This year at the SHAPE America Convention and Expo in Minneapolis, MN I found myself finally swayed toward accepting SHAPE America’s commitment to 50 Million Strong by 2029. I had previously feared for the vitality and longevity of the Physical Education (PE) profession in the face of the inclusion of Physical Activity (PA). I worried, as did some of my peers, that the broad acceptance and adoption of PA would spell the cheaper and less regulated end of PE in districts where school boards seem to be ever looking for ways to save a buck. But I have since turned over a new leaf.
I’m hoping that the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which ushered in the inclusion of PE in a “well-rounded education” (a definition which includes PE along with traditional subjects like mathematics and English found on p. 298 of the ESSA), will encourage regularly scheduled, professionally led PE in all schools across the nation in the near future. As a result, I now see PA as an integral sub-section of PE that should be embraced as a kind of “supporting structure” through which PE is strengthened outside of the school grounds and instruction hours.
I have come to this conclusion on the heels of a good deal of reading and conversational exchange among PE professionals. Therefore, my idea for this article is to share resource materials for easy access along with a commentary on their use or inclusion.
Physical Literacy
The new SHAPE America National Standards for K – 12 Physical Education (2013) brought with it the inclusion of a new term for many of us: Physical Literacy. It turns out this term has been around for quite a while and my hat goes off to the authors of standards work for its inclusion.
Back in 2009 Physical & Health Education Canada (PHE Canada) published a Position Paper entitled Physical Literacy for Educators (2009). Inside, authors wrote the following:
On January 18th, 2002, the United Nations (2002) General Assembly passed resolution 56/116: United Nations Literacy Decade: Education for All. The foundation of this resolution was based upon the collective conviction that:
“Literacy is crucial to the acquisition, by every child, youth and adult, of essential life skills that enable them to address the challenges they can face in life, and represents an essential step in basic education, which is an indispensable means for effective participation in the societies and economies of the twenty-first century.”
Based upon this definition, literacy is not restricted merely to reading and writing. According to the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO; 2003), literacy is concerned with how we communicate in society and the social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture. In an era where literacy programs have become a priority for provincial Ministries of Education, it is vital for our profession to be a strong advocate in helping to foster strong literacy skills for students today and into the future.
Physical Literacy itself was later defined in the paper (PHE Canada, 2009) this way:
Individuals who are physically literate move with competence in a wide variety of physical activities that benefit the development of the whole person. Physically literate individuals consistently develop the motivation and ability to understand, communicate, apply, and analyze different forms of movement. They are able to demonstrate a variety of movements confidently, competently, creatively and strategically across a wide range of health-related physical activities. These skills enable individuals to make healthy, active choices throughout their life span that are both beneficial to and respectful of themselves, others, and their environment.
With this deeper understanding of physical literacy came a deeper understanding of the role of PE in the lives of our students. If the human machine is to serve us optimally it must be developed competently early on and used consistently throughout the life cycle. In my mind, the intent of this narrative was not to minimize PE like many administrators and school boards chose to do in the US, but rather to accentuate PE in the well-rounded education of the child.
Plenty of research exists on the connection between greater test scores and cognitive acuity upon the completion of physical tasks, but this article is not about those important discoveries (please read archival articles found on PHE America if you are interested; SEARCH key term ‘academic performance’). Instead I will move on to the PA – PE relationship.
Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP)
The following definition can be found on both the SHAPE America website and the CDC website:
A Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) is a multi-component approach by which school districts and schools use all opportunities for students to be physically active, meet the nationally-recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day, and develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime. A CSPAP reflects strong coordination and synergy across all of the components: physical education as the foundation; physical activity before, during, and after school; staff involvement; and family and community engagement.
What clearer reflection of educating the whole child through the utility of the entire school community, with PE as the keystone, could one ask for? Undoubtedly many of you are part of the CSPAP at your school and do not require an update on best practices regarding this programming, however a discussion of where PA falls in our shared workspaces is useful. More information on best practices can be found on either the SHAPE America or CDC sites listed above.
Physical Activity (PA)
PA has had many champions for quite a while now. I would like to review a few of them and identify each with their unique perspective. First and most obvious is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2011 the CDC partnered with several organizations to produce the Physical Activity Toolkit to promote and support the Youth Physical Activity Guidelines (60 minutes or more of physical activity daily). According to the CDC, many of the Toolkit components can be adapted and customized for various audiences that you may be interested in communicating with. The link for the User Guide for the Toolkit can be found here if you are interested in using it. The User Guide details the correct utility of the Toolkit, namely a valid and reliable resource for advocating for and disseminating information on PA to community stakeholders.
One of the ‘several organizations’ mentioned above that was instrumental in creating the Toolkit was the Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) and in 2008 created the aforementioned Physical Activity Guidelines. The HHS describes the Guidelines:
“…an essential resource for health professional and policymakers. Based on the latest science, they provide guidance on how children and adults can improve their health through physical activity. Learn ways to help consumers understand the benefits of physical activity and how to make it a part of their regular routine.”
The Guidelines were the product of a huge collaboration of academics in medicine, epidemiology and kinesiology as well as government-based professionals. They have been referenced both nationally and internationally hundreds of times and reflect the best of what is currently known about the positive impact of PA on our nation’s population. On its website, the HHS recently reported the following:
HHS posted a notice in the Federal Register on May 12, 2016 announcing the re-establishment of the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (PAGAC). The Department is currently reviewing candidates for the 2018 PAGAC and expects to reach a decision in time to convene a public meeting in the summer of 2016.
The re-establishment of this advisory committee is intended to result in an updated 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines document. This announcement solidifies the recognized important role that PA has to play in our society for decades to come. It also ensures that the best and most contemporary information will consistently be available for promotional collaboration and participation. Additionally, it illustrates the volume of resources that the government is ready to devote into PA-based projects around the nation. This doesn’t surprise me because some estimates have the cost of obesity between $147-210 billion annually. Providing money toward the long-term preventative change of this epidemic is obviously in the nation’s best long-term financial interest.
Dozens more organizations could be included in this introductory section about PA. Both governmental organizations and outside interest groups are publishing articles at a feverish rate (e.g. See HHS, NY Times, and other research and media outlets). As echoed in the documents already discussed, PA is about the habit of activity inclusion in the lives of our community members. We must all be leery of gimmicks or schemes that may inject temporary compliance or interest, and try our best to identify proven practices if we are to succeed in turning around the sedentary practices in our local communities. The resources provided above and added to below are intended to help facilitate that process.
Partners in Change
For those of you who would like to connect your school’s facilities to the community that surrounds it, I might have just the ticket for you! Perhaps you have considered community partnerships in the past, but worried about legal obstacles and bureaucratic red tape. In that case you might be interested to learn more about “Joint Use Agreements.
A joint use agreement (JUA) is a formal agreement between two separate government entities – often a school and a city or county – setting forth the terms and conditions for shared use of public property or facilities. Just as there is no one model JUA, there is no single method to develop an agreement. Successful JUAs require a lot of thought, effort, and cooperation to reach agreement on a range of issues (ChangeLab Solutions).
ChangeLab Solutions “provides community-based solutions for America’s most common and preventable diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and asthma.” The group was founded and is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). ChangeLab Solutions in turn created the National Policy and Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN) that has identified as it goal to
“…support policy innovation and implementation by empowering advocates, practitioners, and decision-makers with expert legal and policy technical assistance. NPLAN attorneys, assisted by a multidisciplinary team of policy analysts, urban planners, and communication specialists, delivered technical assistance to RWJF childhood obesity grantees and other stakeholders, developed and disseminated technical assistance products, and provided trainings on legal and policy issues.”
Interestingly, NPLAN has been providing legal assistance since 2013 to an advocacy initiative co-founded by the RWJF and American Heart Association (AHA). The name of the initiative is the Voice for Healthy Kids and according to its website their aim is to help children achieve a healthy weight. Now most of you are familiar with the AHA and perhaps already host a Jump Rope for Heart or Hoops for Heart event annually at your school to both promote physical activity and raise money and awareness for the AHA and SHAPE America. However, you may not be aware that the AHA now offers a Heart Chase for High School and Higher Education campuses and their surrounding communities.
These community partnerships can help to facilitate the promotion, and perhaps the normalcy, of PA in your community. Many times, educators can feel like they do not know where to start when it comes to building a PA network in their surrounding communities. Hopefully, the resources described in this article might be something to try as a first step!
All things new seem daunting or even not doable, but the key to overcoming that feeling is simply to start small, ask questions, and be tenacious. Overall, none of us need convincing that what we are all trying to do is a worthwhile pursuit. We know that the human machine was designed to move (sorry, could not help one more link; hope you enjoy it). I wish you luck with your journey and would welcome emails or comments below.
References
National Association for Sport and Physical Education (2013). National standards for K – 12 physical education (3rd Ed). Reston, VA: Author.
Reynolds, G. (2016, April 20). Getting People to Move More, nytimes.com Well Section. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/getting-people-to-move-more/
Written on behalf of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases’ (NIDDK) Weight-control Information Network (WIN) 2016. Staying Active When Life Won’t Quit
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2008). 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Designed to Move: A Physical Activity Action Agenda. American College of Sports Medicine, International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education, & Nike, Inc., 2012.
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