The class Foundation of School Wellness Education is a course that is used to inform and teach students about the different models used in health and physical education throughout the years. Health and physical education began back in 368 B.C.E. with Plato (Stayer, slide 2). Plato was the whole reason health and physical education are around today. When the World War came, many recruits were not fit enough or prepared for combat. Over the last hundred years, physical education has been through a whirlwind of growth but also a decline in the health of society.
As said earlier, Plato was the main creator of health and physical education. Back in 368 B.C.E., he was unhappy with how others treated their bodies. He preached that being physically active can save and virtue of our bodies. He stated that it does not affect our bodies negatively and can help society live happier (Bray 2018). In 1914, World War I began. Recruitment and preparation were not as successful as they should have been due to the recruit’s lack of physical fitness. About one-third of all the recruits were unable to complete the training because they were not physically fit to the training’s standards. People realized how bad society’s health was and required physical education to be implemented in all schools.
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In the 1960s, physical education took off in all schools across the United States. Title IX was then introduced in 1972, which states no person can be excluded from participation, no matter what gender. This law is so important because it allows equality for both men and women in education and athletics (Education 2017). Although this bill was passed in the 1970s, there was a recession that occurred, and it affected the physical education courses in many schools. This recession caused many schools to cut the arts and physical education and focus more on mathematics and sciences. Fortunately, the recession only lasted until the 1980s, and physical education made its way back into schools.
There have been many models used throughout the history of health and physical education. The first model was the movement education model. The movement education model was created by Rudolf Von Laban, Francois Delsarte, and Liselott Diem in 1820 (Brief History of). Even though it was created by those three individuals, Rudolf Von Laban has gained the most credit for that model. The purpose of this model was to help students and learners become skilled in execution for physical education, to succeed in problem-solving, and to provide choices that can enhance learning. The whole concept of this model was children should gain knowledge of basic movements and should then be able to perform the basic movement patterns as well. The movement model was used from the 1960s to the 1980s. The issue with the movement education model was that educators had difficulty teaching and adapting the movement model for middle school and high schoolers. It was also used at a time during the fitness boom. The movement model was a model that was made more for younger, elementary-aged children but not as much for teenagers and adults.
The Adventure Education model is one of the models that has evolved. It was first started back in 1883 when Robert Baden Powell founded the Boy Scout Movement (Robert Baden Powell). Kurt Hahn was also recognized as a creator of the Adventure Education model. Hahn wanted to create a school that was unlike the one that he went to as a youth. He hated the gymnasium and went as far as to call it a “torment box” (Hanford). Powell and Hahn’s ideas were similar—get the children to do something. The Adventure Education Model came into the picture in and around the 1970s. It went by challenge-by-choice learning, which is where the student chooses the challenge that will promote an optimal learning experience. This model met in the middle—it was not successful because society is not outdoors as often as it should be and is not healthy. It did though teach students how to overcome fears and they did accomplish goals when it was performed.
Teaching Games for Understanding was a very popular model made in 1982 by Ted Bunker and Rob Thorpe in the United Kingdom (Stayer, slide 8). It taught the in-depth rules for specific sports games and tactics for the gameplay. Teaching Games taught target games, net, and wall games, striking games, and territory games. The six basic concepts taught games through games, teach games in the simplest form then increase complexity, participants can be intelligent performers, make sure every learner is important and involved, participants must know the matter of the subject, and they need to match the participants’ skills and challenges. This model was unsuccessful because not everyone enjoys playing games in that matter.
The Sports Education Model was created by Daryl Siedentop in 1984 (Stayer, slide 6). The purpose of this model was to get students to solve group problems, learn about different sports roles, build different relationships, and enjoy participation in sports. This model was unsuccessful because there are people who don’t enjoy sports. The last model is the Fitness Education Model which was created by Charles B. Corbin in the early 2000s (Stayer, slide 4). This model was made to provide people with a healthier lifestyle, learn about nutrition, learn to exercise correctly, and have better social and emotional health. It dealt with muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, body composition, and muscular strength. This model wasn’t considered to be successful because it didn’t teach enough about nutrition and health. After all, society still struggles with those issues.
Slippery Rock University came up with a physical education model that is different from all the rest that there have been. The School Wellness Education—Pioneering Wellness model is a model that was introduced to help bring society’s needs in hand. Three elements take place in the School Wellness Education model, which are Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC), living well, and self-empowerment. This model forgoes games and looks more into the health aspects because being healthy is more important than playing mat ball.
The first component, Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child, is focused on how schools have a huge impact on a child’s health. The school is the biggest influence a child has because they spend so much of their life in a school setting. Approximately ninety-five percent of children in the United States attend school and spend most of the beginning of their life there (Ascd). There is a diagram that goes along with the Whole School component. The diagram shows what the Whole School entails and what schools and communities should be teaching. Children should be taught how to have proper nutrition, social and emotional climate, and health service just to name a few (Ascd). This model starts with the school but revolves around the community because what schools offer will entail how children are seen and act in society.
Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program, or CSPAP, goes hand in hand with the Whole School component. This is a program that gets students involved in health and well-being. The school wellness policies will come up with a CSPAP program that they feel will benefit the school. A school wellness policy is a group of members from the school that is made up of physical education teachers, superintendents, students, and community members (Local School Wellness 2019). Each school district across the United States is required to have a school wellness policy but it is also recommended to have a school wellness policy in each separate school as well.
Living well is the second component of the School Wellness model. The Living Well component is for an individual to be happy and healthy. This model was made because there is such a high epidemic of chronic illness in the United States. The whole point of this model is to get the chronic illness epidemic to succumb. When looking at the components of Living Well, several key factors come in tune with it. One, of course, is the Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child, which was mentioned earlier. Another is the physical and shape standards that must be followed and lastly is self-empowerment.
The physical and shape standards are national standards that school districts must follow for health and physical education. There are SHAPE standards, which are national standards set for all health and physical education classes across the United States. Then there are the National Health Education Standards which are standards set by SHAPE America. Finally, there are the state standards that are set within the state. These are separate rules and standards that each state comes up with on top of the national and SHAPE standards. There have been issues where districts have standards set and in writing, but they don’t follow them to their full potential. There was a study done by the Wellness School Assessment Tool and the results were staggering. Many schools had weak wellness policies that regarded physical activity which limited the potential positive influence of physical activity (Francis 2017). Living well factors around five items. These items are nutrition, social-emotional well-being, the human body, health-related fitness, and injury prevention and safety. These components are key to living well. Living well is not just about physicality but also mental and emotional.
The third and final part of the School Wellness model is self-empowerment. Self-empowerment is the most important because it comes from one’s drive to be healthy socially, emotionally, and physically. This concept deals with the self-determination theory which represents a framework for the study of human motivation and personality (Theory). With this theory, there are three experiences included: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy is the choice of doing something. It’s not controlled by anything but one’s self. Competence is that someone is confident in their knowledge and skills. This goes with living well because one must be knowledgeable in their health and know how to take care of oneself. The third is relatedness. This one especially goes in hand with educators because this model is about connecting what they are teaching to their students’ lives. It also brings across a social connection between the student and the teacher. It helps bring and build positive relationships.
Self-empowerment often deals with the environment that a student is in. When looking at middle schools, the locker room is the biggest place for bullying because students change and get dressed for class in there. Another thing educators can do is to eliminate the spotlight on just one student and recognize all the students and their trying abilities. This will help increase positivity and make the students want to participate more. Lastly, eliminate students to pick their teams when a game is about to begin. This can make someone feel unwanted and will end up making them not want to play. This all plays into personal relevance, or when learning is connected to a student’s interests, aspirations, and life experiences (Partnership 2013).
This class has been a great introduction to the health and physical education world. Many topics have been taught and learned throughout. There needs to be changes in society, a healthy change. With this positive trend happening, society can make a positive change shortly. There is still a lot of work needed to make these changes become a reality, but it is possible and achievable.
Much of this lifestyle comes from within. We all must have a vision for ourselves. My vision is to be that educator that students want to have and who look up to. I went on to be that physical education teacher who changes at least one person’s life positively. I want to make someone’s day and to be their go-to person. I also want to be a good model for health and physical education. Taking care of myself is important because I’ll be a role model for someone so I must be in good physical, mental, and emotional shape. Nutrition and an adequate amount of exercise are a must, but I also must have time for myself to work on my social-emotional well-being as well. For me to be successful as an educator, I must be well enough to get the lesson across.
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