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Physical education is an important part of the daily curriculum for all students. It has been proven to have many positive effects on students’ physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Whether it’s playing sports, going for a jog, or participating in physical activities, physical education can help students develop a healthy lifestyle that can be sustained for years to come.

But what are the 10 importance of physical education?

In this article, we will discuss the 10 most important benefits of physical education, including improved physical health, increased focus and concentration, better social skills, enhanced coordination and balance, improved mental health, and more.

Read on to learn why physical education is so important!

1. Improves Quality of Life

Physical education offers numerous benefits to kids, teens, and adults alike. From increased fitness levels to improved mental health, engaging in physical activity is key for leading a healthy lifestyle.

Physical education helps individuals of all ages learn the importance of activity and how it can enhance their quality of life. This includes learning how to properly exercise and practice good eating habits, as well as gaining an understanding of the benefits that come from living an active lifestyle.

By taking part in physical activities, such as team sports and dance classes, participants gain a sense of community while improving their physical and emotional well-being.

2. Enhances Cognitive Performance

Physical education can have a positive impact on cognitive performance. Studies show that physical activity increases the levels of dopamine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters that help to improve brain function and enhance concentration, focus, and creativity.

This means that students who are physically active tend to perform better in school as they are more alert, attentive, and motivated to learn. Additionally, aerobic activities such as running or swimming can increase oxygen flow to the brain, which can also lead to improved mental clarity.

Thus, physical education classes provide an invaluable opportunity for students to stay fit while improving their academic performance.

3. Develops Physical Strength and Endurance

Physical education helps to build physical strength and endurance by providing activities that challenge the body. This can help reduce the risk of injury since muscles and joints become stronger, as well as improve balance and coordination.

Regular physical activity can also aid in weight control, reducing the risk of obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes.

Additionally, regular physical activity can increase energy levels, improve sleep quality, reduce stress levels, and even improve mental focus and concentration.

4. Enhances Social Skills

Physical education can help students to develop strong social skills. Through physical education classes, students learn how to work together as a team to reach common goals.

This teaches the importance of collaboration, communication, and problem-solving, which are all essential life skills.

Additionally, physical education classes provide an opportunity for students to build friendships with their peers and foster a sense of community.

5. Reduces Stress and Anxiety

Physical education is an important part of any child’s development and has been linked to reducing stress and anxiety. Research suggests that physical activity can help lower blood pressure and cortisol levels.

This can be particularly beneficial for children who may experience high levels of stress or anxiety due to social pressures in school or home life. Taking part in physical activities, such as team sports, allows children to exercise their bodies while also giving them the opportunity to socialize with teammates and coaches.

This helps create a supportive environment where children can build relationships with their peers and trust adults outside of the family setting.

Regular physical activity also encourages children to take care of their mental health by providing them with an outlet for their emotions, as well as teaching them skills for managing stress effectively.

6. Prevents Chronic Diseases

Physical education plays an important role in preventing chronic diseases. Regular physical activities can lower the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

It can also help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as improve overall health. Additionally, physical education helps keep our bones strong and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

Finally, regular exercise can help with stress management and reduce depression symptoms.

7. Improves Self-Image and Confidence

Physical education provides an opportunity for children to develop confidence and self-image. Participating in physical activities helps children to feel good about their bodies and build a positive self-image.

It also encourages them to challenge themselves, which can lead to increased confidence in other areas of their lives.

Physical education classes also provide a safe environment for children to make mistakes and learn from them, further improving their confidence and self-esteem.

8. Teaches Teamwork and Cooperation

Physical education allows students to work together in teams and learn how to cooperate with each other. This is an important skill that will help them later in life when they become part of a team in the workplace.

It teaches kids to be team players, respect each other’s differences, and understand how to work together toward a common goal.

Physical education also encourages healthy competition, which can lead to improved sportsmanship. Students will learn how to win gracefully and lose with dignity, all while becoming better teammates.

9. Promotes Healthy Eating Habits

Physical education helps promote healthy eating habits. By teaching students about the benefits of eating nutritious foods, physical education encourages them to make healthier food choices throughout their lives.

Through physical activity, students also learn about how their bodies work and how certain foods will help fuel their energy levels for activities.

Additionally, physical education can teach students about portion control and how to maintain a balanced diet. This is important for both short-term and long-term health goals.

10. Increases Attention Span

Physical education helps to increase attention span, which can help students stay focused for longer periods of time.

Studies have shown that physical activity can improve an individual’s ability to concentrate and process information more quickly. As such, this can be beneficial for students who have difficulty paying attention in class or studying for long periods of time.

Furthermore, physical education encourages active participation, which allows students to engage with the content in a different way than they would if they were just sitting and listening.

Final Words

Physical education provides numerous benefits to children, youth, and adults. It develops physical skills, increases muscular strength, boosts cardiovascular health and endurance, reduces stress, and helps people maintain a healthy weight.

Physical education has been proven to increase academic performance, improve mental focus and concentration, reduce depression and anxiety symptoms, strengthen social bonds within a community, develop leadership skills, enhance creative problem-solving abilities, and foster self-confidence.

With all these advantages in mind, it is clear that physical education is an essential part of any educational program.

Key Takeaways

• Physical education is an important part of a student’s overall development.
• It helps to build the skills and habits that are necessary for leading a healthy, active lifestyle.
• It can lead to improved physical fitness, enhanced cognitive performance, better social skills, reduced stress and anxiety, improved self-image and confidence as well as increased attention span.

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Physical Education

Physical education is the foundation of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program. 1, 2 It is an academic subject characterized by a planned, sequential K–12 curriculum (course of study) that is based on the national standards for physical education. 2–4 Physical education provides cognitive content and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for physical activity and physical fitness. 2–4 Supporting schools to establish physical education daily can provide students with the ability and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime. 2–4

There are many benefits of physical education in schools. When students get physical education, they can 5-7 :

• Increase their level of physical activity.
• Improve their grades and standardized test scores.
• Stay on-task in the classroom.

Increased time spent in physical education does not negatively affect students’ academic achievement.

Strengthen Physical Education in Schools [PDF – 437 KB] —This data brief defines physical education, provides a snapshot of current physical education practices in the United States, and highlights ways to improve physical education through national guidance and practical strategies and resources. This was developed by Springboard to Active Schools in collaboration with CDC.

Secular Changes in Physical Education Attendance Among U.S. High School Students, YRBS 1991–2013

The Secular Changes in Physical Education Attendance Among U.S. High School Students report [PDF – 3 MB] explains the secular changes (long-term trends) in physical education attendance among US high school students over the past two decades. Between 1991 and 2013, US high school students’ participation in school-based physical education classes remained stable, but at a level much lower than the national recommendation of daily physical education. In order to maximize the benefits of physical education, the adoption of policies and programs aimed at increasing participation in physical education among all US students should be prioritized. Download the report for detailed, nationwide findings.

Physical Education Analysis Tool (PECAT)

The  Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT) [PDF – 6 MB] is a self-assessment and planning guide developed by CDC. It is designed to help school districts and schools conduct clear, complete, and consistent analyses of physical education curricula, based upon national physical education standards.

Visit our PECAT page  to learn more about how schools can use this tool.

• CDC Monitoring Student Fitness Levels1 [PDF – 1.64 MB]
• CDC Ideas for Parents: Physical Education [PDF – 2 MB]
• SHAPE America: The Essential Components of Physical Education (2015) [PDF – 391 KB]
• SHAPE America: Appropriate Instructional Practice Guidelines for Elementary, Middle School, and High School Physical Education [PDF – 675 KB]
• SHAPE America: National Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes for K–12 Physical Education 2014
• SHAPE America: National Standards for K–12 Physical Education (2013)
• SHAPE America Resources
• Youth Compendium of Physical Activities for Physical Education Teachers (2018) [PDF – 145 KB]
• Social Emotional Learning Policies and Physical Education
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Guide for Developing Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs . Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services; 2013.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School health guidelines to promote healthy eating and physical activity. MMWR . 2011;60(RR05):1–76.
• Institute of Medicine. Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2013. Retrieved from  http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18314&page=R1 .
• SHAPE America. T he Essential Components of Physical Education . Reston, VA: SHAPE America; 2015. Retrieved from   http://www.shapeamerica.org/upload/TheEssentialComponentsOfPhysicalEducation.pdf  [PDF – 392 KB].
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance . Atlanta, GA; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services; 2010.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Academic Achievement. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2014.
• Michael SL, Merlo C, Basch C, et al. Critical connections: health and academics . Journal of School Health . 2015;85(11):740–758.

Healthy Youth

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Physical education for healthier, happier, longer and more productive living

The time children and adults all over the world spend engaging in physical activity is decreasing with dire consequences on their health, life expectancy, and ability to perform in the classroom, in society and at work.

In a new publication, Quality Physical Education, Guidelines for Policy Makers , UNESCO urges governments and educational planners to reverse this trend, described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic that contributes to the death of 3.2 million people every year, more than twice as many as die of AIDS.

The Guidelines will be released on the occasion of a meeting of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, (28-30 January).*

UNESCO calls on governments to reverse the decline in physical education (PE) investment that has been observed in recent years in many parts of the world, including some of the wealthiest countries. According to European sources, for example, funding and time allocation for PE in schools has been declining progressively over more than half of the continent, and conditions are not better in North America.

The new publication on PE, produced in partnership with several international and intergovernmental organizations**, advocates quality physical education and training for PE teachers. It highlights the benefits of investing in PE versus the cost of not investing (cf self-explanatory infographics ).

“The stakes are high,” says UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. “Public investment in physical education is far outweighed by high dividends in health savings and educational objectives. Participation in quality physical education has been shown to instil a positive attitude towards physical activity, to decrease the chances of young people engaging in risky behaviour and to impact positively on academic performance, while providing a platform for wider social inclusion.”

The Guidelines seek to address seven areas of particular concern identified last year in UNESCO’s global review of the state of physical education , namely: 1. Persistent gaps between PE policy and implementation; 2. Continuing deficiencies in curriculum time allocation; 3. Relevance and quality of the PE curriculum; 4. Quality of initial teacher training programmes; 5. Inadequacies in the quality and maintenance of facilities; 6. Continued barriers to equal provision and access for all; 7. Inadequate school-community coordination.

The recommendations to policy-makers and education stake-holders are matched by case studies about programmes, often led by community-based nongovernmental organizations. Success stories in Africa, North and Latin America, Asia and Europe illustrate what can be achieved by quality physical education: young people learn how to plan and monitor progress in reaching a goal they set themselves, with a direct impact on their self-confidence, social skills and ability to perform in the classroom.

While schools alone cannot provide the full daily hour of physical activity recommended for all young people, a well-planned policy should promote PE synergies between formal education and the community. Experiences such as Magic Bus (India) which uses physical activity to help bring school drop outs back to the classroom highlight the potential of such school-leisure coordination.

The publication promotes the concept of “physical literacy,” defined by Canada’s Passport for Life organization of physical and health educators as the ability to move “with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person. Competent movers tend to be more successful academically and socially. They understand how to be active for life and are able to transfer competence from one area to another. Physically literate individuals have the skills and confidence to move any way they want. They can show their skills and confidence in lots of different physical activities and environments; and use their skills and confidence to be active and healthy.”

For society to reap the benefit of quality physical education, the guidelines argue, planners must ensure that it is made available as readily to girls as it is to boys, to young people in school and to those who are not.

The Guidelines were produced at the request of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) and participants at the Fifth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (Berlin 2013). UNESCO and project partners will proceed to work with a number of countries that will engage in a process of policy revision in this area, as part of UNESCO’s work to support national efforts to adapt their educational systems to today’s needs (see Quality physical education contributes to 21st century education ).

Media contact: Roni Amelan, UNESCO Press Service, r.amelan(at)unesco.org , +33 (0)1 45 68 16 50

Photos are available here: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/multimedia/photos/photo-gallery-quality-physical-education/

* More about the CIGEPS meeting

** The European Commission, the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), UNDP, UNICEF, UNOSDP and WHO.

Related items

• Country page: Switzerland

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10 Reasons Why Physical Education is Important

This article will give you in-depth information about the importance of physical education in schools.

Physical education is important because it enhances the overall quality of life, promotes health and well-being, fosters friendships and teamwork skills, and develops lifelong healthy habits. 

Since time immemorial, physical education has played a crucial role in the lives of human beings. Exercise and physical activity have been proven to have many benefits for both the body and the mind. 

Physical education aims to empower students to make wise use of their energy, effort, and time by studying in a fruitful way. The ultimate purpose of physical education is not just to train a student’s body but also to train his/her mind.

What is Physical Education?

Physical education (P.E), also known as gym classes, is an activity used to enhance fitness and agility through exercise and physical activity. Some define it as an educational approach that encourages individuals to develop a physically active lifestyle, to enhance their health and well-being. 

Physical education is taught within the school curriculum (in most countries) and/or in preschools, colleges and universities, military institutions, and sports clubs.

The role of physical education goes beyond exercise. Indeed, developing skills, attitudes, and cooperation are key elements in this program.

The following are the importance of physical education.

1. Assist Students In Reaching Their Physical Potential In a Variety of Sporting Environments

Physical education assists students in reaching their physical potential by supporting training within a variety of sporting environments. Benefits include improved kinesthetic learning and socialization with peers, teachers, and coaches.

This important course is made even more enjoyable when good teachers are at hand to not only educate but inspire others to reach their full potential in a variety of sporting environments.

Physical education also prepares the body for participation in a wide range of sports, recreational activities, and other endeavors. It is an excellent example of a core curriculum in school systems.

2. Provides Opportunities for Kids To Take Responsibility for Their Health

Physical education is important for kids to play and stay healthy throughout their lives. It can provide opportunities for kids to take responsibility for their health . Kids learn about food choices, exercise, diet and nutrition, and personal fitness through physical education.

A number of studies have shown that children who are physically fit are less likely to suffer from health problems and tend to live much longer than their less active counterparts. With regular physical activity, the overall health of a child can be dramatically improved. 

3. Serves as an Outlet for Stress

Physical education is important because it offers students/children an outlet for stress due to all of the academic pressures. When kids participate in physical education and sports, they learn to be part of a team, how to persevere when they fail, and they learn the value of cooperation.  

Having to perform physical activity can reduce the stress in a person’s body. For example, many types of exercise will produce endorphins in the body. The feeling of the body releasing its hormones will make the person feel happy and relaxed.

4. Improves Mental Health

There is long-standing research showing that physical activity improves mental health and well-being. The importance of physical education courses to a student’s overall well-being cannot be overstated. 

With these kinds of classes, teachers are able to establish the proper balance between physical and mental training for the students in their care. A physically active lifestyle actively contributes to the health and well-being of a person. 

Physical education encourages a healthy diet, which reduces fatigue and stress throughout the day, as well as helps reduce body fat. It also eliminates the problems of obesity and poor eating habits that add stress to the body and mind instead of alleviating it.

Children who participate in sports have higher levels of self-esteem and are less prone to develop learning disorders. They also have fewer health problems than their non-athletic peers. In addition, a child’s IQ increases when he participates in sports.

5. Improves Attention Span, Self-Esteem, and Body Image

One of the most important reasons for physical education is that it has been proven to improve a whole range of skills, from increasing attention span to improving self-esteem, and from enhancing body image to helping develop social skills. 

Physical activity also has a positive effect on body image by building muscle tone and bone mass, allowing you to feel good about how you look. Getting an adequate amount of physical activity helps you sleep better at night and reduces anxiety. 

In addition, regular physical activity improves your emotional well-being, which is an important aspect of physical education.

6. Nourishes Friendships – Peers and Teachers

Physical education nourishes social relationships. Students need to have positive social relationships with their teachers and peers to learn. In a classroom setting, it gives students the chance to bond with their classmates. 

This is particularly helpful in middle school and high school. The teachers are often involved in extracurricular activities, such as leading the football team to victory or making sure everyone makes it to softball practice. These activities cultivate relationships between teachers and students.

7. Builds Self-Confidence and Self-Reliance

P.E classes are not just about theory, they are also an opportunity for children to get some exercise. Active physical activity can help boost a student’s confidence, as well as provide opportunities to learn how to make decisions on the field. 

Furthermore, regardless of gender, age, race, or physical ability; those who participate in a well-rounded PE program will notice numerous benefits to their level of confidence and independence.

8. To Enhance Leadership Skills, Teamwork, and Sportsmanship

Physical education is important to help youths in becoming physically fit. It enhances one’s self-discipline, teamwork, leadership skills, and sportsmanship. For example, it can be seen in the difference between elite athletes and non-elite athletes. 

This program helps students develop self-discipline through time management, planning for success, and stepping out of their comfort zones to learn new things they are uncomfortable with. It also encourages them to develop a good sense of self-esteem, and it teaches them to be fair and accept criticism.

9. Physical Education Lessons Can Help You Get into College

Everybody knows that physical education lessons are great for developing your mind, body, and soul.

Did you know, however, that as well as developing fitness, PE lessons can also help you get into college and increase your chances of getting the grades you want? 

Let’s face it, physical education isn’t at the top of everyone’s favorite subject list. However, if you’re a high school student trying to get into college, you might want to think about P.E lessons as your new best friend. 

If you are on a sports team, these lessons can help you get into college. Through the physical education program, you can participate in one or more sports such as football, soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

There is a wide range of options for students to participate in trying different sports at their high school.

10. Sport Helps Children Develop Their Motor Skills and Strengthen Their Muscles

Physical education is something that teachers, students, and parents really should think about. It is one of the most important things in a child’s life.

Some people say that it is only to teach children how to play games or sports. But this is not true. P.E is used to do much more than teach children how to play sports. 

Physical education helps kids develop their motor skills and strengthen their muscles. When children have a variety of experiences with basic physical activities, they are more likely to enjoy sports and movement as they get older. Poor motor development can lead to physical problems and difficulty with schoolwork later in life.

What Role Does the Teacher Play in Physical Education Classes?

In the present day, physical education is a subject that is taken very seriously by many educational institutions around the world.

In fact, it has now become one of the required subjects in public schools. It is an important component of a child’s education. 

It provides important skills that children need to succeed and progress in many other areas of life. P.E can provide the foundation for learning and development.

As a teacher, your role is to ensure that you cover all of the necessary learning objectives. You should also maintain a balance between individual, group, and team activities throughout the unit. 

Physical education teachers are professional educators devoted to teaching students the importance of a healthy body and mind. They teach students the basics of different sports and games, as well as how to enjoy being active.

Who needs physical education?

Everyone needs physical education. You may be a workaholic or a college student or possess the physique of a world-class athlete, but one thing is certain – you need physical education to be fit and healthy. Keeping fit can help you ward off serious diseases and improve your quality of life.

How can teachers and school administrators encourage students to participate in sports?

Schools and teachers can promote physical education by helping to reduce the cost of equipment and uniforms, offering time after school for sports, and organizing team activities during lunchtime.

Another way is to get everyone to participate. The more people are aware of the benefits of physical education, the more likely students will be to participate. 

For example, schools can organize intramural teams, or arrange for sports games outside of school hours.

A well-designed PE program will give students the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, improve their physical fitness and coordination, develop social skills, and learn lifelong sportsmanship. 

How can you encourage your child to play sports for his or her health if you don’t know anything about sports?

A lot of parents who don’t play sports often have a hard time convincing their kids that they need to exercise. That’s because they don’t understand why their kids should be getting up off the couch and staying active.

You don’t have to be a sports expert to encourage your child’s love of sports. As the parent of an athlete, your role is very important—you can provide support and guidance.

Encourage your child by joining the fun, not just watching from the sidelines. Stay positive, supportive, and encouraging.

Is physical education for children alone?

No, physical education is not just for children alone. Today, adults also worry about their health and wellness. It is important for children to engage in physical activity daily.

The benefits are endless. Both the old and young will learn overall body control, enhance motor skills and coordination, and build strength. 

Besides, it is actually more important for adults to have an activity that moves their body than to sit in front of computers all day. It is even more important if they are going to work out to get good work physical exercise that can potentially be life-saving.

Final Thoughts 

Physical education has numerous impacts on our lives. It has a big role to play in ensuring that we are healthy, helping to prevent both mental and physical illness. It also has an important role to play in the development of our lifestyles and the way we feel about ourselves. 

As a result of participating in physical education programs, students prepare themselves for a physically and mentally healthy life. They will also learn new skills and activities that will enrich their lives outside of school.

Education is important , but there is no denying the positive effects that physical fitness can have on the mind.

If you are an individual seeking information or a school seeking a solution, you’ll find inspiration, guidance, and valuable resources on LMS Hero .

By reading the educational articles, you can find fresh ideas on LMS Hero that can help you make measurable improvements in the education sector.

Thanks for reading. 

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Physical education, often misconceived as merely a break from academic classes or a platform for sports, is much more profound. Its significance spans across ages and is pivotal in shaping holistic health. Delving deeper, we uncover its multifaceted impact.

Why Is Physical Education Important?

Physical education is a vital component of a well-rounded education that provides numerous benefits for students of all ages. This article explores the importance of physical education, focusing on how it contributes to overall physical and mental health, cultivates discipline and resilience, and fosters social skills development.

Overall Physical Health

One of the primary reasons why physical education is important is its profound impact on overall physical health. Through regular participation in physical activities, students can achieve significant health benefits:

By incorporating physical education into the curriculum, educational institutions promote an active lifestyle that can have long-lasting positive effects on students’ health.

Boosts Mental Health

Physical education is not only beneficial for physical health but also plays a crucial role in improving mental well-being. Engaging in physical activities releases endorphins, which are natural mood enhancers. Here are some key points highlighting the importance of physical education for mental health:

• Endorphin Release: Physical activities stimulate the release of endorphins, which are neurotransmitters that promote feelings of happiness and reduce stress and anxiety. This can help students maintain a more balanced and positive mental state;
• Combatting Depression and Anxiety: Regular participation in physical education can be an effective way to combat depression and anxiety. Exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms of these mental health disorders;
• Improved Focus and Concentration: Physical activity can enhance cognitive functions, including focus and concentration. This can translate into better academic performance for students.

Incorporating physical education classes into the curriculum provides students with a structured and enjoyable way to improve their mental well-being.

Cultivating Discipline and Resilience

Another compelling reason why physical education is necessary for every student is its role in cultivating discipline and resilience. Here’s how physical education contributes to these important life skills:

• Setting and Achieving Physical Goals: In physical education, students often set personal fitness goals. Achieving these goals requires discipline, consistency, and effort, teaching students valuable life skills that extend beyond the gym;
• Overcoming Challenges: Physical activities often present challenges and obstacles that students must overcome. This teaches them resilience and the ability to persevere in the face of adversity;
• Time Management: Balancing academic responsibilities with physical education classes teaches students valuable time management skills, which are crucial for success in all areas of life.

Social Skills Development

Physical education also plays a significant role in the development of social skills. Group activities and team sports provide a unique environment for students to learn and practice important social skills, such as teamwork, communication, and understanding. Here’s how physical education contributes to social skills development:

• Teamwork: Team sports require students to work together towards a common goal, promoting teamwork and cooperation;
• Communication: In team-based activities, effective communication is essential for success. Students learn how to communicate and coordinate with their peers;
• Understanding and Empathy: Through interactions with classmates in physical education, students develop a better understanding of others’ strengths, weaknesses, and perspectives, fostering empathy and tolerance.

Why Is Physical Education Important for Youth?

Physical education holds immense importance for youth as it lays the foundation for a healthy and well-rounded life. Let’s delve into the key reasons why physical education is necessary for every student, particularly the youth.

Foundation for a Healthy Lifestyle

Physical education classes often serve as the initial introduction to a world of movement and physical activity for many young individuals. This early exposure plays a pivotal role in setting the tone for a health-conscious adulthood. Here’s why it’s crucial:

• Healthy Habits: Youth who engage in physical education classes are more likely to adopt healthy habits such as regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and proper hydration. These habits can significantly impact their long-term well-being;
• Preventing Sedentary Behaviors: With the rise of technology and sedentary activities, physical education provides a counterbalance by encouraging regular physical activity, reducing the risk of obesity and related health issues.

Enhanced Academic Performance

Physical activity is not just about physical health; it also has a profound impact on cognitive functions. This, in turn, leads to better academic performance among students. Consider the following:

• Improved Concentration: Regular physical activity sharpens cognitive functions, including concentration and memory. Students who engage in physical education classes often exhibit better focus in their academic pursuits;
• Reduced Stress: Physical activity serves as a stress-reliever, helping students manage the pressures of school life more effectively. Reduced stress levels can positively influence academic performance.

Skill Development

Physical education goes beyond merely honing physical prowess; it imparts valuable life skills that are applicable in various aspects of life. These include:

• Leadership: Participating in team sports or group activities teaches leadership skills, fostering confidence and the ability to guide and motivate others;
• Strategy: Strategy and tactical thinking are crucial in sports and physical activities. Students learn to plan, adapt, and strategize, skills that can be transferred to problem-solving in academics and life;
• Perseverance: Facing challenges and setbacks in physical education classes teaches students resilience and the importance of perseverance in achieving their goals.

Inclusivity

Physical education programs are designed to be inclusive, ensuring that every student, regardless of their abilities, feels included and valued. This inclusivity fosters a sense of belonging among students. Here’s why it’s important:

• Promoting Equity: Tailored programs in physical education accommodate diverse needs and abilities, promoting equity in education. This ensures that all students can participate and benefit from physical education classes;
• Building Confidence: Inclusive physical education builds the confidence of students with varying abilities, helping them develop a positive self-image and a sense of achievement.

Harnessing Technology: Modernizing Physical Education

In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, physical education isn’t left behind. Modern PE integrates technology to enhance the learning experience and track progress more efficiently.

Wearable Fitness Trackers

Wearable fitness trackers have emerged as valuable tools in modern physical education. These devices are equipped with sensors that can measure various health and fitness metrics, making them essential for tracking progress and setting individualized goals. Here’s why they are important:

• Measuring Vital Metrics: Wearable fitness trackers can measure metrics such as heart rate, steps taken, and calories burned. This data provides students with real-time feedback on their physical activity levels, allowing them to monitor their health and set achievable fitness goals;
• Personalization: With the data collected by fitness trackers, teachers can tailor physical education programs to individual students’ needs. This personalization ensures that students receive workouts and activities that align with their fitness levels and goals;
• Motivation and Accountability: Wearable fitness trackers can motivate students to be more active by gamifying fitness and setting challenges. Additionally, they hold students accountable for their activity levels, encouraging consistency.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in PE

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have revolutionized physical education by providing immersive experiences that simulate real-world activities or create entirely new games. This integration of technology in PE is crucial for several reasons:

• Enhanced Engagement: VR and AR make physical education more engaging and interactive. Students can virtually experience activities like mountain climbing, deep-sea diving, or historical events, making learning fun and memorable;
• Accessibility: These technologies enable students to participate in activities that may not be physically accessible in their geographic location. For instance, students can explore ecosystems, historical sites, or space through VR, expanding their horizons;
• Skill Development: VR and AR can be used to create virtual training environments for sports, helping students practice skills and strategies in a safe and controlled setting.

Fitness Apps and Online Platforms

Fitness apps and online platforms have become invaluable tools for modernizing physical education. They offer structured workouts, nutrition guidance, and progress tracking capabilities. Here’s why they are essential:

• Diverse Workouts: Fitness apps provide a wide range of workout routines, catering to various fitness levels and interests. Teachers can leverage these apps to introduce students to diverse physical activities and sports;
• Nutrition Education: Many online platforms and apps also offer nutrition guidance, helping students understand the importance of a balanced diet in conjunction with physical activity;
• Progress Tracking: Teachers can use these platforms to track students’ progress over time. This data allows for evidence-based assessments and adjustments to physical education programs.

Reimagining Physical Education in the Digital Age

In an era where screens dominate, understanding why is physical education class important becomes even more critical.

Combatting Digital Fatigue

In the era of screens and online connectivity, individuals, especially students, are constantly exposed to digital devices for education, entertainment, and communication. This increased screen time has led to a phenomenon known as digital fatigue, characterized by eye strain, reduced attention span, and increased stress levels. This is where the importance of physical education class becomes evident:

• Reducing Digital Eye Strain: Physical activities provide a much-needed break from screens, reducing the risk of digital eye strain. Engaging in activities that require focus on the physical world, such as sports or outdoor exercises, allows the eyes to relax and recuperate;
• Physical and Mental Refreshment: Physical education offers students the opportunity to step away from the digital realm, refreshing both their bodies and minds. This break can enhance their ability to concentrate on academic tasks and reduce overall stress levels.

Real-World Interactions

In a digital age, where virtual interactions often take precedence, physical education serves as a vital platform for real-world, face-to-face interactions. These interactions are essential for several reasons:

• Social Development: Physical education classes provide a unique social environment where students engage with their peers in person. This fosters social development, improving communication skills, teamwork, and conflict resolution;
• Emotional Well-Being: Real-world interactions in physical activities offer emotional support and companionship, reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness that can be exacerbated by excessive screen time;
• Cultural Awareness: Interacting with classmates from diverse backgrounds during physical education helps students develop cultural awareness and empathy, promoting a more inclusive society.

Physical vs. Virtual Reality

While the digital age has introduced a plethora of virtual fitness solutions, it’s essential to understand why physical education remains indispensable:

• Holistic Development: Physical education encompasses more than just physical fitness. It promotes holistic development, including physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Virtual fitness solutions may focus solely on physical aspects, neglecting the broader benefits;
• Hands-On Experience: Physical education provides hands-on experiences that virtual solutions cannot replicate. Activities like learning to swim, play a musical instrument, or perform yoga postures require real physical engagement and guidance;
• Life Skills: Physical education instills life skills such as discipline, resilience, time management, and goal setting. These skills are invaluable in the digital age, helping students navigate both their academic and digital lives effectively.

Physical education, far from being a mere school subject, is a life-long endeavor, pivotal for holistic well-being. Its multifaceted benefits, spanning from the youth to the elderly, highlight its unparalleled importance. Embracing physical education is not just about fostering physical health but about nurturing a balanced, fulfilled, and enriched life.

Physical education offers a structured, holistic approach. It’s not just about exercise, but about understanding one’s body, teamwork, and holistic health.

Modern physical education prioritizes inclusivity, with programs tailored to accommodate everyone, regardless of physical or cognitive limitations.

While digital platforms provide convenience, physical education offers real-world experiences, human interactions, and ensures that exercises are performed correctly and safely.

Beyond fitness, physical education focuses on mental well-being, discipline, resilience, teamwork, and holistic personal development.

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Physical Education is just as important as any other school subject

Lecturer in Physical Education, University of Central Lancashire

Senior Lecturer in PE and Sports Studies, University of Central Lancashire

Disclosure statement

Andrew Sprake is affiliated with the North Western Counties Physical Education Association and FIEP in a voluntary capacity.

Clive Palmer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Central Lancashire provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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Physical Education (PE) is often viewed as a marginal subject within the curriculum. And many secondary schools actively reduce PE time to make way for what are deemed more “serious” or “important” subjects.

Research from the Youth Sport Trust shows that 38% of English secondary schools have cut timetabled PE for 14- to 16-year-olds. One of the main reasons for this is the increased pressure to produce exam results . Much of the time pupils would usually spend in PE lessons is now spent receiving extra tutoring on topics other than PE.

Despite these cuts, however, PE is still championed for its potential to promote health and encourage lifelong physical activity. This is an important issue given that over 30% of year six pupils are classed as “overweight” or “obese” according to the latest government figures .

PE is also praised for its contribution to improved psychological health , for helping to nurture social and moral development – as well as supporting cognitive and academic performance .

The Association for Physical Education maintains that high quality PE fosters the physical, moral, social, emotional, cultural and intellectual development of pupils. But the many aims for PE – such as health promotion, skills development as well as a focus on social and moral issues – has resulted in confusion about the subject and has done little to further the educational experiences in practice. In fact, it has been argued that PE offers more entertainment than education .

Not intellectual enough

A waste of time and a bit of entertainment, or vitally important to the education and development of a child – which is it?

Part of the problem seems to be that PE is often viewed as an opportunity for pupils to be active and to enjoy themselves. Or in some cases, as a form of stress relief and to serve as a break from traditional learning.

Clearly, these areas are valuable for pupils’ general well-being and there is a growing evidence base to suggest that physical activity has the potential to support learning more broadly . But the role of PE is not merely to prop up and support pupils’ learning in other subjects. Instead, it should provide meaningful learning experiences within the subject itself.

What PE seemingly lacks in comparison to all other subjects is a platform on which pupils’ learning can be communicated and evidenced with clarity and rigour. And while PE is often marginalised to make way for more valuable or academic subjects, it seems the intellectual and academic value of PE itself is largely overlooked.

The potential of PE

PE, sport and physical culture each offer a unique platform on which to explore a multitude of holistic learning opportunities. For instance, the ethical or moral controversies in sport can give teachers a range of educational stimuli for debate, reasoning and critical thinking.

The Sports Monograph is a recent project we worked on, which invited learners to collaborate and share their opinions and experiences about sport and what it means to them. The project included primary and secondary school pupils, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students, who were all supported by their teachers and lecturers.

As part of the project, not only were the pupils recognised for their written contributions at school awards evenings, but unlike in traditional PE, their work left a trail of learning evidence and intellectual engagement – which the schools recognised and celebrated. PE was effectively standing shoulder to shoulder with other subjects in the curriculum as a valuable educational endeavour, with written evidence to support the claim. These pupils now have publications that are being used to teach undergraduate students at the University of Central Lancashire.

Future health

The spiralling downtrend of PE time in secondary schools is a major cause for concern and it would seem that PE is in urgent need of an overhaul. But while the future of PE may be uncertain, there are certainly many opportunities for cross-curricular links and integrative learning in PE.

A recent project, for instance, explored the link between cycling and wider conceptual learning. Similarly, another recent study explored the physical aspects of learning across all curriculum areas, simply through setting up a tent .

The role that PE can play as part of the wider academic curriculum seems to be, at best understated, and at worst, completely overlooked. Activities like the ones raised here could help to broaden the educational potential of PE, encourage more pupils to engage with the subject and strengthen the place of PE as a unique and valuable educational pursuit. The opportunities are there, but PE must be ready to grasp them and let the pupils write about their sporting passions to reflect what they are said to be learning.

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Why PE matters for student academics and wellness right now

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This story about PE teachers was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Hechinger’s newsletter .

Amanda Amtmanis, an elementary physical education instructor in Middletown, Connecticut, handed out cards with QR codes to a class of third graders, and told them to start running.

The kids sprinted off around the baseball field in a light drizzle, but by the end of the first lap, a fifth of a mile, many were winded and walking. They paused to scan the cards, which track their mileage, on their teacher’s iPad and got some encouragement from an electronic coach — “Way to run your socks off!” or “Leave it all on the track!”

A boy in a red Nike shirt surged ahead, telling Amtmanis his goal was to run 5 miles. “Whoa, look at Dominic!” another boy exclaimed.

“We don’t need to compare ourselves to others,” Amtmanis reminded him.

The third graders finished a third lap, alternating running and walking, and were about to start on a scavenger hunt when the rain picked up, forcing them inside. Amtmanis thanked her students for their willingness to adjust — a skill many of them have practiced far more often than running these past 18 months.

The full impact of the pandemic on kids’ health and fitness won’t be known for some time. But it’s already caused at least a short-term spike in childhood obesity Rates of overweight and obesity in 5- through 11-year-olds rose nearly 10 percentage points in the first few months of 2020.

Amtmanis’ “mileage club,” which tracks students’ running, both in and out of school, and rewards them with Pokémon cards when they hit certain targets, is an example of how PE teachers around the country are trying to get kids back in shape.

But inclement weather isn’t the only thing PE teachers are up against as they confront what might be called “physical learning loss.” Physical education as a discipline has long fought to be taken as seriously as its academic counterparts. Even before the pandemic, fewer than half the states set any minimum amount of time for students to participate in physical education, according to the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE), which represents PE and health instructors.

Now, as schools scramble to help kids catch up academically, there are signs that PE is taking a back seat to the core subjects yet again. In some California schools, administrators are shifting instructional minutes from PE to academic subjects — or canceling class altogether so PE teachers can sub for classroom teachers; in others, they’re growing class sizes in the gym, so they can shrink them in the classroom.

Meanwhile, innovative instructors like Amtmanis, who has worked in her district for more than 20 years, are struggling to get their ideas off the ground. Over the summer, the principal of Macdonough Elementary, one of two schools where Amtmanis teaches, approved her request to participate in another running program called The Daily Mile, in which kids walk or run 15 minutes a day during school hours.

Daily running breaks “boost attentiveness, which has positive effects on academics,” Amtmanis argued.

But two weeks into the school year, not a single teacher had bought into the idea.

“The issue is their packed schedule,” Amtmanis said.

Last year, many schools conducted gym class remotely, with students joining in from their bedrooms and living rooms.

The online format presented several challenges. Many students lacked the equipment, space, or parental support to participate fully. And many instructors grappled with how to teach and assess motor skills and teamwork online.

Though instructors found creative ways to keep students moving — substituting rolled-up socks for balls, and “disguising fitness” in scavenger hunts and beat-the-teacher challenges — they still fretted that online gym wasn’t giving students the same benefits as in-person classes.

Compounding their concern was the fact that many students were also missing out on recess and extracurricular sports.

In a March 2021 survey conducted by the Cooper Institute, maker of the popular FitnessGram assessments, close to half the PE teachers and school and district administrators responding said their students were “significantly less” physically active during their schools’ closure than before it.

Schools that reopened last year faced their own set of challenges, including bans on shared equipment that made even a simple game of catch impossible. Schools that were open for in-person learning were also much more likely to cut back on PE instructional time, or eliminate it altogether, the survey found.

The consequences of these reductions in physical activity are hard to quantify, especially since many schools suspended fitness testing during the pandemic and have yet to resume it, but some PE teachers say they’re seeing more kids with locomotor delays and weaker stamina than normal.

“The second graders are like first graders, and some are even like kindergarteners,” said Robin Richardson, an elementary PE instructor in Kentucky. They can jump and hop, she said, but they can’t leap. They’re exhausted after 20 seconds of jumping jacks.

An unusually high number of Richardson’s first graders can’t skip or do windmills. Some lack the spatial awareness that’s essential to group games.

“They don’t know how to move without running into each other,” she said.

Other instructors are seeing an increase in cognitive issues, such as difficulty paying attention or following directions, particularly among kids who remained remote for most or all of last year.

Kyle Bragg, an elementary PE instructor in Arizona, has seen kids sitting with their backs to him, staring off into space when he’s talking. “I say ‘Knees, please,’ so they spin around to face me,” he said.

And some PE teachers say their students’ social-emotional skills have suffered more than their gross motor skills. “They forgot how to share; how to be nice to each other; how to relate to each other,” said Donn Tobin, an elementary PE instructor in New York.

PE has a key role to play in boosting those skills, which affect how kids interact in other classes, said Will Potter, an elementary PE teacher in California.

“We’re uniquely situated to handle the social-emotional needs that came out of the pandemic, in a way classroom teachers are not,” Potter said.

Amtmanis, for her part, worries about her students’ mental health. She sees the little signs of strain daily — the kid who got upset because he couldn’t pick his group, for example, and the one who was distressed that his Mileage Club card had gotten mixed up in the front office.

“Their emotional reserves are low,” she said.

Yet not all instructors are reporting drops in their students’ fitness and skill development. Teachers in some middle- and upper-income districts said they haven’t noticed much of a change at all. In some communities, families seemed to spend more time outdoors.

“We saw the skyrocketing sale of bicycles, we saw families going for walks,” said Dianne Wilson-Graham, executive director of the California Physical Education and Health Project.

But in Title I schools like Macdonough, where more than half the students are low-income, some kids didn’t even have access to a safe place to exercise or play during school closures.

“Not only are they not in soccer leagues, but sometimes they don’t even have a park,” Amtmanis said.

Amtmanis came up with the idea of doing the Daily Mile after spring fitness tests revealed drops in her students’ strength, flexibility and endurance.

But many schools still aren’t sure how much physical learning loss their students have experienced as a result of the pandemic. Most schools pressed pause on fitness testing last year, and some elementary-school instructors are reluctant to restart it. They say the tests aren’t valid with young children, even in ordinary times, and argue the time they take could be better spent on Covid catch-up.

Andjelka Pavlovic, director of research and education for the Cooper Institute, said its tests are scientifically proven to be valid for students who are 10 and up, or roughly starting in fourth grade.

Fitness testing requirements vary by state, county or even district. Some states specify how often students must be tested; others leave it largely to the teacher.

Bragg, the Arizona teacher, said he has put testing “on the backburner” because “right now it’s not at the forefront of what’s important.”

Richardson said she is avoiding testing because she doesn’t want to use up precious instructional time or demoralize her students. “I want my kids to enjoy movement,” she said. If they perform poorly on the tests, “they may not feel as strong.”

In Connecticut, where schools are required to test fourth graders’ fitness annually, Amtmanis approached testing cautiously last year. She didn’t want to embarrass her students, so she made it into a series of games.

Instead of Sit-and-Reach, they had a “flexibility contest,” in which kids broke into teams for tag then had to perform stretches if they were tagged. She measured the distances stretched with curling ribbon, tied the ribbons together, and attached a balloon to the end. The team whose balloon soared the highest won fidget putty.

Pushups became a Bingo game, with the center space representing pushups.

“My goal was to get through it without ever using the words ‘fitness” or ‘testing,’” she said.

As the pandemic drags on, some instructors are taking a similar approach to fitness remediation and acceleration.

Bragg likes a warmup called “ Touch Spots ,” in which first graders listen as the instructor reads off the name of a color, then run and touch a corresponding dot on the floor. It works on reaction time, cardiovascular endurance, spatial awareness and sequencing — but the kids don’t know that.

“Students are having so much fun that they don’t realize how much fitness they are doing,” Bragg said.

Differentiation — tailoring instruction to meet individual students’ needs — has become even more essential, with former remote learners often lagging behind their in-person peers, Bragg said.

When playing catch, for example, he offers his students different sized balls — the smaller ones are more challenging.

Potter, the California teacher, spent the first two weeks of school teaching his students how to connect with their partners, stressing the importance of eye contact and body language.

“When you’re on Zoom, you look at the camera to make eye contact,” he said. “It’s a very different environment.”

Bragg reminds his students how to include kids who are standing on the sidelines, modeling excited body language and tone of voice. Lately, he’s noticed that kids who were remote last year are being excluded from groups.

“Social interaction needs to be practiced, just like how to throw a ball,” he said.

Richardson, the Kentucky PE teacher, is trying to build up her students’ stamina gradually, through progressively longer intervals of exercise.

But she works in a school with pods, so she sees each group of kids for five consecutive days, every third week. The two weeks in between, she has to hope that teachers will provide recess and “movement breaks.” She’s trying to get them to give kids breaks “when they get glassy-eyed and frustrated.”

Recently, Richardson was at a staff training session at which depleted teachers were “popping candy in the back.” When she raised her hand and requested a break in the training, her colleagues cheered. She told them to remember how they felt when their students return to the building.

“I always say, ‘If your bum is numb, your brain is the same,’” she said.

Convincing classroom teachers to set aside more time for movement can be challenging, though. As students return from months of online learning, teachers are under enormous pressure to get them caught up academically.

Kate Cox, an elementary and middle-school PE teacher in California, wishes schools would “realize what they’re missing when they cut PE because of learning loss in other areas.” Physical education is “readying their minds and bodies to be more successful in other areas,” Cox said.

Terri Drain, the president of SHAPE, argued that schools fail students when they treat physical learning loss as less serious than its academic counterpart.

“In the primary grades, children develop fundamental motor skills, such as throwing, catching, running, kicking and jumping,” she said. Unless schools commit to helping kids catch up, “the impacts of this ‘missed learning’ will be lifelong.”

In Connecticut, Amtmanis hasn’t given up on convincing teachers to carve out time for the Daily Mile. She recently sent them a list of suggestions on how to fit 15 minutes of running into the day, including by incorporating it as an active transition between academic blocks.

“While it may seem like there aren’t minutes to spare,” she wrote, “the energizing effect of the active transition should result in more on-task behavior and more efficient working.”

In the meantime, Amtmanis plans to keep using the mileage club to motivate her students to run and to monitor their progress.

“I don’t want to call attention to the fact that not everyone is fit,” she said. “This is an unobtrusive way to keep the data.”

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Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment; Food and Nutrition Board; Institute of Medicine; Kohl HW III, Cook HD, editors. Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2013 Oct 30.

Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School.

• Hardcopy Version at National Academies Press

5 Approaches to Physical Education in Schools

Key messages.

• Because it is guaranteed to reach virtually all children, physical education is the only sure opportunity for nearly all school-age children to access health-enhancing physical activities.
• High-quality physical education programs are characterized by (1) instruction by certified physical education teachers, (2) a minimum of 150 minutes per week (30 minutes per day) for children in elementary schools and 225 minutes per week (45 minutes per day) for students in middle and high schools, and (3) tangible standards for student achievement and for high school graduation.
• Students are more physically active on days on which they have physical education.
• Quality physical education has strong support from both parents and child health professional organizations.
• Several models and examples demonstrate that physical education scheduled during the school day is feasible on a daily basis.
• Substantial discrepancies exist in state mandates regarding the time allocated for physical education.
• Nearly half of school administrators (44 percent) reported cutting significant time from physical education and recess to increase time spent in reading and mathematics since passage of the No Child Left Behind Act.
• Standardized national-level data on the provision of and participation, performance, and extent of engagement in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity are insufficient to allow assessment of the current status and trends in physical education in the United States.
• Systematic research is needed on personal, curricular, and policy barriers to successful physical education.
• The long-term impact of physical education has been understudied and should be a research priority to support the development of evidence-based policies.

Physical education is a formal content area of study in schools that is standards based and encompasses assessment based on standards and benchmarks. It is defined in Chapter 1 as “a planned sequential K-12 standards-based program of curricula and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors of healthy active living, physical fitness, sportsmanship, self-efficacy, and emotional intelligence.” As a school subject, physical education is focused on teaching school-aged children the science and methods of physically active, healthful living ( NASPE, 2012 ). It is an avenue for engaging in developmentally appropriate physical activities designed for children to develop their fitness, gross motor skills, and health ( Sallis et al., 2003 ; Robinson and Goodway, 2009 ; Robinson, 2011 ). This chapter (1) provides a perspective on physical education in the context of schooling; (2) elaborates on the importance of physical education to child development; (3) describes the consensus on the characteristics of quality physical education programs; (4) reviews current national, state, and local education policies that affect the quality of physical education; and (5) examines barriers to quality physical education and solutions for overcoming them.

• PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOLING

Physical education became a subject matter in schools (in the form of German and Swedish gymnastics) at the beginning of the 19th century ( Hackensmith, 1966 ). Its role in human health was quickly recognized. By the turn of the 20th century, personal hygiene and exercise for bodily health were incorporated in the physical education curriculum as the major learning outcomes for students ( Weston, 1962 ). The exclusive focus on health, however, was criticized by educator Thomas Wood (1913 ; Wood and Cassidy, 1930 ) as too narrow and detrimental to the development of the whole child. The education community subsequently adopted Wood's inclusive approach to physical education whereby fundamental movements and physical skills for games and sports were incorporated as the major instructional content. During the past 15 years, physical education has once again evolved to connect body movement to its consequences (e.g., physical activity and health), teaching children the science of healthful living and skills needed for an active lifestyle ( NASPE, 2004 ).

Sallis and McKenzie (1991) published a landmark paper stating that physical education is education content using a “comprehensive but physically active approach that involves teaching social, cognitive, and physical skills, and achieving other goals through movement” (p. 126). This perspective is also emphasized by Siedentop (2009) , who states that physical education is education through the physical. Sallis and McKenzie (1991) stress two main goals of physical education: (1) prepare children and youth for a lifetime of physical activity and (2) engage them in physical activity during physical education. These goals represent the lifelong benefits of health-enhancing physical education that enable children and adolescents to become active adults throughout their lives.

Physical Education as Part of Education

In institutionalized education, the main goal has been developing children's cognitive capacity in the sense of learning knowledge in academic disciplines. This goal dictates a learning environment in which seated learning behavior is considered appropriate and effective and is rewarded. Physical education as part of education provides the only opportunity for all children to learn about physical movement and engage in physical activity. As noted, its goal and place in institutionalized education have changed from the original focus on teaching hygiene and health to educating children about the many forms and benefits of physical movement, including sports and exercise. With a dramatic expansion of content beyond the original Swedish and German gymnastics programs of the 19th century, physical education has evolved to become a content area with diverse learning goals that facilitate the holistic development of children ( NASPE, 2004 ).

To understand physical education as a component of the education system, it is important to know that the education system in the United States does not operate with a centralized curriculum. Learning standards are developed by national professional organizations such as the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and/or state education agencies rather than by the federal Department of Education; all curricular decisions are made locally by school districts or individual schools in compliance with state standards. Physical education is influenced by this system, which leads to great diversity in policies and curricula. According to NASPE and the American Heart Association (2010), although most states have begun to mandate physical education for both elementary and secondary schools, the number of states that allow waivers/exemptions from or substitutions for physical education increased from 27 and 18 in 2006 to 32 and 30 in 2010, respectively. These expanded waiver and substitution policies (discussed in greater detail later in the chapter) increase the possibility that students will opt out of physical education for nonmedical reasons.

Curriculum Models

Given that curricula are determined at the local level in the United States, encompassing national standards, state standards, and state-adopted textbooks that meet and are aligned with the standards, physical education is taught in many different forms and structures. Various curriculum models are used in instruction, including movement education, sport education, and fitness education. In terms of engagement in physical activity, two perspectives are apparent. First, programs in which fitness education curricula are adopted are effective at increasing in-class physical activity ( Lonsdale et al., 2013 ). Second, in other curriculum models, physical activity is considered a basis for students' learning skill or knowledge that the lesson is planned for them to learn. A paucity of nationally representative data is available with which to demonstrate the relationship between the actual level of physical activity in which students are engaged and the curriculum models adopted by their schools.

Movement Education

Movement has been a cornerstone of physical education since the 1800s. Early pioneers (Francois Delsarte, Liselott Diem, Rudolf von Laban) focused on a child's ability to use his or her body for self-expression ( Abels and Bridges, 2010 ). Exemplary works and curriculum descriptions include those by Laban himself ( Laban, 1980 ) and others (e.g., Logsdon et al., 1984 ). Over time, however, the approach shifted from concern with the inner attitude of the mover to a focus on the function and application of each movement ( Abels and Bridges, 2010 ). In the 1960s, the intent of movement education was to apply four movement concepts to the three domains of learning (i.e., cognitive, psychomotor, and affective). The four concepts were body (representing the instrument of the action); space (where the body is moving); effort (the quality with which the movement is executed); and relationships (the connections that occur as the body moves—with objects, people, and the environment; Stevens-Smith, 2004 ). The importance of movement in physical education is evidenced by its inclusion in the first two NASPE standards for K-12 physical education ( NASPE, 2004 ; see Box 5-7 later in this chapter).

Standards for a Physically Educated Person. SOURCE: NASPE, 2004.

These standards emphasize the need for children to know basic movement concepts and be able to perform basic movement patterns. It is imperative for physical educators to foster motor success and to provide children with a basic skill set that builds their movement repertoire, thus allowing them to engage in various forms of games, sports, and other physical activities (see also Chapter 3 ).

Sport Education

One prevalent physical education model is the sport education curriculum designed by Daryl Siedentop ( Siedentop, 1994 ; Siedentop et al., 2011 ). The goal of the model is to “educate students to be players in the fullest sense and to help them develop as competent, literate, and enthusiastic sportspersons” (2011, p. 4, emphasis in original). The model entails a unique instructional structure featuring sport seasons that are used as the basis for planning and teaching instructional units. Students are organized into sport organizations (teams) and play multiple roles as team managers, coaches, captains, players, referees, statisticians, public relations staff, and others to mimic a professional sports organization. A unit is planned in terms of a sports season, including preseason activity/practice, regular-season competition, playoffs and/or tournaments, championship competition, and a culminating event (e.g., an awards ceremony or sport festivity). Depending on the developmental level of students, the games are simplified or modified to encourage maximum participation. In competition, students play the roles noted above in addition to the role of players. A sport education unit thus is much longer than a conventional physical education unit. Siedentop and colleagues (2011) recommend 20 lessons per unit, so that all important curricular components of the model can be implemented.

Findings from research on the sport education model have been reviewed twice. Wallhead and O'Sullivan (2005) report that evidence is insufficient to support the conclusion that use of the model results in students' developing motor skills and fitness and learning relevant knowledge; some evidence suggests that the model leads to stronger team cohesion, more active engagement in lessons, and increased competence in game play. In a more recent review, Hastie and colleagues (2011) report on emerging evidence suggesting that the model leads to improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness (only one study) and mixed evidence regarding motor skills development, increased feeling of enjoyment in participation in physical education, increased sense of affiliation with the team and physical education, and positive development of fair-play values. The only study on in-class physical activity using the model showed that it contributed to only 36.6 percent activity at the vigorous- or moderate-intensity levels ( Parker and Curtner-Smith, 2005 ). Hastie and colleagues caution, however, that because only 6 of 38 studies reviewed used an experimental or quasi-experimental design, the findings must be interpreted with extreme caution. The model's merits in developing motor skills, fitness, and desired physical activity behavior have yet to be determined in studies with more rigorous research designs.

Fitness Education

Instead of focusing exclusively on having children move constantly to log activity time, a new curricular approach emphasizes teaching them the science behind why they need to be physically active in their lives. The curriculum is designed so that the children are engaged in physical activities that demonstrate relevant scientific knowledge. The goal is the development and maintenance of individual student fitness. In contrast with the movement education and sport education models, the underlying premise is that physical activity is essential to a healthy lifestyle and that students' understanding of fitness and behavior change result from engagement in a fitness education program. The conceptual framework for the model is designed around the health-related components of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility. A recent meta-analysis ( Lonsdale et al., 2013 ) suggests that physical education curricula that include fitness activities can significantly increase the amount of time spent in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity.

Several concept-based fitness education curriculum models exist for both the middle school and senior high school levels. They include Fitness for Life: Middle School ( Corbin et al., 2007 ); Personal Fitness for You ( Stokes and Schultz, 2002 ); Get Active! Get Fit! ( Stokes and Schultz, 2009 ); Personal Fitness: Looking Good, Feeling Good ( Williams, 2005 ); and Foundations of Fitness ( Rainey and Murray, 2005 ). Activities in the curriculum are designed for health benefits, and the ultimate goal for the student is to develop a commitment to regular exercise and physical activity. It is assumed that all children can achieve a health-enhancing level of fitness through regular engagement in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity.

Randomized controlled studies on the impact of a science-based fitness curriculum in 15 elementary schools showed that, although the curriculum allocated substantial lesson time to learning cognitive knowledge, the students were more motivated to engage in physical activities than students in the 15 control schools experiencing traditional physical education ( Chen et al., 2008 ), and they expended the same amount of calories as their counterparts in the control schools ( Chen et al., 2007 ). Longitudinal data from the study reveal continued knowledge growth in the children that strengthened their understanding of the science behind exercise and active living ( Sun et al., 2012 ). What is unclear, however, is whether the enthusiasm and knowledge gained through the curriculum will translate into the children's lives outside of physical education to help them become physically active at home.

To incorporate standards and benchmarks into a fitness education model, a committee under the auspices of NASPE (2012) developed the Instructional Framework for Fitness Education in Physical Education. It is suggested that through this proposed comprehensive framework, fitness education be incorporated into the existing physical education curriculum and embedded in the content taught in all instructional units. The entire framework, highlighted in Box 5-1 , can be viewed at http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/upload/Instructional-Framework-for-Fitness-Education-in-PE-2012-2.pdf (accessed February 1, 2013).

Instructional Framework for Fitness Education in Physical Education. Technique: Demonstrate competency in techniques needed to perform a variety of moderate to vigorous physical activities. Technique in developing cardiovascular fitness.

Emergence of Active Gaming in Fitness Education

Today, active gaming and cell phone/computer applications are a part of physical activity for both youth and adults. Accordingly, fitness education in school physical education programs is being enhanced through the incorporation of active video games, also known as exergaming. Examples of active gaming programs with accompanying equipment include Konami Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), Nintendo Wii, Gamebikes, Kinect XBOX, Xavix, and Hopsports. These active games have been incorporated into school wellness centers as high-tech methods of increasing student fitness levels to supplement the traditional modes for attaining vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity ( Greenberg and Stokes, 2007 ).

Bailey and McInnis (2011) compared selected active games with treadmill walking and found that each game—DDR, LightSpace (Bug Invasion), Nintendo Wii (Boxing), Cyber Trazer (Goalie Wars), Sportwall, and Xavix (J-Mat)—raised energy expenditure above that measured at rest. Mean metabolic equivalent (MET) values for each game were comparable to or higher than those measured for walking on a treadmill at 3 miles per hour. Graf and colleagues (2009) , studying boys and girls aged 10-13, found that both Wii boxing and DDR (level 2) elicited energy expenditure, heart rate, perceived exertion, and ventilatory responses that were comparable to or greater than those elicited by moderate-intensity walking on a treadmill. Similar results were found by Lanningham-Foster and colleagues (2009) among 22 children aged 10-14 and adults in that energy expenditure for both groups increased significantly when playing Wii over that expended during all sedentary activities. Staiano and colleagues (2012) explored factors that motivated overweight and obese African American high school students to play Wii during school-based physical activity opportunities. They found greater and more sustained energy expenditure over time and noted that players' various intrinsic motivations to play also influenced their level of energy expenditure. Mellecker and McManus (2008) determined that energy expenditure and heart rate were greater during times of active play than in seated play. Fawkner and colleagues (2010) studied 20 high school–age girls and found that dance simulation games provided an opportunity for most subjects to achieve a moderate-intensity level of physical activity. The authors conclude that regular use of the games aids in promoting health through physical activity. Haddock and colleagues (2009) conducted ergometer tests with children aged 7-14 and found increased oxygen consumption and energy expenditure above baseline determinations. Maddison and colleagues (2007) , studying children aged 10-14, found that active video game playing led to significant increases in energy expenditure, heart rate, and activity counts in comparison with baseline values. They conclude that playing these games for short time periods is comparable to light- to moderate-intensity conventional modes of exercise, including walking, skipping, and jogging. Mhurchu and colleagues (2008) also conclude that a short-term intervention involving active video games is likely to be an effective means of increasing children's overall level of physical activity. Additionally, Sit and colleagues (2010) , studying the effects of active gaming among 10-year-old children in Hong Kong, found the children to be significantly more physically active while playing interactive games compared with screen-based games.

Exergaming appears to increase acute physical activity among users and is being used in school settings because it is appealing to students. Despite active research in the area of exergaming and physical activity, however, exergaming's utility for increasing acute and habitual physical activity specifically in the physical education setting has yet to be confirmed. Further, results of studies conducted in nonlaboratory and nonschool settings have been mixed ( Baranowski et al., 2008 ). Moreover, any physical activity changes that do occur may not be sufficient to stimulate physiologic changes. For example, White and colleagues (2009) examined the effects of Nintendo Wii on physiologic changes. Although energy expenditure was raised above resting values during active gaming, the rise was not significant enough to qualify as part of the daily 60 minutes or more of vigorous-or moderate-intensity exercise recommended for children.

While collecting data on the effects of Nintendo Wii on 11-year-olds in New Zealand, White and colleagues (2009) found that active video games generated higher energy expenditure than both resting and inactive screen watching. They determined, however, that active gaming is a “low-intensity” physical activity. Therefore, it may be helpful in reducing the amount of sedentary behavior, but it should not be used as a replacement for more conventional modes of physical activity. Sun (2012) found that active gaming can increase student motivation to engage in physical activity, but the motivation may decrease as a result of prolonged exposure to the same games. This study also found that exergaming lessons provided less physical activity for children than regular conventional physical education. For inactive children, however, the exergaming environment is conducive to more active participation in the game-based physical activities than in conventional physical education ( Fogel et al., 2010 ). Finally, Sheehan and Katz (2012) found that among school-age children the use of active gaming added to postural stability, an important component of motor skills development.

From the research cited above, as well as ongoing research being conducted by the Health Games Research Project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, active gaming is promising as a means of providing young children an opportunity to become more physically active and helping them meet the recommended 60 or more minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity per day. Different types of games may influence energy expenditure differentially, and some may serve solely as motivation. Selected games also appear to hold greater promise for increasing energy expenditure, while others invite youth to be physically active through motivational engagement. The dynamic and evolving field of active gaming is a promising area for future research as more opportunities arise to become physically active throughout the school environment.

Other Innovative Programs

While several evidence-based physical education programs—such as the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) and Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids (SPARK)—are being implemented in schools, many innovative programs also have been implemented nationwide that are motivating and contribute to skills attainment while engaging youth in activities that are fun and fitness oriented. These programs include water sports, involving sailing, kayaking, swimming, canoeing, and paddle boarding; adventure activities such as Project Adventure; winter sports, such as snow skiing and snowshoeing; and extreme sports, such as in-line skating, skateboarding, and cycling.

Differences Among Elementary, Middle, and High Schools

Instructional opportunities vary within and among school levels as a result of discrepancies in state policy mandates. Although the time to be devoted to physical education (e.g., 150 minutes per week for elementary schools and 225 minutes per week for secondary schools) is commonly included in most state mandates, actual time allocation in school schedules is uncertain and often left to the discretion of local education officials.

With respect to content, in both elementary and secondary schools, physical activity is an assumed rather than an intended outcome except in the fitness education model. The goals of skill development and knowledge growth in physical education presumably are accomplished through participation in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity. Data are lacking, however, to support the claim that physical activity offered to further the attainment of skills and knowledge is of vigorous or moderate intensity and is of sufficient duration for children to reap health benefits.

Children in Nontraditional Schools

Research on physical education, physical activity, and sports opportunities in nontraditional school settings (charter schools, home schools, and correctional facilities) is extremely limited. Two intervention studies focused on charter schools addressed issues with Mexican American children. In the first ( Johnston et al., 2010 ), 10- to 14-year-old children were randomly assigned to either an instructor-led intervention or a self-help intervention for 2 years. The instructor-led intervention was a structured daily opportunity for the students to learn about nutrition and to engage in structured physical activities. The results indicate that the children in the instructor-led intervention lost more weight at the end of the intervention than those in the self-help condition. In the second study ( Romero, 2012 ), 11- to 16-year-old Mexican American children from low-income families participated in a 5-week, 10-lesson, hip-hop dance physical activity intervention. In comparison with data collected prior to the intervention, the children reported greater frequency of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity, lower perceived community barriers to physical activity, and stronger self-efficacy for physical activity. Collectively, the results of these two studies suggest that a structured physical activity intervention can be effective in enhancing and enriching physical activity opportunities for Mexican American adolescents in charter schools.

Research on physical activity among home-schooled children is also limited. The only study found was published in 2004 ( Welk et al., 2004 ). It describes differences in physical fitness, psychosocial correlates of physical activity, and physical activity between home-schooled children and their public school counterparts aged 9-16. No significant differences were found between the two groups of children on the measures used, but the researchers did note that the home-schooled children tended to be less physically active.

Research on physical education and physical activity in juvenile correction institutions is equally scarce. Munson and colleagues (1985 , 1988 ) conducted studies on the use of physical activity programs as a behavior mediation intervention strategy and compared its impact on juvenile delinquents' behavior change with that of other intervention strategies. They found that physical activity did not have a stronger impact than other programs on change in delinquent behavior.

Fitness Assessment

All states except Iowa have adopted state standards for physical education. However, the extent to which students achieve the standards is limited since no accountability is required.

An analysis of motor skills competency, strategic knowledge, physical activity, and physical fitness among 180 4th- and 5th-grade children demonstrated that the physical education standards in force were difficult to attain ( Erwin and Castelli, 2008 ). Among the study participants, fewer than a half (47 percent) were deemed motor competent, 77 percent demonstrated adequate progress in knowledge, only 40 percent were in the Healthy Fitness Zone on all five components of the Fitnessgram fitness assessment, and merely 15 percent engaged in 60 or more minutes of physical activity each day. Clearly most of the children failed to meet benchmark measures of performance for this developmental stage. This evidence highlights the need for additional physical activity opportunities within and beyond physical education to enhance opportunities for students to achieve the standards.

Relationships among these student-learning outcomes were further decomposed in a study of 230 children ( Castelli and Valley, 2007 ). The authors determined that aerobic fitness and the number of fitness test scores in the Healthy Fitness Zone were the best predictors of daily engagement in physical activity relative to factors of gender, age, body mass index (BMI), motor skills competency, and knowledge. However, in-class engagement in physical activity was best predicted by aerobic fitness and motor skills competence, suggesting that knowledge and skills should not be overlooked in a balanced physical education curriculum intended to promote lifelong physical activity.

As an untested area, student assessment in physical education has been conducted on many indicators other than learning outcomes. As reported in a seminal study ( Hensley and East, 1989 ), physical education teachers base learning assessment on participation (96 percent), effort (88 percent), attitude (76 percent), sportsmanship (75 percent), dressing out (72 percent), improvement (68 percent), attendance (58 percent), observation of skills (58 percent), knowledge tests (46 percent), skills tests (45 percent), potential (25 percent), and homework (11 percent). These data, while several years old, show that most learning assessments in physical education fail to target relevant learning objectives such as knowledge, skills, and physical activity behavior. The development of teacher-friendly learning assessments consistent with national and/or state standards is sorely needed.

Fitness assessment in the school environment can serve multiple purposes. On the one hand, it can provide both teacher and student with information about the student's current fitness level relative to a criterion-referenced standard, yield valid information that can serve as the basis for developing a personal fitness or exercise program based on current fitness levels, motivate students to do better to achieve a minimum standard of health-related fitness where deficiencies exist, and possibly assist in the identification of potential future health problems. On the other hand, an overall analysis of student fitness assessments provides valuable data that can enable teachers to assess learner outcomes in the physical education curriculum and assess the present curriculum to determine whether it includes sufficient fitness education to allow students to make fitness gains throughout the school year. Fitness assessment also provides a unique opportunity for schools to track data on students longitudinally. The ultimate goal of assessing student fitness in the school environment should be to educate students on the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle throughout the life span.

When administering fitness assessments in the school setting, caution is essential to ensure confidentiality of the results. The results and their interpretation should be shared with students and parents/guardians to have the greatest impact. To ensure the greatest benefits from fitness assessment, NASPE (2010) developed a position statement on “Appropriate Uses of Fitness Measurement.” Table 5-1 outlines appropriate and inappropriate practices related to fitness testing in schools and other educational settings.

Appropriate and Inappropriate Practices Related to Fitness Testing in Schools and Other Educational Settings.

When fitness assessment becomes part of a quality physical education program, teaching and learning strategies will guide all students to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain and improve their personal health-related fitness as part of their commitment to lifelong healthy lifestyles. Teachers who incorporate fitness education as a thread throughout all curricula will make the greatest impact in engaging and motivating students to participate in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity in order to maintain and/or improve their personal health-related fitness. For example, the development of the Presidential Youth Fitness Program with the use of a criterion-referenced platform provides students with the educational benefits of fitness assessment knowledge (see Box 5-2 ). The emergence of one national fitness assessment, Fitnessgram, along with professional development and recognition protocols, further supports fitness education in the school environment.

Presidential Youth Fitness Program. The Presidential Youth Fitness Program, launched in September 2012, is a comprehensive program that provides training and resources to schools for assessing, tracking, and recognizing youth fitness. The program promotes (more...)

Online Physical Education

Online physical education is a growing trend. Fully 59 percent of states allow required physical education credits to be earned through online courses. Only just over half of these states require that the online courses be taught by state-certified physical education teachers. Daum and Buschner (2012) report that, in general, online physical education focuses more on cognitive knowledge than physical skill or physical activity, many online courses fail to meet national standards for learning and physical activity guidelines, and teachers are not concerned about students' accountability for learning.

Although online courses differ from traditional in-school physical education courses in the delivery of instruction, the standards and benchmarks for these courses must mirror those adopted by each individual state, especially when the course is taken to meet high school graduation requirements. NASPE (2007a , p. 2) recommends that all physical education programs include “opportunity to learn, meaningful content, appropriate instruction, and student and program assessment.” If an online physical education program meets these standards, it may be just as effective as a face-to-face program. Online physical education can be tailored to each student's needs, and it helps students learn how to exercise independently. The full NASPE position statement on online physical education can be found at http://www.ncpublic-schools.org/docs/curriculum/healthfulliving/resources/onlinepeguidelines.pdf (accessed February 1, 2013). The physical education policy of one online school, the Florida Virtual School, is presented in Box 5-3 .

Florida Virtual School's Physical Education Policy. Sections 1001.11(7) and 1003.453(2) of the Florida Statutes require that every school district have a current version of its Physical Education Policy on the district website. This document satisfies (more...)

Online physical education provides another option for helping students meet the standards for physical education if they lack room in their schedule for face-to-face classes, need to make up credit, or are just looking for an alternative to the traditional physical education class. On the other hand, online courses may not be a successful mode of instruction for students with poor time management or technology skills. According to Daum and Buschner (2012) , online learning is changing the education landscape despite the limited empirical research and conflicting results on its effectiveness in producing student learning. Through a survey involving 45 online high school physical education teachers, the authors found that almost three-fourths of the courses they taught failed to meet the national guideline for secondary schools of 225 minutes of physical education per week. Most of the courses required physical activity 3 days per week, while six courses required no physical activity. The teachers expressed support, hesitation, and even opposition toward online physical education.

Scheduling Decisions

Lesson scheduling is commonly at the discretion of school principals in the United States. The amount of time dedicated to each subject is often mandated by federal or state statutes. Local education agencies or school districts have latitude to make local decisions that go beyond these federal or state mandates. Often the way courses are scheduled to fill the school day is determined by the managerial skills of the administrator making the decisions or is based on a computer program that generates individual teacher schedules.

Successful curriculum change requires supportive scheduling (see Kramer and Keller, 2008 , for an example of curriculum reform in mathematics). More research is needed on the effects of scheduling of physical education. In one such attempt designed to examine the impact of content and lesson length on calorie expenditure in middle school physical education, Chen and colleagues (2012) found that a lesson lasting 45-60 minutes with sport skills or fitness exercises as the major content would enable middle school students to expend more calories than either shorter (30–40 minutes) or longer (65–90 minutes) lessons. The evidence from such research can be used to guide allocation of the recommended weekly amount of physical education (150 minutes for elementary schools, 225 minutes for secondary schools) to achieve optimal health benefits for youth. Additional discussion of scheduling is provided later in this chapter in the section on solutions for overcoming the barriers to quality physical education.

• IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION TO CHILD DEVELOPMENT

As discussed in Chapter 3 , there is a direct correlation between regular participation in physical activity and health in school-age children, suggesting that physical activity provides important benefits directly to the individual child ( HHS, 2008 ). Physical activity during a school day may also be associated with academic benefits ( Chapter 4 ) and children's social and emotional well-being ( HHS, 2008 ; Chapter 3 ). Physical education, along with other opportunities for physical activity in the school environment (discussed in Chapter 6 ), is important for optimal health and development in school-age children. It may also serve as a preventive measure for adult conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

Little has been learned about the short- and long-term effectiveness of physical education in addressing public health issues ( Pate et al., 2011 ). Because the learning objectives of physical education have not included improvement in health status as a direct measure, indirect measures and correlates have been used as surrogates. However, some promising research, such as that conducted by Morgan and colleagues (2007) , has demonstrated that students are more physically active on days when they participate in physical education classes. Further, there is no evidence of a compensatory effect such that children having been active during physical education elect not to participate in additional physical activity on that day. Accordingly, quality physical education contributes to a child's daily accumulation of physical activity and is of particular importance for children who are overweight or who lack access to these opportunities in the home environment ( NASPE, 2012 ).

Unlike other physical activity in school (e.g., intramural or extramural sports), physical education represents the only time and place for every child to learn knowledge and skills related to physical activity and to be physically active during the school day. It also is currently the only time and place for all children to engage in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity safely because of the structured and specialist-supervised instructional environment. It is expected that children will use the skills and knowledge learned in physical education in other physical activity opportunities in school, such as active recess, active transportation, and intramural sports. For these reasons, physical education programming has been identified as the foundation on which multicomponent or coordinated approaches incorporating other physical activity opportunities can be designed and promoted.

Coordinated approaches in one form or another have existed since the early 1900s, but it was not until the 21st century that physical education was acknowledged as the foundation for these approaches. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2010) , the National Association of State Boards of Education ( NASBE; 2012 ), and NASPE (2004 , 2010 ) all support this view because physical education provides students with the tools needed to establish and maintain a physically active lifestyle throughout their life span. As discussed in Chapter 3 , research on motor skills development has provided evidence linking physical skill proficiency levels to participation in physical activity and fitness ( Stodden et al., 2008 , 2009 ). Exercise psychology research also has identified children's perceived skill competence as a correlate of their motivation for participation in physical activity ( Sallis et al., 2000 ). When school-based multicomponent interventions include physical activities experienced in physical education that are enjoyable and developmentally appropriate, such coordinated efforts are plausible and likely to be effective in producing health benefits ( Corbin, 2002 ). Accordingly, two of the Healthy People 2020 ( Healthy People 2020, 2010 ) objectives for physical activity in youth relate to physical education: “PA-4: Increase the proportion of the Nation's public and private schools that require daily physical education for all students ” and “PA-5: Increase the proportion of adolescents who participate in daily school physical education.” 1

The importance of physical education to the physical, cognitive, and social aspects of child development has been acknowledged by many federal, state, and local health and education agencies. Many private entities throughout the country likewise have offered their support and recommendations for strengthening physical education. For example, the Institute of Medicine (2012a), in its report Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation , points to the need to strengthen physical education to ensure that all children engage in 60 minutes or more of physical activity per school day. Similarly, the National Physical Activity Plan (2010) , developed by a group of national organizations at the forefront of public health and physical activity, comprises a comprehensive set of policies, programs, and initiatives aimed at increasing physical activity in all segments of schools. The plan is intended to create a national culture that supports physically active lifestyles so that its vision that “one day, all Americans will be physically active and they will live, work, and play in environments that facilitate regular physical activity” can be realized. To accomplish this ultimate goal, the plan calls for improvement in the quantity and quality of physical education for students from prekindergarten through 12th grade through significant policy initiatives at the federal and state levels that guide and fund physical education and other physical activity programs. Specifically, the plan prescribes seven specific tactics presented in Box 5-4 .

National Physical Activity Plan: Strategy 2. The National Physical Activity Plan's Strategy 2 is as follows: Strategy 2: Develop and implement state and school district policies requiring school accountability for the quality and quantity of physical (more...)

Medical professional associations, such as the American Cancer Society (ACS), American Diabetes Association (ADA), and American Heart Association (AHA), have long acknowledged the importance of physical education and have endorsed policies designed to strengthen it. A position statement on physical education from the ACS Cancer Action Network, ADA, and AHA (2012) calls for support for quality physical education and endorses including physical education as an important part of a student's comprehensive, well-rounded education program because of its positive impact on lifelong health and well-being. Further, physical education policy should make quality the priority while also aiming to increase the amount of time physical education is offered in schools.

Recently, private-sector organizations—such as the NFL through its Play60 program—have been joining efforts to ensure that youth meet the guideline of at least 60 minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity per day. One such initiative is Nike's (2012) Designed to Move: A Physical Activity Action Agenda , a framework for improving access to physical activity for all American children in schools. Although the framework does not focus exclusively on physical education, it does imply the important role of physical education in the action agenda (see Box 5-5 ).

Nike's Designed to Move: A Physical Activity Action Agenda. Universal access: Design programs that are effective for every child, including those who face the most barriers to participating in physical activity. Age appropriate: Physical activities and (more...)

Finally, in response to First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) launched the Let's Move In School initiative, which takes a holistic approach to the promotion of physical activity in schools. The purpose of the initiative is to help elementary and secondary schools launch the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP), which is focused on strengthening physical education and promoting all opportunities for physical activity in school. The CSPAP in any given school is intended to accomplish two goals: (1) “provide a variety of school-based physical activity opportunities that enable all students to participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day” and (2) “provide coordination among the CSPAP components to maximize understanding, application, and practice of the knowledge and skills learned in physical education so that all students will be fully physically educated and well-equipped for a lifetime of physical activity” ( AAHPERD, 2012 ). The five CSPAP components, considered vital for developing a physically educated and physically active child, are physical education, physical activity during school, physical activity before and after school, staff involvement, and family and community involvement ( AAHPERD, 2012 ). Schools are allowed to implement all or selected components.

An AAHPERD (2011) survey indicated that 16 percent of elementary schools, 13 percent of middle schools, and 6 percent of high schools (from a self-responding nationwide sample, not drawn systematically) had implemented a CSPAP since the program was launched. Although most schools sampled (90 percent) provided physical education, the percentage declined through middle school and high school, such that only 44 percent of high schools provided physical education to seniors. In most schools (92 percent), classes were taught by teachers certified to teach physical education.

More than 76 percent of elementary schools provided daily recess for children, and 31 percent had instituted a policy prohibiting teachers from withholding children from participating in recess for disciplinary reasons. In 56 percent of elementary schools that had implemented a CSPAP, physical activity was encouraged between lessons/classes; in 44 percent it was integrated into academic lessons; and in 43 percent the school day started with physical activity programs.

The percentage of schools that offered intramural sports clubs to at least 25 percent of students declined from 62 percent of middle schools to 50 percent of high school for males, and from 53 to 40 percent, respectively, for females. Interscholastic sports were offered in 89 percent of high schools. Among them, approximately 70 percent involved at least 25 percent of the male student population participating and 58 percent involved at least 25 percent of the female student population participating. Sixty-five percent of high schools had “cut” policies, which could limit the enrollment of students in interscholastic sports.

• CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITY PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

As noted, a high-quality physical education program can help youth meet the guideline of at least 60 minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity per day. This increase in physical activity should be balanced with appropriate attention to skill development and to national education standards for quality physical education (see Box 5-6 ). In a recent literature review, Bassett and colleagues (2013) found that physical education contributes to children achieving an average of 23 minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity daily. However, the time spent in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity could be increased by 6 minutes if the physical education curriculum were to incorporate a standardized curriculum such as SPARK (discussed in detail below) ( Bassett et al., 2013 ). Thus, it is possible for physical education to contribute to youth meeting at least half (30 minutes) of their daily requirement for vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity. To help children grow holistically, however, physical education needs to achieve other learning goals when children are active. To this end, physical education programs must possess the quality characteristics specified by NASPE (2007b , 2009b , c ) (see Box 5-6 ). Designing and implementing a physical education program with these characteristics in mind should ensure that the time and curricular materials of the program enable students to achieve the goals of becoming knowledgeable exercisers and skillful movers who value and adopt a physically active, healthy lifestyle.

NASPE's Characteristics of a High-Quality Physical Education Program. All students are required to take physical education. Instructional periods total 150 minutes per week (elementary schools) and 225 minutes per week (middle and secondary schools).

Findings from research on effective physical education support these characteristics as the benchmarks for quality programs. In an attempt to understand what effective physical education looks like, Castelli and Rink (2003) conducted a mixed-methods comparison of 62 physical education programs in which a high percentage of students achieved the state physical education learning standards with programs whose students did not achieve the standards. Comprehensive data derived from student performance, teacher surveys, and onsite observations demonstrated that highly effective physical education programs were housed in cohesive, long-standing departments that experienced more facilitators (e.g., positive policy, supportive administration) than inhibitors (e.g., marginalized status as a subject matter within the school). Further, effective programs made curricular changes prior to the enactment of state-level policy, while ineffective programs waited to make changes until they were told to do so. The teachers in ineffective programs had misconceptions about student performance and, in general, lower expectations of student performance and behavior.

Examples of Evidence-Based Physical Education Curricular Programs

Two large-scale intervention studies—SPARK and CATCH—are discussed in this section as examples of how programs can be structured to increase vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity in physical education classes.

The aim of SPARK, a research-based curriculum, is to improve the health, fitness, and physical activity levels of youth by creating, implementing, and evaluating programs that promote lifelong wellness. Each SPARK program “fosters environmental and behavioral change by providing a coordinated package of highly active curriculum, on-site teacher training, extensive follow-up support, and content-matched equipment focused on the development of healthy lifestyles, motor skills and movement knowledge, and social and personal skills” ( SPARK, 2013 ).

Research supports the use of SPARK as a platform for improving the quality of physical activity instruction in schools. The SPARK curriculum has demonstrated the ability to improve student activity levels, increase the number of minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity for students, and provide sustainable and positive change in a school district ( Myers-Schieffer and Thomas, 2012 ). In one study, researchers found that “the children were positive about this specific curriculum. This is gratifying because one of the goals of the program was to engender positive feeling in the students toward physical activity” ( McKenzie et al., 1994 , p. 213). In another study, a SPARK intervention is credited with exposing students to an increase in motor skills drills, which in turn led to a higher level of manipulative motor skills acquisition ( McKenzie et al., 1998 ). As a result of improved activity levels, students who participated in the SPARK curriculum improved their times in the 1-mile run and sit-up tests ( Sallis et al., 1997 ). Finally, System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time (SOFIT) classroom observations revealed that students in SPARK classes increased their time spent in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity per class from 17.8 to up to 40.2 minutes compared with students in non-SPARK classes, who engaged in 17.8 minutes of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity per class. Teachers involved in the SPARK intervention offered increased levels of fitness promotion and provided students with an increased amount of general instruction and increased minutes of attention per week ( McKenzie et al., 1997 ; Myers-Schieffer and Thomas, 2012 ).

The CATCH program teaches children in grades K-8 how to be healthy throughout their lifetimes through a coordinated approach that involves engaging the community, families, and educators to work together. The goal of CATCH is to impact children's health behaviors positively, improve the school health environment, and influence and change school health policies and practices in order to reduce and eliminate health risk factors and risk-related behaviors of students ( Perry et al., 1990 ). CATCH significantly increases the physical activity levels of students during physical education class and provides a wide range of learning experiences for students of all abilities.

CATCH began as a clinical trial from 1991 to 1994 in four regional sites: Tulane University in New Orleans; the University of California, San Diego; the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis; and the University of Texas in Houston. The participants were elementary school children in grades 3 through 5 and included children from multiethnic backgrounds. Upon completion of the main trial, CATCH had succeeded in producing positive and lasting changes in children's behaviors, including decreasing fat consumption and increasing physical activity ( Luepker et al., 1996 ). The changes were maintained for 3 years postintervention ( Nader et al., 1999 ).

National Standards

Because physical education is part of the curriculum in schools, its quality should be judged only by whether and to what extent children have learned and benefited from it. In a landmark document on learning goals, Moving into the Future: National Standards for Physical Education , NASPE (2004) proposes six student learning standards specifying both conceptual and behavioral characteristics that a physically educated person must possess and display (see Box 5-7 ). These characteristics encompass knowledge, skill, behavior, and confidence critical to the development and maintenance of health and to the enjoyment of a physically active, healthful lifestyle.

Certified Physical Education Specialists as the Main Teaching Force

If standards are the gauge for quality, teachers make the difference in a particular school in terms of the extent to which students can achieve the standards. Research has made clear that certified physical education specialists can provide more and longer opportunities for students to meet physical activity guidelines compared with classroom teachers trained to teach physical education ( McKenzie et al., 2001 ). Moreover, when teachers are taught strategies to encourage vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity in physical education class, a significant increase in physical activity can be expected ( Lonsdale et al., 2013 ). The role of certified physical education specialists in health-enhancing physical education has become increasingly critical ( McKenzie, 2007 ). The evidence is unequivocal regarding the need for a continued effort to train physical education specialists and the need for schools to continue to employ them as the main teaching force designing and implementing health-enhancing physical education programs to the fullest extent.

Aside from serving as the instructional leader for physical education, physical education specialists can serve as expert resources for classroom teachers in the implementation of classroom physical activity breaks and recess (discussed in detail in Chapter 6 ). Their expertise in age-appropriate physical activity helps ensure that students are participating in activities that are fun and engaging. Additionally, as the catalyst for a healthy school environment, the physical education specialist can assist in the design and delivery of intramural programs provided before and after school, as well as serve as a community outreach specialist for onsite activity partnerships. For physical education specialists interested in a more formal role as a physical activity leader at their school, NASPE has developed a director of physical activity certification program.

It is a commonly held notion of society that to maintain the quality of education, schools should hire teachers certified to teach in the subject matter areas in which they are licensed. Unfortunately, in the United States, not all physical education classes are taught by certified physical education specialists. Indeed, 68 percent of elementary schools allow classroom teachers (generalists) to teach physical education ( NASPE, 2012 ). Certification or licensure of middle/junior high school and high school physical education teachers is required in only 82 percent and 90 percent of states ( NASPE, 2012 ), respectively. Only 37 states (72 percent) have a requirement for professional development and continuing education hours/credit for physical education teachers to maintain or renew their certification, with renewal time ranging from 3 to 5 years ( NASPE, 2012 ). Twenty-eight states (55 percent) allow temporary/emergency certificates to teach physical education that are valid for 1 to 3 years ( NASPE, 2012 ). The basic requirements for emergency certification include a bachelor's degree in teaching or in any area except physical education. Only 31 states (60 percent) support physical education teachers going through the national board certification process, and only New York requires each school district to have a licensed physical education specialist serving as a physical education coordinator ( NASPE, 2012 ).

Preservice Education for Teachers

Teaching physical education to children effectively and safely requires specific knowledge about children and their physical/mental development, body composition (anatomy) and functions (physiology and biomechanics), and motor skills development and acquisition. In addition, teaching physical education requires substantial knowledge and skill in pedagogy—the science and art of teaching. Box 5-8 lists the NASPE standards for beginning physical education teachers who have completed a bachelor's teacher training program and those who have completed advanced (master's-level) training.

National Association for Sport and Physical Education Standards for Beginning Physical Education Teachers. Scientific and theoretical knowledge: Physical education teacher candidates know and apply discipline-specific scientific and theoretical concepts (more...)

These standards are accompanied by measurement rubrics (unacceptable, acceptable, and target, with target being exemplary) developed jointly by NASPE and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) for evaluating physical education teacher education programs across the country (the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico). NCATE identified a total of 133 physical education teacher education programs as “nationally recognized.” The committee was unable to determine how many programs nationwide have met the minimum standards (not at the nationally recognized level) or locate reliable information on the total number of physical education teacher education programs. A Web search using the term “physical education” resulted in two different but relatively reliable statistics: 720 ( College Board, 2013 ) and 1,945 ( Peterson's, 2013 ). But the data sources did not distinguish between physical education teaching majors and other kinesiology concentrations (e.g., sports medicine, exercise physiology/fitness). Statistics on the number of physical education teacher education programs and their quality based on the NASPE standards are needed.

The current wave of effort to curb physical inactivity among youth has begun to influence teacher education programs. According to a national survey study ( Kulinna et al., 2010 ), current teacher candidates believe that helping K-12 students become physically active and fit is the first priority of physical education, followed by helping them actualize their own goals, develop motor skills, and become responsible. These data appear to suggest that physical education teacher education programs are beginning to turn from a traditionally sports- and skills-centered model to a more comprehensive, physical activity– and health-centered model. This change is important in that the role of both current and future physical education teachers extends beyond merely teaching their classes to advancing public health goals ( McKenzie, 2007 ).

In many universities, however, teacher education programs in physical education have either been reduced or eliminated because of the decline in physical education requirements, which has resulted in a decrease in the number of physical education teachers being employed. Concomitantly, physical education teacher education programs are experiencing an unprecedented crisis. A recent report indicates that, in school year 2008–2009, only 23 doctorate-granting kinesiology departments offered doctoral programs that were training future teacher educators ( Boyce and Rikard, 2011a ). A total of 140 doctoral students were receiving training offered by 114 professors (including part-time), and 11 percent of those professors were planning to retire. Boyce and Rikard (2011a) report that in the past 13 years, 479 doctoral students graduated as physical education teacher educators—36.8 each year on average—89 percent of whom were able to find positions in colleges and universities. During the same period, 61 positions were open, only 39 of which were filled (64 percent), with an applicant pool of 38 candidates with earned degrees and 13 who completed the doctoral course-work but did not complete the dissertation research ( Boyce and Rikard, 2011b ). Clearly there is a shortage of physical education teacher educators in higher education institutions. Because of a lack of national tracking data on physical education graduates, the extent to which the teacher educator shortage has impacted and will impact the need to supply quality physical education teachers to the nation is unclear.

Professional Development

In all educational settings, professional development for teachers and administrators is a continuous process of acquiring new knowledge and skills that relate to an educator's profession or academic subject area, job responsibilities, or work environment. Professional development is essential for improving classroom instruction and student achievement ( Ball and Cohen, 1999 ; Cohen and Hill, 2000 ). Through a variety of delivery methods, professional development activities may include credit or noncredit courses, classroom or online venues, workshops, seminars, teleconferences, and webinars, with the ultimate goal of improving the delivery of instruction to enhance student achievement.

Yoon and colleagues (2007) assert that a strong link exists among professional development, teacher learning and practice, and student achievement. Figure 5-1 , which aligns with the research on effective professional development ( Kennedy, 1998 ; Loucks-Horsley and Matsumoto, 1999 ; Cohen and Hill, 2000 ; Garet et al., 2001 ; Fishman et al., 2003 ; Guskey and Sparks, 2004 ), illustrates how (1) professional development enhances teacher knowledge and skills, (2) better knowledge and skills improve classroom teaching, and (3) improved teaching raises student achievement.

Logic model of the impact of professional development on student achievement.

The most impactful statement of government policy on the preparation and professional development of teachers was the 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act ( Whitehurst, 2002 ), known as the No Child Left Behind Act. While Title I of the act places highly qualified teachers in the classroom, Title II addresses the same goal by funding professional development for teachers. The importance of quality professional development is well documented in the act.

Professional development, according to the No Child Left Behind Act, should be offered to improve teachers' knowledge of the subject matter they teach, strengthen their classroom management skills, advance their understanding and implementation of effective teaching strategies, and build their capabilities to address disparities in education. The act states that high-quality professional development programs should have the characteristics listed in Box 5-9 .

Characteristics of a High-Quality Professional Development Program. It is sustained, intensive, and content-focused to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction and teacher performance. It is aligned with and directly related to state (more...)

Although there is a substantial literature on professional development, only a few high-quality studies relate teachers' professional development experiences to student outcomes. Recommendations for high-quality professional development tend to emphasize the importance of intense, content-focused experiences, as well as opportunities for peer collaboration and structured induction experiences for new teachers. Wiley and Yoon (1995) and Kennedy (1998) suggest that teaching practice and student achievement are likely to improve when professional development is focused on academic content and curriculum that are aligned with standards-based reform.

Kulinna (2012) used Guskey and Sparks' (2004) Model of Teacher Change to determine whether students' physical activity and BMI changed after their teacher underwent a 1-year professional development program. Significant increases in students' physical activity levels were found, but no significant changes in BMI. Looking at the effect of professional development on changes in behavior among physical education teachers, Martin and colleagues (2008) found that, following a variety of professional development experiences and follow-up sessions, teachers showed increases in their efficacy in attaining motor skills objectives, physical activity and fitness knowledge objectives, and personal and social objectives. These results lend support to the value of professional development in enhancing teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy for teaching the curriculum. McCaughtry and colleagues (2006) explored the factors that make teacher professional development successful and what success might mean in terms of teachers' instructional practices and feelings about change. Results indicated that after teachers completed professional development the resources they gained enabled them to improve their instruction by teaching more content, maximizing student learning opportunities, teaching diverse learners, teaching to development, and increasing classroom safety.

Learning Forward (formerly known as the National Staff Development Council) provides research-based guidelines to assist districts in aligning local professional development programs with qualitative standards. Its Standards for Professional Learning were revised in 2011 and are guided by the relationship between professional learning and student results (see Box 5-10 ). According to Learning Forward (2012) :

Standards for Professional Learning. Learning communities: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and (more...)

• When professional learning is standards based, it has greater potential to change what educators know, are able to do, and believe.
• When educators' knowledge, skills, and dispositions change, they have a broader repertoire of effective strategies to use in adapting their practices to meet performance expectations and students' learning needs.
• When educator practices improve, students have a greater likelihood of achieving results.
• When student results improve, the cycle repeats for continuous improvement.
• Professional learning standards provide a foundation on which to design professional learning experiences at the district or school level that will assist educators in acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools.

As a recognized means of providing physical education teachers with the tools necessary to enhance student achievement, quality professional development should be provided on a regular basis with follow-up support, along with a method for determining its effectiveness in meeting both curricular and pedagogical standards. Furthermore, to enhance the fitness achievement of students, school-based professional development should provide instruction on the integration of fitness testing into a curriculum and should include training in protocols, the interpretation and communication of results, and the setting and achievement of fitness goals and recommendations for developing healthy living habits for both students and their parents ( IOM, 2012a ).

• POLICIES THAT AFFECT THE QUALITY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Instructional opportunities for physical activity and physical education are mandated by most states. In comparison with data prior to 2006, more states have developed mandates for physical education at both the elementary and secondary school levels. However, most mandates lack a specified time allocation that ensures meeting the NASPE recommendation of 150 and 225 minutes per week for elementary and secondary schools, respectively ( McCullick et al., 2012 ), despite the fact that physical education has been considered a cornerstone for developing schoolwide multicomponent interventions to address the issue of physical inactivity in schools. Some obstacles to the implementation of quality physical activity are listed in Box 5-11 .

Obstacles to Implementation of Quality Physical Education. Class periods dedicated to physical education are declining at all school levels. Existing discrepancies between policy and implementation with respect to specific time allocation contribute to (more...)

According to Title IX of the No Child Left Behind Act (Part A Sec 9101–11), core academic subjects include “English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.” If physical education were designated as a core academic subject, it would receive much-needed policy attention that would enhance its overall quality with respect to content offerings, instruction, and accountability. In support of the inclusion of physical education as a core subject, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) reintroduced the Promoting Health for Youth Skills in Classrooms and Life (PHYSICAL) Act on February 27, 2013, to support and encourage the health and well-being of elementary and secondary school students.

With physical education not being considered a core subject, and amid growing concern regarding the increase in childhood obesity and physical inactivity, several national studies and reports have emphasized the importance of implementing state statutes, laws, and regulations both mandating time requirements for physical education and monitoring compliance. Yet although several national governmental, nongovernmental, private industry, and public health organizations have recommended specific day and time/minute requirements for physical education, no standardized state policy has emerged.

Analysis of State Statutes and Administrative Codes

In the United States, school policies on curriculum and school-based activities are determined by local education agencies according to state laws governing educational activities. Decisions about what to teach, who will teach it, and what level of resources will be provided are made by the state, county or district, and school administration. To better understand the status of state statutes, administrative codes, and policies impacting physical education in schools, the committee analyzed NASBE's State School Health Policy Database ( NASBE, 2012 ; www.nasbe.org/healthy_schools [accessed February 1, 2013]). Of importance to this analysis is the distinction made between state statutes and administrative codes, which accords with the definition proffered by Perna and colleagues (2012) : “At the state level, the 2 primary official public policy levers referred to as ‘codified law’ used for developing school-based physical education policy are 1) statutory laws (laws enacted by the given State legislature); and 2) administrative laws (rule and regulations by state executive branch agencies, such as the Department of Education)” (p. 1594). A second point to note is that in descriptions of physical education graduation requirements, it is impossible to differentiate among “credit,” “Carnegie unit,” and “course” so as to determine the exact time requirements for graduation.

Using the NASBE database, the committee performed an overall analysis of policies on physical education and physical activity of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The analysis revealed that 45 states (88 percent) mandate physical education; 22 states (23 percent) require it with mandatory minutes, while 25 states (49 percent) have no mandatory minutes and 4 (0.07 percent) leave the required number of minutes up to local decision makers. A majority of states allow for waivers or substitutions for physical education (see the discussion below). Fitness assessment is required in 15 states (29 percent), and other curricular assessments are required in 4 states (0.07 percent). Twenty-six states (53 percent) require physical education grades to be included in a student's grade point average. Forty-three states (84 percent) require some degree of physical education for high school graduation, with a range of 0.5 to 3.75 credits. One state (0.02 percent) requires K-12 physical education but does not require 4 years of physical education for high school graduation.

Although no federal policies requiring physical education presently exist, the above evidence shows that the majority of states require physical education. However, the number of days and time required vary greatly by state and local school district, as does the amount of physical education required for high school graduation. Given the reduced time for physical activity in school through recess, and absent the implementation of stronger policies, schools have not only the opportunity but also the responsibility to nurture in youth the skills, knowledge, and confidence to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The consensus among states indicated by the mandates for physical education summarized above, together with the discrepancies in specific policies, may suggest the need for general guidelines or a federal-level mandate that can serve to guide a collective effort to address the prevalence of childhood inactivity and obesity.

Policies That Support Physical Education

In addition to policies that directly require offering physical education in schools, other policies support physical education opportunities in schools. In 2004 the U.S. government issued a mandate, under the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, requiring school districts that receive funds under this act to establish local school wellness policies. These policies were to include provisions for physical activity and healthy eating, thus expanding schools' responsibility for providing physical activity to school-age children. The enactment of this mandates made schools “the central element in a community system that ensures that students participate in enough physical activity to develop healthy lifestyles” ( Pate et al., 2006 , p. 1215). Several government agencies and organizations have recommended embedding a specific number of days and minutes of physical education into each school's or district's wellness policy. Although school districts are required to include goals for physical activity in their local school wellness policies, they are not required to address physical education specifically.

Policies That Hinder Physical Education

Some policies have contributed to the substantial reduction in the opportunities for school-age children to be physically active, such as by shortening or eliminating physical education classes. These reductions can be attributed to budget cuts and increased pressure for schools to meet academic standards imposed by the federal government.

No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that states develop assessment and accountability measures to verify performance improvements in the subject areas of reading and mathematics (P.L. No. 107-110, Section 115). Specifically, federal funding is now dependent on schools making adequate progress in reading and mathematics. No Child Left Behind requires all public schools receiving federal funding to administer statewide standardized annual tests for all students. Schools that receive Title I funding through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 must make adequate yearly progress in test scores (e.g., each year 5th graders must do better on standardized tests than the previous year's 5th graders). If required improvements are not made, schools are penalized through decreased funding. If a school produces poor results for 2 consecutive years, improvement plans must be developed for the school. If a school does not make adequate progress for 5 consecutive years, a full restructuring of the school is mandated.

Under the act, physical education, music, and art are considered “nonessential” subjects and are not a main focus of the school learning environment. In response to the act, schools have devoted more time in the school day to instruction in reading and mathematics. Since the act was passed, 62 percent of elementary schools and 20 percent of middle schools have increased instructional time in reading/language arts and mathematics ( Center on Education Policy, 2008 ). Unfortunately, 44 percent of school administrators reported that these increases in instructional time for reading and mathematics were achieved at the expense of time devoted to physical education, recess, art, music, and other subjects ( Center on Education Policy, 2007 , 2008 ) (see Table 5-2 ).

Changes in Time Allocation in Elementary Schools Since 2001–2002.

The emphasis on high-stakes testing and pressure for academic achievement in the core subjects has had unintended consequences for other subjects throughout the school day. In developing master schedules, school site administrators have been forced to make difficult decisions regarding the allotment of time for “nonessential” subjects. The average reduction in instructional time in these “nonessential” subjects has been 145 minutes per week. As discussed earlier, however, no evidence suggests that physical education and physical activity have a negative effect on student achievement or academic outcomes ( CDC, 2010 ). On the contrary, positive academic-related outcomes (e.g., improved on-task classroom behavior, cognitive development, academic performance) have been associated with physical education and physical activity (see Chapter 4 ).

The Center on Education Policy (2007) conducted an analysis of 2006–2007 survey data from 349 school districts on the amount of time devoted to specific subjects to determine the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act. Shifts in instructional time toward English language arts and mathematics and away from other subjects were relatively large in a majority of school districts that made these types of changes. Sixty-two percent of districts reported increasing time in elementary schools in English language arts and/or mathematics since 2001–2002. A higher proportion of urban districts (76 percent) than rural districts (54 percent) reported such increases.

Districts that increased instructional time for English language arts and/or mathematics did so by 43 percent on average. Districts that also reduced instructional time in other subjects reported total reductions of 32 percent, on average. Eight of 10 districts that reported increasing time for English language arts did so by at least 75 minutes per week, and more than half (54 percent) did so by 150 minutes or more per week. Among districts that reported adding time for mathematics, 63 percent added at least 75 minutes per week, and 19 percent added 150 minutes or more per week.

Most districts that increased time for English language arts or mathematics also reported substantial cuts in time for other subjects or periods, including social studies, science, art and music, physical education, recess, and lunch. Among the districts that reported both increasing time for English language arts or mathematics and reducing time in other subjects, 72 percent indicated that they reduced the time for one or more of these other subjects by a total of at least 75 minutes per week. For example, more than half (53 percent) of these districts cut instructional time by at least 75 minutes per week in social studies, and the same percentage (53 percent) cut time by at least 75 minutes per week in science ( Center on Education Policy, 2007 ).

Districts that reported an increase in instructional time for elementary school English language arts spent an average of 378 minutes per week on this subject before No Child Left Behind was enacted. After the act became law, they spent 520 minutes per week. The average increase for English language arts was 141 minutes per week, or a 47 percent increase over the level prior to the act ( Center on Education Policy, 2007 ; see district survey items 18 and 19 in Table IT-18A). Table 5-3 shows the specific amounts of time cut from various subjects in districts that reported decreases.

Time Cut from Subjects or Periods in Districts Reporting Decreases in Instructional Time.

Districts with at least one school identified as “in need of improvement” under the act were far more likely than districts not in need of improvement to decrease time in certain subjects so as to devote more time to English language arts and mathematics (78 versus 57 percent). For example, 51 percent of districts with a school in need of improvement reported decreased time in social studies, compared with 31 percent of districts with no school in need of improvement ( Center on Education Policy, 2007 ).

Exemptions from Physical Education Requirements

The 2012 Shape of the Nation Report includes documentation of the multiple reasons students may be exempt from physical education classes. Thirty-three states permit school districts or schools to allow students to substitute other activities for physical education. The most common substitutions are Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), inter-scholastic sports, marching band, cheerleading, and community sports. Twenty-eight states allow schools and school districts to grant exemptions/waivers from physical education time or credit requirements. Reasons for exemptions/waivers include health, physical disability, religious belief, and early graduation; six states leave the reasons to the local schools or school districts. Although it would seem reasonable that some substitution programs such as JROTC or cheerleading might accrue physical activity comparable to that from physical education, these programs do not necessarily offer students opportunities to learn the knowledge and skills needed for lifelong participation in health-enhancing physical activities. Research on the impact of exemptions/waivers from physical education is lacking. No evidence currently exists showing that students receive any portion of the recommended 60 minutes or more of vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity through substituted activities sanctioned by their schools.

• BARRIERS TO QUALITY PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SOLUTIONS

Barriers other than the policies detailed above hinder efforts to improve and maintain high-quality physical education. This section reviews these barriers, along with some solutions for overcoming them.

Morgan and Hanson (2008) classify barriers that hinder schools from implementing quality physical education programs as either institutional (outside the teacher's control) or teacher related (arising from teacher behavior). Table 5-4 lists institutional and teacher-related as well as student-related barriers identified by various authors.

Barriers to the Delivery of Physical Education and Physical Activity Programs to Primary and Secondary School Students.

Dwyer and colleagues (2003) examined Toronto teachers' perspectives on why children were not engaged in daily physical education. They identified three categories of barriers: lower priority for physical education relative to other subjects, lack of performance measures for physical activity, and lack of sufficient infrastructure. Jenkinson and Benson (2010) surveyed 270 secondary school physical education teachers in Victoria, Australia, and asked them to rank order the barriers they perceived to providing quality physical education. The results are shown in Table 5-5 . The institutional barriers listed in this table are similar to those identified for U.S. schools in Table 5-4 .

Physical Education Teachers' Ranking of Barriers to Providing Quality Physical Education (PE) in Victorian State Secondary Schools.

Jenkinson and Benson (2010) also presented teachers with a list of barriers to student participation in physical education and physical activity in three categories: institutional, teacher-related, and student-related. The teachers were asked to rank the top five barriers they perceived. Results are presented in Table 5-6 .

Perceived Barriers to Student Participation in Physical Education and Physical Activity in Victorian State Secondary Schools: Physical Education Teachers' Ranking (from most [“5”] to least [“1”] influential).

Finally, Gallo and colleagues (2006) found that the greatest process barriers to assessing students in physical education were grading students on skill levels and abilities; time constraints; class size; and record keeping, especially when assessing students on skills, cognitive knowledge, and fitness.

Two key barriers to physical education identified in the studies summarized above are staffing and funding. These barriers reflect a lack of support structure in schools for quality physical education.

As noted earlier in this chapter, physical education is short staffed. State mandates have placed pressure on schools to preserve instructional resources for the high-stakes tested core subject areas at the expense of non-core subjects. For example, when a state mandates a maximum class size of 20 students per teacher in all core subjects, with noncompliance resulting in some form of penalty, an elementary school with an average of 25 students per teacher is forced to hire additional teachers in these subjects to meet the state mandate. Consequently, the school must shrink its teaching force in noncore subjects, such as physical education, to balance its budget. If noncore classes are to be preserved, their class sizes must increase, with fewer teachers serving more students. As a result, it becomes difficult to implement a quality program, and physical education teachers perceive their programs as being undervalued.

According to the Government Accountability Office report K-12 Education: School-Based Physical Education and Sports Programs ( GAO, 2012 ), school officials cite budget cuts and inadequate facilities as major challenges to providing physical education opportunities for students. Budget cuts have affected schools' ability to hire physical education teachers, maintain appropriate class sizes, and purchase sufficient equipment. As noted earlier, lack of equipment and limited access to facilities are cited as top barriers in the study by Jenkinson and Benson (2010) (see Tables 5-5 and 5-6 ). Limited budgets have a negative impact on a school's ability to purchase enough physical education equipment to engage all students in increasingly large class sizes and cause physical education teachers to abandon quality evidence-based physical education programs and resort to large-group games and “throw out the ball” activities. Students disengaged as a result of such practices may prefer sedentary activities to more active lifestyles. A NASPE (2009a) survey found that the median physical education budget for physical education programs nationally was $764 per school ($460 per elementary school, $900 per middle school, and $1,370 per high school).

Solutions for Overcoming the Barriers

For many adolescents who have few opportunities to be active outside of the school day, quality physical education becomes the only option for physical activity. For students in large urban communities, physical education classes serve as a safe environment in which to be physically active under adult supervision in a structured environment. For students with disabilities in particular, physical education classes are one of the only outlets for physical activity. For these reasons, it is crucial to overcome the above barriers to quality physical education. Some school districts have found ways to do so and provide robust physical education programs.

The barrier of limited time during the school day can be overcome through creative scheduling that makes use of every minute of the day in a constructive manner. For example, Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the fourth largest school district in the United States, in a large urban minority-majority community with large budgetary shortfalls and attention in schools being diverted to academic requirements. Yet the district has always had daily physical education in its elementary schools taught by a certified physical education teacher. This is accomplished by scheduling physical education during the classroom teacher's planning time. In addition, students receive school board–mandated recess for either 20 minutes two times per week or 15 minutes three times per week. Figures 5-2 and 5-3 show examples of elementary school teacher schedules that demonstrate how 150 minutes of time for physical education can be incorporated successfully into any master schedule.

Example of a schedule demonstrating time for 150 minutes per week of physical education. NOTE: Sample is taken from a teacher schedule in a traditional elementary school. SOURCE: Large Urban Public School District, Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Example of a schedule demonstrating time for 150 minutes per week of physical education. NOTES: Sample is taken from a teacher schedule in a combination special education and disabilities (SPED)/Spanish-language elementary class. PE = physical education; (more...)

Other positive examples, identified in the report Physical Education Matters ( San Diego State University, 2007 ), include successful case studies from low-resource California schools. The report acknowledges, however, that advancing such opportunities will require policy changes at the state, district, and local levels. These changes include securing grant funds with which to implement high-tech physical education wellness centers, staff commitment to professional development, administrative support, physical education being made a priority, community support, use of certified physical education teachers, and district support. Identifying the need to reform physical education guided by evidence-based findings, the report concludes that (1) curriculum matters, (2) class size matters, (3) qualified teachers matter, (4) professional development matters, and (5) physical environment matters. If programs are to excel and students are to achieve, delivery of the curriculum must be activity based; class sizes must be commensurate with those for other subject areas; highly qualified physical education specialists, as opposed to classroom teachers, must be hired to deliver instruction; professional development in activity-focused physical education must be delivered; and school physical education facilities, such as playing fields and indoor gym space and equipment, must be available.

A separate report, Physical Education Matters: Success Stories from California Low Resource Schools That Have Achieved Excellent Physical Education Programs ( San Diego State University, 2007 ), notes that when funding from a variety of grant resources, including federal funding, became available, schools were able to transition to high-quality programs using innovative instructional strategies. Those strategies included wellness centers and active gaming, which engaged students in becoming more physically active. Administrative support was found to be a key factor in turning programs around, along with staff commitment and professional development. Having certified physical education teachers and making physical education a priority in the schools were other key factors. External factors further strengthened programs, including having school district support, having a physical education coordinator, and using state standards to provide accountability. Additional ways to overcome the barriers to quality physical education include scheduling time for physical education, ensuring reasonable class size, providing nontraditional physical education activities, making classes more active and fun for all students, and acknowledging the importance of role modeling and personal investment and involvement in participation in physical activity among staff.

Still another way to overcome the barriers to quality physical education is to assist administrative decision makers and policy makers in understanding the correlation between physical education and academic achievement (see Chapter 4 ). The report Active Education: Physical Education, Physical Activity and Academic Performance by Active Living Research ( Trost, 2009 ) cites evidence that “children who are physically active and fit tend to perform better in the classroom and that daily physical education does not adversely affect academic performance. Schools can provide outstanding learning environments while improving children's health through physical education.” The findings reported include the following (p. 6):

• “In some cases, more time in physical education leads to improved grades and standardized test scores.”
• “Physically active and fit children tend to have better academic achievement.”
• “Evidence links higher levels of physical fitness with better school attendance and fewer disciplinary problems.”
• “There are several possible mechanisms by which physical education and regular physical activity may improve academic achievement, including enhanced concentration skills and classroom behavior.”
• “Additional research is needed to determine the impact of physical activity on academic performance among those children who are at highest risk for obesity in the United States, including black, Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Asian-American and Pacific Islander children, as well as children living in lower-income communities.”

Physical education is a formal content area of study in schools, it is standards based, and it encompasses assessment according to standards and benchmarks. Select curriculum-based physical education programs have been described in this chapter to show the potential of high-quality physical education in developing children into active adults. Such models provide the only opportunity for all school-age children to access health-enhancing physical activities. Curriculum models for physical education programs include movement education, which emphasizes the importance of fundamental motor skills competence as a prerequisite for engagement in physical activity throughout the life span; sport education, which emphasizes helping students become skillful players in lifetime sports of their choosing; and fitness education, which imparts physical fitness concepts to students, including the benefits and scientific principles of exercise, with the goal of developing and maintaining individual fitness and positive lifestyle change. The emergence of a technology-focused fitness education curriculum and the new Presidential Youth Fitness Program offer further motivational opportunities for students to engage in lifelong physical activities.

Because quality physical education programs are standards based and assessed, they are characterized by (1) instruction by certified physical education teachers, (2) a minimum of 150 minutes per week for elementary schools and 225 minutes per week for middle and high schools, and (3) tangible standards for student achievement and for high school graduation. Quality professional development programs are an essential component for both novice and veteran teachers to ensure the continued delivery of quality physical education.

An analysis of datasets from NASPE, NASBE, and Bridging the Gap reveals that the implementation of supportive physical education policies varies from state to state and from school to school. Since passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, several studies and reports have identified a decline in physical education resulting from the shifting of time to academic subjects. Because physical education is not a high-stakes tested content area, the implementation of supportive policies often is hindered by other education priorities. Although the above analysis indicates that 30 states (74.5 percent) mandate physical education, most policies do not require specific amounts of instructional time, and more than half allow for waivers or exemptions. In addition, an unintended consequence of the No Child Left Behind Act has been disparities in access to physical education and physical activity opportunities during the school day for Hispanic students and those of lower socioeconomic status. In high school, relying on students to elect physical education after meeting the minimum required credit hours (one credit in all states but one) appears to be unfruitful.

Strengthening of school physical education has received support from the public, health agencies, and parents. Parents recently surveyed expressed favorable views of physical education. Specifically:

• A majority of parents (54–84 percent) believe that physical education is at least as important as other academic subjects ( CDC, 2010 ).
• Ninety-one percent believe that there should be more physical education in schools (Harvard School of Public Health, 2003).
• Seventy-six percent think that more school physical education could help control or prevent childhood obesity ( NASPE, 2009a ).
• Ninety-five percent believe that regular daily physical activity helps children do better academically and should be a part of the school curriculum for all students in grades K-12 ( NASPE, 2003 ).

Additionally, many public and private organizations have proposed initiatives aimed at developing a comprehensive school-based strategy centered on curriculum physical education. As the largest institution where children spend more than half of their waking hours on school days, schools can play a pivotal role in increasing students' physical activity levels by providing access for all to quality physical education, along with physical activities throughout the school environment, the subject of Chapter 7 .

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What Is The Importance Of Physical Education?

• June 30, 2022

Table of Content

Children can enjoy and be successful in a variety of physical activities with the help of a high-quality physical education curriculum. They gain a variety of abilities, including the capacity to successfully employ tactics, strategies, and compositional ideas. Teachers and students both should know the importance of physical education . While they are acting, they consider what they are doing, consider the circumstances, and come to decisions.

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Additionally, they evaluate their own and others’ performances and look for ways to make them better. As a result, students have the self-assurance to engage in a variety of physical activities and understand the importance of physical education comprehend the significance of leading healthy, active lifestyles.

Some of the importance of physical education is to improve your daily life

1. improve academic performance.

Studies have demonstrated that physical activity, including team sports, biking, swimming at the beach, and playground games, has positive effects on the brain and academic achievement. Children learn how to be motivated and productive, fit and healthy for life, as well as how to think creatively through physical education.

It has been demonstrated that participation in sports, physical education, and physical activity increases students’ sense of connection to their school and its objectives. The degree to which kids act socially responsible at school. A busy mind makes it easier to focus for longer periods of time and may also be beneficial for learning.

2. Develop Social Skills

Physical education teaches children the concept of teamwork, and being a team member provides them a feeling of identity. Children learn skills that open the door for positive interactions and relationships throughout life when physical education teachers exhibit prosocial behavior. They learn vital social and communication skills from this. It enables students to support others, collaborate with a variety of team members, and develop as team players.

3. Reduce Stress

They must finish their homework at home after spending several hours at school, which leaves them with little time for other activities. Students are also put under a lot of mental and physical stress because they spend so much time on their studies. Some of that stress and anxiety can be reduced by engaging in physical activity. Additionally, it supports emotional stability and toughness and also helps in health and physical education .

4. Self-improvement and character development

Team sports in a structured environment helps develop leadership and sportsmanship. Students are encouraged to respect themselves and their peers by taking on different responsibilities on a team and learning new talents. Additionally, it teaches kids to empathize with others and helps them get through tough times.

Earning praise from coaches or other players also helps to increase self-esteem. Teammate gestures like handshakes, pats on the back, and high-fives help to foster confidence and togetherness. As a result, kids become more confident in their skills and are motivated to advance in their chosen sport.

5. Increases focus and retention

Students who are entirely engaged in their studies will need more than one break each day. Physical education plays a role in this. When students engage in physical exercise in the classroom, they can break up the monotony and expend the surplus energy that is feeding their boredom and preventing them from paying attention in class.

6. Complete sleep

Planning the amount and timing of regular exercise is crucial rather than attempting to start a daily exercise routine all at once. Studies have looked into how a few weeks of moderate exercise can improve teens’ poor sleep quality and duration. However, it has been demonstrated that some teenagers’ sleep duration is reduced by intense activity during the same period.

Adults in good health who frequently exercise can sleep better. Regular, gentle exercise can improve sleep length, quality, and sleep onset time, while severe exercise can only slightly affect these factors. 

7. Bring leadership quality and better communication

Every child has a propensity to influence others in some way. Members have a variety of backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences; some are outgoing and gregarious, while others are quiet and unassuming. Numerous effective leaders have been encouraged by mentors to hone their leadership skills .

While some people are born with leadership qualities, research indicates that anyone, including children, can acquire them given the right instruction and access to decision-making power. If you adhere to constructivism, you might assume that young people can develop their leadership abilities by applying what they already know to novel perspectives on the world.

The Final Thought 

Students are more likely to engage in physical activities outside of school when they have better skills, stronger muscles, more bone density, and also a will to participate. Additionally, it enables kids to comprehend the positive effects of exercise and how good it may make them feel. 

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Importance of Physical Education in Schools

“Intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong”

– John F Kennedy           

History and Overview

Education in India dates back to around 5000BC where the Gurukul system was prevalent. Under the Gurukul system of education , a holistic approach was adopted.

The shishyas or the pupils would reside at the residence of the Guru or the teacher and gain knowledge on a day-to-day basis. This knowledge not only covered subjects of science and arts but also of the physical wellbeing of the body.

This included yoga, meditation , sports and other physical activities. Therefore, we can say that the concept of Physical education has been in practice since ancient times. This very fact reiterates the importance of physical education in schools.

What Do You Mean by Physical Education?

Physical education is the training given for the development of the body. It may include simple exercises to vigorous sports. It also provides coaching and training in personal hygiene and outdoor games.

Present-Day

Today physical education is as important as it was in the ancient world. In fact, now the importance of Physical Education has escalated. This is because of the changes in lifestyle and the medical need for it.

Physical education is introduced to young students right from the formative school years. The importance of physical education and sports in schools cannot be undermined.

Right from young adolescence to adult, physical education plays a significant role.

Here Are 16 Reasons Why Physical Education Is Very Important:

1. contributes in teaching responsibility.

You may not be aware, but physical education and sports in schools teach students responsibility. It teaches the students to become responsible adults who lead a healthy lifestyle.

Being responsible for one’s own health is very important. This sense of responsibility should be imbibed in students right from a very young age.

Apart from responsibility, physical education teaches self-discipline . Discipline practiced on the field contributes to self-discipline in life.

2. Boosts Academic Performance

Another reason why should physical education be mandatory in schools is that it boosts academic performance. A research paper published by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information suggests evidence that

• Increasing physical activity and physical fitness may improve academic performance and that time in the school day dedicated to recess, physical education class, and physical activity in the classroom may also facilitate academic performance.
• Available evidence suggests that mathematics and reading are the academic topics that are most influenced by physical activity. These topics depend on efficient and effective executive function, which has been linked to physical activity and physical fitness.
• Executive function and brain health underlie academic performance. Basic cognitive functions related to attention and memory facilitate learning, and these functions are enhanced by physical activity and higher aerobic fitness.
• Single sessions and long-term participation in physical activity improve cognitive performance and brain health. Children who participate in vigorous- or moderate-intensity physical activity benefit the most.

3. Develops Character

The importance of physical education for students cannot be undermined. It provides holistic development for the students.

It allows students to grow and develop personalities. One of the benefits of physical education to students is that it develops character .

An NCERT publication on Physical education has stated the importance of physical education and yoga for the physical, mental, social, and emotional development of a child.

The same article goes on to state that physical education through the medium of physical activities helps individuals to attain and maintain physical fitness.

It contributes to physical efficiency, mental alertness, and the development of qualities like perseverance, team spirit, leadership, and obedience to rules.

It develops personal and social skills among the learners and makes a positive impact on their physical, social, emotional, and mental development.

It also contributes to the total health of learners and the community. Physical education thus can be defined as a subject that is not only focused on physical fitness but is also concerned with the development of a number of skills, abilities, and attitudes for leading a healthy lifestyle.

It inculcates values like cooperation, respect for others, loyalty, self-confidence, winning with grace, and losing with hope.

All these traits build the character of a student.

4. Improves Teamwork Skills

One of the reasons why physical education is important in schools is because physical education improves teamwork skills .

On any field activity or sporting event held in school, the atmosphere created is more fun with a festive spirit.

This gives the student a less sense of competition which would have otherwise been followed in an academic classroom. Students learn to work and win in teams better on a field than in a classroom activity.

5. Reduces Child Obesity

Child obesity has become a rampant issue. One of the main reasons for child obesity is the change in lifestyle of the youth today.

Children are more exposed to unhealthy snacky foods nowadays. Also, in earlier days children would walk kilometers to reach school.

However, now with developed roads and transport facilities, walking to school has become redundant. This has given rise to obesity among children. Unhealthy food and lack of physical exercise have led to this problem.

Physical education in schools ensures that children get adequate exercise for the body thereby reducing the risk of child obesity.

6. Social Interaction

The introduction of physical education in school enables children to interact with each other. Children interact freely on the field.

In classrooms, children need to maintain a minimum decorum. Whereas on the field children feel more free-spirited.

7. Encourages Spirit of Sportsmanship

Physical education also teaches young children the spirit of sportsmanship.

It teaches children to be fair, ethical, and respect other competitors. Games and sports played in schools teach children these values .

8. Develops Fine Motor Skills

Another reason for the importance of physical education in schools is that it develops fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills is the ability to make movements in our hands and wrists. This development is very important in young toddlers during the growing years.

9. Teaches Leadership Skills

Sports and games teach children to assume leadership roles and to take charge. Forming teams and groups on the field teach children to be part of a team and work towards a common goal .

Children learn to motivate other team members thus learning the roots of leadership right from the school days.

10. Relieves Stress

The importance of physical education and sports can be seen in the way it helps to relieve stress amongst children.

The pressure of academics can be overwhelming at times. Playing sports or games tends to relieve this stress during school hours.

It is a scientifically proven fact that exercise, sports, and games reduce levels of stress .

Exercising releases endorphins. Endorphins are chemicals produced by the body to relieve stress and pain.

11. Breaks the Drudgery

Usually, schools have long hours of academic courses in a day. These classes are conducted within the four walls of the classroom making it monotonous and dull for students.

A period of physical education in between these long hours of academics can boost children’s energy levels.

12. Positive Attitude in Life

Physical education encourages a positive attitude in life. Nowadays, teenagers are especially concerned about their outward appearances due to the rise in the use of social media apps.

A good physical education boosts their confidence and allows them to look and feel good naturally.

13. Physical Education Improves Sleep Patterns

Sleep is very important for the physical and mental health of an individual . It repairs and heals the heart and blood vessels.

However, off late many people, children and adults alike complain of sleeping disorders. This could be due to several reasons like increased mobile time, change in lifestyle, or any other reason.

Sleeping disorders can lead to the risk of heart diseases, kidney problems, and even diabetes.

Physical education, sports, and other physical activities improve sleep patterns. According to Charlene Gamaldo, M.D.  , medical director of  Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep  at Howard County General Hospital- Based on available studies, “We have solid evidence that exercise does, in fact, help you fall asleep more quickly and improves sleep quality,”

14. Physical Exercise and ADHD

Physical exercises are one of the best ways to increase concentration and reduce symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a mental health disorder that can cause hyperactive behaviour.

Children with ADHD have trouble focusing and concentrating on a task. However, physical activity boosts the brain’s dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels—all of which affect focus and attention.

A study to assess the effect of a physical activity intervention on the brain and behavioural indices in preadolescent children, conducted by the Paediatrics the Official Journal of the American Academy of paediatrics showed that Physical activity enhanced cognitive performance and brain function.

These findings demonstrate the effect of a physical activity program for improving childhood cognition and brain health.

15. Improves Mental Health

Studies have shown that exercises improve brain functioning. Exercising releases certain chemicals in the body that enhance the functioning of the brain thereby contributing to our mental health .

16. Stepping Stone to A Lucrative Career

Apart from the above advantages of Physical education, it also acts as a stepping stone for lucrative careers in sports.

Today, sports have taken centre stage with many youngsters making a career out of it. Physical education introduced in schools encourages children to take part in sports and find their career calling.

Sports coaches, Physiotherapists, and Physical training teachers are in high demand today.

We have now established the importance of Physical education and sports in schools. For the overall holistic development of children, physical training and exercise is important aspect.

So much so, a number of education boards have made it compulsory for schools to introduce physical education classes. After all physical education is the only subject that makes your heart race.

Your health is worth more than learning. Physical education must be adopted in all schools to ensure holistic development of the child.

Physical education is the only subject that can make your heart race. Physical education and fitness is the fundamental basis of all forms of excellence. A great nation is built on the foundation of health for all.

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What is Physical Education? Meaning, Define, Objective, Importance

The objective of physical education classes is to acquaint understudies with the essential components of exercise that will prompt a sound way of life. Understudies can get exercise and increment their psychomotor capacities by playing an assortment of conventional games like ball and soccer, and by partaking in practice exercises, for example, lifting loads and high impact exercise.

In this article, we have explained what is physical education, its history, objectives, and fact about career opportunities in physical education.

► What is Physical Education?

Physical Education is a learning cycle that spotlights information, perspectives, and practices that are basic for understudies to embrace a way of life of wellbeing and wellness.

Through these cycles, understudies figure out how to accomplish day-by-day actual work and customized degrees of wellness, foster actual abilities, and accomplish information for carrying on with a sound life.

Probably the best open door to impact the country’s well-being and increment active work is to turn into an actual teacher.

Educators can emphatically affect both the quality and amount of an understudy’s life as they are shown the essential abilities that are expected to take on an existence of well-being and wellness.

◉ Physical Education Meaning

• Physical education is a process that uses physical activity as a means to help people acquire skills, fitness, knowledge, and attitudes that contribute to their optimal development and well-being.
• Physical education is a short-term statement of specific outcomes that build cumulatively to reach a goal.
• Physical Education contributes to the development of the whole person.

◉ Definition of Physical Education

“Physical education is an education of and through human movement where many of educational objectives are achieved by means of big muscle activities involving sports, games, gymnastic, dance and exercise.”

“Physical education is an integral part of the total education learning process and has as its aims the development of physically, mentally, socially and emotionally fit citizens, through the medium of physical activities that have been selected and planned to achieve specific outcomes.”

Physical education is the sum of those experiences which come to the individual through movements. – Oberteuffer

Physical education is the sum of man’s physical activities selected as to kind and conducted as to outcomes. – J.F. Williams & C.L. Brownell

Physical education is that phase of the whole field of education that deals with big muscle activities – J.B. Nash

Physical education is the sum of changes in the individual caused by experiences centering on motor activity. – Cassidy

Physical education is education. It is the education through physical activities for the development of the total personality of the child to its fullness and perfection in body, mind, and spirit. – (Central Advisory Board of Physical Education and Recreation, India)

► History of Physical Education

The historical backdrop of Physical education traces back to antiquated Greece, where contest and power were natural. During this time, physical education ended up being significant because it was a need in preparing both Greek warriors and competitors.

For kids, Physical education would start when they were around seven years of age, with the objective being to ultimately have them be well-gifted in exercises like boxing, and chariot races, from there, the sky is the limit.

For this to occur, they expected to comprehend their body and what went into active work, hence body and mind health education assumed an enormous part in the movement of the Greek society.

By the mid-nineteenth century, physical education would be advanced in the United States. The thinking was like that of what the Greeks were involved in, which was to both teach and train troopers for the inevitable fight.

Notwithstanding, throughout the natural process of everything working out, actual instruction would form into something considerably more amazing.

Schools the nation over would start to treat wellbeing-related themes more seriously, both on the jungle gym and in the homeroom, and courses designated toward actual improvement would be offered more consideration.

Universities would follow after accordingly also, and schools all around the United States would ultimately offer an assortment of courses that would assist with developing the actual capacity, give a genuine comprehension of the human body, and increment certainty in America’s childhood.

Initially, actual instruction programs in the United States saw young ladies generally associated with vaulting, while the young men would participate in harsher exercises.

Nonetheless, over the long haul, both male and female people would become instructed on components like body piece, adaptability, nourishment, and perseverance.

► Objectives of Physical Education

Following are the main objectives of physical education:

• Physical development
• Mental development
• Social development
• Neuro Muscular Co-ordination
• Emotional development
• Improvement of Health

✔ 1. Physical development

Development of organ frameworks like the Circulatory framework, sensory system, strong framework, stomach-related framework, and so on.

✔ 2. Mental development

Physical exercises require readiness of the brain, profound focus, and determined development. This goal is connected with the psychological advancement of a person.

✔ 3. Social development

This goal is connected 1o the advancement of social attributes, which are fundamental for better change throughout everyday life. It is a superior hotspot for accomplishing the characteristics. Co-activity, fair play sportsmanship, 1olerance, and compassion.

✔ 4. Neuro Muscular Co-ordination

This goal is focused on a superior connection between the sensory system. Instruction gives plentiful open doors to actual neuromuscular coordination.

✔ 5. Emotional development

The enthusiastic improvement of an individual is likewise one of the significant targets of actual schooling. Each individual has different kinds of feelings viz. Joy, trust envy, contempt misery, dread, sorrow, outrage, wonder, desire, forlornness, and so forth.

✔ 6. Improvement of Health

This creates solid related propensities through wellbeing instruction. This likewise gives schooling about the counteraction of transferable illnesses.

► Importance of Physical Education

• Support sportsmanship in all parts of rivalry.
• Broaden every understudy’s dining experience and satisfaction.
• Make energy for dynamic amusement and game.
• Help understudies in arriving at their actual potential in an assortment of wearing conditions.
• Actual schooling is helpful for both the bodies and psyches of understudies.
• By being more dynamic, understudies will likewise benefit by having the option to more readily keep away from injury, they will have more certainty, and they can see work on psychological wellness.
• It’s vital to teach understudies the advantages of the jungle gym and in-school active work and educate them on issues connected with the human body and other wellbeing-related issues to provide them with a superior comprehension of how their body functions.

► Types of Physical Education

Physical education is classified into many activities including mental and physical exercises. Physical activity simply means the movement of the body that uses energy.

The three main types of physical activities are as follows;

• Muscle & Bone strengthening

◉ 1. Aerobic activities : Benefits your heart and lungs Running Walking Swimming Cycling Dancing

◉ 2. Muscle & Bone strengthening : Improve your muscles and bones by Push-ups, curl-ups weight lifts Climbing stairs Digging in the Garden or field

◉ 3. Stretching : Improves your flexibility of joints Yoga Different stretching exercises

► Facts about Physical education as a Career

• Educational Requirement
• Licensure/Certification
• Career Outlook

◉ Educational Requirement

Actual instruction educators are expected to have an unhitched male’s or alternately graduate degree in actual training, contingent upon the school locale.

These projects can show you the essential exercises of actual schooling classes and the science behind active work. You’ll likewise have the option to get a lot of commonsense understudy showing experience, which is expected to acquire an education permit.

By and large, graduate degree programs in actual schooling contain more inside and out instruction hypotheses and science parts than four-year college education programs. Classes might incorporate mishap avoidance, kinesiology, and assessment of actual wellness

◉ Licensure/Certification

To work in a government-funded school as an actual training instructor, you should be authorized. Licensure fluctuates by state, however, ordinarily expects you to hold a four-year certification in a field of schooling and complete a particular number of long stretches of directed understudy instructing.

You should likewise breeze through an overall showing accreditation assessment and one in your particular field of study. Educators should likewise finish proceeding with instructions to keep up with their permits, as indicated by the U.S. Agency of Labor Statistics (BLS).

◉ Career Outlook

The BLS predicts just a 4% development in the number of occupations for secondary school, center teachers, and primary teachers from 2019-2029.

Accessible open doors do differ by branch of knowledge and area. More positions might be accessible in country and metropolitan schools than in rural areas.

Also Read : What is Career Planning?

► Conclusion

Youngsters are becoming overweight because of the way that they don’t partake in sports activities or know the significance of physical education.

Since kids are becoming overweight guardians need to have their kids take an interest in physical activities from birth because P. Education will be educated to their kids when they begin going to class.

Educators that show physical education will show understudies how to deal with themselves appropriately.

This is significant because when somebody is taught regard to the significance of their well-being then it will make them carry on with a solid way of life.

So, guardians, educators, and different grown-ups need to stress the importance of Physical Edu. in schools.

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Importance of Physical Education

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What Is Physical Education? & Objectives Of Physical Education

Physical education.

Physical Education (PE), also known as phys ed or gym class, is an educational program or curriculum that focuses on the development and improvement of physical fitness and overall well-being through physical activity and exercise. It is an integral part of the broader educational system, with the primary goal of promoting a healthy and active lifestyle among students. Here are some key aspects of what PE encompasses:

• Physical Fitness: Physical education aims to improve and maintain students’ physical fitness. This includes enhancing cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition. Students engage in various physical activities to achieve these goals.
• Skill Development: PE classes often involve instruction and practice in a wide range of physical activities and sports, such as basketball, soccer, swimming, gymnastics, dance, and more. Students are taught the fundamental skills and techniques required for these activities.
• Health Education: In addition to physical activity, PE often includes instruction on health-related topics. This can encompass lessons on nutrition, the effects of physical activity on the body, the risks of a sedentary lifestyle, and information about substance abuse prevention.
• Wellness Promotion: PE programs promote holistic well-being by emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This includes mental and emotional well-being, stress management, and making healthy choices in all aspects of life.
• Teamwork and Sportsmanship: Many PE activities involve team sports and group activities, which teach students important life skills such as teamwork, cooperation, leadership, and sportsmanship.

More Read….

• Safety: Physical education classes typically include instruction on safety measures to prevent injuries during physical activities. This can involve teaching students proper warm-up and cool-down routines, correct exercise techniques, and knowledge of basic first aid.
• Lifetime Fitness: PE aims to instill a love for physical activity that extends beyond the school years. The goal is to encourage students to adopt and maintain an active and healthy lifestyle throughout their lives.
• Assessment and Goal Setting: PE programs often assess students’ physical fitness levels and provide opportunities for setting personal fitness goals. This helps students track their progress and motivation to improve their physical abilities.
• Adaptation and Inclusion: Physical education should be inclusive and adaptable to accommodate students with various physical abilities and needs. Teachers often modify activities to ensure that all students can participate and benefit from the program.
• Cultural and Historical Awareness: PE may introduce students to the cultural and historical aspects of various physical activities and sports, broadening their understanding of different cultures and traditions.

Physical education is typically a required part of the curriculum in schools, and the specific content and objectives can vary from one educational institution to another. The overall aim, however, is to foster a lifelong commitment to physical activity and overall well-being among students. It helps them develop healthy habits, improve physical fitness, and gain knowledge about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Objectives Of Physical Education

The objectives of physical education can vary depending on the educational system, the age of the students, and the specific goals of the program. However, there are several common objectives that are generally associated with PE:

• Physical Fitness: One of the primary objectives of physical education is to promote physical fitness and well-being among students. This includes improving cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and overall physical health.
• Skill Development: Physical education aims to teach students a variety of physical skills and activities. These may include sports, dance, gymnastics, swimming, and other forms of physical movement. The goal is to help students develop competence and confidence in these activities.
• Health Education: Physical education often includes instruction on topics related to health and wellness. This can include information on nutrition, exercise physiology, the effects of drugs and alcohol, and other health-related topics.
• Motor Development: For younger students, physical education focuses on developing basic motor skills, such as running, jumping, throwing, and catching. These skills are essential for physical development and can provide a foundation for more advanced activities later in life.
• Teamwork and Cooperation: Many physical education activities involve team sports and group activities. These experiences can teach students important lessons about teamwork, cooperation, and sportsmanship.
• Lifetime Fitness: Physical education should instill a love for physical activity that extends beyond the school years. The objective is to encourage students to engage in lifelong physical fitness and recreational activities.

Extra objectives…

• Personal Responsibility: PE can help students develop a sense of personal responsibility for their health and well-being. This includes understanding the importance of regular exercise, making healthy choices, and taking care of their bodies.
• Stress Reduction: Physical activity is known to reduce stress and improve mental well-being. Physical education can provide students with an outlet for stress and help them develop strategies for managing stress through physical activity.
• Social Interaction: Through group activities and team sports, PE provides opportunities for social interaction and the development of social skills. Students learn how to communicate, collaborate, and resolve conflicts in a physical context.
• Cultural and Historical Awareness: Physical education may also introduce students to the cultural and historical aspects of various physical activities and sports. This can help broaden their understanding of different cultures and traditions.
• Safety: Teaching students how to engage in physical activities safely is another important objective. This includes proper warm-up and cool-down routines, injury prevention techniques, and knowledge of first aid.
• Assessment and Goal Setting: Physical education often involves assessing students’ physical fitness levels and helping them set goals for improvement. This can motivate students to work towards achieving their personal fitness objectives.

These objectives highlight the multifaceted nature of physical education , which goes beyond merely promoting physical fitness to encompass broader aspects of health, well-being, and personal development. The specific objectives may vary from one educational institution to another, but the overall goal is to promote a healthy and active lifestyle among students.

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