Physical Education is Critical to a Complete Education

Council of Physical Education for Children

A Position Paper from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education

Overview
Physical education plays a critical role in educating the whole student. Research
supports the importance of movement in educating both mind and body. Physical
education contributes directly to development of physical competence and fitness. It
also helps students to make informed choices and understand the value of leading a
physically active lifestyle. The benefits of physical education can affect both academic
learning and physical activity patterns of students. The healthy, physically active
student is more likely to be academically motivated, alert, and successful. In the
preschool and primary years, active play may be positively related to motor abilities and
cognitive development. As children grow older and enter adolescence, physical activity
may enhance the development of a positive self-concept as well as the ability to pursue
intellectual, social and emotional challenges. Throughout the school years, quality
physical education can promote social, cooperative and problem solving competencies.
Quality physical education programs in our nation’s schools are essential in developing
motor skills, physical fitness and understanding of concepts that foster lifelong healthy
lifestyles.

Physical Benefits
Physical education is unique to the school curriculum as the only program that provides
students with opportunities to learn motor skills, develop fitness and gain understanding
about physical activity. Physical benefits gained from physical activity include: disease
prevention, safety and injury avoidance, decreased morbidity and premature mortality,
and increased mental health. The physical education program is the place where
students learn about all of the benefits gained from being physically active as well as
the skills and knowledge to incorporate safe, satisfying physical activity into their lives.

Elementary
In the elementary grades, the physical education program emphasizes the
development of fundamental locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative skills
through the main content areas of educational games, dance, and gymnastics.
The movement framework, (i.e., body, space, effort, and relationship) is also a
part of the core content and is the basis for developing, expanding, and refining
children’s range of motor skills and awareness. Quality instruction by physical
education professionals is critical if children are to develop fundamental motor
patterns (e.g. jump, throw, skip, hop, catch, and kick). The motor skill
foundations established during the elementary grades may enhance children’s
social, cognitive and physical development and increase the likelihood of
continued interest and participation in physical activity. Fitness at elementary
grades is supported by a rich experience in many basic movement forms.

 July, 2001
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, an association of the 1
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
 Middle School
The middle school student is ready to experience a wide variety of applications of
fundamental movements, including traditional sports, adventure activities (e.g.,
rock climbing, ropes, kayak, skiing), and lifetime or leisure-oriented activities
(e.g., roller-blading, biking, dance). It is during this period when students are
capable of refining, combining and applying a variety of sport-related and lifetime
skills. Students may explore after-school opportunities for specialized or/and
competitive physical activity programs.

Rapid growth during the pre-adolescent years may affect students’ interests,
choices, and activity patterns. Therefore physical education programs offer a
variety of activities to meet and expand student interests. Fitness development
becomes more systematic. Students develop specific fitness components, set
goals and assess personal fitness levels.

High School
High school students become increasingly more independent as their daily lives
become more complex and diversified. High school students begin to make
decisions and choices in taking increased responsibility for themselves. Quality
high school physical education programs provide students conceptual and
practical understanding of: 1) health-related physical fitness, and 2) how to
maintain a health-related level of physical fitness. Physical education plays a
vital part in helping high school students maintain and refine the skills and
knowledge needed to select physical activities to use throughout their lives.

Cognitive Benefits
Children learn through a variety of modalities (e.g., visual, auditory, tactile, physical).
Teaching academic concepts through the physical modality may nurture children’s
kinesthetic intelligence.

Academic constructs have greater meaning for children when they are taught across the
three realms of learning, including the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.
Greater depth and relevance can be achieved when the subject matter constructs are
related to each domain of learning. Research has demonstrated that children engaged
in daily physical education show superior motor fitness, academic performance, and
attitude towards school versus their counterparts who did not participate in daily
physical education. Physical education learning experiences also offer a unique
opportunity for problem solving, self-expression, socialization, and conflict resolution.

Elementary
Research suggests that young children learn through active engagement with the
“stuff” of their world. Children in elementary school acquire knowledge through
physical exploration of their environment. Physical education may provide
children with learning experiences essential to the formation of mental schemes
(i.e., mental patterns or systems that describe the ways people think about the
world; building blocks of thinking). Children form more effective schemes by

 July, 2001
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, an association of the 2
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
 physically interacting with their environment. Quality physical education
programs facilitate exploration of movement in various contexts that enhance
acquisition of knowledge.

Middle School
Middle school students are intensely curious, prefer active to passive learning,
and definitely favor interaction with peers during learning activities. The early
adolescent exhibits a strong willingness to learn things they consider useful.
They enjoy using skills to solve real life problems. Quality physical education
programs provide a medium through which middle school students can refine
and expand upon their physical repertoire of skills. It has been shown that
students miss fewer days of school because of illness and exhibit greater
academic achievement because of the physical vitality gained in physical
education.

High School
During the high school years students should be given more in-depth learning
opportunities so they can understand the mechanical, physiological and social-
psychological aspects of physical activity. High school students’ growing ability
to compare and contrast, analyze, and synthesize information enables them to
apply movement principles in new and meaningful ways. Students can more fully
understand the role of physical activity in preventive health and analyze the pros
and cons of various types of physical activity in lifelong health.

Affective Benefits
Physical competence builds self-esteem. Quality physical education programs enhance
the development of both competence and confidence in performing motor skills.
Attitudes, habits, and perceptions are critical prerequisites for persistent participation in
physical activity. Appropriate levels of health-related fitness enhance feelings of well
being and efficacy.

Elementary
Quality physical education programs can contribute to the development of self-
esteem among children. Children who are more active may have greater social
success and positive relations with peers. Children need many opportunities to
experience personal feelings of success and achievement in physical activity
settings. Explorations of various movement capabilities contribute to feelings of
joy and accomplishment.

Middle School
Quality middle school physical education programs provide students unique
opportunities for demonstrating leadership, socialization, and goal setting skills.
Involvement in physical activity has shown a consistent relationship with mood,
self-esteem, and other indices of psychological well-being in early adolescence.
Student preferences become more specialized at this age and the preference
influences students’ motivation to continue in physical activities. A youngster’s

 July, 2001
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, an association of the 3
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
 feelings of perceived competence also affects future participation and self-
esteem. Despite the physiological changes that occur at this age, students are
generally willing to work cooperatively toward common goals because the desire
for peer group acceptance is strong. Risk taking is attractive and students
accept the challenge of setting and achieving personal goals. Physical education
programs have a unique opportunity to provide learning experiences that
enhance middle school students’ self-esteem.

High School
During this phase of development, students begin to select activities based more
on personal interests. Other factors affecting students’ choices of physical
activity may be their level of health-related physical fitness, body type,
geographical location, and socio-economic group or circle of peers. Physical
education programs must continue to enhance students’ fitness development and
offer an array of activities from which students can select.

Attitudes, habits, and perceptions are critical prerequisites for persistent

participation in physical activities. To help students achieve self-realization
through physical activity, the physical education program can guide student
choices and help them become self-directed in the selection of activities that are
satisfying. The importance of commitment and dedication in achieving success
may be emphasized in physical education. Physical activity habits and
preferences are not static, but are continually in a state of flux throughout one’s
lifetime. High school is a time when students can establish habits and attitudes
about the role physical activity will play in their lifetime. This is the time for
students to explore their preferences related to physical activity and perhaps
specialize based on abilities and interests.

Physical Activity Improves the Quality of Life

Regular physical activity improves functional status and limits disability during the
middle and later adult years. Physical activity contributes to quality of life, psychological
health, and the ability to meet physical work demands. Physical education can
serve as a vehicle for helping students to develop the knowledge, attitudes, motor skills,
behavioral skills, and confidence needed to adopt and maintain physically active
lifestyles. The outcomes of a quality physical education program include the
development of students’ physical competence, health-related fitness, self-esteem, and
overall enjoyment of physical activity. These outcomes enable students to make
informed decisions and choices about leading a physically active lifestyle.

In early years children derive pleasure from movement sensations and experience
challenge and joy as they sense a growing competence in their movement ability.
Evidence suggests that the level of participation, the degree of skill, and the number of
activities mastered as a child directly influences the extent to which children will
continue to participate in physical activity as an adult.

 July, 2001
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, an association of the 4
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
In early adolescence participation in physical activity provides important opportunities
for challenge, social interaction, group membership, as well as opportunities for
continued personal growth in physical skill.

Participation for high school students continues to provide enjoyment and challenge as
young people express preferences for activities that meet their specific interests. A
comprehensive, well-implemented physical education program is an essential
component to the total education of students. Physical education prepares students to
maintain healthy, active lifestyles and engage in enjoyable, meaningful leisure-time
pursuits.
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 July, 2001
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, an association of the 5
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance