Reflection on Sport 1
Reflection One: Year 6 Health Lesson – Stress Relief
Reporting
During my latest practicum at ABC School in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, I observed an excellent, engaging health lesson taught to a class of Year 6 students. The lesson was focused on stress management and took place in Term 3, 2016. Students were asked to discuss and think about ways in which they manage stress and ultimately design a poster, based on the teacher’s exemplar, to promote their own ‘stress-stopping’ activity. The discussions in the lessons were natural and rich, and Miss M used the discussions and final posters as the learning to assess, both informally and formally respectively. Students were required to research the mental and physical benefits of engaging in their particular activity and had to incorporate these benefits into their promotional poster. The lesson was part of a whole-term Health Program, informed by the Australian Curriculum, and focused on the general theme of personal health and wellbeing.
Responding
The health lesson delivered by classroom teacher Miss M was a pleasure to watch, largely because all students were engaged and interested by the content in the lesson. I was impressed by the way in which Miss M covered so much content (discussion and meaningful, thought-provoking activity) and elicited a deep class discussion about the stressors in the lives of the students and how the students can manage these stressors. I was astounded at Miss M’s efficient distribution, and direction of student-clean-up of hands-on materials (magazines, poster paper and decorative materials) at the start and end of the lesson. It was also motivating to see Miss M passionately discuss her own approaches to managing stress with the example of going swimming to de-stress, which clearly excited and influenced the children in the class as reflected in the posters they made.
Relating
Underpinning the teaching of Miss M’s stress-management lesson was the rationale of the Australian Curriculum: Health, being that children should be taught to appreciate the importance of physical activity for health and wellbeing, and to navigate and explore a wealth of community health-related sources, activities and services (ACARA, 2016). Embodied in the lesson was ongoing teacher modelling (through anecdotes) and reinforcement of healthy lifestyle choices by Miss M, and according to Martens (1996) these are fundamental principles of primary students’ perceptions and willingness to participate in physical and healthy activity. Martens (1996) also states that children are more likely to appreciate health-related activities and physical education (PE) if they are fun for the students, and based on the lesson, Miss M’s students not only enjoyed the task of discussing the benefits of their chosen physical activities, but also generated reasons why their activity was enjoyable and fun for them. Contrary to the prevailing notion that generalist classroom teachers often project negative attitudes about physical education (Morgan & Hansen, 2007), Miss M was a generalist primary teacher who clearly promoted the physical task of swimming to her students. As such, this lesson was in lieu with Petrie’s (2010) research which showed that generalist primary teachers can greatly influence their students’ perceptions of physical activity by simply promoting and endorsing it, whilst being a clearly classroom-oriented and un-specialised sport teacher. Preparation and organisation of appropriate, attractive resources is also deemed important in a successful lesson on health and PE, and this was also evident in Miss M’s extensive planning and delivery of the health lesson, and was likely responsible for the general success and high levels of student engagement throughout the lesson (Jenkinson and Benson, 2010).
Reasoning
On initial reflection, I thought Miss M’s lesson was one which appeared to be spontaneous and achievable for a novice. However, I now see that the lesson was indeed thoroughly planned and delivered in such a way which is consistent with current and effective pedagogy, and the requirements of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. I previously thought that Miss M’s lesson was slightly unfocused in regard to showing children the benefits of physical activity as a means of stress relief, but I now see that allowing the children to discuss and reflect on their own personal preferences for physical activity and then focusing on the specific benefits of their chosen activity indeed increases motivation and enjoyment for the students. Miss M also made a concerted effort to endorse physical activity and shared her own personal passion and meaningful recounts about the benefits she reaps from swimming – her choice of physical activity. This sort of behaviour -and ultimately a positive attitude towards physical activity and wellbeing- is something which I previously overlooked and perceived as unnecessary for a generalist teacher. I now see that being even mildly aware of personal behaviours and values as a teacher will influence children’s values and attitudes to health, and as professionals and advocates of children’s wellbeing, we can use this to our advantage.
Reconstructing
When I become a qualified generalist primary teacher, I will strive to deliver health lessons imbued with the passion, engagement and rich student discussion that I observed in Miss M’s health lesson on stress management. Although I may not pursue a career as a PE specialist teacher, I appreciate the immense impact that generalist teachers can have on students’ valuing of their health and physical activity, and hope to promote healthy lifestyle activities and choices through my own behaviour and attitude. I also believe that giving students agency and choice as to what sorts of activities and healthy lifestyle choices they want to make is important -regardless of personal preferences and habits- and I will aim to do this in my future teaching.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2016, August 15). Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
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