. Much like TGfU, sport education emphasises strategic play rather than isolated skill
development. Small-sided games are often used to teach gradually more complex skills and
strategies concurrently.
Literate Understand the rules, rituals, and traditions of sport and value these through behaviours.
sportspeople Students have learned to distinguish between good and bad sporting practices. Furthermore, they
are developing the inclination to act on that knowledge to improve their practise of sport. Such
people are in short supply in the larger adult sport culture, and this goal represents the most
optimistic long-term outcome for students who experience sport education.
Enthusiastic Participate in sport as part of a physically active lifestyle and act in ways that serve to preserve,
sportspeople protect and enhance their sport culture to make sport more accessible to more individuals.
From Siedentop, D (1994) Sport Education: Quality PE Through Positive Sport Experiences. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
BASIC FEATURES OF A SPORT EDUCATION–BASED HPE CURRICULUM

According to Siedentop (1994), sport education has six key features: seasons, affiliation, formal
competition, culminating events, recordkeeping and festivity. Each of these features was derived from
the way that sport is conducted in community and authentic sport settings (i.e. they are based on the
authentic form of the activity within the larger culture). These features will be described in the following
sections.
1 Seasons
In Siedentop’s (1994) model, the term seasons typically refers to the units of work that exist within a
sport education curriculum. These are typically two to three times longer than typical HPE units; in
some instances, they may even take up an entire school term. The reasoning behind this is that ‘less is
more’. In other words, fewer activities being covered in greater depth results in better learning outcomes
than are achieved in a short, multi-activity format (Siedentop, 1994). Sport education seasons are longer
than typical HPE units for two reasons:
• There is more to accomplish, because sport is taught more completely and authentically.
• It takes more time for students to become competent game players, given the diversification of
roles they are expected to undertake (e.g. player, coach, manager, captain, referee, score-keeper,
publicist, equipment officer or cheerleader).
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Affiliation
Formal
Seasons
competition
Sport
context
Culminating Recordkeeping
events
Festivity
Figure 10.3
The features of sport
education
2 Affiliation
The thinking behind the concept of affiliation is that team membership creates enthusiasm for lessons,
but as a teacher, you must also be aware that it can create problems, too. In the sport education model,
students become members of a team or club and retain their team affiliation throughout the unit or
season. Students plan, practice and compete together not only as a team but sometimes even as a club.
This feature of the model derives from a body of research that suggests that individuals derive a great
deal of social meaning from their experiences of sport. Furthermore, a large part of the personal growth
that occurs through sport is often attributed to positive sport experiences related to an affiliation with an
ongoing group (Siedentop, 1994).
3 Formal competition
Formal competition is defined by a schedule of formal competitive games interspersed with practice
sessions. The affiliation and formal competition features of the model combine to provide teachers with
the opportunity for planning and goal-setting, which create the context for pursuing important outcomes
that have real meaning for students (Siedentop, 1994). Of particular concern, for classroom primary
teachers and HPE specialists alike, is the need for a focus on the practice sessions that are required in
order for skill acquisition to occur. Therefore, to a certain extent teachers need to become very clever
‘architects’ of the learning environment. This will ensure that their students have sufficient support
via direct instruction – when needed – and guided practice to allow them to acquire the necessary
movement skills. However, it is students who are ultimately responsible for this approach’s efficiency,
and for the level of vitality in competition and practice sessions.
4 Culminating event
The culminating event is included in the sport education model because it is in the culture of nearly every
sport to find out the ‘winner’ for a particular season. This then sets a benchmark against which others
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can gauge their progress in relation to that outcome. Culminating events also facilitate the opportunity
for celebration of team accomplishments, which is also a significant characteristic of play and sport
(Siedentop, 1994).
5 Recordkeeping
Recordkeeping is used in this model as a way to provide feedback for individual students and groups.
This can include feedback about such things as shots on goal, points scored, times, blocks, steals,
assists, and so on. Records help to describe learning outcomes, and are fundamental to defining new
individual and group goals (e.g. reducing turnovers, improving times in a race, placing higher in a round-
robin competition). Records can also be used to help to establish sporting traditions locally within the
school. Examples may include the school record for long jump or the team record for fewest points
conceded per game (Siedentop, 1994).
6 Festivity
The term festivity refers to the fact that sporting competitions are occasions for celebration: from major
events like the Olympic Games, to a weekend football or netball fixture, to the casual family occasion of
a child’s soccer match. In sport education, teachers and students work together to create a continuous
festival that celebrates improvement, trying hard and playing fairly. Teachers and students can do this
by engaging the often simplistic aspect of festive sport pursuits, which can be extended to include
designing posters and team colours or hosting player introductions and award ceremonies (Siedentop,
1994).
Instructional issues with sport education

Sport education is not a direct simulation of institutionalised sport. It differs in three distinct ways:
• by modifying the participation requirements so that they are at a level appropriate to students (i.e.
you would not expect a Year 1 student to coach a team; a Year 3 student, however, might be able
to assist with officiating responsibilities under your direct supervision)
• by ensuring that there is developmentally appropriate competition (i.e. equipment and rule
modifications)
• by utilising diverse roles to which all students are exposed (i.e. everyone must be a player while
other positions are rotated throughout the program).
Furthermore, you, as the teacher, are not able to abdicate your teaching responsibilities. A teacher
who chooses to employ a sport education curriculum instruction model into their programs will need
to have excellent planning skills and strong classroom management practice already in place. Secondly,
they must be willing to explain, role-model and provide purposeful practice that allows positive sporting
behaviour to occur. Fair play and sportsmanship are taught behaviours; this means that as the teacher,
you need to be constantly practising and reinforcing these.
As mentioned earlier, teachers need to see themselves as educational ‘architects’. Therefore, a key
aspect of the sport education model is that any new skills, strategies or tactics that need to be taught
for a sport should also be introduced by the teacher via direct instruction or a guided practice session.
In this way, you can point out common errors or role-model what is to occur later in the ‘team’ practice
sessions. Here, the ‘teams’ should be able to practise the FMS strategy and tactics previously introduced
by the teacher, but under the leadership of student–coaches, so that students can learn and help one
another. The teacher can then adopt a facilitator’s role in mentoring the student–coaches and addressing
individual student needs when they occur.
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Conclusions on adopting a sport education

approach to teaching movement
Supporters of sport education models are very fond of its student-centred approach to physical education.
Primary teachers using this model report producing better learning outcomes in the knowledge of game
rules and strategy, values and attitudes towards physical education, student–student cooperation and
peer interaction among students (Alexander & Luckman, 2001). These same teachers report that this
model caters very well to highly skilled, less active and female students. Furthermore, the adoption of
the various sporting roles by students allows for the collection of authentic assessment (see Chapter 3).
Teachers report having enough time to conduct assessment and discuss with students the success
criteria used within the unit of work (Alexander & Luckman, 2001).
As with TGfU, limitations in the effectiveness of sport education as a curriculum instruction model
in physical education are evident. It is a difficult pedagogical process that many pre-service teachers
struggle with conceptually (Dudley & Baxter, 2009; Curtner-Smith & Sofo, 2004). Ennis (1996) also
questions whether sport should be included in any HPE curriculum, given that it is discriminatory based
on gender and that female students generally do not receive enough attention or instruction to make the
teaching of sport meaningful.
Furthermore, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, FMS development still represents the major aim
of HPE curricula in most developed countries. According to Alexander and Luckman (2001), it appears
that when primary teachers use a sport education model in HPE programs, FMS are less achievable.
However, skilled sport education teachers have shown that if students are given significant amounts of
time in gameplay, and if explicit skill instruction is used within the sport education program, increases
in FMS development are possible (Hastie, 1998; Hastie & Trost, 2001).
While advocates of sport education say that it caters for all students, it should be remembered that we
do not want to exclude more marginalised students in our physical education classes (i.e. less active and
female students). Some criticism of sport education points out that these students tend to fall into the less
dominant and/or administrative roles within the lessons (e.g. manager, score-keeper, statistician, equipment
officer, publicist) as opposed to those roles considered more dominant, like captain or coach (Hastie, 1998).
Teaching instruction model

Teaching Complete Table 10.5 by selecting the statements in bold that best represent each of the games’ teaching
practice instruction models.
Table 10.5 Types of teaching model
Traditional PE model Games-centred Sport education model

approach model
Why it is taught?
(Philosophical perspectives)
Context
(Sport focus or integrated
approach)
What is taught? (Curriculum)
Purpose
(Acquisition of knowledge or
construction of knowledge)
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Table 10.5
Traditional PE model Games-centred Sport education model

approach model
Objective
(Defining movement or
discovering movement or
performing movement in
context)
Primary education outcome

(Physical development or
cognitive development or
social development)
Programming frameworks
(Seasonal units of work or
integrated units of work)
How is it taught? (Pedagogy)
Instruction type
(Teacher-centred or student-
centred)
Strategy of delivery
(Part/part/whole or part/
whole/part or whole/part/
whole)
Content focus
(Technique-based or culture-
based or concept-based)
Predominant class
interactions
(Teacher–student or
multi-dimensional)
Teacher role
(Directive or facilitative)
Learner role
(Active or passive)
Evaluation
(Mastery or understanding or
contribution)
From Griffin, LL & Butler, JI (eds) (2005) Teaching Games for Understanding: Theory, Research, and Practice.
Champaign IL: Human Kinetics, 37.
TEACHING PERSONAL AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

THROUGH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (TPSR)
This section explores the teaching personal and social responsibility through physical education (TPSR)
model, which was first proposed by Professor Don Hellison in 1983. The ultimate aim of this model is to
help students to develop themselves as people, learning to be responsible for the ways that they conduct
themselves and treat other people. Physical activity is used as a vehicle for teaching students various life
skills that they can practise in the HPE classroom and then transfer into other settings, such as wider
school, the local community and home life (Hellison, 2011).
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What is the TPSR model?

TPSR is an empowerment-based physical education model that was developed through Hellison’s
extensive fieldwork with young people living in low socioeconomic areas in large urban centres. TPSR
aims to teach students life skills related to the themes of personal and social responsibility by using
physical activity as the learning medium. The core goals for students are to build respect for the rights
and feelings of others, as well as build self-motivation, self-direction and caring. The goal of the TPSR
model is for a student to be able to transfer these other goals they have achieved to areas of their lives
outside the HPE classroom (Hellison, 2011).
At its core, TPSR aims to guide teachers in using physical activities to help their students to take
more responsibility for their wellbeing and be more sensitive and responsive to the wellbeing of others.
According to Hellison (2011), the four core values of the TPSR approach are encouraging:
• putting students first
• human decency
• holistic self-development
• a way of being.
Justification for teaching for social and moral outcomes

As you read earlier in this chapter, sport, exercise and physical education advocates make numerous
claims of a number of personal and social benefits that result from participating in certain physical
activities – so much so that clichés like ‘Play fair in sport and you will play fair in life’ or ‘Sport is
character-building’ are well entrenched in the vernacular of the HPE discipline. Unfortunately – and,
again, to torture a cliché – these attributes are ‘taught, not caught’.
TPSR advocates and researchers claim that this model of physical education hinges on its capacity
to develop students’ character and ability to deal with social problems that arise in physical education
settings, and to be a powerful mechanism for the teaching of moral values and attitudes. Let’s explore
each of these three tenets of the TPSR rationale.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Physical-activity settings in schools often present a unique climate for character development because
they are emotional spaces that provide seemingly unlimited opportunities for intervention in social and
moral dilemmas – not to mention that, for many children, they are fun.
Despite this apparent opportunity for the development of character, many teachers, and the systems
that serve them, believe that personal and social attributes accrue automatically as a result of mere
regular participation in these activities. Worse still is if teachers or systems define students merely
according to their ‘physical being’ – in other words, suggesting that a student’s athletic ability alone
warrants pass or failure, regardless of the process undertaken to achieve that given state. It is common
for students who are gifted athletes to be given social ‘exemptions’ for flaws in character such as lack of
humility or manners, as if their ‘physical being’ were the only thing worthy of judgement.
TPSR builds on the plethora of research associated with character development through physical
activity and sport. Following is a list of some terms that are commonly found in the educational literature
pertaining to this field:
• Character development
• Moral development
• Cooperation
• Sportsmanship
• Social responsibility.
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Research practice
1 Conduct an online search to identify media clips or articles that have used one or more of the list of Teaching
terms commonly associated with character development given above. practice
2 Compare and contrast one positive and one negative article or clip. Pay particular attention to what
are identified as the key factors in each situation.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS
There are two dominant perspectives in the field of social pathology: the social problems perspective and
the social responsibility perspective. These are similar in that they both detail different theories about
social problems; however, they vary greatly in the way in which they feel these problems have occurred.
The social problems perspective states that social problems are the result of society not providing enough
assistance. On the other hand, the social responsibility perspective states that each person is responsible
for their own actions, and that the choices each person make are made of their own free will, and so they
are entirely responsible for their actions.
The TPSR model was developed as a means of teaching responsibility to students (Hellison, 2011).
It does this by giving students gradually increasing quantities of responsibility, and by judiciously shifting
decision-making responsibilities to students. It therefore emphasises increasing levels of effort and self-
direction as being crucial to the attainment of personal wellbeing. Students are expected to be able to
respect the rights of others, consider the feelings of others and care about others. These elements are all
vital to the realisation of social wellbeing.
Having said that, even Hellison (2011) recognises that TPSR is no silver bullet for the social problems
faced in today’s society. It is, however, intended to be one small part of larger societal response to these
issues.
TEACHING VALUES AND ATTITUDES

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2010),
the values and attitudes by which we live directly affect how we relate to other people and, by extension,
how we relate to all our activities in the lived environment. It is for this reason that our values and
attitudes are a major influence on our prospects for achieving a sustainable future for all of humanity.
Although they cannot be separated from an individual’s cognitive understanding, values and attitudes
relate to the affective learning domain of human behaviour (see Chapter 3) and development. While
values and attitudes are similar in this regard, they differ in several other important ways.
Values are generally considered to be long-term principles or benchmarks that are used to judge the
worth of our behaviour or an idea. They provide the criteria by which we decide whether something is
good or bad, right or wrong. Attitudes, on the other hand, influence us in the way that we respond to
people and events. They are not as inculcated as values, and as a result, they are prone to change as a
result of our experience.
Physical activities present children and individuals with all manner of situations in which their values
and attitudes will be tested. A common example is the question of to what extent winning matters – to
what lengths is an individual is willing to go, and what social ramifications they are willing to accept,
in the name of winning a game or an event? The challenge for us as teachers is to develop pedagogical
principles for dealing with values- and attitudes-laden issues in an ethical and professionally responsible
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way. Our teaching should, therefore, aim to provide a positive and optimistic approach to the pedagogy
of these issues, and place an emphasis on the use of critical thinking skills (UNESCO, 2010).
Hellison (2011) states that cultivating this decision-making process needs to involve giving your
students the opportunity to share their beliefs and knowledge, and to test these ideas in the controlled
medium of an HPE class.
The taxonomy of the TPSR model

Hellison (2011) places the attainment of the aforementioned outcomes in an evolution of levels,
the goal of which is to aid teachers and their students to become conscious of their behaviour and
concentrate their efforts as they move towards desired learning and behavioural outcomes. Hellison
(2011) encourages teachers to use these levels, which are shown in Table 10.6, as a structure to assist
in their planning, teaching and evaluation of student learning.
The TPSR model is best seen as a taxonomy that describes student behaviour in physical education
as moving from irresponsibility to responsibility, and from respect for oneself to respect and concern for
others (Hellison, 2011).
Table 10.6 The TPSR model
Hierarchical level Components
Level 1 • Respecting the rights and feelings of others

• Self-control
• Right to peaceful conflict resolution
• Right to inclusion
Level 2 • Participation and effort

• Self-motivation
• Exploring effort and new tasks
• Courage to persist
Level 3 • Self-direction
• On-task independence
• Progression in goal-setting
• Ability to resist peer pressure
Level 4 • Leadership
• Willingness to help others
• Demonstrate care, compassion and sensitivity
• Responsiveness
• Inner strength
Level 5 • Outside the gym/formal learning environment

• Transfer into other areas of life
• Being a positive role model for others in how you
live your life
From Hellison, D (2011) Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity (3rd ed.)
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 21.
Teaching strategies that can be used in conjunction

with the TPSR model
Six specific teaching strategies have been identified in the literature as contributing to the development
of responsibility: awareness, experience, choice, problem solving, self-reflection and counselling time
(Hellison & Templin, 1991; Lavay, French & Henderson, 1997).
Explicitly teaching an awareness of the goals within the TPSR model is fundamental to the success
of an HPE program that incorporates this approach. Teachers can leverage any available opportunities
to help students to learn about the model and its different levels. These may occur at the beginning of
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class or during any other teachable moment. Teachers can plan explicit level-related activities and then
ask their students to share their understandings of each of the different levels.
Experiencing different levels of the model is also very important. Teachers can design opportunities
by prudently selecting activities that stimulate teamwork and inclusion (at Level 1) and by presenting a
learning experience that helps students to realise the connection between their effort and the relevant
behavioural outcomes (at Level 2). At Level 3, using different teaching techniques can offer prospects for
students to work autonomously during class, or to make learning-related choices about a task. At Level 4,
we expect students to help others, in order to support the development of self and group responsibility.
Structured choice is a vital component of each level. Students who impede the rights of others can
choose to either wait out the activity or change their behaviour accordingly in Level 1. As students
move to Level 2, they can be permitted to select their own level of effort, providing their effort (or lack
thereof) does not negatively affect the participation and performance of other students during the lesson.
Structured choices at Level 3 may include students selecting to work on activities associated with their
personal goals or partaking in teacher-directed activities. Level 4 offers students the opportunity to choose
to assist others in the class, and to learn about and participate in physical activities (Hellison, 2011).
Knowledge application requires problem solving. Robert Marzano’s (1998) synthesis of research
revealed that problem solving had a large effect (d=0.54) on students’ understanding. Marzano
demonstrated that problems should require students to apply previously learned knowledge and skills;
Hattie’s (2009) meta-analysis agrees. Hattie also emphasises the importance of teaching students how
to solve problems. Put simply, students first need to understand the problem. They then need to come
up with a plan of action to address it, then implement the plan and, finally, review the results. Level 1
students may learn how to deal with name-calling behaviour or examine other types of conflict that
arise in the classroom that need to be negotiated. Level 2 students may grapple with issues of poor
motivation, while at Level 3, students may speak to difficulties they confront in trying to be self-directed
learners. Level 4 students often find themselves learning to dealing with peer pressure (Hellison, 2011).
The strategy of self-reflection is about encouraging students’ personal growth. Students can reflect
on what they did during a class and how it made them feel in relation to each of the levels. Reflection
may also occur through writing a journal, completing a checklist or participating in a discussion about
an activity or about behaviours that were exhibited during class.
Counselling time is needed to address specific problems with a teacher’s observation of students in
relation to levels. This needs to be done so that students can reflect on their behaviour both within and
outside the HPE setting. This could be completed for some students during pre-class activities, while
others may require more independent time, or even counselling time outside of class.
Summary
• There are many pedagogical techniques that can enhance a student’s movement skill ability.
• Teaching children a broad range of movement skills is a vital component of any physical education program.
• Creating students who think during gameplay is central to the teaching of games and sports.
• Tactics and strategy are different concepts that you and your students need to understand.
• The context and culture of sport, not only participation, is worthy of exploration in physical education.
• Students need to experience a diverse range of roles in sport. Be mindful that some of these carry more
‘power’ than others.
• Opportunities exist for students to learn personal and social responsibility through an effective physical
education program.
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Review questions
1 What are the three categories of fundamental movement skills (FMS)? Identify two skills that fall into
each category. Then write a list of key teaching points for each of these skills.
2 What are the four categories into which games can be classified? Provide an example of a game that falls
into each category. List two modifications that could be made to each game to make the learning more
complex.
3 What are the hierarchical levels of the teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) model?
Describe a student behaviour that you would expect to see in a student at each level of this model, based
on a specific physical activity context.
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
Further reading
• Griffin, LL & Butler, J (2005) Teaching Games for Understanding: Theory, Research, and Practice.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
This interesting book delves deeper into the history and philosophy of the TGfU model and the beginning of
games-centred pedagogies.
• Gréhaigne, J-F, Richard, J-F & Griffin, LL (2005) Teaching and Learning Team Sports and Games.
London: Routledge.
This book is a particularly riveting and challenging read for those seeking a deeper understanding of games-
based pedagogy.
• Hellison, D (2011) Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity (3rd ed.)
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
An interesting narrative from the original author of this model featuring anecdotes from the time of his early
research and practice.
• Siedentop, D, Hastie, PA & Van der Mars (2011) Complete Guide to Sport Education. Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics.
A practical guide to the sport education model. The text is also accompanied by user-friendly online
resources.
References
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11
Moving for life: experience
and expression
1 explore opportunities for rhythmic and expressive
movement that are taught through HPE
2 explore the experiential learning opportunities that HPE
offers through outdoor and adventure experiences.
Overview
This chapter challenges teachers to explore
the wider educative purposes of physical
education. To achieve this, the chapter
focuses on meaningful, expressive and
lifelong movement experiences that can be
gained through gymnastics, dance, circus
arts and outdoor adventure pursuits.
It explores the notion of experience-
based education, first by examining
gymnastics and dance. We then discuss the
circus arts, a popular hybrid of gymnastic
and dance movements. Finally, an
exploration of outdoor adventure pursuits
will introduce the stalwart educational
philosophers from whom experience-based
learning originated.
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INTRODUCTION
Physical literacy (discussed in Chapter 2 and Chapter 7) has value because it fosters fundamental
human movement ability. Broadly speaking, this is an ability that has the potential to enhance and
enrich the quality of our students’ lives. It is also a capability without which we could not develop as
human beings or use our other capabilities in concert (Almond, 2013). In this light, this chapter explores
a range of activities that can have great value in a child’s life and instil a commitment to a lifelong pursuit
of physical activity. Throughout the primary-school years, dance, circus arts and outdoor or adventure
activities are important education vehicles in your HPE program that allow children to extend their
movement vocabulary, increase their physical skills, improve and maintain all components of physical
fitness, and learn about themselves and others. These activities give children a strong sense of hand–
eye coordination and physical confidence, while imparting lessons about working with others. Dance,
circus arts and adventure education are self-esteem boosters, and represent an amazing opportunity to
experience the wonders of physical activity beyond sporting contexts.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING THEORY IN HPE
Experiential learning is a renowned model in education learning theory. Kolb defines experiential
learning as:
the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.
Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience.
Kolb, 1984: 41
Experiential learning is therefore both a philosophy and a methodology through which teachers
purposefully engage their students in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase their
students’ knowledge, skills and values.
Kolb’s experiential learning theory presents a four-element learning cycle through which students
need to pass, as shown in Figure 11.1. The four elements of the cycle are as follows:
1 Concrete experience
2 Reflective observation
3 Abstract conceptualisation
4 Active experimentation (Kolb, 1984).
Experiential learning has a long and important history in physical education, especially in outdoor
education, and so it makes sense to examine experiential learning in a HPE context. It begins with the
learning experience, which is always in the form of a movement. As the name suggests, students must
first ‘experience’ movement before they can learn from it. After the movement experience has occurred,
students are afforded sufficient time (and even space) to reflect on what the movement experience
means. The goal of this process is for students to be able to draw deeper meaning (even abstractly
or metaphorically) from the movement experience. It is expected that this deeper understanding and
appreciation will further motivate the student to learn in this context. Because the model is cyclic, it
involves concrete components (steps 1 and 4) as well as conceptual components (steps 2 and 3). Each
of these components requires students to execute a variety of cognitive, social, physical and affective
learning behaviours (Oxendine, Robinson & Willson, 2010).
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C H A P T E R 1 1 M ov i n g fo r l i fe : e x pe r i ence and e x p r e s s i o n
1 Concrete
experience
(doing/having an
experience)
4 Active 2 Reflective
experimentation observation
(planning/trying out (reviewing/reflecting
what you have learned) on the experience)
3 Abstract
conceptualisation
(concluding/learning Figure 11.1
from the experience) Kolb’s experiential
learning cycle
From Kolb, DA (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development.
Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall.
Experience-based learning: its essential components and why

it is used in primary schools
According to Andersen, Boud and Cohen (2000), there should be a list of criteria that determine
whether the learning experience can be seen as having been experience-based learning. They state that
for a learning experience to be authentically experiential, the following features are required:
1 First, the objective of experience-based learning involves movement experiences that are personally
significant or meaningful to students.
2 Second, students are personally engaged.
3 Third, opportunities for reflective thought are available so that students can write about or discuss
their experiences. (This opportunity should be an ongoing process throughout the experiential
learning experience.)
4 Fourth, consistent with your understandings of constructed knowledge, the prior learning that a
student will bring to the process is considered.
5 Finally, teachers need to establish a sense of respect, trust and concern for the wellbeing of their
students (Anderson, Boud & Cohen, 2000).
Experiential learning is a powerful teaching tool. While classroom-based lessons can effectively
address the cognitive domain, experiential learning involves a whole-child-development mindset. This
entails activating a child’s cognitive, affective, social and physical learning domains (Oxendine, Robinson
& Willson, 2010; see Chapter 3). The result is that students can relate to the subject matter in a way
that is meaningful to their own lives.
Furthermore, using experiential learning in your classroom offers an opportunity for transition from
traditional classroom practices and assessments, and it can activate learning for students with a variety
of learning needs. Whether students struggle or are high achievers within traditional classroom settings,
most find themselves engaged by the wider curriculum with the help of a project that draws from their
own experiences.
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Experiential learning tasks can help to build rapport between students and the teacher, because
students are sharing aspects of their own thoughts and decisions in a mutual learning environment.
They are also incredibly effective at inculcating a personal element of yourself, as the teacher, into
the learning. This can be a valuable way for teachers to get to know their students, and for students to
collaborate with their teachers throughout their own individual learning journeys.
The following sections explore rhythmic and expressive movement, along with outdoor and adventure
activities, all of which hold particularly strong links to experiential learning theory.
EXPLORING RHYTHMIC AND EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT
In line with Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education directives, this section examines
how movement can be composed and performed in response to stimuli such as equipment, beats
and sounds, images, words and themes. Some of the activities within this context include creative
movements, styles of dance, gymnastics and circus skills. Primary-school children are expected to
regularly engage in practical learning experiences in each of these contexts during their primary
education in Australia.
Teaching educational gymnastics

Gymnastics was once a foundation of physical education curricula in many primary schools, but there
have been concerns about reports of its declining appeal in many developed economies, including
Australia (Smith, 1989). This includes a reduction in the volume of gymnastics taught in physical
education classes as well as a decline in the quality of instruction (Smith, 1989). Gymnastics Australia
(2011) reasons that the introduction of a gymnastics-inclusive curriculum with better training and
support for primary-school teachers can improve not only children’s fundamental movement skills
(FMS) but also other aspects of movement competence.
The main argument for including gymnastics in a contemporary primary-school HPE curriculum is
that, unlike many of the sporting activities children engage in during HPE that are inherently focused
on competition, gymnastics focuses on the development of skills in a less pressurised environment
(Halliburton & Weiss, 2002). It is argued that development of skills in this type of environment is
likely to have a greater influence on children’s FMS development (Martin, Rudsill & Hastie, 2009),
as well as have a positive influence on their physical self-perceptions (Goudas, Biddle, & Fox, 1994;
Standage et al., 2007).
As we noted in Chapter 1, educational gymnastics was once a basis of physical education programs
in Australian schools; however, the teaching of gymnastics has markedly declined for a number of safety-
related and pedagogical reasons. But this need not be the case, since educational gymnastics can be
a pedagogically rich approach to primary-school HPE, one that emphasises learning body control and
management skills, not to mention problem-solving abilities, through movement tasks. Educational
gymnastics allows for the learning of skills to be experiential, age-based and developmental. Student
learning can be individualised, and assessment can be based on a student’s creativity, effort and overall
skill development.
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Effective educational gymnastics programs

An effective educational gymnastic program allows your students to increase the coordination, body
awareness and spatial awareness of their bodies. They can do this while concurrently developing
many other health-related components of their fitness such as their muscular endurance, strength,
cardiovascular endurance and flexibility.
While the specific content that is covered in educational gymnastics programs will vary, these
programs should at the least cover some of the FMS (specifically, stability and locomotion), which were
discussed in detail in Chapter 10. The following sections will examine each of these skills in terms of
what it may entail in an educational gymnastic program for primary-school children.
STABILITY SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN EDUCATIONAL GYMNASTICS

Stability skills are defined as ‘the ability to sense a shift in the relationship of the body parts that alter
one’s balance, as well as the ability to adjust rapidly and accurately to these changes with the appropriate
compensating movements’ (Gallahue & Ozmun, 2006: 267). In educational gymnastics, students learn
to gain and maintain stability of their body while holding shape and symmetry. They also learn to move
their body around its three axes (horizontal, vertical and transverse) using different body parts, in
different directions and at different speeds (Rudd et al., 2015).
Some of the skills worth exploring in the domain of stability skills and knowledge are shown in
Table 11.1.
Table 11.1 Stability skills
Upright balances Inverted balances
Balances that use different body shapes (e.g. straight, Balances that use different body parts as a base of support
twisted, curled, symmetrical and asymmetrical balances)
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Table 11.1
Balances that use counter-tension and counter-balance Performing balance sequences

shapes and movements
Loss and recovery of balance Maintaining dynamic balance while travelling on or

off equipment
Acquiring balance when stopping a travelling movement Rocking on different body parts using different directions
and different speeds
Log or pencil roll Egg or ball roll

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Table 11.1
Forward roll Shoulder roll
Rolls that use different starting and ending shapes (e.g. Twisting movements of various body parts
pike, straddle, squat)
Turns of different body parts using various amounts of rotations (e.g. 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 or full turns)
(images, left to right) Shutterstock.com/Madhourse; Dreamstime.com/Godfer; Shutterstock.com/fizkes; Shutterstock.com/Oksana

Kuzmina; Getty Images/Ray Moller; Shutterstock.com/nanka; Alamy Stock Photo/Buzz Pictures; iStock.com/lzf;
iStock.com/w-ings; iStock.com/FatCamera; iStock.com/FatCamera; Shutterstock.com/Karin Hildebrand Lau; Getty Images/Peter
Mason; Shutterstock.com/Kaderov Andrii; age fotostock/Hero Images; Shutterstock.com/spass; Shutterstock.com/Cherry-Merry
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Some of the critical learning questions worth exploring through educational gymnastics in this
domain include the following;
• How can I gain and maintain poise and control in a balance position?
• What is my base of support?
• How does my body’s centre of gravity affect balance?
• What are the safe and correct techniques that I need to learn in order to perform skills requiring
rotation of my body?
• How do I increase and decrease the speed of my body rotation?
• How is the focus of my eyes important when my body is in rotation?
Within the stability context of educational gymnastics, we can also expect students to learn to control
their bodies as they are suspended (i.e. hanging) from a piece of equipment. Table 11.2 lists some of the
skills that we try to teach in this area.
Table 11.2 Stability skills involving suspension
Hanging using different body parts and combinations of Hanging using different shapes
body parts
Hanging and turning Hanging while climbing

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Table 11.2
Hanging movements sequences Hanging using different hand grips
Hanging and swinging
(images, left to right) Shutterstock.com/Jaren Jai Wicklund; Shutterstock.com/Jingjits Photography; Shutterstock.com/Purino;

Shutterstock.com/Scott Rothstein; Shutterstock.com/TinnaPong; Shutterstock.com/sonya etchison; Shutterstock.com/Zabavna
LOCOMOTION SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN EDUCATIONAL GYMNASTICS

Locomotion skills and knowledge in gymnastics include the learning associated with the ability of
students to move from one position to another using different body parts. This can require changes in
space, time, force and flow (Mitchell, Davis & Lopez, 2002).
Following are some skills you may consider worth exploring:
• Using different body parts, have your students move in space while changing their direction, level,
path and speed of movement (e.g. animal walks).
• Perform movements that require students to move their body in the air by ‘taking off ’ from the
ground or from a piece of equipment.
• An assortment of movements that combine the previous two skills.
Some of the critical learning questions associated with locomotor skills that are worth exploring
through educational gymnastics include:
• How do I land safely from a movement that carries me through the air?
• How do I increase my height and distance in movements that carry me through the air?
• How are my different body parts used to travel through space?
• How do I vary my travelling movement(s) using the elements of direction, level, path and speed?
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Participating in movement
Teaching Give a small group of children (family, neighbours or playgroups) the following instructions, then watch
practice how they interact:
1 Balance on one foot.
2 Balance on your left hand, with your right foot facing the ground.
3 Demonstrate a balance on your knees and hands. (Say, ‘Show me how you balance like this.’)
At this point, think about the responses that you were given. Next, ask the following questions:
1 ‘Can you show me a balance where you use three different parts of your body?’
2 ‘Show me a balance with only two parts of your body.’
3 ‘As a group, can you balance using only six feet and four hands?’
What responses were given?
Now imagine you are teaching a class of 28 students. If you were to ask them the first set of
questions, you would be almost guaranteed to receive 28 identical responses. By changing your
questioning approach, you allow for students to problem-solve and make decisions, and you will
therefore be given a variety of responses. This is important if we want our students to gain cognitive
benefits while participating in movement. By working in small groups, students can further communicate
their ideas and interact while making decisions and solving problems.
Teaching dance
The teaching of dance in a primary-school context allows students to communicate through movement
in a way that strengthens their capacity to articulate and explore feelings through the physical self
(Eisner, 1994; Koff, 2000; McCutchen, 2006).
Contrary to the views of many, dance is not only for elite performers or available to children as an
extra-curricular pursuit. It is a misconception to view dance education as a method of professional
training rather than as a learning area of the HPE curriculum. In this context, dance becomes an
experiential physical pursuit and art form that encompasses artistic, aesthetic and cultural elements
(Smith-Autard, 1994).
The defining characteristics of dance education

McCutchen (2006) identifies the defining characteristics of dance education as its being ‘comprehensive
(broad in scope), substantive (challenging and significant), sequential (ordered and incremental),
aesthetically driven (seeking fine quality), contextually coherent (relevant and related) and inquiry-
based (participatory and investigative)’ (McCutchen, 2006: 8, cited in Stevens, 2010: 11).
These characteristics of dance, applied to a primary-school HPE program, are a way of enabling
teachers to explore the broad practice of dance with their students in challenging activities. These
activities should allow your students to associate, aesthetically and cognitively, with dance experiences.
For dance to be an effective learning strategy in HPE, students need to see its relevance (Hanna,
2008). One of the best ways to do this is to try to connect dance to the social and cultural backgrounds
of your students or link it to other areas of study (e.g. in History, to Indigenous Australian dance and
traditional folk dances).
While dance has long been a part of physical education curricula in Australia, and is still
included in the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education, critics might argue that
curricula result in dance being taught with a performance focus, meaning that students learn only
set dances that are based on particular routines. But in an authentic dance education program, this
not need be the case.
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Teaching dance authentically

Authentic learning tasks in dance require teachers to design meaningful activities that indicate a
thoughtful reflection of the physical and the artistic components of dance (Hagood, 2006; Hanna,
2008). These may include activities that lead to the acquisition of meta-language associated with dance,
which enables students to discuss and reflect on their own dance experiences, and on those of their
peers. Establishing a meta-language of dance is not only indicative of quality teaching but also assists
students to engage in inquiry-based learning, which adds depth to the conversations that teachers and
students have about dance experiences. Furthermore, this meta-language gives students the ability to
read dances that are common to their culture, as well as the capacity to meaningfully, substantively
communicate their understanding.
Using the composition elements of dance to plan for

dance education
There are four elements of dance composition with which teachers should familiarise themselves in
order to successfully plan authentic dance education lessons: shape, timing, space and dynamics. These
are discussed in the following sections.
SHAPE
Shape is the structuring of the body and limbs into positions that change during the dance. (It should
not be confused with body type or figure.) Dance aims to teach the body to assume a range of different
body shapes: straight, curved or even angular contours.
Following are three concepts related to shape that you can explore with your students in dance:
• Levels: Dance movements are performed at different levels, and these are broadly described as
being high, middle or low (or vertical, horizontal or oblique). As the level of the dance changes,
students need to be able to support themselves using different parts of their body in order to create
different dance effects.
• Symmetry: A symmetric body position is one that is matching on both sides of the body. It should
look and feel balanced and stable. A symmetric dance arrangement is one in which actions are
mirrored. In an asymmetric position or movement, on the other hand, the movement and position
are different on the left- and right-hand sides of the body.
• Scale: During a dance sequence, positions and movements can be performed on a scale ranging
from small to large. In small-scale dance movements, the arms, legs and torso are drawn inwards.
These, therefore, involve movements of contraction, flexion, folding and bending. In large-scale
dance movements, the body does the opposite, extending and stretching out to its fullest length
(NAC, 2017).
TIMING
Timing refers to moving with the beats of music. However, having good timing means more than
performing basic steps in perfect time with musical beats. It takes a lot of practice for children (and
adults, for that matter) to learn how the mind and body actually feel the beats of the music. Again, here
are three concepts that can be explored with your students related to the concept of timing:
• Speed: Speed, or tempo, is generally explained with terms such as slow, medium or moderate, and
fast or high. It can also be described, in its musical form, as adagio (slow), moderato (moderate)
and allegro (fast). The tempo can also be described as being either steady or variable.
• Metre: In musical terminology, metre is the time signature. It refers to ‘the organisation of beats
into bars, with strong accents on the downbeat followed by lighter accents’ (NAC, 2017). Basic
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time signatures and metres include 2/4 (‘1, 2’), 3/4 (‘1, 2, 3’), 4/4 (‘1, 2, 3, 4’) and 6/8 (‘1 and a 2,
and a … ’).
• Rhythm: Rhythm is the arrangement of sound according to duration and period for a specific
musical piece. It is essentially the alternation of strong and weak sound in the flow of the musical
piece.
SPACE
Space refers to the patterns that the student follows in and through the designated performance area.
Three space concepts you can explore with your students are as follows:
• Geometric forms: These can range from the basic, such as straight lines or rows, to more interesting
shapes or paths, including zig-zag, square, curve, circle, figure-eight, in-out spiral, snake and even
random patterns (NAC, 2017). As well as the horizontal patterns conducted along the performance
floor, students can also explore vertical spaces through movements such as jumps and lifts.
• Symmetry: As discussed earlier, the body can be made to display degrees of symmetry or asymmetry,
or to evoke a sense of stability as opposed to imbalance. Students can be taught to manipulate this
concept to evoke dramatic effects.
• Scale: The scale of a dance can range from large to small. In order to determine this, students can
make use of the entire dance area or focus the activity in a relatively small area(s) (NAC, 2017).
DYNAMICS
Dynamics, or energy, is a multifaceted component of dance, in that it incorporates all the previously
mentioned elements. It is often described as the quality or aesthetic appeal of the dance. It is the
ethereal factor, which adds distinctiveness, abundance and power – the ‘X-factor’, if you will. Given
the commentary earlier in this chapter about authentic dance education, dynamics is also a critical
component to be included when teaching dance to primary-school children. Here are four concepts
worth exploring when considering the dynamics or energy of dance:
• Weight: Weight reflects how the student actively uses the mass of their body. It is best understood
by a scale that moves from strong to light: ‘[a] strong action has the full mass of the body behind
it. A light action has the body moving in a lifted and rarefied way’ (NAC, 2017). Weight-related
action words used in dance curricula include force, power, delicacy and finesse.
• Time: This factor refers to the student’s attitude towards time on a continuum that moves from
long and sustained to rapid and sudden. This is not to be confused with time in the sense of
chronology. It is instead a sensation of having limitless time in which to complete a sustained
dance movement or experience, or a sense of an urgency to complete one all of a sudden. Time-
related action words may include terms like revelling versus rushing.
• Space: Space reflects how the student ‘moves in space on a continuum from direct to indirect’
(NAC, 2017). Direct actions take the shortest possible path between two points, whereas indirect
actions detour and meander en route (NAC, 2017). Space-related action terms may include
unswerving and undeviating versus round-about and circuitous.
• Flow: Flow is used to describe dance movements on a continuum that moves from free to bound.
A bound movement is ‘one of careful precision’; it is ‘highly controlled and can be stopped at
any moment’ (NAC, 2017). A free movement proceeds as if it is unopposed and unrestrained.
As a student’s flow fluctuates in a dance, it produces oscillating movements, or vibratory-type
motions. Flow-related action terms may include constrained versus unconstrained and guarded
versus uninhibited.
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Composition jigsaw
In groups of four, use the jigsaw approach. Create a jigsaw puzzle in which one common element of Teaching
movement composition is listed on each piece of the puzzle. Have each student take one part of the practice
jigsaw and draw a list of instructions and images that show how this element can be observed in a dance
experience. Then have members of the group return to the group individually and perform a range of
movements that demonstrate their element.
The group is then required to create an artefact of their choosing to be displayed in the school
for other students to view. The aim of the artefact is for students to cross-reference their movement
performance and be able to identify the elements of movement composition that they are capable of
manipulating.
Teaching circus arts

Circus arts (or skills) can be placed into five categories of activity, as follows:
1 juggling and manipulation
2 aerial acrobatics
3 floor acrobatics
4 equilibristics/balance
5 clowning (Barlati, nd).
All of these categories can be explored in a primary-school circus program in one form or another, and
can be used in exposing students of all ages to a wide spectrum of physical and movement challenges.
Animal acts are not mentioned in these categories, since they are extremely rare in contemporary
circuses, which have an increased emphasis on aesthetic narrative (see Barlati, nd).
Some terms commonly associated with the teaching of circus skills in primary schools include social
circus and recreational circus (Funk, 2016). These terms are used to describe how programs focus on
different types of development. Social circus aims to build personal resilience through the teaching
of circus skills, while recreational circus is participated in for the purposes of physical activity and
enjoyment, rather than because of any professional ambitions (Funk, 2016). There are a number or
recreational circus programs around the world.
For circus researcher and theorist Jacqueline Davis, all types of youth circus can be understood
under the umbrella term developmental circus arts (DCA) (Davis, 2010). Davis uses this term wherever
circus is a vehicle for the growth and benefit of young people, a ‘a micro-ecology in which the process of
acquiring circus skills and creating performances cultivates positive outcomes across multiple domains’
(Davis 2010: 12).
WHY IS TEACHING CIRCUS ARTS GOOD FOR CHILDREN – PHYSICALLY,

MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY?
All of the studies done to date support the idea that doing circus arts is good for students’ physical,
mental and emotional wellbeing, and that those benefits are the same in all abilities, skill levels and
socioeconomic levels. The research currently available on circus arts largely consists of studies, reports
and qualitative data (Funk, 2016).
A study of an Australian circus program for schoolchildren found that teaching circus arts promoted
positive physical and emotional risk-taking; promoted physical health and body awareness; increased
self-confidence; and improved social connectedness and leadership skills within the group (Maglio &
Mckinstry, 2008).
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These findings were further supported by a case study of four Australian circus programs in
which researchers observed that, because there is more than one way to learn a skill, circus enables
young people to learn cognitive and physical skills concurrently and in an appropriately scaffolded
manner (McCutcheon, 2003). This is in contrast with the way many skills are taught in traditional
physical education classes that rely heavily on hierarchical, linear patterns. The study concluded
that teaching circus arts allows students to ‘very quickly become more skilled than their teachers
in circus and enjoy their newfound freedom in physicality and other areas of personal development’
(McCutcheon, 2003: 107).
McCutcheon also refers to the way in which circus teaches children to ‘learn how to learn’ (2003: 112).
It is, therefore, not surprising that schools with circus programs often also see academic improvement in
their students. McCutcheon (2003: 105) notes:
All of the schools [involved in the case study] report that their circus programs are very
popular with traditional ‘under-achievers’ or young people identified as ‘at risk’ … it is a
program that these students engage in, succeed in and have their status raised within their
peer groups, the school staff bodies and consequently these students want to succeed in
other areas within the school. Success breeds success.
A more recent study considered how physical education programs with circus training compared
to those without it. The researchers compared three Canadian schools using traditional physical
education curricula to three socioeconomically matched schools that taught circus in their curricula.
Improvements in motor competence were seen in all participating schools at the conclusion of the
study’s three-month period, but the Year 5 students exposed to circus training showed significantly
greater improvement. When compared to the standard group, the circus-trained cohort exhibited an
increased interest in participating in physical activities, heightened motor-skill confidence and a feeling
of being more talented (Kiez, 2015).
TEACHING BASIC CIRCUS ARTS TO PRIMARY-SCHOOL STUDENTS

Many pre-service and experienced teachers are intimidated by the prospect of teaching circus arts in
their HPE programs. But you do not need to be able to fire-breathe or walk on stilts to successfully teach
an introductory circus arts program; there are resources that can help you in doing this. For example,
the Australian Sports Commission’s Playing for Life: Circus Companion Book is a resource that provides
lesson plans and activity cards that can bring a sense of enjoyment to your class, as well as offering
ideas for circus instruction (see https://www.healthyactivekids.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/
Companion-Book-Circus.pdf). Each of the lesson plans is a potentially valuable resource for primary-
school teachers, and presents a variety of games that allow students to participate in circus-type
performances and movements (ASC, nd). One of the useful aspects of the resource is that it sets up
students to create circus shows of their own.
CREATING A CIRCUS SKILLS SHOW

A potential final lesson in a circus arts program within your physical education program could be
providing students with the opportunity to use their newly acquired skills to create a circus show of
their own. This celebratory activity will probably require splitting the class into smaller groups (around
eight to 10 players in each group is appropriate).
As the teacher, establish some structure around individual group rehearsals and performances,
ensuring that all groups are afforded equal and adequate time to rehearse and perform. You should
explain the format of the final performances at the beginning of the program. Also, ensure that you
specify the time limit allocated for each show and explain the activities that can be performed during
the shows (ASC, nd). Critical planning points include ensuring that each of the shows has a minimum
of three acts, a clear beginning and a clear ending.
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Example 11.1
IMPROVISATION
For the most part, circus training is an accessible activity for all students, and the equipment students
can use is restricted only by their imagination. It is possible for students to improvise with everyday
items commonly found around schools and in classrooms. (For example, broomsticks, school hats or
school shoes can be used instead of balancing poles.) When students are improvising with everyday
objects, teachers need to pay attention to the object's weight and size, ensuring that it is not too heavy
and that it will not be dangerous for students to use in circus-type activities (ASC, nd).
The rest is up to your students. You may wish to allow dress-ups, face-painting or props that
students can make their stage area with. This will allow them to use their imaginations. Most
importantly, remember that there are no ‘bad’ performances, as long as everyone takes part.
SAFETY RULES WHEN TEACHING CIRCUS ARTS

Circus skills are fun, but (like all physical activities) they may also be dangerous, and so safety must be
taken into account. The Australian Sport Commission’s Playing for Life resource provides some useful
safety points for teachers to consider:
• Have a teacher supervising students at all times.
• Check that there is enough space between students and obstacles, and ensure that the surface on
which activities are being performed is appropriate for the relevant activity (e.g. when performing
balancing activities, place gym mats on the floor).
• Make sure that students warm up and cool down before and after they participate in all circus-
type activities.
• Check that the activities and equipment being used are suitable for students’ level of fitness and
skill. If any students feel uncomfortable about an activity or stunt, do not force them to do it. (In
this area, students should be encouraged to ‘challenge themselves by choice’.)
• Make sure that students are focused on what they are doing. If students cannot stop laughing or
become overly excited, it is a good idea to take a break and return when they have had time to calm
down.
• Give instructions about the safe use of equipment and explain all safety precautions that must be
taken, and which safety procedures must be adhered to, before conducting any activity.
• Students should wear their physical education attire with runners or, if appropriate, bare feet.
If they have long hair, ensure that they tie it back. Also ask students to take off watches or any
jewellery they may be wearing (adapted from ASC, nd).
Using the HPE curriculum from your state or territory, highlight the relevant statement in the document’s
rationale or justification that alludes to evidence supporting the teaching of circus arts and/or movement
Cross-
composition in primary schools.
curricular
Once these statements have been identified, search the curriculum documents of your other subject possibilities
areas and identify areas that may make the integration of circus and/or movement composition possible.
Next, design a poster for a unit of work that you could design for teaching these combinations of
outcomes or objectives.
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OUTDOOR AND ADVENTURE EDUCATION IN HPE
Outdoor education is often defined as experiential learning that is carried out in and about the outdoors.
The term, however, is more generally used to refer to a variety of organised activities that take place, in a
range of ways, in mainly outdoor environments. Outdoor education can also be referred to as adventure
education, challenge education or experiential education. The mark of outdoor education is its focus on
the outdoor nature of the education.
The benefits of outdoor and adventure education are beginning to permeate evidence-based
literature on the topic. These include the development of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills through
engagement in outdoor or adventure activities. The benefits for the natural environment beyond
individuals’ learning are less directly proven to date; however, these could be stated as the development
of more nurturing students and communities with an increased environmental awareness and notion
of environmental stewardship. The long-term effects of changing students’ mindsets towards the
environment are yet to be examined through longitudinal or causal research, but these benefits are
evident in the psychosocial, psychological and physical domains of learning. This is particularly the case
with regard to the development of self-efficacy, intellectual flexibility, personal skills and relationship-
building skills. The benefits that result from participating in outdoor or adventure activities are enabled
through the provision of appropriate facilities and natural resources, as well as through the design of
programs that intentionally work towards particular learning objectives.
Physical education, and HPE more broadly, has historically prided itself on being a school subject
in which the goal is to educate the whole child. That is, HPE’s objectives pertain to a student’s mental,
emotional and social wellbeing as well as to their physical wellbeing. Holistic learning is at the very heart
of outdoor education, and with this comes a commitment to the natural environment and an awareness
of the power that it can bring to the learning process (Boyes, 2000).
The use of outdoor and adventure learning experiences for education purposes has a long and rich
history. Even the works of Plato alluded to the value of outdoor learning experiences to the development
of a healthy body and mind. However, Plato considered that the aim of physical education was not
primarily to enhance physical skills, but that it in fact it had a much higher educational value, arguing
that exercise and sport have a greater moral value than they do a physical value (Casimir, 2013).
Review your state or territory HPE curriculum and identify all the outdoor or adventure education
terminology that it uses. Make a list of these terms and their definitions.
Cross-
▻▻ What types of learning experiences does your curriculum suggest can be undertaken in this
curricular
possibilities discipline?
▻▻ What other outcomes in your curriculum, or in other subjects’ curricula, could be explored through
outdoor and adventure education?
Types of outdoor and adventure education for

primary-school students
While most teachers perceive that curricula-based outdoor and adventure education programming
requires direction from a government authority (e.g. ACARA) to provide curricula and syllabus guides,
the most common forms of outdoor and adventure education that occur in primary schools do not receive
such direction. When outdoor and adventure education does find its way into prescribed curricula, it is
usually included in the HPE learning area.
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However, this is not the only way in which outdoor and adventure education programs are
undertaken in primary schools. Other types of outdoor and adventure education programs
are often classified as being supplemental or integrated. Supplemental outdoor or adventure
education experiences require much less preparation and commitment than integrated programs.
They are considered a ‘one-off ’ approach or activity designed to support a particular school
topic, and so can be considered less dependent on a curriculum. Many supplemental outdoor
programs that are run in schools may only loosely connect to the school’s curricular subjects.
Examples include taking children on a camping experience after studying a unit of work on the
natural environment.
Integrated outdoor or adventure education programs exist as a much rarer form of school-
based education. The most fundamental element of integrated outdoor programming is that it
incorporates the theme of outdoor education as a teaching methodology that spans a number
of existing subjects in the curriculum. According to Comishin and Potter (2000), an integrated
outdoor education curriculum is a one in which the students cannot tell the difference between
subjects, because the lessons in each individual subject are interconnected. True to the origins
of experiential learning theory, most of our learning is not compartmentalised into discrete
disciplines of ‘knowing’.
The key feature of integrated outdoor education and adventure programs is that, because a theme-
based approach to learning is used, subject-specific curricular outcomes are present, but are no longer
organised sequentially or specifically separated into ‘subjects’. For example, in an integrated outdoor or
adventure program, a teacher may have students undertake a camping expedition. Although the students
would be taught non-school-oriented content (e.g. the technical skills involved in the outdoor activity),
the integrated curriculum would be geared towards covering other school subjects – for example,
journal-writing for Literacy, analysing a particular Australian ecosystem for Science, or comparing the
technologies used for wilderness survival for Social Sciences. Each of these outcomes would no longer be
isolated in a separate activity, and so it would become difficult for students to distinguish which subject
was being taught at any given time. Again, the difference in this approach, compared to supplemental
outdoor programming, is that this would not be a ‘one-off ’ activity. As such, planning for how such an
activity could become the primary source of learning for a subject outcome is different from teaching it
in a regular classroom and then using an outdoor theme to reinforce it. Here, the outdoor classroom is
the only avenue through which the concept is covered, and so a much greater focus on integration with
existing curricula becomes critical.
Horwood (2002) describes experiential learning as meaning that instruction places primary value
on students having early, first-hand experience of every aspect of the program. The experiential learning
process refers to the experience having a reasonably complete sequence of events and authenticity, and
to the way that these experiences make a solid connection and have relevance to the student’s real world.
Horwood found that students faced greater challenges in the experiential learning setting than in regular
school settings, and that from this they developed a greater sense of responsibility, to both their studies
and their teacher. By utilising experiential learning that provides challenges and increases responsibility,
a strong feeling of community develops in the classroom, making it possible for individual learning to
become common property (Horwood, 2002).
Teacher preparation for outdoor and adventure activities

Irrespective of whether outdoor and adventure education are used in a supplemental or integrated
manner or in an existing curricular approach, an effective outdoor learning experience begins with clear
educational goals (Hattie, 2009). After setting goals, the teacher must select appropriate activities,
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curriculum materials and instructional strategies. Priest and Gass (2005: 3–5) describe 12 key elements,
or critical core competencies, that teachers need to develop in order to be effective in teaching outdoor
and adventure activities; these are:
• technical skills
• safety skills
• environmental skills
• organisational skills
• instructional skills
• facilitation skills
• flexible leadership style
• experience-based judgement
• problem-solving skills
• decision-making skills
• effective communication
• professional ethics.
It is interesting that all but the first three of the 12 key elements or skills (technical, safety and
environmental) are supported by wider competencies that are, in turn, underpinned by theoretical
and conceptual teaching models that you likely would have been exposed to, or will be exposed to,
in your generalist primary-school preparation teacher programs. Therefore, committing yourself to
professional learning in these first three elements should exponentially increase your capacity to not
only deliver authentic outdoor and adventure education experiences for your students but also enhance
your pedagogy in all facets of your teaching. The following section addresses some considerations for
your professional learning for the technical, safety and environmental skills needed for outdoor and
adventure education programs.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Technical skills are those that are needed for teachers to use equipment in the delivery of particular
outdoor or adventure activity. Pressures can arise between the development of meaningful relationships
with the outdoors and the need to learn technical skills in order to provide safe and worthwhile learning
experiences.
Many teachers comment on the need to gain skills to safely lead and teach others in outdoor
environments. This goal, of developing a base for experiential learning experiences, demands that
teachers spend considerable time and energy in developing their own technical skills, often independent
of any need to develop a closer relationship with outdoor environments.
It could be suggested that teachers develop their technical skills and relationships with the outdoors
precisely because of the interest in participating in adventurous activities that they acquire. It might
therefore be argued that outdoor and adventure experiences may be one of the most effective pedagogies
available for developing improved relationships between humans and the environment, particularly
when blended with the opportunities for reflection provided by experiential learning theory.
SAFETY SKILLS
Safety is an area that is never to be compromised in a teacher’s qualifications in outdoor and adventure
education. Safety begins with prudent choices of activities and good common sense. Safety skills need
to relate directly to the particular activity planned (e.g. ability to swim, canoe, sail, abseil).
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Safety is a common goal of outdoor and adventure education programs. Risk identification, risk
assessment and risk reduction are all aspects of a process that all teachers need to follow as a matter of
course, before and during an outdoor or adventure education activity. Some teachers may be required to
implement a formal process in order to comply with their institution’s workplace health and safety (WHS)
policies and safety or insurance requirements, as well to implement additional informal precautions as
part of any good teaching practice. The following section addresses three key principles of safety which
all teachers must consider, as described by the Tasmanian Outdoor Leadership Council (1995): risk
identification, risk assessment and risk reduction.
Risk identification
Risk identification is concerned with identifying dangers or hazards that increase risk, and that may,
as a result, cause an incident or accident. Three important aspects need to be studied in order to
identify risks: (1) the participants in an activity, (2) the equipment being used in the activity, and (3)
the environment in which the activity is being undertaken (Parkin & Blades, 1998). Consider, as an
example, the risks involved in a bushwalking education activity. There will be immediate risks that spring
to mind, such as inappropriate clothing and the size of the group. Other risks might include access to
the site, vegetation hazards, weather variability, type of footwear, and the age, skill level and knowledge
of participants. In addition, there will be less concrete hazards that need to be considered. These may
relate to teachers’ and students’ state of mind or attitudes. Risks in this area may include overconfidence,
peer pressure, and poor management of stressful and distracting factors. If there is a potential for any
of these hazards to overlap or combine, then the likelihood of an incident or accident occurring will
increase. Risk identification should therefore incorporate and recognise all risk combinations that can
realistically be anticipated (i.e. all risk combinations related to participants, equipment and environment
hazards, both potential and likely). When you are asked to plan an outdoor or adventure activity, it is
useful to record every potential and likely hazard associated with it, and then categorise these as being
related to either students and teachers, equipment or environment (Parkin & Blades, 1998).
Risk assessment
Risk assessment involves calculating the amount of risk that is present and the probability of an incident
occurring. Assessing the amount of risk in an outdoor and adventure education program requires a
careful assessment of identified risks and hazards and the probability of an incident or accident
taking place. This determination will be reached by taking into account the practices and skills of the
teacher, knowledge of the site where the activity is to occur, the type of activity being undertaken, and
participants’ confidence level and competence. Risk assessments are generally performed as a result
of legal requirements, in the sense that teachers and schools must consider the degree of competence
needed for participants to be safely involved in an activity. Processes of risk assessment, therefore, aim to
strike a balance between the level of competence required and an appropriate level of risk so as to attain
desired experiential learning outcomes. This process will ensure that students’ level of safety is optimised,
while allowing for a peak experience to occur. Peak experiences (see Figure 11.2) are considered to bring
about the highest possible degree of learning and fun for students. Importantly, when assessing the ratio
of risk versus competence, the student cohort for whom the activity is being designed should be taken
into account. An activity designed for special-needs students, for example, may involve higher levels of
potential risk (Parkin & Blades, 1998).
Risk reduction
Risk reduction is a process of implementing strategies that will reduce risks to an acceptable level in
order to prevent an incident or accident from occurring. There are a range of strategies that teachers
can use that are appropriate for reducing risks in outdoor and adventure education settings, including
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Devastation
and disaster Misadventure
Peak
adventure
Risk
Adventure
Exploration and
Figure 11.2 experimentation
The adventure
experience paradigm Competence
Adapted from Martin, P & Priest, S (1986) ‘Understanding the adventure experience’.
Journal of Adventure Education: 3, 18–21.
first establishing a set of safety policies and guidelines. To do this, you must become familiar with your
school’s or department’s WHS guidelines, which will outline accepted codes of practice for the activity
being conducted. You must also include in your planning documentation a statement of the aims and
objectives of your outdoor or adventure program, as well as a summary of the risks involved and critical-
incident management strategies.
Secondly, you, as the teacher conducting the outdoor or adventure activity, must disclose to the parents
or carers of your students the level of risk involved. To do this, you should outline the nature of the activity
to participants and their parents/carers, inform students and parents/carers of their responsibilities and
increase student knowledge about the activity prior to it commencing. You can do this by familiarising
students with the type of equipment that they will be using, describing the environment in which the
activities will be conducted and making students aware of potential dangers of the activities they will be
undertaking.
Teachers undertaking outdoor and adventure education programs also need to know their students
well enough to ensure that safety requirements can be met. Incorporating ‘ice-breaker’ and trust activities
into the program prior to undertaking the peak experience will give you valuable behavioural insights
into the group of students you will be working with.
Each of these strategies should be part of an established outdoor or adventure education program
in your school. They should also be a part of any supplementary program (as discussed earlier in this
chapter). The implementation of these procedures will reduce the likelihood of incidents and accidents
occurring while maintaining the maximum level of potential educational benefits for your students.
ENVIRONMENTAL SKILLS
Environmental skills help to prevent damage to the natural surroundings and provide a model for
environmental sustainability in your outdoor or adventure education program. Teachers of outdoor
and adventure activities should have the knowledge and skills they need to rouse an environmental
appreciation in their students. Once this appreciation is stimulated, students can often be motivated to
take an active role in environmental protection. Your environmental values as a teacher should transfer
into your students’ willingness to recognise and choose among differing perspectives associated with
environmental problems and issues.
303
Teachers should be able to understand and communicate to their students how human activities
influence the environment from an ecological perspective. They should have a clear awareness of
political, economic, geographic, social and ecological interdependence in areas in which their outdoor
or adventure activities are undertaken.
Research practice
1 Conduct an online search to identify professional learning opportunities available in your state or Teaching
territory for teachers involved in outdoor and adventure education. practice
2 Estimate the per-student cost of conducting an outdoor or adventure activity of your choice with 30
primary-school-age students. (Be sure to include your professional learning in the overall costing.)
Summary
• Experiential learning is a powerful instrument for engaging children in physical activity.
• Rhythmic and expressive movement are embedded in all Australian HPE curricula, and students deserve
the opportunity to explore these in HPE programs.
• A broad range of movement skills can be taught and acquired through educational gymnastic and dance
programs.
• Teaching dance authentically requires more than mere steps- and sequence-based acquisition.
• Outdoor and adventure education provides opportunities to educate the whole child.
• Safety will always be of paramount concern when teaching children outdoor and adventure activities.
Teachers should take the time to become fluent in relevant safety skills and processes.
Review questions
1 How does educational gymnastics differ from Olympic gymnastics?
2 How does dance as it is taught in primary schools differ from professional dance?
3 What content area of your HPE curriculum could you potentially cover by including circus arts in your
teaching program?
4 What are the nine key elements of outdoor and adventure education to which all teachers should be
exposed to throughout a generalist primary teacher education program?
Online resources
including:
• key weblinks
• and more!
304
Further reading
• McCutchen, B (2006) Teaching Dance as Art in Education. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
This book delineates what a standards-based, aesthetically driven program should encompass for teachers.
• Rohnke, K (1984) Silver Bullets: A Guide to Initiative Problems, Adventure Games, Stunts, and Trust
Activities. Beverly, MA: Project Adventure.
This landmark text in experiential education consists of an anthology of over 160 group activities. It is intended
to help teachers and other group leaders to encourage group participation and learning in a way that is
immediate, involving and enjoyable. It also provides a resource for curriculum planners in adventure-based
counselling programs.
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INDEX
abilities 144, 147–8 advertisements 184–5, 200 assumptions 26, 52, 111, 119
error-detection and correction 245 women in 185 assurance 34
fundamental human movement ability aerial acrobatics 295 attention 225
variations in 269 affective domain 34, 78–81, 285 ‘hook’ to capture 130, 258
also under individual literacy affiliation 272 attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander after-school programs 9 (ADHD) 224
histories and cultures 46 aggressive manner 172–3 attitudes 78, 276
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander air, needs for 194 teaching 277–8
students 177 alcohol and other drugs (AD) 59 audiovisual materials 42
abstract conceptualisation 284–5 ambiguity 88 Australia
abstract mode 87 Analysis/Analysing 73–4, 77 Australian health education history
abuse 162 Anderson and Krathwohl’s taxonomy 72 110–12
accidents 301–2 versus Bloom’s taxonomy 74 context of health promotion 200
accommodation 234–6 cognitive domain version 73–4 health education, role in Australian
accountability 88 anonymity 182 schools 110–17
achievement 88, 148–9 anti-bullying policies/practices 110, 186 health promotion in 196–8
evidence collection 63, 100 anti-social behaviour 42 Australian Bureau of Statistics 188
poor health–poor educational anxiety 42, 225 Australian Communications and Media
achievement links 6 Application/Applying 73–4, 76 Authority (ACMA) 136
potential academic benefits of physical apps 200 Australian Council for Health Physical
activity 222, 224 art 171 Education and Recreation (ACHPER) 7
Achievement Program (Health and Articulation 81, 83 Australian Curriculum
Wellbeing) 208 Arts, the 45, 117, 125 centrality of movement to HPE 11
achievement standards 30–1, 45–6, 62–3 Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia curriculum planning underpinning 42
actions 51 46 a progression of learning from
contributing to development of 115 assertive manner 172 Foundation to Year 10 45
active experimentation 284–5 assertiveness 175 Australian Curriculum, Assessment and
active homework 248 assessment 27, 259 Reporting Authority (ACARA)
active play and minor games (AP) 59 authentic assessment in primary Health formerly Curriculum Corporation 25,
activities 190 and Physical Education 72–103 110
calming nature of sensory play 242–3 example assessment items 72–8 Shape of the Australian Curriculum
designed to suit topics 299 FMS assessment limitations 261 44–5
developmentally appropriate activities of FMS proficiency 260 on strengths-based approach 14
246–8 formative 74, 76–7, 82–3, 95–8, 127, valuing movement 11–12, 27, 50–1
extra-curricular or co-curricular 9, 110 260 views on health 5
health literacy activities 165 guiding questions 130 Australian Curriculum: Health and
modifying 247 health-literacy pedagogy and Physical Education 42–67, 286
physical see physical activity assessment 32–4 achievement standards 46, 62–3
‘real’ learning activities 90 HPE assessment see HPE assessment aims development 56–63
simple activities–complex activities of and for learning 84, 88, 98–9 content descriptions and elaborations
proficiency barrier 255 physical-literacy pedagogy and 46
teacher preparation for outdoor and assessment 35–6 content organisation 56–63
adventure education 299–303 reorientating to initial stages of teaching cross-curriculum priorities 46
see also movement and physical activity and learning design 103 Curriculum content 63–7
(MPA) strand risk assessment 301 curriculum documents 30, 112
adaptation 233–5 summative 76–8, 83–4, 95–8, 127, 260 elements 45
Adelaide Declaration 25, 110 traditional 99 embedding of health literacy in 27–8
adjust (gameplay element) 92 see also authentic learning focus areas 59–62
adolescents assessment tasks general capabilities 46–9, 135
positive health-related behaviours designing with criteria 100–3 interview 55
among 28 example – nutritional assessment task key ideas/propositions underpinning 11,
simple activities–complex activities 102 27–36, 50–63
proficiency barrier 255 guidelines for questions 94–5 strands and sub-strands 4, 7, 57–9,
‘adult-speak’ 177 planning 99–100 142–8
adventure 302 assessment-based practice 90 strengths-based approach 148
adventure education see outdoor and assimilation 234–6 structure 45–6, 57
adventure education associative learning stage 245–6 three-dimensional 45–6
307
Australian Government 207 blogs 135 Centre for Education Statistics and
Department of Health 9 Bloom’s taxonomy 72–84 Evaluation (CESE) 118
Department of Social Services 214 versus Anderson and Krathwohl’s challenge and adventure activities (CA) 59
Australian Health Promotion Association taxonomy 74 challenge education see outdoor and
(AHPA) 196 cognitive domain 73–4 adventure education
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare serial or sequential structure 72 change 58, 64
(AIHW) 5, 28, 200–1 body achieving 114–17
health of Australians, findings 201 axes 287 agility amongst complex and rapid
Australian Medical Association (AMA), on body parts terminology 156 change 51
health literacy teaching 188–9 shape – structuring of body and limbs changes and transitions 155–9
Australia’s physical activity and sedentary into positions 293 changes in behaviour 111, 202
behaviour guidelines for children (5–12 teaching about 155 physical and social changes 157
years) 9 turns of body parts 289 chaos 261
authentic assessment 88 body awareness 287, 295 character development 276
defined 94 body control 286 checklists 90–2, 164, 279
strategies for HPE outcomes 94–9 body image 184 child development 229–37
authentic learning 95 indirect teaching about 186 developmental characteristics 230
in dance 293 issues 186 developmental stages of childhood 231
in primary Health and Physical role of media in 184–7 importance of movement 224
Education 72–103 body language 171–4, 176–8 Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
authentic teaching 293 ‘reading’ within context 173 233–7
autism spectrum disorder (ASD) 179 body placement 172 theories underpinning 228–9
autonomous learning stage 245–6 body posture 172 Vygotsky’s social development theory
autonomy 29 bone development 226–8 231–3
awareness 278 boredom 16 child protection 119, 121, 133
boundaries 142 Child Wise 163
balances 234, 264, 287–8, 292, 295 brain, the childhood 233
dynamic balances 288 benefits of movement for 224–8 children
sequences 288 energising 226 benefits of circus arts for 295–6
ball rolls 289 movement and 225 positive health-related behaviours
base (gameplay element) 92 brain breaks 225–6, 249 among 28
beats 286 brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Chinn’s critical health literacy review/
behaviour 31, 51 224 analysis 31
anti-social 42 brainstorming 171, 190, 225 choice 278
changes 111, 202 Bravehearts 163 making healthy and safe choices 58, 64,
controlling classroom behaviour 261 buddy programs 186 164–6
core physical literacy elements observed bullying 42, 48, 173 making informed and personal choices
in 35 see also cyber-bullying 101
ethical 58, 67 Bunker and Thorpe’s views of traditional structured choice 279
help-seeking 58, 64, 159–64, 186 pedagogy 262–3 ‘chug circle’ 190
positive health behaviours 110–11 Butterfly Foundation 186 circle concept 161, 163
pro-social 36 ‘circle time’ 174
protective 156, 162–4 cameras 135 circle time 190
rules and patterns of 9 ‘can’ and ‘cannot’ groups 261 circus arts
sedentary 9, 15 capabilities 34, 44–6, 49, 148 circus skills show creation 296–7
socially-acceptable 6 general see general capabilities physical, mental and emotional benefits
unacceptable 185 capacities 194 295–6
behavioural skills 52 cardiovascular disease 202 safety rules 297
beliefs 32, 78 carers 120, 182 teaching 295–7
systems 80 clear strategies and ideas for 151 citizens, active and informed 47
belonging, sense of 6 communicating with 170–1 citizenship 32, 136
needs for 194–5 disclosure of risks to 302 class schedules 147
benchmarking 261, 272–3 interviews with 177 classroom agreements 145–6
best-practice-based approach 197, 229 as resources 157 classroom management 42, 118
aspects related to direct instruction 258 see also guardians; parents strategies 134
Better Health Channel 184 CASA Houses 163 classrooms 143–7, 229
bias 88 Celebrity heads 174 cleanliness 158
biology 237 Centers for Disease Control and closure 258–9
biomechanics 11 Prevention (CDC) 224 clowning 295
blocked practice 245 centration 87 coaches, untrained 246
308 INDEX
cognition, cognitive capacities 6 concrete experience 284–5 curricula
cognitive development 231 Concrete operational development stage aligning with authorities 44–5
Piaget’s stages of 85, 233–7 234, 236–7 competing priorities for curriculum
cognitive domain 34, 36, 72, 269, 285 concrete–symbolic mode 87 time 29
cognitive learning stage 245–6 conferences 98 curricular links for FMS 256
cognitive maturation 229 confidence 10, 12, 47, 50, 175, 284 ‘curriculum’ defined 42
cognitive skills 52 confidentiality 171 deficit model of 14
collaboration 118, 124, 134, 196, 198, conflict 173 governmental economic interest in 25,
229, 231–2 conflict resolution 6, 80 110
collective action 31 conjunctive concepts 89 gymnastics-inclusive curriculum 286
collegiality 48 connectedness, sense of 6, 115, 295 holistic 7
common sense 300 connections 234 integrated curriculum 25
Commonwealth Government 25 consensus 89 planning 42–3
focus on disadvantage 119 consistency 245 primary 11–12
importance placed on literacy and constructed knowledge 285 promoting world-class curriculum
numeracy 117 constructivism 231 and assessment in Australian schools
influences on health education 110 consultation 89, 120, 178 44
resources funded/produced by 134 content descriptions 46, 60, 155 sport education-based HPE curriculum,
communicating and interacting for health contextual approach 32–3 basic features 271–3
and wellbeing 30 control 115, 230, 261, 264 tailoring to learners’ needs 228–9
communication 48, 64–5, 170–7 conventions 36 see also Australian Curriculum: Health
to access help 187–9 cooperation 36, 48 and Physical Education
acknowledging diversity in 176–7 cooperative small-group work 271 curriculum and pedagogy component 113,
barriers 177–81 coordination 287 210
effective 170, 300 coping mechanisms 173 curriculum content 45, 63–7
for healthy relationships and wellbeing coping skills 6 content descriptions and elaborations
58, 170–90 core and radial schema 234 46
non-verbal 121 correction abilities 245 content organisation 56–63
personal 29 Council of Australian Governments scope and sequence 64–7
solely with emotions see emoticons (COAG) Education Council 25 curriculum design
strategies 47 counselling time 278–9 design and development in HPE
types of 171–7 counter-balance 288 42–3
verbal 121 counter-tension 288 versus instruction 42
word clouds 170 cover (gameplay element) 92 process 43
community 212 creativity, confident and creative curriculum documents 30
existence, factors 204 individuals 47 reflecting power and politics 112
healthy and active communities, criteria and goal-setting 97 curriculum outcomes 96
contributing to 58, 65 critical and creative thinking 47–8, 58, 67 curriculum planning 42
local community health promotion critical dimension (health literacy) 30–1, customary greetings 176–7
context 204–7 51, 183–4 cyber-bullying 166, 181–2, 189
needs of 124 critical inquiry approach 33, 119 cyber-safety 135–6
remote communities 199 critical thinking 32–3
as source of help 161–62 critical-inquiry approach 11, 13, 27, 51 dance 48, 171
community health 10, 58 cross-curriculum priorities 31, 45–6, 115, dance-specific performance 90
teaching about 110–36, 142–66, 122, 133, 188–9, 203, 297–8 reading dance 293
170–90, 194–216 representation 45 using composition elements for
see also personal, social and community role-playing as pedagogical approach planning 293–5
health (PSC) strand 159 dance education 292
community partnerships 33 sand play 242–3 authentic teaching of 293
compartmentalisation 299 Csikszentmihalyi and Bennett’s gameplay dance movement levels 293
compassion 48–9 92, 261 defining characteristics 292
competence/competencies 10, 12, 16, 35, culminating event 272–3 planning 293–5
50, 232, 286, 300, 302 cultural differences 177 dangers 261, 301–2
competent sportspeople 271 cultural identity 270 data
competition 9, 36, 249 culture 144, 157 informing practice 118, 134
formal 272 cultural rituals 157, 159 recording observational data 97
comprehension 245 cultural significance of physical activity reliable 99
Comprehension/Understanding 73–6 67 data collection 48, 249
concentration 174–5 cultural values 270 debates 190
conceptualisation 284–5 of sport 269–75 debriefing 121
INDEX 309
decision making 6, 11, 30–1, 51, 142–66, drugs 59, 119, 189 improvement through policy 115
186, 230, 277, 300 dynamics 294 learning environments 142–7
consequences 268 outdoor 66
deciding on assessment strategy 100 early intervention 194–5 physical activity social determinant 16
informed decisions 12, 148, 164 education safe and supportive 142–7, 157, 162,
making appropriate decisions 266, 268 about the physical, through the physical 164–5
decisions made (gameplay element) 92 see physical education seeking answers from 234
Declaration of Alma-Ata 5 critical life-shaping role 44 ‘test-tube’ environment 261
deep learning 83–4, 87 educational bodies, accountability of 25 equality 49, 119
assessing 77–8 educative purposes focus (HPE) 11, 50 versus equity 197
transition to 76–7 fad-driven education systems 13 equilibration 233
deep understanding 130 HPE see Health and Physical Education equilibristics/balance 295
deficit health model 111 outcomes-based 88 equilibrium 234
dependence 230 outdoor and adventure education equipment 42, 250, 286
devastation 302 298–303 non-traditional 249
developmental circus arts (DCA) 295 physical see physical education physical-activity equipment 249
developmentally appropriate learning, Piaget’s impact on 233 equity 119, 195–7
planning for 222–50 Quality Physical Education 34–5 versus equality 197
diabetes 201–2 Education Council 110 error-detection abilities 245
diaries 131 educational gymnastics 286 esteem
difference 177 effective programs 287–92 needs for 194–5
differentiation strategies 130, 228, 244 knowledge in 287–91 see also self-esteem
digital citizenship 136 locomotion skills in 291 ethical behaviour 58, 67
digital information 48, 136 stability skills in 287–91 ethical practice 196–7
dilemma 190 educational outcomes 8, 27 ethical principles 49
direct instruction 257, 261, 272 effective feedback 118 ethical responsibility 32
components 258 egg rolls 289 ethical understanding 47–9
versus teacher-led ‘talking from the front elaborations 46 ethics 300
of the class’-style 257–8 emoticons 181 ethnicity 88
disadvantage 119 emotional abuse 162 ethos 31, 33, 113, 117, 123, 197, 210–11
disaster 302 emotional health 6 evaluation 123
disciplinary knowledge 45–6 emotional growth 24 of health programs 131–2
discipline strategies 42, 261 emotional regulation 157 Evaluation/Evaluating 73–4, 77
disclosure 121–2, 162, 302 emotions 58, 65, 78, 172, 178–81 ‘Every Student, Every School’ strategy
discrimination 177, 274 of babies and small children 178 119
disease expressing 180 evidence
‘disruption to health’ 4–5 hiding/masking 178–9 of achievement 63, 100
health-promotion messages for empathy 49, 178 evidence-based information 134
reduction of 24 empowerment 29, 110–11, 115 evidence–expertise integration 13
non-communicable 24–5, 27 enclosure 234 innovative and evidence-informed
prevention of 194 encouragement 249 approaches 196–7
disequilibration 235 endorphins 225 evidence-based practice 13
disjunctive concepts 89 ‘end-zone’ invasion games 265 evidence-based implementation of
distance 47 energy 294 health promoting schools 114
distributed leadership 115 energy expenditure 8 examinations 88–90
diversity 13, 49, 51, 119, 123, 150, 157, engagement 229, 250, 285 examples 258
177, 204, 214–15 English 45, 125, 177 exclusion 119, 250
in communication 176–7 English as an additional language or dialect excursions 209, 250
at lunchtime 202–3 (EAL/D) 196, 205 exercise 224–5
valuing 58, 65 enthusiastic sportspeople 271 clichés regarding 276
documentation enveloping 234 exercise–boredom–no fun connections
curriculum documents 30, 112 environmental skills 300, 302–3 16
Quality Teaching, Successful Students environmental stewardship 298 Exercise Science 22
118 environment(s) 117, 123 expectations 120
for scope and sequence 125–7 adapting to 155 high 118, 134
syllabus documents 72 classroom environments 146–7 experience 237
domestic violence 162 connecting to 58, 65 experience-based learning 284–6
‘Dr Google’ 187 constructing for engagement 229 components and reasons for use
drill down 268 Health Promoting Schools Framework 285–6
drug education 133 component 31, 33, 113, 210–11 criteria 285
310 INDEX
experience(s) 143, 278, 284–303 formal competition 272 games classification system 264–5
age-appropriate 16 formal development mode 87 games-centred approaches 262–3
in communication 170–1 Formal operational development stage based on TGfU 266–9
concrete 284–5 234 conclusions regarding 269
for learning see learning experiences formal testing 88–90 see also teaching games for
experiential education see outdoor and formative assessment 74, 76–7, 82–3, understanding (TGfU) instruction
adventure education 95–8, 127, 260 model
experiential learning approaches 122, limitations and strengths 96 gender 88, 257
299 summative–formative assessment differences in tasks abilities 261
experiential learning theory (Kolb) distinction 96 gender roles, role of media in 184–7
284–5 forward rolls 289 gender-based discrimination 274
experimentation 284–5, 302 Foundation year 62, 64–5, 155–6 gender-based violence 185–6
explicit direct-instruction teaching emotions and 178 gender-neutrality 186
strategies 259 four-level rating scales 94 general capabilities 45–9, 135
explicit teaching 118, 134 ‘freeze, rewind and play’ 159 representation 45
exploration 229, 302 friendship 186 generalising 86
expression 24, 36, 48, 59, 121, 179, fruit 202 generalist primary teachers 25–6, 117
284–303 frustration 235 genetic predisposition 244
see also rhythmic and expressive fun 16–17, 301 geographic space 115
movement functional dimension (health literacy) 30, Geography 125
extended abstract response 86–7 51, 183–4 geometric forms 294
external providers 117 fundamental movement phase 238 gestures 172
extra-curricular or co-curricular activities fundamental movement skills (FMS) give and take 175
9, 110 10, 14–16, 23, 26, 90, 229, 243–4, global conflict 22
extrapolation 75 286–7 global warming 189
eye contact 173–4, 176–7 acquiring 255 goal-based invasion games 265
applying outcomes and standards when goals 149, 299
Facebook 166 teaching 255 global health goals 198–9
facial expressions 172, 180 assessing proficiency 260 group goals 273
facilitational skills 300 assessment limitations 261 goal-setting 97, 186, 299
‘failing’ 154 classification 254–5 ‘Golden guidelines + Breaking down
failure 36, 154–5 classification and examples 243–4 health jargon’ 33
fair play 36, 49 curricular links 256 GPS 135
fairness 48–9, 119, 276 defined 254–61 grading rubrics 93
falls-prevention program 205–6 learning assistance 257–9 grading systems 95
families 119, 157 learning components 254 graphs 48
‘fear of missing out’ (‘FOMO’) 182 poor 59 Grim Reaper 200
feedback 230, 259, 273 reasons for students learning gross motor skills, developed through
effective 118, 134 255–6 sensory play 242
precise 245 reasons for teaching 256 group discussion 79
providing 96–7, 245 success criteria of FMS proficiency group work 11, 271
receiving 26 258 groups, walking/cycling 249
feelings 36, 78, 121, 180 teaching using physical education growth factor-1 (IGF-1) 224
festivity 273 model, conclusions 261 guardians
‘fight, flight or freeze’ response 163, 178 which FMS to learn 256–7 information presentation 14–15
fine motor skills, developed through funding 134, 198, 206–7 see also carers; parents
sensory play 242 fundraisers 249 guard/mark (gameplay element) 92
first person 120 guided imagery 190
fitness 66 game appreciation 266–7 guided practice 258–9, 269, 272
decline in 16 Game Performance Assessment Instrument gymnasiums 249
propaganda 23 (GPAI) 92 gymnastics 48
Fitts and Posner’s learning stages model gameplay 92, 261, 266, 274 educational gymnastics 286
244–6 game-playing 90 gymnastics-inclusive curriculum
five-level rating scales 94 games 59, 250, 258, 266 286
floor acrobatics 295 classification 265 Gymnastics Australia 286
flow, continuum for dance movement contextual and cognitive challenges
294 presented in 262 habits
food, needs for 194 of similar intent 264 eating habits 122
food and nutrition (FN) 59 versions of 250 health habits 16, 28
Food Cent$ at the Foodbank 205–6 games and sports (GS) 59 hand–eye coordination 264, 284
INDEX 311
hanging (suspension) 290–1 reduced curriculum time being given health delivery component 194–200
sequences 291 to 26 ‘It’s easy being green’ strategy 206
Harmony Day 203, 214–16 strands 4, 7 local community context 204–7
celebrating 215–16 teaching opportunities 131 by people and with people 198
statistics 215 health benefits of physical activity (HBPA) schools as viable forum for 110
hazards 301 59 state and territory context 203–4
health 15–16, 48, 51, 64, 133 health education 7–8, 142–8 students as advocates for 12, 111
of Australians 201–7 Australian history 110–12 whole-school approaches to 194–216
being healthy, safe and active 58 current place of 116–17 ‘health-ease–dis-ease’ continuum 116
of the community see community health defined 6–7 health-promoting school initiatives 213–14
current health discourses 189 governmental pressure – housing health-promoting schools approach 32, 113
defining 4–6 agendas 111–12 see also whole-school approaches
dimensions 5–6 nomenclature (and subsumation) 110 health-promotion campaigns 200–1
dynamic and relative nature 4–5, 26 objectives 111 health-promotion strategies 195–6
fundamental conditions and resources pedagogy and teaching issues 110–36 health-related learning outcomes 89
for 194 role in Australian schools 110–17 Healthy and Active School Communities
health habits 16, 28 WHO definitions 6–7, 110 208
health-inspired sanctions 30 whole-life relevance 142 healthy lifestyles 4
as holistic concept 5 see also Health and Physical Education hearing 240
HPE focus 12 health equity 196–7 Hellison’s teaching personal and social
HPE strand 4, 7 health literacy 7, 27–34, 58, 65, 183–9 responsibility through physical education
personal see personal health core components 32 (TPSR) model 275–9
scientific ‘truth’ regarding 26, 111 as cornerstone of HPE Curriculum 29 help, communication to access 187–9
social see social health critical lens use 116 ‘helping hand, the’ 163
social determinants of 31, 33, 187, debate regarding 28 help-seeking behaviour 58, 64, 159–64,
197 developing 11, 51, 116 186
Health and Physical Education (HPE) 10, dimensions 51 role-playing example 162
45 discussions regarding 28–9 high blood pressure 202
addressing society’s ills and needs 8, domains 31 high expectations 118, 134
12, 42 high health literacy 187 higher-order thinking skills 98, 164
assessment strategies 88–94 HPE and 30–1 History 125
in Australian schools 25–6 low health literacy 187–8 Hobart Declaration 25, 110
curriculum design and development recommendations for optimal 188–9 holistic learning 298
42–3 teaching 165 homework 248
curriculum inclusion rationale and three-level model 29, 32 ‘hot seat, the’ 165
context 15–16, 50–2 health outcomes 188 HPE assessment
defining 4–11 health programs learning taxonomies in 72–87
disjunctive/conjunctive concepts 89 evaluating 131–2 strategies for 88–94
experiential learning in 284–6 evaluation cycle for 123 HPE learning outcomes 88–9
focus – health, safety, wellbeing and guiding frameworks and principles Humanities and Social Sciences 45, 117
physical activity 12 122–4 humour 121
general capabilities integration 47–9 needs analysis 124–5 hygiene 24, 158
health literacy and 30–1 quality programs for inclusivity 13 hypotheses 234
historical and political focus 22–5 scope and sequence 125–7
HPE curriculum inclusion rationale Health Promoting Schools Framework 5, identity 32, 48, 58, 64, 119, 133, 157
and context 15–16, 50–2 113–17, 119, 122, 134, 203–4, 210–16 cultural 270
as learning area 4, 22 challenges 114 factors shaping 151
origins 12 curriculum and pedagogy component impact of success and failure on
outdoor and adventure education in 210 154–5
298–303 evidence-based implementation of 114 Who am I? 149–55
participation barriers 16–17 further development 212–13 illness, prevention of 194
performance-based assessment in key areas 204 images 286
90–4 partnership and services component imagination 190, 297
planning and designing assessment in 211–12 Imitation 81–2
99–103 school organisation, ethos and immunisation 111–12
program alignment with curriculum 44 environment component 31, 33, 113, implementation
quality HPE see quality Health and 210–11 components 114–15
Physical Education health promotion 58, 65 of health promoting schools 114
reasons for teaching in curriculum in Australia 196–8 improvisation 297
11–12 effects – global to local 198–200 incapacity, prevention of 194
312 INDEX
incidents 301–2 instructional skills 300 language 145, 157, 177
inclusive practice 51–2, 119, 279 integrated outdoor or adventure education enhanced skills through sensory play 241
circle concept 161 programs 299 of safety 156
communication 171 integration 211, 240 Languages 45, 117
correct terminology 145 of movement activities 249 leadership 58, 67, 115, 273
diversity 150 integrity 48–9 flexible leadership style 300
diversity at lunchtime 203 intellectual flexibility 298 learners
PE lessons 263 interaction 64–5 characteristics 229, 246
program/programming perspectives for healthy relationships and wellbeing considerations for designing
13 58 developmentally appropriate activities
quality resources 135 of peers 274 for learners at different stages 246–8
resilience 153 social interactions 32 in differing stages 246
strengths-based approach 148 interactive dimension (health literacy) 30, future-proofed learners 44
students with ASD 179 51, 183–4 healthy children – better learners 224
teaching FMS 257 interactive whiteboards 135 learners’ needs 228–9
TREE model 247–8 intercultural understanding 47, 49 successful 47
whole-school approach to mental interdependence 230, 303 learning 27
health 208 interest (or lack of) 174 assessment of and for learning 84, 88,
independence 11, 48, 230, 232 interests 144 98–9
independent practice 259 Internalising or Characterising values categorising levels see Bloom’s taxonomy
index of community socio educational 80–1 centrality of 130
advantage (ICSEA) 205 International Union for Health Promotion developmentally appropriate see
Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander and Education (IUHPE) 113 developmentally appropriate learning
people 199, 201 Internet 30, 44, 135 domains 34, 72–84
Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander safety on 48 experiential 284–6
students 205 as source of help 160 explicit 50
individual performance tasks 34 interpersonal skills 298 fallacy 270
infancy 233 interpretation 75, 90 how we learn 72–87
information subjective 93 learning cognitive and physical skills
comprehension of 29 interpreters 177 concurrently 296
critical appraisal of 31 interruption 120–1, 162–3 lifelong learning 14, 44
currency of 134 intervention 122, 226–8 maximising by doing 240
digital 48 ‘levers’ 204 motor learning 240
discerning consumers of 47–8 intrapersonal skills 298 ongoing professional learning 26, 115
finding new sources 132–6 intuitive mode 87 postural learning for females 22
presentation of 14–15 invasion (territorial) games 92, 264–5 prior learning 130, 285
providing 258 modifications 265 skill–learning continuum 245–6
regarding evaluation 132 inverted balances 287 stages 244–6
unconnected 85 through movement 58
unprecedented volumes of 13 jigsaw approach 295 transition from surface learning to
utilising 94 journals 171 deeper learning 76–7
information and communication judgement 99–100, 131 see also authentic learning
technology (ICT) 42, 48, 181–3 experience-based 300 learning areas 9–10, 36
capability 47 juggling and manipulation 295 ‘core’ 117
infrastructure 115 HPE as 4, 22, 25–6
initiatives 205–7 learning area-specific terminology 47
kidney disease 201
innovative and evidence-informed organisation of 45
KidsMatter 163, 208, 214
approaches 196–7 ‘physical training’ during First World
kindness 48–9
input 258 War 22
kitchen-garden program 208–9
instruction learning community 124
knowledge 50, 143, 254–79
versus curriculum design process 42 learning domains 34, 36, 72
disciplinary 45–6
instructional issues with sport learning environments, safe and supportive
in educational gymnastics 287–91
education 273 142–7
knowledge structures 72
phylogenetic movement development learning experiences 11, 31, 48, 298
practical 32
without 254 aligning 125
regarding movement 229
quality methods 14 embedded resources 134
theoretical 32
tailoring to learners’ needs 228–9 experience-based learning criteria 285
transferral 94
teaching FMS using physical education mapping to health literacy levels 33
Knowledge/Remembering 73–5
instruction model 261 McCuaig’s design domains 31
Kolb’s experiential learning theory 284–5
instructional materials 42 planning 228
INDEX 313
learning opportunities 14, 245 meaning 130, 285 and the brain 225
learning outcomes 8, 32–3, 130 social meaning 272 calming effect of 224–5
demonstrating 101 media 30, 48 centrality to HPE 11
health-related 89 advances 15 competencies 35
matching test items to 88 roles 184–7 concepts and strategy development
prediction of 75 sexualisation of 185–6 58, 66
learning pathway 103 social 48, 200 elements 66
learning programs, lack of 29 see also advertisements fundamental movement skills 23
learning taxonomies 72–87, 278 meetings 131 importance of 57
Bloom’s see Bloom’s taxonomy Melbourne Declaration on Educational learning through 58, 67
SOLO see structure of observed Goals for Young Australians (Melbourne for life 284–303
learning outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy Declaration) 13, 15, 44–5 linking students with 10
lectures 171 memorising/memory 74, 82, 84 personal and social attributes of 35
lesson outcomes 258 menstruation 158 as powerful learning medium 16
lesson plans 42, 127–31, 228 mental health 6, 119, 133, 189 for purpose 254–79
sample 129 whole-school approach to 208 rhythmic and expressive 48, 286–97
lesson-based activities 9–10 mental health and wellbeing (MH) 59 rules, tactics and strategies of 35
LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender mental sharpness 225 skills 15–16, 254
and intersex) people 189 mentoring 273 socially driven see orthogenetic
liberty of activity 267 messages 30, 173, 184–5 movement
‘Life. Be in it’ campaign 200 giving and receiving 172 teaching about 222–50, 254–79,
life expectancy 222–3 making sense of 184–9 284–303
life phases 28 teachers conveying messages see twisting movements 289
lifelong learning 44 education understanding 58, 66–7
lifelong physical activities (LLPA) 59 see also advertisements valuing 11–12, 27, 50–1
Lifestyle of our Kids (LOOK) longitudinal metacognition 72, 85, 98 movement and physical activity (MPA)
study 224 metre (time signature) 293–4 strand 7, 11, 56–9, 66–7
lifestyles 144 micro-expressions 172 movement competence 286
active versus sedentary 222–3 milestones 157, 159 movement skills
healthy 4 Millennium Development Goals 199 refining 58, 66
listening 115, 171, 173–5 mindfulness 175 teaching of a movement skill in
Literacy 299 mindmaps 190 isolation 90, 92, 257, 261
literacy 27–36, 47, 117, 284 mindsets 86, 298 multiculturalism 49, 176–7
skills integration example 61–2 whole-child-development mindset 285 multi-structural response 86–7
also under individual literacy Ministerial Council on Education, ‘mums and bubs’ activity group 206
literate sportspeople 271 Employment, Training and Youth Affairs muscle groups 242
locomotion skills 254 (MCEETYA) 44 My School website 205
critical learning questions associated misadventure 302 myolin 246
with 291 modalities of physical engagement 267
in educational gymnastics 291 modalities of scoring 267 NAPCAN 163
locomotor skills 244, 264–5 modelling 258–9 National Assessment Program of Literacy
log rolls 289 models-based practice 262–9 and Numeracy (NAPLAN) 117
logs 131 mood 225 National Health and Nutrition Examination
love, needs for 194–5 moral outcomes, justification for teaching Survey 224
low socioeconomic areas 205, 276 276–8 National Research Council 72
lower-order thinking skills 98 moral values 276 national testing 117
‘lucky dip’ 190 more knowledgeable other (MKO) 231 natural disasters 189
motivation 33, 202, 279 natural resources 298
management skills 286 motivational and behavioural skills of Naturalisation 81, 83–4
mandatory reporting 121–2, 162 movement 35 needs 60, 124, 144
Manipulation 81–2 motor development addressing physical needs of society see
manipulative mode 87 phases 237–44 physical education
manipulative/object-control skills 244, sequential across lifespan 237–8 catering for ranges of 143–4
254 stages 239 developmental needs of beginners
mannerisms 173 motor learning 240 versus more advanced 244
marginalisation 11, 117, 274 motor skills, fine and gross 242 learners in differing stages 246
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 194–5 movement 12 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 194–5
Mathematics 45, 125 acquiring balance when stopping 288 meeting 144, 149
maturity/maturation 157, 229, 233 benefits for the brain 224–8 tailoring curricula and instruction to
maturity continuum 230 body movement 8, 58, 66 learners’ needs 228–9
314 INDEX
needs analysis 123–5 physical education’s focus 8 performance 244, 262, 266, 268–9
factors for consideration 124 unpacking 100 bettering 266
negativity 175 see also learning outcomes criteria 36
neglect 162 outcomes-based education 88 performance tasks 34
negotiation 171–2, 175–6, 279 outdoor and adventure education 298–303 performance-based assessment, in HPE
strategy steps 176 adventure experience paradigm 302 90–4
nervous system 224 teacher activities preparation 299–303 persistence 156
net and wall games 92, 264 types for primary-school students personal, social and community health
modifications 264 298–9 (PSC) strand 7, 30, 56–9, 64–5
network review 156 outdoor environments 66 personal and social capability 48
networking 27, 132, 135 overconfidence 301 Personal Development, Health, and
networks 240 overweight 200–2 Physical Education (PDHPE) 10, 256
neural pathways 240 ownership 98, 115, 146 personal health, teaching about 110–36,
neurological impulse 240 142–66, 170–90, 194–216
neurotransmitters 224–5 palm oil use 189 personal skills 52, 298
New South Wales Department of paraphrasing 75 philosophy 80
Education 118 parents 14, 120, 182, 209 phylogenetic movement 254
‘no put-down zone’ rule 49 clear strategies and ideas for 151 physical (biological) maturation 229, 233
non-communicable disease 24–5 communicating with 170–1 physical abuse 162
‘pandemic’ (WHO) 27 disclosure of risks to 302 physical activities
non-verbal communication 121 information presentation 14–15 clichés regarding 276
‘normality’ 145, 254 interviews with 177 values and attitudes testing 277–8
nouns, to verb form 74 as resources 157 physical activity 8–9, 64, 66
numeracy 47–8, 117 untrained 246 cultural significance of 67
Nutbeam’s (three-level) health literacy see also carers; guardians differentiation from physical education
model 29, 32–3 participation 36, 52, 115, 209, 249 and sport 8–11
nutrition 11, 24, 48, 59, 122, 133 equitable 49 forms 8
in movement 292 fostering opportunities in schools
obesity 42, 189, 200–2 obstacles to 155 248–50
object-control skill 264 testimonials use 250 government recommendations 9
observation partnership and services component 31, health benefits 59, 222–9
observing and teaching primary HPE 33, 113, 120, 124, 211–12 HPE focus 12
lessons 26 partnerships 206–7 insufficient access to 16
recording data 97 effective 115 lifelong 10, 15–16, 59
reflective 284–5 passive manner 173 opportunities 48, 248–50
systematic and sophisticated 90 Passport for Life 36 physical, mental and social benefits
‘one-step-removed’ strategy 120, 156 peak experiences 301–2 222–3
online resources 48, 133 pedagogic leadership 115 teaching about 222–50, 254–79,
open-ended tasks 85 pedagogy 27, 300 284–303
operational mode 87 curriculum and pedagogy component Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour
opinions 80, 130 210 Guidelines for Children 249
orange 215 embedded resources 134 physical appearance 157
organisation guiding health education principles/ physical changes 157
of learning areas 45 pedagogies 117–22 physical domain 34, 36, 298
school organisation 31, 33, 113, 123, guiding questions 130 physical education 9–11, 254–79
210–11 in health education 110–36 beliefs, perceptions and attitudes
organisation centres health-literacy pedagogy and regarding importance of 25
design 53–5 assessment 32–4 closure and conclusions 258
example – cooperation unit outline physical-literacy pedagogy and as cross-domains instructional program 10
53–4 assessment 35–6 defined 8
organisational skills 300 seven pedagogies for improving student differentiation from physical activity
Organising and Conceptualising 80 learning 118–19, 136 and sport 8–11
orthogenetic movement 254 socio-critical 116 early 22
osteoporosis 226 technique-driven 266 focus 8
Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (the pedometers 206 HPE strand 4, 7
Charter) 5, 195–6 peer assessment 98 models-based practice in 262–9
outcomes 27, 32–3, 88, 96, 130, 188, 258 peer pressure 16, 176, 301 nomenclature 10
applying when teaching FMS 255 peers 230 philosophy 10
attainment 134 judgement of 100 sample program 60–1
HPE outcomes, strategies for 94–9 pencil rolls 289 sport education model of 270–3
INDEX 315
teaching FMS 261 political action 29 Programme for International Student
traditional approaches limitations 262 populations, active and healthy 12, 15 Assessment (PISA) 118
traditional lessons 257 pornography industry 186 programming 125
‘understanding approach’ to 266 positioning 235 sequential and developmentally
for women 23 post-war era 22–4 appropriate 229
see also movement and physical activity power 51 proprioception 240
(MPA) strand practical knowledge 32 pro-social behaviour 36
physical elements 269 practice protective behaviour 162–4
physical health 6, 295 assessment-based practice 90 Protective Behaviours 156
physical learning 285 data informing 118, 134 protective factors 151–53, 182
physical literacy 34–6, 284 deliberate 259 protective interrupting 120–3, 156, 162–3
core elements 35 educational practice regarding health psychological domain 298
QPE and 34–5 literacy assessment 33 psychology 11
physicality 296 effect on orthogenetic movement 254 Piaget’s impact on 233
physiological needs 194–5 ethical 196–7 psychomotor domain 81–4
physiology 11 evidence-based see evidence-based psychosocial (emotional–social) maturation
Piaget, Jean practice 229
cognitive development stages 85, 233–7 good teaching practice 301 psychosocial domain 298
Piagetian modes 87 guided practice 258–9 puberty 7, 24, 133, 143, 155, 157–8
planners 126–7 inclusive see inclusive practice public health 112
planning 27 models-based 262–9 ‘put-downs’ 120
assessment tasks 99–100 quality HPE practice foundations
curriculum planning 42 13–16 quality Health and Physical Education
for dance education using dance using data to inform 118 (HPE) 14, 22–7
composition elements 293–5 practice stage 245 decline of 27
for developmentally appropriate Precision 81–3 quality health education 117–22
learning 222–50 prejudice 119 guiding principles and pedagogies
an HPE curriculum 42–3 Preoperational development stage 234, 117–22
planning and designing assessment in 236–7 quality of life 187, 195
HPE 99–103 pre-structural response 85, 87 Quality Physical Education (QPE),
units, lessons and learning experiences 228 presumptions 119 physical literacy and 34–5
plasticity 262 preventive measures 161 Quality Physical Education (QPE):
play 35, 59, 261 primary curriculum, reasons for teaching Guidelines for Policymakers 34–6
fair play 36, 49 HPE in 11–12 Quality Teaching, Successful Students 118, 122
fostering 249 primary Health and Physical Education, Queensland School Curriculum Council,
importance of 57 authentic learning and assessment in Health and Physical Education 256
sensory 240–3 72–103 questioning 88–9
Play practice approach see games-centred primary-school settings 110 quality of 89–90
approaches experience-based learning, reasons for strategies 98
players’ rights 267 use in 285–6 questionnaires 34, 131
Playing for Life: Circus Companion Book historical and political HPE focus 22–5
296–7 Who am I at primary school? 151–55
racism 177
policies, procedures and practices 31, 120, primary-school students
rapport 178, 286
123, 164 outdoor and adventure education types
rating scales 90, 93–4
anti-bullying policies/practices 110, 186 for 298–9
benefits and contention regarding 93
compliance with 136 teaching basic circus arts to 296
rationale (curriculum) 15–16, 45
concerning safety 142–3 prior learning 130, 285
developing 50–2
contributing to development of 115 problem solving 84, 88, 116, 130, 229,
reading 29
impacting on health 6 278–9, 300
reasoning 234
policies emphasising holistic human ‘process’ tasks 90
recall 74, 84, 98
development 35 process-orientated FMS assessments 260
Receiving 78–9
policies inclusive of cross-curricular ‘product’ tasks 90
recordkeeping 98, 273
plans 115 product-orientated FMS assessments 260
recording observational data 97
policies reinforcing curriculum and professional conduct 196
written records 131
learning 110 professional development 269
recreation 12
science-informed policy 13 professional ethics 300
reflection 148, 228, 279, 300
significant gaps 29 professional judgement see judgement
activities and tools 190
workplace health and safety (WHS) professional learning 115
activities to encourage 190
policies 301–2 ongoing 26
guiding questions 130
see also practice opportunities 189
questions to define issues 190
316 INDEX
reflective observation 284–5 rhythmic and expressive activities (RE) 59 Science and Technology 45, 125
reflective thinking 285 rhythmic and expressive movement 48, scope and sequence 123
reflexive movement phase 238 286–97 of curriculum content 64–7
rehabilitation 195 risk (health) model 111 documents 125–7
relational response 86–7 risk approach 116 ‘screen time,’ addiction to 42
relationships 86, 119 risk assessment 301 screening programs 111–12
between body and mind 87 risk factors 151–52 seasonality 209
building 52, 144–5, 152, 158, 171, 178, impacting on resilience 183 seasons 271
298 risk management 11, 36 Second World War 22–4
effective working relationships 115 risk reduction 301–2 second-language acquisition 172
engaging in 12 risks 14, 122, 302 sedentary behaviour 15
healthy relationships, communicating identification 301 government recommendations 9
for 170–90 risk-taking 295 sedentary lifestyles, active versus sedentary
between humans and the environment risking on purpose 156 222–3
300 rituals 157, 159 SeeMe 186
maintaining 6, 149 road-safety policies 110 self-actualisation, needs for 194–5
respectful 49, 52, 209 rocking 288 self-assessment 98
relationships and sexuality (RS) 59 role modelling 157, 174, 179, 249 self-awareness 32
religion 144, 157 role-playing 90, 158, 165, 176, 190 self-care 230
replication 84 roles 115 self-concept 6, 12
reporting (mandatory) 121–2, 162 rolls 234, 289 self-confidence 6, 33–4, 295
research 12, 32, 124, 277 rotation 234, 289 self-efficacy 31, 298
informing health education 7 rubrics 93 self-esteem 6, 157, 186, 284
informing physical education 10 rudimentary movement phase 238 role of media in 184–7
regarding health literacy assessment 33 rules 84 self-identity 52, 149–55
research-based evidence 13 considerations 267 self-listening 175
resilience 6, 12, 52, 153–5, 295 ground rules establishment 120 self-management 48
protective factors impacting on 153, ‘no put-down zone’ rule 49 self-reflection 278
182 rule structures, appreciation of 36 self-respect 176
risk factors impacting on 183 self-talk 175
resources 60, 148, 296 Safe Schools 208 sense of humour 121
access to 50, 130 safety 15–16, 64, 133, 142–7 sense of self 6, 12, 52
Australian-focused 134 HPE focus 12 senses 240
conditions and resources for health 194 language of 156 sensitive content 119–21
contributing to development of 115 needs for 194–5 sensitivity 171, 276
disintegration of boundary-less personal safety program 156 Sensorimotor development stage 234,
resources 135 responsibility for 11 236–7
health as resource (WHO) 5 safe and supportive environments sensory integration 240–1
lack of 29 142–7, 157, 162, 164–5 sensory play 240–3
lack of satisfaction with 120 safety (S) 59 sensory–motor mode 87
local community members as 205 safety rules for teaching circus arts 297 sentences 88
locating 132–6 safety skills 300–2 sentence stems 190
natural 298 safety strategies 163–4 services 33, 124
online 48, 133 salutogenic approach 116, 147 ad hoc support from health services
quality resources 134–5 same-sex marriage 189 29
regarding HPE teaching 132–3 sand play 242–3 Health Promoting Schools Framework
sharing 198 scaffolding 296 component 31, 33, 113, 211–12
for understanding and recognising effective 232–3 sexual abuse 162
emotions 180 scale (of dance movement) 293–4 sexualisation 185–6
utilising 12, 116, 119 schemas 229, 234–5 sexuality 59, 119, 133
respect 48–9, 285 existing 235 sexuality education 156, 158–9
Respectful Relationships Education in school organisation, ethos and environment Victorian Government 208
Schools (RREiS) 209 component 31, 33, 113, 123, 210–11 shape 293
Responding 79 school settings 110 Shape of the Australian Curriculum, The
Response Ability 207–8 health and wellbeing program delivery 44–5
responsibility 277 environments 15 Sharing Our Journey 151
irresponsibility to 278 health promoting schools 209–16 shelter, needs for 194
review 115, 118, 122–4 school structures 142–3 ‘shock value’ 200
of networks 156 school-based initiatives 226–8 shoulder rolls 289
rhythm 294 science, informing policy 13 showcasing 144, 249
INDEX 317
Siedentop’s sport education model 262, special needs students ?? 257 strategies
269–75 specialised movement phase 239 allowing demonstration of learning
sight 240 specialist HPE teachers/teaching 25–6, outcomes 101
simple sentence structure 88 117, 224 for change management 157
singing 171 speeches 171 for classroom management 134
skeletal muscle 8 speed (tempo) 293 communication strategies 47
‘skill, drill and game’ format 257 spiritual health 6 contributing to development of 115
skill execution (gameplay element) 92, spoken communication 171 covering needs of learners in differing
266, 268–9 sport 9, 12 stages 246
skill–learning continuum 245–6 central, civilising role (Schirato) decisions regarding 100
skills 12, 45–6, 50, 52, 143, 254–79, 300 269–70 direct instruction 257
acquisition of 254, 272 clichés regarding 276 for discipline 42
basic reading and writing skills 29 differentiation from physical activity embedded resources 134
development in a less pressurised and physical education 8–11 ‘Every Student, Every School’ strategy
environment see gymnastics exploring context and culture using 119
environmental skills 302–3 sport education model 269–75 explicit 134, 259
locomotion skills 254, 291 fallacy 270 for fostering physical-activity
movement skills 15–16, 254 modifying 247 opportunities in schools 248–50
safety skills 300–2 opportunities 52 health-promotion strategies 195–6
stability skills 254, 287–91 participation 23 HPE assessment strategies 88–99
technical skills 300 school-based 9 for HPE outcomes 94–9
see also fundamental movement skills sport-specific performance 90 ‘one-step-removed’ strategy 120
smell 240 sport education approach, teaching promoting health, safety and wellbeing
social action 29 movement, conclusions 274–5 164
social changes 157 sport education model 262, 269–75 questioning strategies 98
social constructs 4, 9, 111 goals 271 rules, tactics and strategies of
social development 229 instructional issues with sport movement 35
social development theory (Vygotsky) education 273 for safety 163–4
231–3 key features 271–3 seven protective behaviours strategies
social domain 34, 36, 285 stability skills 243, 254, 264 156
social ‘exemptions’ 276 balances, rolls and rocking 287–9 for use with formative assessment
social health 6 in educational gymnastics 287–91 practices 97–8
teaching about 110–36, 142–66, involving suspension 290–1 used in conjunction with TPSR model
170–90, 194–216 staff–student competitions 249 278–9
see also personal, social and community stakeholder readiness 115 strengths 144, 148–9, 157
health (PSC) strand stakeholders 113 ‘I am a star!’ 150
social inclusion 119 standards nurturing 50
social interaction 231 for achievement see achievement strengths-based approach 11, 14, 27, 50,
social justice 51, 119, 123 standards 147–8
social learning 231 achievement standards 62–3 to expected behaviour 146
social media 48, 200 applying when teaching FMS 255 see also salutogenic approach
social networking 135 of professional conduct 196 stress 225, 301
social outcomes, justification for teaching standards-referenced criteria 95 stress balls 159
276–8 statements, unambiguous 88 striking and fielding games 92, 264–5
social problems 277 state/territory governments modifications 265
social relations 32, 48 aligning curricula with state/territory stroke 202
social responsibility perspective 277 authorities 44–5 structure of observed learning outcomes
Social Sciences 299 constitutional schooling and (SOLO) taxonomy 84–7, 98
social skills 29, 52 curriculum construction SOLO figures 85
society 6 responsibility 25, 110 structured choice 279
democratic societies 110 importance placed on literacy and student achievement see achievement
HPE addressing society’s ills and needs numeracy 117 student readiness 60, 229
8, 12, 42, 50 influences on health education 110 student voice 33, 115
HPE expectations–meeting mandatory reporting 162 mandatory reporting in absence of 162
expectations gap 28 policies concerning safety 142–3 student-centred approach 164, 274
productive, sustainable and just 45 resources funded/produced by 134 student-led conferences 98
sounds 286 stereotypes 52, 179, 184–6 students
space 294 role of media in 184–7 diversity of 123
continuum for dance movement 294 stewardship 298 EAL/D students 196, 205
spatial awareness 287 stimuli 286 getting to know 147–8
318 INDEX
HPE participation barriers 16–17 ‘talking from the front of the class’-style technique-driven pedagogy 266
Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander teaching 257–8 Technologies 45, 117, 125
students 205 target games 92, 264 technology
involvement in assessment process 96 modifications 264 advances 15
linking with movement 10 tasks 34, 85, 90, 94–5, 99–103, 237, 261 information and communication
perceptions of HPE changing with age taste 240 technology 48
16 taxonomies see learning taxonomies, technology-related issues 135–6
positive health behaviours 110–11 Anderson and Krathwohl’s 72, 74 tempo 293
primary-school see primary-school teachers territorial games see invasion (territorial)
students conveying messages 170 games
as ‘right’ type of citizens 25 as ‘educational architects’ 273 territory governments see state/territory
safety strategies development with effect of ZPD 233 governments
163–4 as ‘knowledge brokers’ 135 testing 117
showcasing strengths of 144 ongoing professional learning, role of 26 example – FMS test 260
student–teacher rapport 286 professional judgement of 99–100 ‘test-tube’ environment 261
values of 78, 80 specialist HPE teachers or classroom texts 171
success 36, 154–5, 246 generalists 25–6 theme reinforcement 156
recognising 154 teach the ‘how’ before teaching the themes 286
success criteria ‘why’ inclination 263 theoretical knowledge 32
of direct instruction 259 trustworthiness of 16 thinking 58, 67, 84, 88, 285
of FMS proficiency 258 untrained 246 about learning see metacognition
suicide 201 teaching capacities 6
summaries 48 about the body 155 ‘careful thought about something’ see
summative assessment 76–8, 83–4, 95–8, about movement and physical activity reflection
127, 260 222–50, 254–79, 284–303 critical and creative thinking 47–8
limitations and strengths 96 about personal, social and community critically see critical thinking
summative–formative assessment health 110–36, 142–66, 170–90, higher-order thinking skills 98
distinction 96 194–216 lower-order thinking skills 98
‘sun-safe’ policies 110 circus arts 295–7 teaching thinking players 262–3
SunSmart program 213–14 communication as key role 170 three R’s (Reading, wRiting and
superbugs 189 dance 292 aRithmetic) 142
supplemental outdoor or adventure difficulties associated with HPE 25 three-level rating scales 93
education experiences 299 educational gymnastics 286 time 174, 178
support 272 explicit 118 competing priorities for curriculum
accessing 148 fundamental movement skills 255 time 29
ad hoc support from health services health literacy 165 continuum for dance movement 294
29 ‘talking from the front of the class’-style time allocation 42
external support, lack of satisfaction teaching 257–8 timeliness 148, 171
with 120 theoretical and conceptual teaching timing 293–4
financial 115 models 300 toddlerhood 233
in multiple ways over time 116–17 using games-centred approaches 262–3 tone (of voice) 172
of resources 134 values and attitudes 277–8 touch 240
safe and supportive environments ‘windows’ 231 traditional land owners 177
142–7, 157 teaching games for understanding (TGfU) Traffic Accident Commission’s (TAC)
support (gameplay element) 92 instruction model 262, 266–9 campaigns 200
surface learning 84 phases 266 training 26
surface understanding 74–5, 83, 87 teaching instruction model 274–5 lack of satisfaction with 120
suspension 290–1 teaching personal and social responsibility traits 172–3
sustainability 46, 115 through physical education (TPSR) trajectory 234
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) model 275–9 transferral 86
199 defined 276 Transform-Us! 226–8
syllabus documents 72 goals 276 components 227–8
symmetry (of dance movements) 293–4 hierarchical level 278 theoretical basis 227
Synthesis/Creating 73–4, 78 taxonomy 278 transition 58, 64
teaching strategies used in conjunction changes and transitions 155–9
tables 48 with 278–9 from surface learning to deeper learning
tablets 135 terminology 276 76–7
tactical awareness 263, 266–7 teamwork 36, 58, 67, 279 from traditional classroom practices and
Tactical strategy see games-centred team practice sessions 273 assessments 285–6
approaches technical skills 300 translation 75
INDEX 319
transporting 235 verbs 75–7, 79–80, 82–4 to health promotion 194–216
treatment 195 defining understanding 100 Respectful Relationships Education in
TREE model 247–8 in descriptors 95 Schools 209
truancy 207 noun to verb form 74 wikis 135
trust 285 vestibular system 234, 240–1 words 145, 286
trustworthiness 16, 160 Victorian Curriculum and Assessment word clouds 170
Authority 256 work portfolios 90
understanding 36, 45–6, 50, 74–5, 83, violence 162, 185 working relationships, effective 115
130, 175, 178 vision 115 workplace health and safety (WHS)
checking for 258 vocabulary 88 policies 301–2
creating a ‘big picture’ of 78 voice, tone of 172 World Health Organization (WHO) 113,
differentiating the level of 100 see also student voice 198
emotions 58, 65 Vygotsky’s social development theory definition of health 4–5
ethical 47–9 231–3 definition of health education 6–7
intercultural 47, 49 definition of health promotion 194
movement 58, 66–7 ‘walking school bus’ 213 fundamental health conditions 194
uni-structural response 85, 87 wants 144 Health Promoting Schools Framework
unit overviews 127 water, needs for 194 see Health Promoting Schools
sample 128 weaknesses 144, 268 Framework
United Nations Educational, Cultural, weight 47 health promotion international context
and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) as reflection of body mass use 294 198–9
34–6, 113, 277 weight status 224 influences on health education 110
Quality Physical Education (QPE): wellbeing 4, 7–8, 15–16, 48, 51, 59, 64–5, interpretation of school health
Guidelines for Policymakers 34–6 118, 194, 276, 295 education 110
United Nations (UN) 198 communicating for 58, 170–90 non-communicable disease – ‘pandemic’
Millennium Development Goals 199 complex interactions result (AIHW) 5 27
units of work 123, 127–31, 228, 271, 274 concern for 285 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion
health literacy embedded across 31 health-promotion messages 24 195–6
title, sequence, duration, curriculum HPE focus 12, 134 writing 29
outcomes and additional information influences on 8 written records 131
125 mental wellbeing 182 written texts 171
upright balances 287 wellbeing–wellness terms 7–8
up-skilling 26, 194, 198 wellness 6–8 Years 1 and 2 62, 64–5, 157
physical health associations 7 Years 3 and 4 62, 64–5, 157
values 6, 36, 78, 80–1, 144, 157, 254–79 wellbeing–wellness terms 7–8 Years 5 and 6 63–5, 155–9, 296
cultural values 270 whole-school approaches 32–3, 36,
teaching 277–8 113–14, 119, 122, 207 zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Valuing 80 foci 31 231–3
vegetables 202 to health 207–9 application 233
verbal communication 121 health examples 207–8
320 INDEX

Teaching Quality Health and Physical Education PDF

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BRIEF CONTENTS

Part 1 Introduction to the area 1

Part 2 Understanding and teaching

Part 3 Understanding and teaching about

Part 1 Introduction to the area 1

Chapter 1 Introducing Health and Physical Education 3

Chapter 2 Understanding quality Health and Physical Education 21

Chapter 3 Overview of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education 41

Chapter 4 Authentic learning and assessment in primary Health and Physical

Chapter 5 Pedagogies and issues in teaching for health 109

Chapter 6 Exploring identity, help-seeking behaviour and decision making 141

Chapter 7 Communicating for healthy relationships and wellbeing 169

Chapter 8 Whole-school approaches to promoting health 193

Chapter 9 Planning for developmentally appropriate learning 221

Chapter 10 Moving for purpose: skills, knowledge and values 253

Chapter 11 Moving for life: experience and expression 283

BOOK FEATURES PART-OPENING FEATURES

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

Introduction to the area

2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting

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A mapping grid shows how the Part openers give a brief

into the book as a whole.

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FEATURES WITHIN CHAPTERS

Example boxes provide information or

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FOR CHILDREN AT A GLANCE

how teaching HPE relates to and informs

At the end of each

understand what HPE

the Summary section.

1 Summary 4 Further reading

Test your knowledge and consolidate

your learning through the Review

Online resources help you to explore

the key points through wider research

using the companion website.

Extend your understanding through

the suggested Further reading and

References relevant to each chapter.

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POWERPOINTTM ARTWORK FROM ONLINE VIDEO

FOR THE STUDENT

Visit the Teaching Quality Health and

ABOUT THE AUTHORS xv

Professional Knowledge Standards Chapter/s

1.2 Understand how students learn

1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability

2. Know the content and how to teach it

2.2 Content selection and organisation

2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting

2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies

2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Professional Practice Standards Chapter/s

3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs

3.3 Use teaching strategies

3.5 Use effective classroom communication

3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs

3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process

4. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

4.2 Manage classroom activities

4.3 Manage challenging behaviour

4.4 Maintain student safety