phe canada canada celebrates another successful pe day

Transcription

PHE CANADA CANADA CELEBRATES ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL PE DAY
PHYSICAL & HEALTH
Education Journal
LA REVUE D’ÉDUCATION PHYSIQUE ET À LA SANTÉ
PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40064538
REGISTRATION NUMBER 09328
VOLUME 75 NO. 2 — SUMMER / ÉTÉ 2009
See inside for details on the new
Fundamental Movement Skills series
Also featured: Understanding the
Challenges of Pursuing Physical Activity
The 2009 Moving Mountains
Scholar’s Address
« Danse » n’est pas un mauvais mot!
Published by/Publié par
Formerly the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD).
Anciennement l’Association canadienne pour la santé, l’éducation physique, le loisir et la danse (ACSEPLD)
PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40064538
REGISTRATION NUMBER 09328
RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO
CIRCULATION DEPT.:
2197 Riverside Drive, Suite 301, Ottawa, ON K1H 7X3
Tel./Tél. : (613) 523-1348 Fax/Téléc. : (613) 523-1206
E-mail/Courriel : [email protected]
www.phecanada.ca
Executive Director / Directrice général
Andrea Grantham
Editor in Chief / Rédactrice-en-chef
John Maker
© PHE Canada / EPS Canada
Published quarterly, individual subscription rate $65.00 + GST (Canada only) per year; $100 + GST
for libraries and institutions per year. U.S. and International add $18.00 per year. Six month limit
for claiming issues not received.
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ajouter 18,00 $ par année. Les numéros non reçus doivent être réclamés dans les six mois suivant
la date de publication.
Date of Issue/Date de publication :
July 2009/ juillet 2009
Production & Design/Conception graphique :
Daren MacGowan Graphic Design
PHYSICAL & HEALTH
Education Journal
VOLUME
PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES /
ARTICLES VEDETTES RÉVISÉS PAR LES PAIRS
6 Overweight Students: Can Education Help Curb
This Mounting Problem?
Sarah K. Gray
18 Understanding The Challenges Of Pursuing Physical Activity
Yuka Nakamura
30 Parent and student support for school policies that promote
healthy eating and active living
Cover Photo/Couverature :
André Forget
For advertising information please contact:
PHE Canada
2197 Riverside Drive, Suite 301, Ottawa, ON K1H 7X3
(613) 523-1348 ext. 224
www.phecanada.ca
Publications Mail Registration no. 9328. Views and opinions are those of the
authors and not necessarily those of PHE Canada. Indexed in the Canadian
Magazine index and available on-line in the Canadian Business and Current
Affairs Database. Upon application to PHE Canada, Canadian universities will be
allowed to duplicate PHE Canada Journal articles for distribution to students.
Courrier 2e classe no. 9328. Les opinions exprimées sont celles des auteures
et auteurs et ne reflètent pas nécessairement celles de EPS Canada. Les universités
canadiennes qui désirent photocopier des articles du Journal de EPS Canada pour
les distribuer à leurs étudiantes et étudiants pourront le faire en envoyant une
demande écrite à EPS Canada.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government
of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP),
toward our mailing costs.
Board of Directors 2009/2010
Conseil de direction 2009/2010
75, N O.2 ISSN 1498-0940
Hilde Spitters, Marg Schwartz and Paul Veugelers
REGULARS / CHRONIQUES
2
3
4
5
12
A Word from the President
Mot du président
Editorial
Éditorial
QDPE: Limited Space,
Minimal Equipment, Lots
of Students... No Problem.
Take it Outdoors!
15 Danse: « Danse » n’est pas un
mauvais mot!
35 Dance: Dance is Not a
Four Letter Word
28 QSH: Assessment for Learning –
Healthy Schools Edition
Mark Jones, President / Président
Louise Humbert, President-Elect / Présidente-Élu
Don Hutchinson, British Columbia and Yukon /
Représentante de la Colombie-Britannique et du Yukon
Heather Rootsaert, Alberta and NWT / Représentante de l’Alberta et des T.N.O.
Reg Leidl, Saskatchewan / Représentant de la Saskatchewan
Jacki Nylen, Manitoba and Nunavut / Représentant du Manitoba et Nunavut
Ted Temertzoglou, Ontario / Représentant de l’Ontario
Gordon Oliver, Québec / Représentant du Québec
Greg Leland, New Brunswick/ Représentant du Nouveau-Brunswick
Daniel Robinson, Nova Scotia / Représentante de la Nouvelle-Écosse
Antony Card, Newfoundland and Labrador /
Représentant de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador
IN THIS ISSUE / DANS CE NUMÉRO
24 PE Day on Parliament Hill
26 Journée de l’éducation physique
sur la Colline
38 Active Kids Score Higher:
More Activity Time Adds Up
to Better Learning
40 Scholar’s Address:
Moving Mountains Conference,
Banff 2009
42 Fundamental Movement Skills
44 Habilités motices fondamentales
Cheryl Tanton, Prince Edward Island / Représentant de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard
SUMMER • ÉT É 2009 1
A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
G
reetings fellow members of Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada). I
have decided to dedicate this summer 2009 message to sharing with you several of my
experiences at the 75th Anniversary Conference in beautiful Banff, Alberta and also to talk
about the Active Healthy Kids Report Card that came out on June 2nd.
There were two specific highlights at the 2009 PHE Canada conference – the R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Scholar
Address and the Ignisfatuus gathering. This 75th anniversary scholar address was particularly significant as PHE
Canada and Alberta HPEC combined their respective addresses into one event – the R. Tait McKenzie/Roy Routledge
Scholar Address that was provided by Mr. Doug Gleddie of Alberta. Doug is the Provincial Coordinator for Everactive
Schools in Alberta and he gave an especially rousing address that was both emotional and powerful in its message.
Doug spoke to veteran and new teachers alike when he spoke of the quality
of the fantastic curriculum we have across this country and how critically
important it is that every single teacher of physical and health education
commit to its full delivery. Doug challenged teachers by emphasizing the fact
that it is not good enough to just teach to the sport seasons and that it is
vitally important that every student receive a quality, engaging health and
physical education experience. Doug has significant hands-on experience
with the Alberta Curriculum and also with the Health Promoting Schools
approach - it is with this insight that Doug challenged all teachers to be
leaders and to provide a foundation of support to children and youth in the
school setting so that they may realize the vision of PHE Canada – “All
Canadian children and youth living physically active and healthy lives.”
While the Ignisfatuus gathering defies description, as it is so powerful
and representative of our organization, I will nonetheless give it an honest try
in this address. Ignisfatuus is an acronym derived from the dictionary
description of the term ignis fatuus. It stands for: Infamous Group of
No-name Illustrious Sagacious Formerly Active Talented Unauthorized
Unbudgeted but Sanguine. The purpose of this group is to maintain contact
with colleagues who were formerly active members, but who continue to
support PHE Canada’s goals. There is no committee structure, membership,
qualifications or formal agendas.
It is a tradition at each PHE Canada/CAHPERD Conference that all
members gather and share their collective wisdom and reminisce about years
past, take stock of the present and look positively to the future. Present at this
particular gathering were no less than 11 past-presidents and, as the next
person to join this illustrious group, I was in awe of the history, the
experience, and the overwhelming quality of the people sharing in this time
together. I was humbled to be in their presence. Each past-president shared
an anecdote, a highlight and a challenge that they felt defined their
presidency and of which they had fond memories. For each president, their
tenure was defined by one common denominator: the people. Indeed, each
of us contributing to this great organization make PHE Canada the
wonderful organization that it is. I wish to join with the past-presidents in
acknowledging you – the teachers, the researchers, the volunteers, the
administrators – the leaders who help make Canada a healthy and active
place to work, go to school and live.
2 PHYSIC AL AND HEALTH EDUC ATION
This brings me to the final highlight of my address: the 2009 Active Healthy
Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth by
Active Healthy Kids Canada. While the report once again paints a dismal
picture of the physical activity levels of children and youth, there are some
hopeful signs. The 2009 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on
Physical Activity for Children and Youth reveals that children who are more
physically active also do better academically, resulting in better scores in math
and reading, higher grades, greater perceptual skill and overall academic
readiness. To quote Mark Tremblay, Chief Scientific Officer, Active Healthy
Kids Canada, “Being active feeds the brain, giving active kids an academic
advantage over their peers who are more sedentary.”
While we have long believed this to be true, and while research has
indicated this fact in the past, we now have current research that makes it
abundantly clear: reducing physical activity in school timetables in favour of
other academic subjects is actually counter-productive. This practice does
not improve academic ability or test scores. I encourage you to read the entire
article in this issue of the PHE Journal – it makes a compelling case for providing sufficient opportunities in schools for physical activity.
Finally, I wish to thank and bid farewell (but not good-bye) to the
outgoing members of our Board of Directors who completed their terms
at the AGM in May – Irene Wallace of British Columbia, Christine
Preece of Ontario, Amanda Stanec of Nova Scotia, and Robyn
MacDonald of PEI. We are extremely grateful to your dedication and
direction in helping PHE Canada continue to be the healthy and
successful organization that it is. We know we will continue to work with
each of you in different capacities.
I would like to welcome to the Board of Directors, Don Hutchinson of
British Columbia, Ted Temertzoglou of Ontario, Dan Robinson of Nova
Scotia, Cheryl Tanton of PEI, and finally Mr. Reg Leidl of Saskatchewan.
Reg joins the Board replacing Dr. Louise Humbert who is now PHE
Canada’s President-elect.
To all of you– have a safe and relaxing summer…
Mark Jones
President, PHE Canada
MOT DU PRÉSIDENT
M
eilleures salutations à tous les membres d’Éducation physique et santé Canada (EPS Canada)! Mon message de
l’été 2009 est surtout axé sur la merveilleuse expérience que j’ai vécue à notre Conférence du 75e anniversaire
qui se déroulait dans la magnifique ville de Banff, en Alberta. Je veux aussi vous entretenir du Bulletin sur l’activité
physique que Jeunes en forme Canada publiait le 2 juin dernier.
Permettez-moi de relever deux faits saillants qui m’ont marqué lors de la
Conférence d’EPS Canada de 2009, soit l’allocution commémorative R. Tait
McKenzie et le regroupement Ignisfatuus. Cette allocution savante du 75e
anniversaire s’est avérée particulièrement signifiante puisque EPS Canada et
la HPEC de l’Alberta avaient combiné leurs présentations en un seul discours
– l’allocution R. Tait McKenzie/Roy Routledge donnée par M. Doug
Gleddie de l’Alberta. Doug, qui est le coordonnateur provincial d’Everactive
Schools en Alberta, a prononcé un discours à la fois stimulant, émotif et
puissant. Prenant la parole devant des enseignants de longue date et des
nouvelles recrues, Doug a souligné l’excellence des programmes d’études
canadiens et expliqué combien il importe que chaque enseignante et
enseignant d’éducation physique et de santé s’engage à les livrer en entier.
Doug a lancé un défi aux enseignants en leur précisant qu’il ne suffit pas
d’adapter son enseignement aux saisons sportives, mais qu’il faut absolument
s’assurer que chaque élève vive des expériences de qualité dans les cours
d’éducation physique et de santé. Doug a vécu beaucoup d’expériences
concrètes au niveau des programmes d’études albertains et il est familier avec
l’approche des écoles axées sur la santé. Fort cette expérience exhaustive,
Doug a mis tous les enseignants au défi de devenir des chefs de file et
d’offrir à tous les élèves canadiens une base leur permettant de réaliser la
vision d’EPS Canada :« garantir que tous les enfants et les jeunes canadiens
mènent une vie saine et active sur le plan physique ».
Même si les mots me manquent pour décrire pleinement l’événement
Ignisfatuus - si puissant et si représentatif de notre organisme - je vais
néanmoins m’y risquer. Ignisfatuus est un acronyme tiré de l’expression ignis
fatuus qu’on trouve dans le dictionnaire et qui signifie, en anglais « infamous
group of no-name illustrious sagacious formerly active talented unauthorized
unbudgeted but sanguine » (célèbre groupe d’illustres, sagaces, autrefois
actifs et talentueux inconnus sans budget mais sanguins). Ce groupe a pour
but de garder contact avec des collègues autrefois actifs au sein de de notre
organisme, mais qui continuent néanmoins d’appuyer les buts et objectifs
d’EPS Canada. Il n’y a aucune structure de comité, aucun membre en règle,
aucune qualification et aucun ordre du jour officiel.
Comme cela se fait traditionnellement à chaque conférence d’EPS
Canada/ACSEPLD, les membres se réunissent pour mettre à profit leur
sagesse collective, pour réfléchir au passé, pour faire le point sur la situation
présente et pour tracer des pistes d’avenir positives. Cette année, onze anciens
présidents étaient au rendez-vous. À titre de nouveau titulaire du poste, j’ai
été épaté par le cheminement, l’expérience et la très haute qualité des
personnes qui participaient à cet échange et fort honoré de me retrouver
parmi eux. Chaque ancien président devait relater une anecdote, un fait
saillant et un défi ayant marqué son passage à la présidence et dont il gardait
un bon souvenir. Tous ont indiqué que leurs années à la présidence avaient
été marquées par un dénominateur commun : la qualité des gens. De fait,
c’est grâce aux efforts de chaque personne qu’EPS Canada est devenu un
organisme aussi exceptionnel. Je me joins aux anciens présidents pour rendre
hommage aux enseignantes et enseignants, aux chercheurs, aux bénévoles et
aux administrateurs. Vous êtes tous des leaders exceptionnels qui contribuent
à faire du Canada un milieu sain et actif où aller à l’école et où vivre.
Ceci m’amène au dernier point : le Bulletin sur l’activité physique produit
par Jeunes en forme Canada. Quoique ce rapport brosse une fois de plus un
piteux tableau des taux d’activité physique des jeunes canadiens, il y a place
à l’espoir. Le Bulletin révèle que les enfants qui sont plus actifs physiquement
réussissent mieux à l’école, ont de meilleurs résultats en mathématiques et
en lecture, obtiennent des notes plus élevées et affichent des habiletés
perceptuelles et un niveau de préparation scolaire supérieurs. D’après le
directeur scientifique de Jeunes en forme Canada, Mark Tremblay « être actif
nourrit le cerveau et donne aux enfants actifs un avantage sur leurs pairs
sédentaires à l’école ».
Même si l’on sait depuis longtemps que cette constatation est véridique et
que la recherche la corrobore, il est bon de savoir que les nouvelles études
mènent à une conclusion évidente : il est contre-productif de réduire le temps
consacré à l’activité physique à l’école au profit d’autres matières scolaires car
cette pratique n’améliore en rien les aptitudes scolaires et les résultats
d’examen. Je vous incite à lire l’article complet dans le présent numéro
du Journal EPS – il renferme des arguments irréfutables en faveur d’une
quantité adéquate d’activité physique dans les écoles.
En dernier lieu, je tiens à dire au revoir (mais non adieu) aux membres sortants du conseil de direction dont le mandat a pris fin à l’AGR du mois de
mai, soit Irene Wallace de la Colombie-Britannique, Christine Preece de
l’Ontario, Amanda Stanec de la Nouvelle-Écosse et Robyn MacDonald de
l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard. Nous vous sommes très reconnaissants de votre
dévouement sans faille et de vos sages conseils qui ont fait d’EPS Canada un
organisme efficace et pertinent. Au fil des ans, nous aurons certainement le
plaisir de poursuivre notre collaboration avec vous à divers titres.
Je tiens finalement à souhaiter la plus cordiale bienvenue au conseil de
direction à Don Hutchinson de la Colombie-Britannique, à Ted
Temertzoglou de l’Ontario, à Dan Robinson de la Nouvelle-Écosse, à Cheryl
Tanton de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard et, finalement, à Reg Leidl de la
Saskatchewan. Reg se joint au conseil en remplacement de Louise Humbert
qui devient la présidente-élue d’EPS Canada.
Merci à vous tous et toutes – passez un bel été sous le signe de la prudence
et de la détente.
Mark Jones, Président, EPS Canada
EDITORIAL
W
ith the fun and active summer season upon us, the PHE
Journal is happy to focus this issue on questions specifically
related to teaching Canada’s youth how to make choices to lead active
and healthy lives. As the President noted in his address, the Active
Healthy Kids Canada Report Card paints a dismal picture of the
state of activity among Canada’s youth and the articles in this issue
focus on issues related to this problem and offer some solutions
moving forward.
Two of our feature articles focus on obesity, an enduring and
intractable problem in our modern society. Marg Schwartz, Paul
Veugelers, and Hilde Spitters focus their attention on the need for
multi-level support to facilitate policy implementation using Alberta
as their case study. Sarah Gray examines similar issues in the school
setting, including peer pressures and the need to involve all stakeholders in finding solutions to this issue. Our third feature article, by
Yuka Nakamura of the University of Toronto, examines how nine
students of South, Southeast and East Asian backgrounds at a
Canadian university pursued physical activity and the various
obstacles they faced, thus introducing another set of cultural and
religious obstacles (and opportunities) to increasing physical activity
in Canada’s youth. This selection of feature articles speaks to the
issues raised both by the PHE President as well as those highlighted
in the Report Card.
Accordingly, we are also publishing the 2009 Active Healthy Kids
Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.
While the Report Card calls attention to the now-verified academic
benefits of physical activity, it also speaks to the need for the types of
strategies that physical education practitioners and scholars are now
developing, such as those contained in this issue. We are also pleased
to report the success of 2009’s PE Day on the Hill; please have a look
at the article and pictures telling of another successful event that
underscores how schools across Canada are working to make physical and health education an essential part of the academic experience.
Editorial Board
Charlotte Beaudoin, Ph.D.
Rick Bell, D.Ed.
Pierre Boudreau, Ph.D.
Shannon S.D. Bredin, Ph.D.
Trent D. Brown, Ph.D.
Joy Butler, Ph.D.
David Chorney, Ph.D.
Roger T. Couture, Ph.D.
David Erikson, Ph.D.
Nick Forsberg, Ph.D.
Nancy Francis, D.Ed.
Sandra L. Gibbons, Ph.D.
Johanne Grenier, Ph.D.
Joannie Halas, Ph.D.
Clive Hickson, Ph.D.
University of Ottawa
University of Victoria
University of British Columbia
Monash University, Australia
University of British Columbia
University of Alberta
Laurentian University
Trinity Western University
University of Regina
Brock University
Université du Québec à Montréal
University of Manitoba
4 PHYSIC AL AND HEALTH EDUC AT ION
Our “Regulars” are well represented this summer with a dance
article on getting boys into the groove! So often we hear of the
challenges facing physical educators in raising female participation
rates, so it is interesting to read of some solutions for getting males
involved in a stereotypically “female” activity. Our Quality Daily
Physical Education piece highlights innovative ways to provide fun
and interactive activities, even if funds and equipment are tight, by
taking students outdoors to interact with the environment around
them. This approach teaches kids how they can use almost anything
to engage in fun physical activity. Finally, our Quality School Health
article introduces the Ever Active Schools Health Assessment Tool
for Schools, which uses a Health Promoting School (HPS) model.
This article serves as a preview for a feature length article that will
appear later this year highlighting a district implementation of the
HPS model (the Ever Active Schools program) in the Battle River
School Division.
We thank you again for all your support and hope you will enjoy this
issue with its emphasis on finding new solutions to some serious
health concerns.
John Maker
[email protected]
Tim Hopper, Ph.D.
M. Louise Humbert, Ph.D.
Anna H. Lathrop, Ph.D.
Rebecca Lloyd, Ph.D.
Ken Lodewyk, Ph.D.
Chunlei Lu, Ph.D.
Moira Luke, Ph.D.
James Mandigo, Ph.D.
Nancy Melnychuk, PhD
Francine Morin, Ph.D.
Joanne Y. Pelletier, Ph.D.
Twyla Salm, PhD
Ellen Singleton, Ph.D.
Stephen Smith, Ph.D.
Amanda D. Stanec, Ph.D.
Aniko Varpalotai, Ph.D.
University of Saskatchewan
Brock University
Brock University
Brock University
University of British Columbia (Emerita)
Brock University
University of Manitoba
Laurentian University
University of Regina
University of Western Ontario
Simon Fraser University
St.Francis Xavier University
University of Western Ontario
ÉDITORIAL
P
uisque c’est enfin le retour de l’été, saison active par excellence, le
Journal EPS a choisi de consacrer le présent numéro aux mesures
à prendre pour encourager les jeunes canadiens à opter pour des modes
de vie sains et actifs. Comme l’indique le président dans son message,
le Bulletin brosse un triste tableau de la sédentarité croissante de nos
enfants. En ce sens, vous trouverez dans ce numéro une série d’articles
qui explorent ce problème et diverses solutions pour y remédier.
Deux de nos articles vedettes mettent l’accent sur l’obésité, un
problème persistant qui afflige la société moderne. Marg Schwartz,
Paul Veugelers et Hilde Spitters soulignent la nécessité d’obtenir de
l’aide à plusieurs niveaux pour favoriser l’adoption de politiques en
présentant une étude de cas qui met en lumière l’Alberta. Sarah Grey
examine les enjeux similaires observés en milieu scolaire, y compris les
pressions exercées par les pairs et la nécessité d’engager la participation
de toutes les parties intéressées dans la quête de solutions.
Notre troisième article vedette, qui est signé par Yuka Nakamura de
l’université de Toronto, aborde le cas de neuf étudiants d’une université canadienne originaires d’Asie du sud, du sud-est et de l’est. Il relate
leurs expériences face à l’activité physique, les difficultés qui se
sont posées, ainsi discute des obstacles culturels et religieux (et des
possibilités) qui entrent en jeu quand on cherche à accroître le taux
d’activité physique des jeunes canadiens. Cette sélection d’articles
reflète les points soulevés par le président d’EPS Canada et présentés
dans le Bulletin.
En ce sens, nous publions le Bulletin de l'activité physique chez les
jeunes 2009 de Jeunes en Forme Canada. Tout en mettant l’accent sur
les effets bénéfiques démontrés de l’activité physique sur le rendement
scolaire, ce Bulletin fait ressortir la nécessité de stratégies semblables à
celles qu’élaborent présentement les praticiens de l’éducation
physique et les universitaires, dont certaines sont décrites dans le
présent numéro. Nous sommes également heureux de vous faire part
du succès inégalé de la Journée de l’éducation physique sur la Colline
Comité de rédaction
Charlotte Beaudoin, Ph.D.
Rick Bell, D.Ed.
Pierre Boudreau, Ph.D.
Shannon S.D. Bredin, Ph.D.
Trent D. Brown, Ph.D.
Joy Butler, Ph.D.
David Chorney, Ph.D.
Roger T. Couture, Ph.D.
David Erikson, Ph.D.
Nick Forsberg, Ph.D.
Nancy Francis, D.Ed.
Sandra L. Gibbons, Ph.D.
Johanne Grenier, Ph.D.
Joannie Halas, Ph.D.
Clive Hickson, Ph.D.
Université d’Ottawa
Université de Victoria
Université de la Colombie-Britannique
Université Monash, Australie
Université de la Colombie-Britannique
Université de l’Alberta
Université Laurentienne
Université Trinity Western
Université de Regina
Université Brock
Université du Québec à Montréal
Université du Manitoba
2009. N’hésitez pas à lire l’article et à regarder les photos témoignant
d’un autre événement réussi. Tout ceci démontre en quoi les écoles
canadiennes collaborent de plus en plus pour faire de l’éducation
physique et à la santé une composante essentielle de l’expérience
scolaire des jeunes.
Nos rubriques habituelles sont également truffées d’informations utiles
cet été, y compris un article sur la dance qui encourage les garçons à
« emboîter le pas »! On entend souvent parler des défis qui confrontent
les enseignantes et enseignants d’éducation physique qui tentent
d’encourager les filles à participer davantage; il est donc intéressant de
prendre connaissance de démarches pour inciter les garçons à s’adonner
à ces activités stéréotypées comme étant plutôt « féminines ». Notre
texte sur l’éducation physique quotidienne de qualité propose des
moyens novateurs de faire participer les jeunes à des activités
amusantes et interactives, malgré la pénurie de ressources financières et
physiques, en les amenant dehors pour interagir avec leur environnement. Cette approche montre aux élèves comment tirer profit de
presque tout ce qu’il y a autour d’eux pour s’adonner à des activités
physiques amusantes. En dernier lieu, notre article sur la santé de
qualité dans les écoles présente l’outil d’évaluation Ever Active Schools
Health Assessment Tool for Schools fondé sur le modèle des écoles axées
sur la promotion de la santé. Ceci vous donnera un avant-goût du long
article en ce sens qui sera publié plus tard cette année et qui présentera
les faits saillants du projet de mise en œuvre du modèle des écoles axées
sur la promotion de la santé (programme scolaire Ever Active Schools)
au sein de la division scolaire de Battle River.
Nous vous remercions de nouveau pour votre constant appui et
nous espérons que vous apprécierez le contenu du présent numéro,
qui propose de nouvelles solutions pour régler de sérieux problèmes
de santé.
John Maker
[email protected]
Tim Hopper, Ph.D.
M. Louise Humbert, Ph.D.
Rebecca Lloyd, Ph.D.
Anna H. Lathrop, Ph.D.
Ken Lodewyk, Ph.D.
Chunlei Lu, Ph.D.
Moira Luke, Ph.D.
Université de Saskatchewan
Université Brock
Université Brock
Université Brock
Université de la Colombie-Britannique, (émérite)
James Mandigo, Ph.D.
Nancy Melnychuk, PhD
Francine Morin, Ph. D.
Joanne Y. Pelletier, Ph.D.
Twyla Salm, PhD
Ellen Singleton, Ph.D.
Stephen Smith, Ph.D.
Amanda D. Stanec, Ph.D.
Aniko Varpalotai, Ph.D.
Université Brock
Université du Manitoba
Université Laurentian
Université de Regina
Université Western Ontario
Université Simon Fraser
Université St. Francis Xavier
Université Western Ontario
PEER REVIEWED ARTICLE
Overweight Students: Can Education
Help Curb This Mounting Problem?
By Sarah K. Gray
I
Sarah K. Gray, Hons B.Kin.,
currently holds her Masters of
Education from Brock University.
She is a high school science and
health and physical education
teacher with the Halton District
School Board, Burlington, Ontario
n 2004, 26% of Canadian children and adolescents, aged 2 to 17,
were considered overweight or obese, a 10% increase since 1979.
This statistic is one of many that is causing the public to recognize
the problem with childhood obesity. Experts are suggesting that this
number will only increase without some type of intervention
within the schools and at home (Shields, 2005). Societal changes,
attributed to the increased reliance on technology and a decrease of
personal spare time, have contributed to the increased number of
overweight children and adolescents. As with many of the past
problems in Canadian society (such as low literacy rates and
cultural segregation), people are turning to the education system to
help combat the obesity problem. In addition to a genetic
predisposition to weight gain, most experts in the health field would
agree that personal body weight is influenced by two factors:
the nutritional quality of food consumed and the subject’s level of
physical activity. A major cause for concern for some parents
and teachers is the lack of student participation in daily physical
activity and poor food choices in the school setting. Excess in either
of these two factors can have short- and long-term effects on the
physical development of students, which in turn has detrimental
effects on their social development. In response to this call to action,
some schools have taken steps to tackle the problem, but the
number of obese students is increasing steadily, which suggests that
further changes are needed.
This paper will address the following
questions:
1. What are the benefits of physical
activity and healthy food choices with
respect to an overweight student’s
physical appearance?
2. How is an overweight student’s
physical appearance related to social
development?
3. What is happening in our schools to
exacerbate the child and adolescent
obesity problem?
4. How can we make changes in the
school system to combat this
problem?
The best way to resolve the obesity
problem is to examine the benefits of
how a healthy lifestyle plays an
integral part in personal development.
Additionally, it is important to look at
current practice in the school system
and determine the necessary changes.
In school, students are surrounded by
unhealthy food choices. Most vending
machines are stocked with junk food and
finding healthy choices in the school
cafeteria is a challenge. Even when given
a choice, most students will choose
unhealthy food because of its taste.
What Is the Problem?
School is one of the first social experiences that children encounter. Students’
choices regarding physical activities and
food can affect their social experiences.
Students’ body weight, shape, and development are often determined by the
physical activities in which they engage
or in the food choices that they make.
In turn, their choices can affect their
social interactions. This reinforces the
Physical activity “consists of athletic,
recreational or occupational activities that
require physical skills and utilize strength,
power, endurance, speed, flexibility, range
of motion or agility” (NATA, 2002, p. 1).
Nutrients can be defined as “any
substance that can be metabolized by an
organism to give energy and build tissue”
(Farlex, 2006, p. 1).
Presently, there is an increase in the
number of students choosing video
games, television, and the Internet for
their recreation instead of participating
in sports or other physical activities. As
a result, fewer students are achieving
the recommended daily minimum of
90 minutes devoted to physical activity
(Health Canada, 2007). Studies have
shown that the prevalence of obesity in
children and adolescents was lowest
among those who watched less than
one hour of television per day (Crespo
et al., 2001).
The increase in the number of overweight students has changed the dynamics
within the Canadian school system. Many overweight students are discriminated
against by their classmates and deprived of positive social opportunities. The lack of
social opportunities can have long lasting impacts on their social development. Schools
need to implement policies and programs in order to educate students, as well as their
parents, on healthy lifestyle habits.
Le nombre croissant d’élèves trop lourds a transformé la dynamique du système
scolaire canadien. Beaucoup d’élèves aux prises avec un surplus de poids sont victimes
de discrimination de la part de leurs camarades et sont moins enclins à vivre des
expériences sociales positives. En fait, un tel ostracisme peut avoir des effets à long
terme sur leur développement social. Il importe que les écoles instaurent des politiques
et programmes d’éducation afin de renseigner les élèves et leurs parents au sujet des
modes de vie sains.
development. Overweight students may
find it difficult to participate in physical
activities with their peers; they may lose
their breath when engaging in these
activities. Consequently, these students
may be chosen last when selecting teams or
may not even be asked to join in activities.
By not participating in these social activities, students do not learn components
of prosocial behaviour such as sharing,
co-operation, and helping others
(Bossenmeyer, 2006).
importance of providing nutritional and
physical education in today’s schools if
students are to be encouraged to develop
healthy lifestyles.
What Are The Benefits of
Physical Activity and Healthy
Food Choices?
A student develops muscles through
strenuous physical activity. Muscle
development is important because it helps
students maintain a healthy body weight,
as increased muscle mass sees more
calories burned on a daily basis. In
addition, physical activity strengthens
joints and increases bone density. Physical
activity will help students develop a
strong body which in turn will help their
bodies function effectively and avoid
injury (CDC, 2006). In 2000, 57% of
Canadian students, aged 5 to 17, did not
meet the physical activity levels required
for optimal growth and development
(Cameron, Craig, & Cragg, 2003).
A student’s food choices can also affect
body weight, shape, and development.
Students commonly consume foods like
potato chips, candy, and pop during or
after school (Canadian Paediatric Society,
2002). A 1998 survey of Canadian Grade
6 students showed that 15% of these
students ate French fries or potato chips
daily. In addition, 24% of the students
surveyed eat candy or chocolate bars on a
daily basis (King, Boyce, & King, 1999).
These foods contain “empty calories”
with no nutritional value; they do not
provide a sense of fullness and thereby
promote overeating. If these excessive
calories are not burned through physical
activity, the calories will be stored as fat
(Hayden, 2002).
If students continue to make poor food
choices and do not engage in physical
activity, over time they will become
overweight or obese (Hayden, 2002). An
overweight or obese student may have
increased health problems such as high
blood pressure, orthopaedic complications,
and breathing problems. These health
problems can continue to plague students
well into adulthood if lifestyle changes do
not occur (Arima, 2002).
What Is the Relationship Between
Physical Appearance and Social
Development?
The quantity of physical activity and
caloric intake will affect a student’s body
weight, which may significantly influence
their social development. Physical appearance can have an effect on a student’s social
Overweight students may have difficulty
making friends and may find themselves
being teased or bullied. Several studies
have shown that children become
sensitive about weight issues at a very
early age. When given a list of physical
disabilities and asked to rank their friend
preferences, 10- and 11-year-old children
rank obese children as their lowest
preference. In addition, studies of 6- to
10-year-old children have concluded that
children associate negative characteristics,
such as laziness and sloppiness, with
obese children (Dietz, 1998).
Every society around the world has
established a culturally and socially ideal
body weight and image for males and
females. Researchers contend that the
strongest conveyor of these socially
ingrained body constructs is the mass
media (Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw,
& Stein, 1994). In Canadian society, the
current culturally admired body image is
one in which females are slender and
males muscular (Morrison, Kalin, &
Morrison, 2004). Adolescents integrate
and interpret these body images in a
stringent manner (Rierdan & Koff,
1980). Further, an adolescent's physical
appearance and attractiveness is emphasized and used to evaluate his or her self
worth (Stice, Cameron, Hayward, Barr
Taylor, & Killen, 2000). Socially, when a
student does not fit into this culturally
established image, he or she may be
labelled as different which in turn may
result in peer exclusion (Feinstein &
Sorhaindo, 2006). A student’s decision to
withdraw from participating in social
activities may be self-motivated because
the over- or underweight student may
not feel comfortable with his or her body.
By withdrawing from social situations,
a student is able to avoid judgment or
teasing at the hands of their peers.
A study of 8 to 12 year olds revealed
that those who were overweight or obese
perceived themselves as having a lower
quality of life, especially regarding their
health and social interaction with peers,
as compared to children who are of
normal weight (Williams, Wake,
Hesketh, Maher, & Waters, 2005). If
students withdraw from social activities,
they may miss the opportunities to
participate in activities that are typical of
students of that age such as school
dances, parties, and sporting events.
Later in life, students may feel as though
they have missed out on these experiences and feel regret or disappointment.
As well, students may feel uncomfortable
about interacting with their peers because
of their lack of social experiences.
What Is Happening In Our
Schools?
The lack of physical education within
Canadian schools is shocking. A survey
of 6 to 17 year old Canadian students
indicated that that they participate in
physical education classes on three or
more days a week. Of the students
surveyed, only 17% of them receive daily
physical education at their school
(CFLRI, 2002).
In Canada, the federal and provincial
governments have begun to recognize the
importance of physical activity and food
choices with respect to a child’s development. This has resulted in the creation of
a specific curriculum and standards in
each province to encourage physical
activity and good food choices.
In 2003, the Ontario government
mandated that 20 minutes of sustained
physical activity be incorporated into
every elementary student’s school day
(Alvaro, 2003). The government has
created and distributed physical activity
videos to teachers so that students can
follow the instructors on the video. This
decreases the amount of preparation a
teacher has to undertake and makes it
easier for those who lack instructional
experience in physical education.
Although the Canadian provincial governments mandate physical education, it
does not always take place within
schools. In 2000, only 57% of Canadian
schools met the provincially established
requirements of allotted time for physical
education (Hardman & Marshall, 2000).
With the stress of trying to cover the
entire curriculum, many teachers may
take time away from physical education
to devote to other subjects. It is important
that teachers follow these guidelines so
that the students get some type of
physical activity during the day because
they may not be getting any outside of
school.
In 2004, the Ontario government passed
legislation banning the sale of junk food
in elementary school vending machines
across the province. The intent of this
plan was to make healthier foods more
accessible and junk food less so, which
should theoretically encourage students
to eat healthier. However, with most
school cafeterias still offering French fries
and hamburgers, students are still able to
make unhealthy food choices. A study of
food choices concluded that students are
less likely to consume fruits, milk, and
vegetables when their schools provide
access to soft drinks and snack foods
(Cullen, Eagan, Baranowski, Owens, &
Moor, 2000).
What Can Be Done?
Physical education is just as important to
a student’s development as other school
subjects. Incorporating physical activity
into the classroom can be as simple as
having the students do jumping jacks
between questions in a science lesson.
Teachers could have students walk a
specific number of metres to help
them understand the distances they are
measuring and studying. Taking it
further, teachers could have students walk
distances to help understand the addition
of vectors and linear displacement.
Exposing students to physical activity at a
young age may instil healthy lifestyle
habits. If teachers expose their students to
a wide variety of physical activities, they
may find something that they enjoy now
and into adulthood.
In Ontario, healthy eating is a component
of the health and physical education
curriculum in Grades 1 to 8 and in Grade
10. It is important that teachers
encourage students to learn about the
nutrients that are important for the
proper development of their bodies.
Some teachers may feel uncomfortable
teaching nutrition owing to lack of
knowledge. School boards should provide
teachers with appropriate training and
resources. It is important that proper
nutrition be taught in schools because
many parents may not otherwise have
access to such information. If students
receive accurate nutritional information
in the school setting, they will be able to
make informed healthy food choices
including the ability to evaluate the claims
made by multifarious food and diet
supplement advertisements.
It is important that teachers be sincere in
their practice because they are role models
for many of their students. They may find
their actions or words imitated. As such,
they have an opportunity to influence
students’ nutrition choices inside and outside the classroom. Students may observe
a teacher drinking a soft drink or eating a
bag of potato chips while walking
through the hall. Although these actions
may be unintentional and deemed
harmless, they reinforce unhealthy eating
behaviours in the minds of students.
Stocking the vending machines with
healthy food choices is a step in the right
direction. However, when unhealthy
food choices are available, the temptation
for students is often too great to resist.
School cafeterias should serve only
healthy food choices. Although initially
students may be hesitant, they will eat
healthy food if it is their only choice.
Teachers have to be especially careful about
their words and actions when they are
linked to a student’s physical appearance.
School is the “second most important force
in determining what students say to
themselves about themselves” (Purkey,
2000, p. 51). If a teacher says or does
something that is interpreted as a criticism
of a student’s physical appearance, he or
she may internalize the teacher’s statement
negatively, even if that was not the teacher’s
intention. Such statements can negatively
affect a student’s body self image. “Any
... it is important to involve parents in
the entire process. Many parents may
be uninformed about the benefits of
incorporating physical activity and
nutrition into their daily lives.
behaviour by significant people that causes
a child to despise himself or herself, to feel
inadequate, incapable, unworthy, unwanted,
unloved or unable is crippling” (Purkey,
2000, p. 47).
The body images to which students are
exposed through the media are very
specific and limited to the ideal body
shape, weight, and appearance. These
images affect the students’ perceptions of
the perfect body and those that differ
from the ideal. Usually these images are
unachievable and unrealistic for the
general population. Consequently, classmates may tease or bully students who do
not fit this ideal image for their perceived
difference. In Ontario, body image is a
topic that is covered in elementary school
and again in Grade 10 health and
physical education. The purpose of this
curriculum is to encourage students to
embrace all body shapes and weights. It
also encourages students to challenge the
media and the ridiculous Hollywood
stereotypes, which project that there
should be one ideal body image. The
curriculum is designed to help students
understand the effects of culture,
genetics, and the environment on body
image. If students understand that everyone’s body is different, and why this is the
case, they will develop an increased
tolerance for all body types. It is important
that teachers not tolerate discrimination
based on a student’s appearance. If a
teacher witnesses a child being teased or
bullied because of his or her body shape
or size, such conduct needs to be stopped
immediately before the problem escalates.
Participation is a common challenge
when incorporating physical activity into
the classroom. Some students are natural
athletes and will excel at any physical
activity. Other students may feel
awkward or embarrassed because of their
overweight physical appearance. As a
result, teachers may find it difficult to
effect the student’s participation. When
incorporating physical activity into a
classroom, teachers should expand the
traditional definition of gym class and
physical activity, which has been defined
by traditional concepts of “winners
and losers”. Instead, a teacher should
incorporate individual sports, noncompetitive games, and recreational
activities, all of which will make physical
activity more inviting by expanding the
opportunities for everyone to participate.
With non-competitive, co-operative
games, there are no winners or losers.
Without definitive outcomes, stress and
negative experiences are lessened,
particularly among students who are
insecure about their overweight physical
appearance. It will also expose overweight
students to a healthy lifestyle and encourage them to adopt and maintain these
healthy lifestyles into the future.
Lastly, it is important to involve parents
in the entire process. Many parents may
be uninformed about the benefits of
incorporating physical activity and
nutrition into their daily lives. Schools
can get their message out using parent
information sessions and community
events. With parental involvement, the
lessons that the students learn in the
school setting will gain greater acceptance
and positive reinforcement at home. n
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8547.html?lmatch=&lang=_e.html
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Moor, C. D. (2000). Effects of a la carte and snack bar
foods in school on children’s lunchtime intake of fruits
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QUALITY DAILY PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Limited Space, Minimal Equipment,
Lots of Students... No Problem. Take it Outdoors!
By Cheryl McCombe
hysical educators, indeed teachers in general, often face cutbacks Activities
As with implementation and assessment,
while juggling the demands of increased class size. Such issues the actual activities must be flexible to
have often resulted in the availability of only limited space and min- account for the various unforeseeable and
conditions encountered outdoors.
imal equipment with which to physically educate more and more diverse
Teachers can use their skills and imaginastudents. Despite such pressures, students still need Quality Daily tion to come up with innovative activities
Physical Education in a Quality School Health environment. This in their own environments. However,
below are presented a number of different
article aims to provide some suggestions to help teachers satisfy these and diverse activities for use in numerous
needs when only limited resources are available. These activities settings.
focus on utilizing the local outdoor environment in place of the Cardiovascular Activities:
gymnasium, while still focusing on the essential skills development Warm-up – Depending on the style of
class or if we had to travel a distance to the
traditionally practiced inside school gymnasia.
designated area, a structured warm-up
P
may not be required.
The format of these activities is entirely
up to each teacher. The program and
students in your school, and most
importantly the weather, can affect how
you choose to set these up.
Implementation
There are a number of ways that these
suggestions can be put to use. (1) They
can form part of a physical education
block (a spring tune-up or A “Boot
Camp”); (2) they can form part of a class of
fitness activities which keeps the students
physically challenged when gym space
simply isn’t available; (3) they can help
students to feel comfortable being active
outdoors; (4) they can give students more
ideas for including outdoor activities into
their own “Physical Activity Plans”.
Assessment
There are a number of ways teachers can
approach assessment in this type of
program, but whatever method is chosen
flexibility is key. For example, based on
differing conditions in their community,
students might develop “personal fitness
programs” – maybe literally in their own
backyards. The students can then submit
a diagram of the outdoor area including
exercises that feature a balanced approach
to all fitness components that accounts
for the physical setting. Students could
also develop individual or partner
checklists. Using these, students would
observe and/or evaluate their own or their
partner’s performance at a given skill or
activity. Checklists are good for large
groups when the teacher simply can’t get
around to assist everyone. Similarly, you
could employ individual or partner
instruction. In this scenario, the students
are given information with which they
teach themselves, a partner or even the
whole class. A final assessment suggestion
is journal reflections, which can help to
lead the student’s thoughts through the
provision of open-ended question(s).
1) Lateral Tag – Students pick an object
off the ground. In pairs, they set up a
distance between the objects of
approximately 3 – 4 feet. On “go”
students try to tag their partner as
many times as possible before the
signal to stop. The rules are: no reaching through the objects to tag and you
can only move laterally (sideways).
2) Twig Tag – Students pick up three
twigs (or small stones). When a
student is tagged they must surrender
one of their twigs to the tagger. After a
set time limit each student’s twigs are
totaled; the person(s) with the highest
number of twigs wins. This activity
could be played as an entire group or
in smaller groups. Students could work
individually or as part of a team. When
a player has lost all their twigs they
remain in the game, continuing to
steal their opponent’s twigs.
3) Flag Grab – This game is similar to
Twig Tag but students tuck flags into
their waistband. Teams work together
to steal all the other teas’ flags. When a
player has lost their flag they remain in
the game, continuing to steal their
opponent’s flags.
Skipping
1) Large groups can execute “runthroughs”. The rope can also be tied to
a tree and everyone but the teacher can
be involved.
2) Pyramid Skipping: Have students skip
for the following number of seconds.
Ideally give them an equal work to rest
ratio. If they are with a partner, one
skips while the other rests. The following is an example of a basic skipping
pyramid; 15 – 30 – 45 – 60 – 45 – 30
– 15 seconds
3) Add skipping to a power walk. Have
students skip after a certain number of
steps or minutes.
Cross-Country Skiing – The teacher can
add some variety by making the students
move side ways, up a slope, forwards and
backwards.
Stair climbing – As a variation, students
could climb the stairs backwards.
Hill Climbing – This could be done at
sprinting or power walking pace, or even
at walking pace.
Step-ups – This exercise could incorporate
the use of curbs, benches, playground
equipment or a decent-sized rock.
Strength & Power Activities:
Besides the use of their own body
resistance, students could use medicine
balls and/or tubing.
Tubing Activities – Tubing is very easy to
carry and work with. In the following
exercises the students could wrap the
tubing around a pole or tree or have a
partner hold the tubing while maintaining the “athletic position”.
1) Standing Row – While facing their
partner or the anchor, students go into
the “start position”, where they hold
onto both ends of the tubing while
maintaining an athletic stance (core
stability position). Elbows are kept at
Teachers can use their skills and imagination to
come up with innovative activities in their own
environments.
90 degrees and the shoulder blades are
dropped. The students then press their
shoulder blades together while moving
the tubing towards their body. Ideally
the elbows will go past the body and
shoulder blades touch. Then the
students slowly move the tubing back
to the start position.
2) Standing Chest Press – Reverse movement to the “standing row”. Students
hold both ends of the tubing in each
hand but face away from their partner
(or tree). In the “start position” (same
as above), students move the tubing
forward, away from their bodies.
Elbows go from flexed to extended.
Then the students slowly move the
tubing back to the start position.
3) Wood Chop – Students position
themselves in a lateral stance to their
partner or the tree. If using a partner
then each student holds onto one end
of the tubing. If it is an object, then the
tubing is wrapped around it and the
student holds onto both ends with
both hands. In both scenarios, the
student(s) are in an athletic stance,
arms extended out at chest height,
with tension in the tubing. The
movement is to keep the arms extended and move the arms diagonally to
the outside of the body (away from the
tubing). This exercise would resemble
the action of chopping wood while
standing in a lateral stance. Students
then return to the start position.
4) Standing Pullover – While facing
away from their partner or anchor,
with extended arms (slight elbow
bend) above the head, students pull the
tubing from ear to chin level. While
keeping the body in an athletic stance
and dropping the shoulder blades down.
Medicine Ball Activities – When walking away from the school, have students
take turns carrying the medicine ball.
Always remind the students to focus on
their “core” when holding, throwing or
catching. Activities using the medicine
ball could include:
1) Over/Under
2) Throwing and Catching
3) Squat & Side Twist
4) Curl-up
Chin-ups / Pull-ups – This is definitely
not everyone’s specialty but could be
modified to a holding hang. Students
could use monkey bars, low hanging tree
branches, etc.
Lunges - Variations on lunges that require
no equipment include: standing lunges,
alternating lunges, elevated lunges, rear
lunges, lateral lunges and walking lunges.
Lateral & Forward Jumps – Jumps can be
executed on the ground or using the curb.
Students could do 1 or 2 foot jumps
(plyometrics). Encourage students to step
down when jumping on an object.
Vertical Jumps – These could be done
in many kinds of environments and
conditions: on sand volleyball courts, to
touch tree branches or football uprights, etc.
Squats – These can be executed with a
partner back-to-back, individually, or
against a building or tree.
Planks or Push-Ups – Positioning the
body in a forward plank or push up
position. If the ground is not appropriate
then students can do these exercises
against a playground structure or against a
tree. This variation of using an object and
changing the angle helps to make these
two exercises suitable for all abilities in the
class.
Elastic Ropes – These are cheap and easy
to make with elastic bands, which are
readily available at dollar stores. If you are
making them or buying them for older
students then make sure they can go
around two people’s ankles and have
approximately 3-4 feet of distance
between the elastic rope holders. Ideally, it
is best to have no more then 3 to 4 students in each group. Each group would
have two people with the elastic rope
around their ankles to start. Then as the
student successfully completes each level,
the elastic rope can be moved from the
ankles, to the mid-calf, to the knees, to
mid-thigh and possibly to the hips. This
depends on the student’s comfort level
and ability.
1) Basic Straddle Jumps – The student
performing the move starts in the
middle facing one of the elastic rope
holders and moves from having both
feet in between the rope to both feet
straddling the rope. The students
would use language such as: “Jump in,
jump out, jump in, jump out” etc.
2) Cliffs –The student starts on the outside, facing the elastic rope (Note:
There are two elastic rope lines in this
position). The student jumps up trying
to catch the toe cap of their shoes
under the front elastic rope line. As
they “hook” the rope with both feet
they continue to jump over the further
rope line. From this position students
go back to the start position by jumping backwards – which will unhook
them from the elastic rope.
3) Jump Over – Students simply work
on their plyometrics by performing
sideways or forward jumps.
Speed & Agility Activities:
Agility Ladder Drills – The ladder could
be drawn onto asphalt with chalk or can
be made out of skipping ropes. When
drawing them on the asphalt, you can
make a variety of different ladder lengths.
Try searching the Internet for “agility
ladder drills” and you will find many
good resources for agility ladder activities.
Zigzags – Have students zigzag in and out
of closely aligned trees or fence posts.
Step-over – Have students laterally step
over a chain that is connected between
fence posts.
Lateral Shuffle – Use any markers to serve
as distance points between which the
students shuffle.
Quick Feet Drills – These could be done
over an outdoor court line, a chalk line, a
branch or a skipping rope.
14 PHYSI C AL AND HEALT H E DUC ATION
1) Forward Jump
2) Side Jump
3) Straddle Jump with cross over
4) Box Step
Straddle Runs – These can be executed
over playground borders, curbs (one foot
on the curb and one off), logs, or over
students holding a forward plank.
Speed Drill – Set out a desired number of
markers and have students sprint forward
two markers then backwards one marker.
Have students repeat this drill until they
reach the last marker then jog back to the
start. On a power walk, you could use
boulevard trees, lampposts, signs, etc.
Balance Activities:
Single Leg – For this activity the students
can use chalk or an object found outdoors
such as a leaf, or a small stone, etc. They
should then progress through a number
of different activities while balanced on
one leg, such as:
1) Eyes closed
2) Pick up an object
3) Extend the free leg to the front then to
the back of the body
4) Stork stance to heel raise
Beam Walk – Students can use
playground equipment, benches, curbs,
long tree roots, etc. A narrow wood frame
borders many play structures, which is
perfect for this activity.
on, during which they have the opportunity to collect play money. It is helpful to use more dice to
facilitate this activity.
2) Boot Camp – In this style, the teacher
acts as leader (sergeant).
3) Power Walk – This class style involves
a power walk with various fitness activities incorporated along the way.
4) Athletic Workout – In this class style,
exercises relate to a variety of sports.
For example, the stations could feature
the following:
Volleyball – students perform side stepping jumps (mimicking a block).
Basketball – throwing and catching
(possibly using a medicine ball).
Football – Quick feet drills that incorporate a football for students to hold or catch.
Soccer – ladder drills incorporating soccer
ball touches.
Power Walking or Jogging – This activity
can incorporate a medicine ball.
Ultimate – This serves as a speed drill
carried out while throwing and catching
a disc.
After a round at each station the students
could do it again but play “pepper” at the
volleyball station, shoot lay-ups or shoot
(but only allow the ball to bounce no more
than two times) at the basketball station, etc.
Flexibility Activities:
Yoga/Pilates – students can use trees,
rocks, etc. to assist them with their poses.
Class Styles
These activities can be successfully
worked into a number of class styles.
1) Circuit – Stations could be set up in a
designated area. Variations would be to
add, dice so students randomly “roll”
the number of repetitions they will
need to complete. To keep students
motivated and challenged with the
repetitions the dice could be rolled
after completing a set number of
stations. Another dice activity similar
to a circuit is “Fitness Monopoly”. Students participate at each station (which
equates to a “game square”) they land
The Athletic Workout style is very similar
to a circuit but often masks the amount
of physical activity being accomplished.
Conclusion
All of the above serve only as examples of
the manifold activities that can be developed outdoors when limited space and
minimal equipment are available to the
teacher. They can also provide a pleasant
change and get the students outdoors,
even where space and equipment are
plentiful. This summer season is the
perfect time to take advantage of the
various and diverse urban and rural
landscapes and features across Canada
that await our students to incorporate
into their physical fitness routines. n
DANSE
« Danse » n’est pas un mauvais mot!
Comment motiver les garçons à danser
par Heather Taschuk
E
st-ce possible de faire danser les garçons du secondaire et qu’ils y
prennent plaisir? Sans l’ombre d’un doute! Mais pour arriver à
convaincre les adolescents de danser, il importe de suivre quelques
règles simples en vue de capter leur intérêt et de les motiver à bouger.
Le présent article aborde les facteurs suivants :
1.
2.
3.
4.
Modèles positifs
Mouvements dynamiques
Expression de soi
Athlétisme
Quoique les activités et compositions de
danse suivantes s’appliquent également
aux filles, cet article vise surtout à
expliquer au personnel enseignant
comment encourager les garçons - généralement réticents - à danser en présentant la
danse comme une activité amusante et
« cool » (tout en respectant le programme
d’étude).
Modèles positifs
« Beaucoup de garçons aimeraient danser
mais sont intimidés par les stéréotypes
négatifs entourant la danse masculine ou
sont découragés par leurs parents qui,
eux-mêmes, ont des préjugés en ce sens.
Quand on crée une école ou une
ambiance où il semble tout à fait naturel
et normal que les garçons dansent, on fait
entrer les adolescents dans un monde qui
leur permet de découvrir les joies de la
danse. »
– Rhee Gold
En gros, dans le domaine de la danse, les
personnes qui constituent des modèles
positifs aux yeux des garçons sont des
hommes qui ont eux-mêmes une attitude
positive face à la danse. Dans notre
culture occidentale, la meilleure façon de
contrer les perceptions négatives face aux
hommes qui dansent, c’est de présenter
des hommes qui considèrent la danse une
activité physique valable et une bonne
façon de s’exprimer. Par conséquent, il
revient aux hommes qui enseignent
l’éducation physique de faire le premier
pas en dansant avec leurs élèves masculins!
Plus on initie tôt les garçons à la danse,
plus leurs expériences en ce sens seront
positives et plus ils danseront bien. La
danse exige l’acquisition de diverses
habiletés. Si les garçons investissent autant
de temps et d’efforts à danser qu’à jouer
au hockey ou au basket-ball, ils seront
plus à l’aise de danser et le feront plus
naturellement.
Une autre façon d’exposer les garçons à la
danse, c’est de leur fournir des exemples
de danseurs masculins et de danses de
groupe à la fois intéressants et stimulants.
Il existe de très bons exemples de
danseurs, y compris Savion Glover (danse
à claquettes), les danseurs Maoris de la
Nouvelle-Zélande et des extraits de West
Side Story qui, incidemment, a aussi été
chorégraphié par le légendaire réalisateur,
danseur et chorégraphe Jerome Robbins.
Suivez le lien ci-dessous pour voir des
vidéos des danses susmentionnées :
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/pe/
boyswontdance.htm.
Peu importe le sexe des élèves, la réussite
des cours de danse dépend, dans une très
large mesure, de l’aptitude à créer un
Heather Taschuk (BFA, B. Ed) enseigne
la danse depuis l’âge de 12 ans et fait
partie du système des écoles publiques
depuis 10 ans. À l’âge de 8 ans, elle s’est
rendue compte que la danse était la
seule matière qui n’était pas enseignée
dans les écoles et s’est donné pour
mission de rectifier la situation. Elle
enseigne présentement la danse et l’art
dramatique à l’école secondaire Harry
Ainlay d’Edmonton, en Alberta.
Heather est présidente du CCP sur la
danse d’EPS Canada et a mis pied un
projet Le Canada sait danser appelé
Harmonie qui a été lancé à la
conférence annuelle de HPEC/EPS
Canada qui se déroulait à Banff en
avril 2009. L’atelier qui a eu lieu
lors de la conférence sera de nouveau
offert à l’occasion d’une conférence
internationale sur la danse et les enfants
en Jamaïque au mois d’août 2009.
milieu d’apprentissage encourageant et
favorable qui motive les élèves à danser.
Pour que les cours de danse offerts
aux garçons s’avèrent fructueux, il faut
nécessairement privilégier un contexte qui
favorise pleinement l’exploration de la
nouveauté, qui se veut rassurant pour
ceux qui « ne savent pas danser » et qui
permet aux jeunes de discuter intelligemment des activités de danse. Dans son
entrevue avec Miranda Johnson, Rachel
Hutchinson fait remarquer avec grande
véracité que les expériences que vivent les
garçons au niveau de la danse diffèrent
beaucoup de celles que vivent les filles. Par
conséquent, l’approche utilisée en classe
doit être différente également (Jobbins,
2009), dépendant du sexe. Pour que les
élèves se sentent à l’aise dans la classe, qu’il
s’agisse d’un groupe unisexe masculin ou
d’un groupe mixte, il faut prendre les
mesures nécessaires pour garantir la
réussite de chaque élève. Une bonne
façon d’attirer l’attention des garçons, par
exemple, consiste à commencer par des
mouvements de danse de type « hip hop »
ou « break » dynamiques, à permettre aux
élèves de danser seuls ou à les initier aux
récits dansés de l’Afrique. Cette approche
attirera également les filles. La structure
de la leçon a de l’importance également.
Le fait de demander aux garçons de se
porter volontaires ou de faire une
démonstration dès le début du cours ou
de l’unité renforce la notion qu’ils sont
capables et qu’ils ont quelque chose à contribuer, tout en les encourageant à
souscrire pleinement à ce que vous faites.
Mouvements dynamiques
La danse est une activité excitante quand
on donne l’occasion aux élèves de bouger
dynamiquement. Mon expérience m’a
appris que les garçons ont moins de
misère à bouger quand ils exécutent des
mouvements variés et contrastants plutôt
que des mouvements lents ou soutenus.
Comme exercice, on peut demander aux
élèves de mimer avec le corps les lettres de
leur prénom. Ma collègue Tara Brodin
m’a fait part de cet exercice qui intègre
plusieurs variantes, comme la Danse
de l’alphabet décrite dans le numéro
de printemps 2009 du Journal EPS.
Les élèves peuvent mimer des lettres
minuscules, majuscules ou même répéter
leur nom (s’il est très court). L’étape
suivante consiste à intégrer des transitions
dans leur séquence. Il faut garder la
position de chaque lettre pendant 3
secondes. Entre chacune, l’élève doit
trouver des façons intéressantes et
dynamiques de faire un lien avec la lettre
suivante en se déplaçant, en changeant de
niveau et en déployant des efforts de
Laban comme s’appuyer, se tordre, glisser,
flotter, fendre l’air, s’accroupir, donner un
coup de poing. À mesure que les élèves
créent leurs danses du nom, offrez un
accompagnement de musique swing. Le
rythme joyeux et énergique créé un
contexte très favorable à la danse. De plus,
les élèves aiment faire part de leurs efforts
à leurs pairs. Pour réduire le taux d’anxiété
dans la classe, il est bon de demander à
plusieurs élèves ou à la moitié de la classe
de présenter leurs danses aux autres et de
bouger en même temps – ils se sentiront
plus en confiance s’ils dansent tous
ensemble. Encouragez les élèves qui
forment ’auditoire à surveiller les lettres et
les transitions des danseurs et discutez des
solutions imaginatives qu’ils trouvent.
Quand tous les élèves ont eu l’occasion
d’admirer les créations de leurs collègues,
jumelez-les deux par deux afin que
chacun puisse enseigner sa danse à son
partenaire (il importe d’encourager les
élèves en leur disant que tous leurs
mouvements sont considérés comme une
« danse »). Une fois que les élèves ont
appris à exécuter la danse de leur partenaire, demandez aux équipes d’inventer
une danse à 32 temps en utilisant le
vocabulaire du mouvement qu’ils ont
créé. Ils auront ensuite la chance de
choisir les lettres et transitions qu’ils
préfèrent et de les exécuter dans l’ordre
qu’ils veulent. L’expression créative et
artistique inhérente à ce genre collaboration
suscitera également l’intérêt général.
Les élèves peuvent danser à l’unisson, en
complément ou en alternance. Il y a plein
de possibilités. Il faut prévoir assez de
temps pour organiser les groupes, sans
compter que les élèves auront sûrement
beaucoup de questions à poser sur ce qui
est permis. Selon vos préférences, ils
peuvent travailler à créer leur danse en vue
d’une évaluation finale ou présenter leur
création à la classe de façon informelle.
Assurez-vous toujours que les élèves sont à
l’aise et n’hésitez pas, au besoin, à
demander à plusieurs groupes d’exécuter
leur danse en même temps.
Expression de soi
Une autre façon de rendre la danse
plus accessible aux garçons, c’est de leur
demander créer eux-mêmes les mouvements
au lieu de chorégraphier la danse pour
eux. La danse créative, la danse moderne
et le hip hop sont autant de formes qui
permettent aux individus de s’exprimer de
nombreuses manières. Dans le cadre de
mon enseignement aux élèves de la 7e
année à la 12e année, j’ai été surprise
par le degré d’intérêt d’un garçon de
l’intermédiaire envers la section d’une
unité portant sur la danse moderne. Dans
sa réflexion, ce dernier notait que cette
unité s’était avérée sa « partie préférée » du
cours parce qu’il avait eu la chance
d’exprimer par la danse ce qu’il ressentait
à l’intérieur. Quant à moi, une seule
réaction du genre à une expérience de
danse à l’école confirme clairement
l’importance d’offrir aux élèves d’autres
types d’activités leur permettant de
s’exprimer.
L’étude de cas de Miranda Johnson
portant sur Thom Rackett, un jeune
homme de 18 ans se destinant à une
carrière en danse moderne, décrit diverses
stratégies pour encourager les élèves
masculins à danser. « Thom croit que ce
qui attire les garçons, ce sont surtout les
danses de rue et de cirque. Selon lui, « il
faut mettre au rancart l’image du danseur
stéréotypé si on veut intéresser les garçons
à la danse. Ces derniers doivent de
familiariser avec tous les aspects de la
danse. Les danses de rue intéressent
les garçons mais il importe aussi de les
pousser à aller plus loin. La culture de rue
a ses propres règles, sa propre philosophie
comme s’habiller « cool », avoir un certain
vocabulaire... la danse contemporaine, ce
n’est pas ça ». (Johnson, 2009)
Athlétisme
En général, les garçons aiment bouger de
façon différente que les filles, soit en
faisant preuve de force et de puissance, en
sautant et en modifiant la vitesse. Rachel
Hutchinson affirme que les garçons
apprennent mieux dans un contexte
compétitif. Ils aiment se sentir motivés et
ils apprécient la dimension physique des
choses. (Hutchinson, 2000) Puisque
la formation de Hutchinson est en
éducation physique, nombre de ses
méthodes d’enseignement sont fondées
sur l’action « Beaucoup de … course, de
sauts, de chutes, de roulades ». (Jobbins,
2009)
Une façon de canaliser cette différence,
c’est d’offrir aux garçons des possibilités
de mouvement avec lesquelles ils peuvent
s’identifier. Un de mes collègues (John
Ryan, école secondaire Spruce Grovel,
Edmonton, Alberta) a mis au point avec
ses élèves une unité inspirée des
disciplines des Jeux olympiques. Ils ont
inventé des routines de plongeon et de
nage synchronisée avec musique. J’ai
essayé de faire de même avec mes élèves
d’art dramatique de 8e année (unité sur le
mouvement) et les résultats ont été
spectaculaires. Ce sont les garçons qui se
sont le plus démarqués. Outre l’exploration
des mouvements, ce projet s’accordait bien
avec le sens de l’humour des garçons alors
qu’ils tentaient d’imiter les nageuses
synchronisées. Ils ont choisi leur propre
musique, bien utilisé leur temps de
pratique (pratiquant même à l’extérieur
de la classe) et ont présenté une dance
dynamique et raffinée qui satisfaisait à
tous les critères que j’avais établis.
Conclusion
Il faut que la danse devienne plus
accessible aux garçons dans les écoles. La
première chose à faire pour y parvenir,
c’est d’enseigner la danse de manière
positive. Il est essentiel de trouver des
modèles masculins pour aider les garçons
qui explorent divers types de danses, tout
en leur donnant la chance de danser dans
des contextes dynamiques et favorables. Il
importe aussi de reconnaître qu’il faut du
temps pour arriver à danser avec aise et
confiance. Par conséquent, les enseignantes
et enseignants doivent commencer par
des activités qui sont familières aux
garçons. Grâce à ces méthodes, ainsi qu’à
leurs habiletés et leur créativité, ils réussiront à démontrer aux élèves que la «
danse n’est pas un mauvais mot ». n
Oeuvres citées :
Brodin, Tara. (2000) Dance warm up ideas.
Interviewée par Heather Taschuk.
Jobbins, Veronica. «Entitled to Dance: Boys in
Schools (An interview with Rachel Hutchinson) »,
Foundation for Community Dance. http://
www.communitydance.org.uk/metadot/index.pl?i
d=22427&isa=DBRow&op=show&dbview_
id=17860 le 19 janvier 2009
Johnson, Miranda. « The Point of Boys’ Dance »,
d=22438&isa=DBRow&op=show&dbview_id=17
860 le 19 janvier 2009
Ryan, John. (2000) Movement projects inspired by
the Olympics. Interviewé par Heather Taschuk.
Understanding the Challenges of Pursuing
Physical Activity
By Yuka Nakamura
W
Yuka Nakamura is a Post Doctoral
Fellow at the York Institute for
Health Research at York University
where she focuses specifically on
immigrants, social determinants
of health and program evaluation.
She received her PhD from the
University of Toronto where she
completed her doctoral thesis on
Asian diaspora, sport and culture.
hen I started studying Kinesiology, I was one of the few
students of colour in my class. Years later as a graduate
student in a physical education (PE) faculty, I was surprised by
the diversity of the PE student body. I wondered about the
physical activity and PE experiences that led students of colour
to study PE in university, in particular people of various Asian
backgrounds who are stereotyped to be disinterested or inept
in PE and sport. Unfortunately, there is limited research on
physical activity, sport, PE, and South, Southeast and East
Asian people in Canada. Based on limited research on South
Asians in the U.K., Chinese people in the U.K., Australia, and
the U.S., we can identify three issues, namely, parental views,
ethnocentric norms, and discrimination, that shape their
physical activity and PE experiences.
PE, Sport and Physical Activity are
not Important
Parents may see PE and physical activity
as unimportant. For example, Carroll
(1993) suggests that South Asian communities in general do not value PE and
sport (see also Lovell, 1991; Wong,
1999). Parents may then pass these negative views to their children (e.g.,
Maguire & Collins, 1998). Despite
these views, parents may facilitate sport
opportunities for children (e.g., Nakamura, 2002; Hansen, 2005).
Ethnocentric PE Norms
Ethnocentric PE norms may negatively
affect gym class experiences. Students
may be uncomfortable with communal
showers, or with revealing uniforms (e.g.,
Carroll & Hollinshead, 1993; Dagkas &
Benn, 2006; Glyptis, 1985; Nakamura,
2002). Games like dodgeball can also
support racial stereotypes and gender
hierarchies whereby an idealized masculinity (white, athletic, strong) marginalizes Asian boys because they are viewed
as unathletic, passive and weak (Millington, Vertinsky, Boyle and Wilson, 2008).
Teachers may perpetuate these hierarchies by drawing on these stereotypes to
explain low sport participation instead of
considering factors like racism that could
alienate students from sport (Lei, 2003;
see also Fleming, 1991, 1994). Extracurricular sports may also be ethnocentric if
meaningful activities are not offered
(Grey, 1992) or if games are assumed to
be universal and rules are not explained
(Taylor & Doherty, 2005). This
ethnocentrism can be exacerbated by
other students who may exclude peers
who are not familiar or unskilled at these
sports (Taylor & Doherty, 2005).
Racism
Racism can also discourage participation
(e.g., Carroll, 1993; Taylor, 2001;
Tirone, 2000; Tirone & Pedlar, 2000;
Verma & Darby, 1994). For example,
Fleming (1991) shows how South Asian
boys were excluded from activities or
voluntarily rejected sport to avoid racist
abuse. Stereotypes of frailty also shape
expectations of South Asian students’
sport performance (Lovell, 1991;
Fleming, 2001). Similarly, East Asian
people are stereotyped as physically
passive (Franks, 2000). In addition, the
model minority thesis frames East Asians
as valuing academics over sport and
physical education, thus reinforcing
assumptions of disinterest and
ineptitude. This can lead to exclusion
from school sports (Taylor, 2001). The
model minority stereotype has also been
applied to South Asians with similar
results (Johal, 2001). These stereotypes
can be internalized and influence
participation (Fleming, 1994; Lee, 2005;
Lovell, 1991; Taylor, 2001).
Methods
In-depth interviews were the primary
methodology for this project. The
informants were recruited by letters that
were sent to all physical education
students at a Canadian university.
Participants who identified (or were
identified by others) as South, Southeast
and East Asian were invited to participate.
Three semi-structured interviews (~1 hour)
were conducted with nine PE students.
The questions explored their physical
education history and physical activity
experiences in and outside of school. I
asked about obstacles they encountered,
including the three issues identified from
the literature. Six participants were of East
Asian, two of South Asian and one of
This study explores how nine students of South, Southeast and East Asian
backgrounds at a Canadian university pursued physical activity and the
various obstacles they faced. The participants negotiated primarily with
parents, who worried about potential negative impact on academic
achievement and health, and the gender appropriateness of sport and physical activity. Nevertheless, many parents still provided support in subtle
ways. In addition, a few participants also experienced religious conflicts,
stereotyping and discrimination. The religious conflicts included observing
religious practices that coincided with sporting activities, or disagreements
between religious and sport values. Students were conscious of how they
were stereotyped as unable or disinterested.
Southeast Asian backgrounds. There were
four women and five men. All were fluent
in English.
All of the interviews were tape-recorded
and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis
began with coding and interpretation
which entailed “putting like-minded
pieces together into data clumps”
(Glesne, 1999, p. 135) and looking for
essential features, relationships, patterns,
themes, and plausibility (Glesne, 1999;
Maxwell, 1996; Miles & Huberman,
1994). Preliminary categories were
informed by the literature and included:
(1) parental views of sport and physical
activity (2) parental responses to sport
involvement (3) experiences of discrimination and racism.
To ensure reliability, transcript excerpts
were sent to the participants, which
allowed me to confirm the context of
the quotes. This member-checking also
facilitated ethical representation. Pseudonyms were used to protect informants’
anonymity.
Results and Discussion
The participants’ physical activity and PE
experiences were shaped by their parents,
Cette étude examine en quoi neuf étudiants d’une université canadienne
originaires d’Asie du sud, du sud-est et de l’est se sont adonnés à l’activité
physique et les obstacles auxquels ils se sont heurtés. Les participants ont
surtout négocié avec leurs parents, qui s’inquiétaient des effets néfastes
éventuels sur le rendement scolaire et sur la santé de leurs enfants, ainsi
que de la convenance du sport ou l’activité physique, compte tenu du
sexe de la personne. Quoiqu’il en soit, bon nombre de parents semblaient
appuyer subtilement ces activités. De plus, un petit nombre d’étudiants
se sont retrouvés en situation de conflit religieux ou ont fait l’objet de
discrimination et de préjugés. Les conflits religieux avaient trait à
l’observance de pratiques religieuses coïncidant avec l’horaire des activités
sportives ou reflétaient une discordance quelconque entre les valeurs
religieuses et sportives. Les étudiants étaient conscients de faire l’objet
de stéréotypage ou de discrimination comme étant incompétents et
désintéressés.
other family members, religious values,
stereotypes and discrimination. They
negotiated these obstacles in their pursuit
of physical activity. The following
discussion outlines the terrain (parents’
reactions), and obstacles encountered
(parents’ concerns, ethnocentric PE
norms, and discrimination) during this
journey.
Parents’ Responses to Participants’
Sport Participation
Parents’ reactions to involvement in
sports ranged from refusal to total
support, from indifference at first, to
approval later on. Even when parents
seemed apathetic or more concerned
about academic achievement, they still
supported them in different ways.
Disapproval. Only Matthew’s parents
prohibited him from playing baseball
because they worried that should he get
injured, he would not be able to help
with the family business. Zach’s and
Rashid’s parents were initially opposed to
their interest in sport, but later conceded
when they understood their children’s
intentions; Rashid felt that sport involvement would enhance his university
application. These participants experienced
disapproval at first, but parents’ responses
varied depending on the activities, context and intentions.
Indifference. Some participants felt their
parents did not value sport and physical
activity. Although Matthew’s parents had
him quit the baseball team, they were
indifferent to his involvement in weighttraining and track and field. Rashid’s
parents were also uninterested when he
started playing football. Similarly, Zach
said his parents “could care less if [he]
didn’t play sports.”
For Bruno, “just as long as you were
doing good in school, they’d ask about
school and stuff but not really about
sports.” In fact, academic achievement
was emphasized, particularly in specific
subjects. Nicholas said that while his
parents appreciated sport participation,
his mother still said “do well academically,
sports was just leisure, don’t take it
[seriously].” All of the participants
believed their parents were indifferent
about their high school PE grades but
math and science were important. Two
participants went as far as to say that their
parents did not think PE was an actual
subject. Only Rashid’s father “thought it
was important because he’s very health
conscious.” The overall indifference
towards sport and PE reflects previous
findings (e.g., Fleming, 1991; Fleming,
1995; Maguire & Collins, 1998; Verma
& Darby, 1994).
good education and she had better use it
wisely.
Pragmatic acknowledgement. Some
parents recognized the value of physical
activity in terms of self-defense, such as
Bruno’s and Matthew’s parents who
enrolled them in martial arts classes.
Lauren’s father also registered her in
karate class “because [she’s] a girl.”
Health. Like Matthew, a few participants
said their parents worried about injury.
Zach was told that “once you’re injured
you’re not going to participate anymore,”
so he hid his injury from his parents.
Alternatively, when Grace suffered a
serious knee injury, her parents reassured
her that she would play again. Other
participants received advice as to how to
avoid injury. For example, Nicholas’s
father told him not to tackle someone
“who’s double your weight” and to fall
properly when hit. Similarly, Lauren was
told “to get heavier…gain more muscle”
so that she would not get injured.
Reserved support. Lauren, who was
heavily involved in sport said that her
parents supported her activities but were
not actively involved. They watched her
soccer games, but Lauren felt that they
simply did not want to drive back and
forth to pick her up after games.
Enthusiasm. Nicholas is the only participant whose parents “were always
supportive of football,” attending many
of his games. His parents would say
“‘play football, you’re really good at it,
you stand out, do what you’re good at’.”
Parental Concerns
Parents expressed three concerns about
their children’s involvement in sport,
namely with school, health, and genderappropriateness of activities.
School. As in previous research, several of
the participants felt that their parents
worried about sport participation having
a negative effect on school (e.g., Afshar,
1989; Fleming, 1991; Fleming, 1995;
Maguire & Collins, 1998). Angela said
that her parents felt “you should really
concentrate on school, don’t play too
much.” Her father would say that they
immigrated so that Angela could have a
Grace and Sadako’s parents were more
subtle in their concern about the
potential impact on grades. While she
argued with her parents about school,
Grace was never told to quit sports.
Similarly, Sadako’s mother would not
“use sport as an excuse for [her] not doing
well” in school. This experience was
echoed by Bruno. Thus, these participants’ parents did not make sport and
school mutually exclusive interests.
Three of the participants’ parents worried
that sport participation could stunt
growth. Bruno and Rashid’s father
discouraged them from weight-training
because he thought it would inhibit
growth. When Nicholas began dieting to
stay in a low-weight class, his parents
worried that it would be detrimental to
his growth.
Femininity at risk. The appropriateness
of sports and muscularity was an issue for
the parents and sometimes other family
members of three women. For example,
Sadako’s father felt that playing sports
was inappropriate for girls. Angela’s
brother teased her, asking when she
would outgrow her tomboyish ways and
become a woman.
Sadako and Grace also experienced
comments about their muscularity which
is common in the literature (Taylor &
Toohey, 1998). For example, Grace’s mother
felt she was “lifting too many weights,
gaining too much muscle.” In Sadako’s case,
a relative observed that she had broad
shoulders and muscular legs. Both women
experienced a conflict between the shape of
their athletic and ‘feminine’ bodies. The
women nevertheless valued their strength,
also seen in other studies of athletic women
(e.g., McDermott, 2000).
Subtleties of Parental Support
Although it may seem like most participants were discouraged by their parents,
their parents still supported and cared
about their children. Often South and
East Asian parents are pathologized as strict
and demanding. Certainly, parents worried
about academic achievement, but they
were also concerned about negative health
impacts. They also supported their
children in subtle ways. Five of the
participants said their parents would drive
them to swimming lessons or games, or
take them early to school for practice.
Parents also paid for membership fees,
lessons or equipment. Five interviewees
noted that their parents would occasionally
watch them play. Grace added that when
her parents did not attend, they would
“show interest after a game, they would just
ask [her] ‘how it went, if [she] won or how
[she] played’.”
Religious Conflicts
A few participants also faced conflicts
between their sport experiences and some
religious practices and values. For example,
Nicholas found it too difficult to be active
and observe Ramadan. The issue of fasting
during Ramadan and physical activity
has been raised in other studies (e.g.,
Carrington & Leaman, 1986; Carroll &
Hollinshead, 1993; Nakamura, 2002). In
Angela’s case, she was “surprised when
people swear when…playing sports” since
swearing was prohibited in her church
sport leagues. Grace also had conflicts
between her religion and the emphasis on
winning, if it meant being dishonest,
recalling how her coach told her that she
need not own up to mistakes if the referees
did not notice.
Stereotypes and Discrimination
The following recommendations can be made to help
support the pursuit of physical activity among multicultural,
multiracial people.
i.
PE teachers should avoid drawing
on stereotypes of pathological
emphasis on academic achievement to explain parents’ negative
reactions to their children’s involvement in sport. Parents’ reactions to
children’s sport interests are complicated and should not be
assumed to be opposition. Overly
simplistic explanations of the
behaviour of a particular ethnocultural group should be persistently
rejected (Raval, 1989).
ii. PE teachers should vocalize the
multiple benefits of sport, PE and
physical activity, including health
benefits. In doing so, students may
feel more empowered to address
their parents’ concerns.
iii. PE teachers should consult with
parents to better understand and
alleviate worries they may have
regarding their child’s participation
in sport. Parents, for example, may
be unaware the sport participation
often requires good academic
standing.
iv. PE teachers should improve communication with parents and students. This can include demonstrating a desire to learn about their
culture (Ligutom-Kimura, 1995)
or religion (Kahan, 2003), and
consulting with parents in the
community in how curricula
should be modified (Snape &
Binks, 2008).
v. Curricula should be examined for
how ethnocentric norms may
inform choice of games and sport.
Are they presumed to be universal? Are non-Western games
included only as a ‘special section,’
or are they incorporated as a
normative part of the curriculum?
Different ways of defining and
experiencing sport should be
promoted and encouraged.
vi. Unquestioned norms within PE
and sport need to be examined and
critiqued, such as dress codes,
win-at-all costs mentality, valourizing playing with intensity (that
excuses profanities) or stereotypes
about the athletic abilities of
particular people or their presumed
disinterest.
vii. Physical educators must discard
ethnocentric assumptions that
identify and construct something
as different and then interpret this
difference as a problem. For
example, in the case of South Asian
students, such an approach focuses
solely on turbans, hijabs or dress
code, rather than paying attention
to racism and inappropriate
curricula.
viii. Students can also perpetuate and
promote stereotypes of their peers.
PE teachers must actively address
racist or stereotypical comments or
jokes and use them as teaching
opportunities to discuss the impact
of generalizations and the implications of excusing such behaviour as
humour.
ix. Racist comments made by
students, players or parents, during
sport matches to undermine
opponents should not be tolerated.
Physical educators or coaches who
witness racist abuse need to speak
up on behalf or in support of
targeted individuals so that students are not left to deal with it on
their own.
Participants also dealt with stereotypes
and assumptions about their abilities. For
example, Nicholas said people “don’t
really expect you to be [an] athlete.” The
East Asian participants were also
conscious of the stereotype that they
should be “good at math, maybe science”
and “aren’t good at sports” (Lauren,
Angela). As in other studies, these stereotypes directly affected participants’ sport
experiences (e.g., Fleming, 1991). Zach
felt that opponents did not necessarily
“look at [him] as a threat” or that he
would not “be one who’d be scoped out
[as a potential rival] at first sight.”
Nicholas recalled that “a lot of other
teams would be talking trash about me
like ‘oh, what’s this little short brown guy,
what’s he gonna do?’ but I ploughed
through them.” Similarly, Bruno shared
a story of a Filipino friend who was the
target of racial taunts during a soccer
game. Nicholas and Bruno stated that no
adults intervened in these situations.
Negotiating Parental Concerns
Ignoring parental indifference. All of the
participants were physically active. As the
participants became more involved in
sport, they had to appease parental
concerns about school, health and the
gender appropriateness of their physicality.
A few experienced conflicts with religious
values, while others dealt with stereotypes
and discrimination; however, parents’
worries were the primary obstacles for
these participants.
School. The majority of participants did
well in school and did not have to give up
sport. Maintaining good academic standing may have been the key strategy used
by the participants. When parents did
raise the issue, participants reassured
them that they were doing fine or would
do better in school. Others ignored their
parents’ concerns. A small number of
participants chose to hide their activities
from their parents in order to continue
participating.
Injury and health. Most of the participants did not sustain serious injuries.
Regarding the potential negative health
impact of sport, four participants
addressed it in different ways. Both
Nicholas and Bruno, for example,
ignored their parents, while Rashid,
consulted with his PE teacher about the
potential side-effects of weight-training
and shared this information with his
father. Matthew, in contrast, took a
different approach. Although he did quit
the baseball team, he played basketball
when he did not have to help with the
family business or took up less aggressive
sports like badminton and volleyball.
Femininity. Only Grace’s mother and
Sadako’s relative were concerned about
the muscularity of their bodies. Both
Grace and Sadako resisted these
criticisms by reminding themselves of the
importance of strength to be better
athletes. Grace valued her muscularity
because it “gave [her] the strength to do
well in volleyball.”
Conclusion
This study examined the obstacles and
negotiations that marked the journeys
of nine PE students in the pursuit of
physical activity. Participants negotiated
primarily with parents in their pursuit of
physical activity. Because of the specificity
and size of the sample and urban context,
the patterns found among these
nine individuals may not apply to
other South, Southeast and East Asian
students. Nevertheless, one commonality
among them is the assumption that they
are disinterested and inept in sport and
physical activity.
In this study, the primary barrier that
participants had to negotiate was parental
views, but parental reactions were
complicated, with a wide range of
responses, varying concerns, and subtle
support. Individuals addressed their
parents’ concerns by reassuring them that
they were doing well in school, obtaining
information that would allay worries
about health or choosing sports that had
a lower risk of injury. Muscularity for the
women was reinterpreted as empowering
and important for athletic skill. Students
also experienced conflicts with religious
practices and ethnocentric PE and
physical activity norms that go unquestioned. Racism and stereotypes were also
an issue, one that the participants had to
deal with on their own. n
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Physical Education Day on the Hill
“Celebrating physical education across the country”
By Julie Forget
Rubber chickens, Frisbees and volleyballs flew through the air in front of the Houses of Parliament
on June 4th as more than 430 students from local Ottawa schools held their physical education
classes on Parliament Hill to help Physical and Health Education Canada celebrate “PE Day on the Hill”.
Almost 250 schools from across Canada
also took part in the event by hosting
their own “PE Day”, including Hantsport
School in Hantsport, Nova Scotia which
held a scavenger hunt in the town to
discover some of the area’s history.
Somerset Elementary School in Kinkora,
Prince Edward Island also joined in the
fun. Principal Cheryl Tanton explained,
“PE Day on the hill was celebrated at my
small school, and I’m literally bursting
with excitement over this event.” She
added, “We danced and danced students, staff, even the custodian did the
Twist with me!”
Members of Parliament attending the
event in Ottawa presented students and
teachers with their school’s Quality Daily
Physical Education recognition award
banners. Shelley Glover (Saint-Boniface),
who represented the Minister of State for
Sport, Gary Lunn; Royal Galipeau
(Ottawa-Orleans); and Dr. Keith Martin
(Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca), all participated
in the banner presentation. Joining the
MPs were Kelly Murumets, the President
and CEO of ParticipACTION, Michelle
Brownrigg, CEO of Active Healthy Kids
Canada and Andrea Grantham, Executive
Director of PHE Canada. During the
ceremony, banners were presented to the
9 attending schools: Frank Ryan Catholic
Senior Elementary, Featherston Drive
Public School, Chapel Hill Catholic
School, St. George Elementary School,
Henry Munro Middle School
Royal Galipeau, MP for Ottawa-Orleans presents Chapel
Hill Catholic School with their QDPE banner
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots also made a special appearance
at the event. Sumi, Quatchi and Miga joined a spirited group warm-up, the Aroostasha, led by
PHE Canada Program Manager Stefanie Partridge.
Viscount Alexander Public School, St.
Patrick’s Intermediate School, D. Roy
Kennedy Public School, Henry Munro
Middle School and St. Paul High School.
“These schools deserve to be congratulated
for recognizing the important role that
physical education plays in the healthy
development of its students,” said
Ms. Glover on behalf of Mr. Lunn. “It is
through physical education that every
child, regardless of gender, ability, culture
or socio-economic status, can develop
fundamental movement skills and learn
to value and establish habits for daily
participation in sport and physical
activity, now and for life.”
Students perform the Aroostasha
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and
Paralympic Games mascots also made a
special appearance at the event. Sumi,
Quatchi and Miga joined a spirited group
warm-up, the Aroostasha, led by PHE
Canada Program Manager Stefanie
Partridge.
Designed to celebrate and advocate for
Quality Daily Physical Education
(QDPE), the second annual PE Day was
a great success thanks to the many
teachers, principals and students from
across Canada who participated and who
recognize that physical education creates
opportunities for students to succeed in
all aspects of their lives, and because, as
was pointed out in the Active Healthy
Kids Canada report card released in June,
physical education does not detract from,
but enhances academic learning.
“That’s right folks,” said PHE Canada
president, Mark Jones, “Children who are
active get better grades, have improved
memory, concentration and attention
span. In addition, children develop
improved self confidence, self esteem, and
a positive connection with their school.”
Viscount Alexander Public School
PHE Canada thanks everyone who participated
and encourages everyone to continue supporting
and demanding QDPE in their schools.
Journée de l’éducation physique
sur la Colline
par Julie Forget
Le ciel devant les édifices du Parlement a été envahi de poulets en caoutchouc, de frisbees et de
ballons de volleyballs le 4 juin dernier, alors que plus de 430 élèves provenant de diverses écoles
d’Ottawa s’adonnaient à leur cours d’éducation physique sur la Colline du Parlement pour aider
Éducation physique et santé Canada à célébrer dignement la « Journée de l’éducation physique
sur la Colline ».
Ailleurs au pays, près de 250 écoles ont
également participé à cet événement en
mettant sur pied leur propre « Journée de
l’éducation physique », y compris l’école
Hantsport de Hantsport, NouvelleÉcosse, qui a organisé une grande chasse
au trésor à travers la ville pour permettre
aux élèves découvrir l’histoire de leur
région. Les jeunes de l’école élémentaire
Somerset de Kinkora, Île-du-PrinceÉdouard, se sont aussi amusé ferme.
Comme l’explique la directrice, Cheryl
Tanton : « Dans ma petite école, nous
avons tous célébré la Journée de
l’éducation physique sur la Colline et je
suis absolument ravie du résultat. Tout le
monde a dansé et dansé – les élèves, le
personnel et même le concierge, qui a
décidé de faire le twist avec moi! »
Plusieurs députés étaient sur les lieux
pour remettre aux élèves et enseignants
d’Ottawa des bannières en reconnaissance aux écoles offrant une éducation
physique quotidienne de qualité
(EPQQ), soit Shelley Glover, députée de
Saint-Boniface (qui représentait le ministre d’État au sport, Gary Lunn); Royal
Galipeau, député d’Ottawa-Orléans; et
Keith Martin, député d’Esquimalt-Juan
de Fuca. D’autres dignitaires étaient
aussi au rendez-vous pour décerner des
bannières aux 9 écoles participantes :
l’école élémentaire catholique Frank
Ryan, l’école publique Featherston
L’école élémentaire catholique Frank Ryan
L’école secondaire St. Paul
D’autres invités de marque étaient également de la partie, soit
les mascottes des Jeux olympiques et des Jeux paralympiques
d’hiver de 2009 à Vancouver – Sumi, Quatchi et Miga. Ces
dernières ont pris beaucoup de plaisir à faire les échauffements
de groupe - Aroostasha – sur la Colline, sous l’égide de la
gestionnaire des programmes d’EPS Canada, Stefanie Partridge.
Drive, l’école catholique Chapel Hill,
l’école élémentaire St. George, l’école
publique Viscount Alexander, l’école
intermédiaire St. Patrick’s, l’école
publique D. Roy Kennedy, l’école
intermédiaire Henry Munro et l’école
secondaire St. Paul. Ces bannières leur
étaient remises par Kelly Murumets,
présidente-directrice générale de ParticipACTION, par Michelle Brownrigg,
présidente-directrice générale de Jeunes
en forme Canada et par Andrea
Grantham, directrice générale d’EPS
Canada.
« Ces écoles méritent d’être félicitées pour
avoir compris le rôle fondamental de
l’éducation physique dans le sain
développement de leurs élèves », a déclaré
Mme Glover au nom du ministre Lunn.
« C’est grâce à l’éducation physique que
chaque enfant, sans égard au sexe, aux
habiletés, à la culture ou à la situation
socioéconomique, peut développer les
habileté motrices fondamentales requises
et découvrir la valeur et l’importance de
faire du sport et d’être physiquement actif au
quotidien, aujourd’hui comme demain ».
D’autres invités de marque étaient
également de la partie, soit les mascottes
des Jeux olympiques et des Jeux
paralympiques d’hiver de 2009 à
Vancouver – Sumi, Quatchi et Miga. Ces
dernières ont pris beaucoup de plaisir
à faire les échauffements de groupe Aroostasha – sur la Colline, sous l’égide
de la gestionnaire des programmes d’EPS
Canada, Stefanie Partridge.
Mise sur pied dans le but de célébrer
l’éducation physique quotidienne de
qualité (EPQQ) et de revendiquer en ce
sens, la deuxième Journée de l’éducation
physique annuelle s’est avérée un franc
succès. Ceci tient au grand nombre
d’enseignants et d’enseignants, de
directions d’école et d’élèves de toutes les
régions du pays qui ont choisi de
participer et qui ont compris que
l’éducation physique aide les élèves à
réussir dans tous les autres aspects de
la vie. Tel que souligné le Bulletin sur
l’activité physique de Jeunes en forme
Canada publié en juin, l’éducation
physique ne nuit en rien à l’apprentissage
des autres matières; au contraire, elle
favorise l’apprentissage scolaire.
L’école publique Featherston Drive
EPS Canada remercie toutes les personnes qui ont
participé et les encourage à continuer d’appuyer et
d’exiger l’EPQQ dans leurs écoles.
« C’est absolument vrai », a indiqué le
président d’EPS Canada, Mark Jones. «
Les enfants qui sont physiquement actifs
obtiennent de meilleurs résultats à l’école,
ils se concentrent mieux et ils ont plus de
mémoire et une plus grande durée
d’attention. De plus, ils ont davantage
confiance en eux, affichent une plus
grande estime de soi et entretiennent des
rapports positifs avec leur école. »
QUALIT Y SCHOOL HEALTH
Assessment for Learning – Healthy Schools Edition
By Doug Gleddie
“F
ormative assessment” is a term with which most educators are
quite familiar. Also referred to as “assessment for learning,”
this process involves ongoing assessment and the use of feedback for
the purpose of improvement and growth. Educators use assessment
for learning principles to identify gaps in the student’s knowledge,
skills and attitudes; they then share these results with students - or,
even better, have the students involved in the process - and discover
ways to grow and improve. The process is cyclical and results in
a continual feedback loop of assessment, reflection, planning,
implementation and then back to assessment.
A healthy school community should
work in much the same way: Assess the
needs and gaps, reflect on the results,
develop an action plan, implement the
plan and reassess to determine whether
growth has occurred. Unfortunately, this
process does not happen spontaneously
and school communities are busy places
concerned with student achievement, test
results (summative assessment), curriculum and budgets. This is where the Ever
Active Schools Health Assessment Tool
for Schools (HATS) comes in. HATS
provides a process and mechanism to
assess for learning in a healthy school
community.
Ever Active Schools (EAS) is a provincial
program in Alberta that facilitates the
development of healthy children and
youth by fostering social and physical
environments that support healthy active
school communities. The program uses a
Health Promoting Schools model (also
known as comprehensive school health).
According to the World Health Organization, a health promoting school:
• Fosters health and learning with all the
measures at its disposal.
• Engages health and education officials,
teachers, teachers' unions, students,
parents, health providers and community
leaders in efforts to make the school a
healthy place.
• Strives to provide a healthy environment, school health education, and
school health services along with
school/community projects and outreach,
health promotion programmes for staff,
nutrition and food safety programmes,
opportunities for physical education and
recreation, and programmes for counselling, social support and mental health
promotion.
• Implements policies and practices that
respect an individual's well being and
dignity, provide multiple opportunities
for success, and acknowledge good efforts
and intentions as well as personal
achievements.
• Strives to improve the health of school
personnel, families and community
members as well as pupils; and works
with community leaders to help them
understand how the community
contributes to, or undermines, health
and education. (The above was accessed
through the World Health Organization
website: http://www.who.int/ school_
youth_health/gshi/hps/en/)
EAS Member and Associate schools use
an HPS framework adapted from the
WHO framework that consists of 4 E’s:
Education, Everyone, Environment and
Evidence (please see the chart on the next
page). Since 1999, EAS has provided
supports for member schools including
resources, workshops and planning tools.
Two years ago, EAS began a major
restructuring of its program including the
membership process, staffing structure
and development of an online assessment
and planning tool. The development of
an assessment tool for healthy schools
was a lengthy process involving many
stakeholders and almost as many drafts!
After extensive consultation and review
of other tools several key factors emerged.
First, the tool needed to be long enough
to gather useful information but also
short enough to encourage its use.
Second, an online format would provide
the school community with easy access,
usability and immediate feedback. Third,
in addition to assessing the school, any
tool needed to also provide information
to EAS – both for supporting schools and
promoting the program. Finally, any
assessment
needed
to
harmonize with the 4 E’s – the health
promoting school framework according
to EAS. The resulting Health Assessment
Tool for Schools has become an integral
part of the EAS Program with members
committing to assess and plan annually;
associates are given the opportunity to
assess and become members as well.
The HATS is a series of checklists that
help school communities define practices
and programs that positively influence
health behaviours related to active living,
healthy eating and mental well-being.
The results from these checklists are used
to guide yearly plans and help schools
follow a health promoting school (HPS)
approach. The chart to the right shows
the organization of the HATS tool. Each
of the 4 E’s is further divided into
essential elements, which are then
assigned indicators (not shown). The
HATS tool is most effective if a variety of
stakeholders with a variety of perspectives
and needs are asked to complete the
checklists. Such stakeholders include
teachers, school staff, administrators,
parents and community members.
School communities are provided with
the opportunity to complete the HATS
each spring, as the results can then be
coordinated with other school initiatives
and implemented at the beginning of
the following school year. For more
information on any aspect of this
article, including EAS, or to download
a paper version of the HATS, please
visit www.everactive.org. n
Essential Elements of Health Promoting Schools (HPS)
Everyone
Collaborating in a meaningful way with the people involved in the everyday
life of the school and equal and inclusive opportunities for everyone to
make healthy choices.
Shared Vision
The school community (e.g., students, teachers, school staff,
administrators, parents and community members) develops a shared
vision of their health promoting school.
Ever Active Committee
Students, teachers, school staff, administrators, parents and community
members are active participants on the Committee, whose primary
purpose is to develop and implement an HPS plan.
Equitable Opportunity
members, regardless of gender, age, ability, race, religion, or
socioeconomic status, are invited to participate. All events are accessible
to all students.
Community Engagement
The Committee fosters partnerships and communications with parents
and community members to support the school’s health promotion plan.
Education
Supporting a culture of learning for all school community members
including wellness-related programs for students and health promotion
learning opportunities for teachers, staff and parents.
Curriculum Implementation
Students are engaged in quality learning experiences to achieve the
outcomes included in all wellness-related programs.
Adult Learning
Oppotunities
Teachers, school staff, administrators, parents and community members
have consistent access to learning opportunities related to health
promotion.
Environment
Fostering safe social and physical environments in the school, home
and community, implementing policies that enable healthy active
lifestyles and cultivating a place where everyone knows they belong.
Healthy Social
Environment
members are engaged and feel connected to the school environment.
Healthy Physical
Environment
The school environment provides physical support for healthy living;
and facilities are maintained for safety and access.
Policies
Policies, requirements and initiatives are developed at the provincial,
regional, district and school levels to support a health promoting
schools approach.
Evidence
Collaboratively identifying goals, planning for action and gathering
information to indicate the effectiveness of actions to support healthy
active lifestyles throughout the school community.
Health Promoting
School Plan
The Committee develops a plan to ensure that goals, initiatives and
resources support the school community’s shared vision.
Assessment
The Committee, in partnership with Ever Active Schools, gathers and
reviews data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the HPS plan.
Editor’s Note: Doug is working on a longer feature article that highlights a district
implementation of the HPS model (the Ever Active Schools program) in the Battle
River School Division. Please keep an eye out for this article later in the year.
Parent and student support for school
policies that promote healthy eating
and active living
By Hilde Spitters MSc, Marg Schwartz MEd., Paul Veugelers PhD
Introduction
Childhood overweight and obesity are increasingly recognized as a
major public health problem. Their prevalence rates have tripled in
the past three decades (Tremblay & Willms, 2000) and, in 2004,
26% and 8% of Canadian children are overweight and obese
respectively (Shields, 2006). Excess body weight in childhood has
been linked to a spectrum of chronic diseases later in life including
type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers that result
in reductions in quality of life and life expectancy and accounts for
billions of health care costs (Manson & Bassuk, 2003; Visscher
et al., 2001).
Overweight and obesity results from an
imbalance between energy intake and
energy expenditure (Fox, Dodd, Wilson,
& Gleason, 2009). Prevention efforts
therefore focus on promotion of Healthy
Eating and Active Living (HEAL).
Promotion of HEAL often occurs in
schools where children spend 6-8 hours
of their day (Story, Kaphingst, & French,
2006). During these hours they make
numerous choices related to eating and
activities that, as a school-age routine,
may lead to lifelong behaviours (Winson,
2008). Student’s choices at school are
influenced by their school staff, their
peers and school environments (Van Der
Horst et al., 2007; Zeller, Reiter-Purtill,
& Ramey, 2008) that, in turn, are influenced by school policies and programs.
Policy, in the broadest sense of the word,
is a deliberate plan of action to guide
decisions and achieve a set goal. A
program is generally more localized and
less formalized than a policy. Policies set
out the expectations of the organization
and governing body (Government of
Alberta, 2005). Health policies aim to
reduce exposure to health risks and
unhealthy behaviors by guiding individual and collective behaviour (Schmid,
Pratt, & Howze, 1995). Policies can
apply at different levels: international,
national, provincal school district and
school level. At the international level,
there is support for the development
of a policy that supports healthy environments in schools (World Health
Organization, 2004). In May 2004, the
Global Strategy on Diet, Physical
Activity and Health from the World
Health Organization (WHO) stated:
“School policies and programs should
support the adoption of healthy diets
and physical activity. Schools are
encouraged to provide students with
daily physical education and should be
equipped with appropriate facilities
and equipment. Governments are
encouraged to adopt policies that
support healthy diets at school and
limit the availability of products high
in salt, sugar and fats.”
Canadian school policies are determined
by provincial and territorial governments. Provinces and territories have
distinct health and physical education
curricula and related policies. An
example of a provincial policy regarding
Daily Physical Activity (DPA) can be
found in Alberta:
“School authorities shall ensure that
all students in grades 1-9 are
physically active for a minimum of
30 minutes daily through activities
that are organized by the school.”
Although DPA is mandatory in Alberta,
its implementation is left to the responsibility of the school and monitoring of
implementation is the responsibility of
the school authority. The Alberta
Nutrition Guidelines for Children and
Hilde Spitters is an intern in the Population Health
Intervention Research Unit within the School of
Public Health at the University of Alberta. This
internship is part of a Masters degree in Human
Nutrition at the University of Wageningen, the
Netherlands. She has received previous training
in kinesiology and epidemiology (M.Sc. from the
University of Maastricht, the Netherlands).
Marg Schwartz completed her Masters Degree in
Education from the University of Alberta in
Secondary Education as a narrative inquiry on the
Daily Physical Activity initiative. She is on secondment from Alberta Education and Alberta Health
and Wellness where she was the School Health and
Wellness Manager for both ministries. In her
previous experience, Marg was the coordinator of
both the Schools Come Alive and the Ever Active
Schools programs in Alberta. Marg is currently
the School Health Manager of the APPLE Schools
project of the School of Public Health at the
Paul J. Veugelers received training in human
nutrition (MSc from the University of Wageningen,
the Netherlands), epidemiology (PhD from the
University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and
biostatistics (postdoctoral fellowship at the University
of British Columbia). Paul is a professor in the
School of Public Health at the University of
Alberta and the director of the Population Health
Intervention Research Unit. Initiatives within this
unit include the Alberta Project Promoting active
Living and healthy Eating in Schools:
www.APPLESchools.ca.
Youth (Government of Alberta Health
and Wellness, 2009) produced by
Alberta Health and Wellness is an
example of standards produced by a
provincial government that are not
deemed as policy. However, school
authorities are encouraged to develop
nutrition policy based on these guidelines. Examples of district level policies
include the nutrition policy by the Holy
Family Regional Catholic boards (Holy
Family Catholic Regional Division,
2009), and those of the Red Deer Public
(Red Deer Public Schools, 2009) and
Battle River School Divisions (Battle
River School Division, 2006) related to
implementation of DPA through daily
physical education.
Research has shown that without
support, new policies are unlikely to be
successfully implemented nor achieve
their objectives (Gladwin, Church, &
Plotnikoff, 2008). One key to successful
implementation is the inclusion of intersectoral and multi-level stakeholders
when developing these policies. These
stakeholders include governments,
teachers and other staff, students, parents
and the community-at-large (McKenna,
2008; WorldHealthOrganization, 2008).
Exclusion of affected stakeholders may
hamper the policy implementation due
to unrecognized relevance and lack of
ownership (Gladwin et al., 2008).
HEAL in schools. Existing and proposed
policies across Canada are indicative of
government and administrative support.
However, there is no documentation on
whether Canadian parents support
promotion of HEAL in schools. In
addition, no studies have reported on the
support of students for promotion of
HEAL or their values for HEAL and
health. The purpose of the present
study is to reveal parents’ support for promotion of HEAL in schools and their
children’s values for health and health
behaviors.
Methods
Very few studies have reported on stakeholders’ support for promotion of
The authors identify childhood overweight and obesity as major public health
problems and argue that while prevention efforts focus on the promotion of Healthy
Eating and Active Living (HEAL), very few studies have reported on stakeholders’
support for the promotion of this approach in schools. The authors show that parents
and students overwhelmingly support the promotion of both healthy eating and
active living in schools. It is argued that this support can be exploited to strengthen
the link between education and health sectors, including the commitment of both the
health and education ministries. They conclude that this support will facilitate the
successful implementation of existing policies and programs, and should inspire the
further development of policies and programs to the benefit of learning and the future
health of students.
The Raising health Eating and Active
Living Kids in Alberta (REAL Kids
Les auteurs ont déterminé que la surcharge pondérale et l’obésité juvéniles constituent
d’importants problèmes de santé publique. Ils précisent que même si les efforts de
prévention mettent l’accent sur la promotion d’une saine alimentation et de modes de
vie actifs, très peu d’études examinent le degré d’appui que les intervenants accordent
à la promotion d’une telle approche dans les écoles. Les auteurs indiquent que parents
et élèves soutiennent fortement la promotion d’une saine alimentation et de modes
de vie actifs à l’école et que cela peut aider à renforcer les liens entre les secteurs de
l’éducation et de la santé, y compris l’engagement conjoint des ministères de la Santé
et de l’Éducation. Ils concluent qu’un tel appui devrait favoriser la mise en œuvre des
politiques et programmes actuels et inspirer l’élaboration d’autres politiques et
programmes au profit de l’apprentissage et de la santé des élèves dans les années à venir.
Parents had been asked to what extent they agreed
with HEAL policy options and students had been
asked their values towards physical education,
health and health behaviour.
Parents had been asked to what extent
they agreed with HEAL policy options
and students had been asked their values
towards physical education, health and
health behavior. We weighted their
responses to accommodate the sampling
design so that the presented figures
represent provincial averages.
Alberta) is a large population-based
evaluation of health, nutrition, physical
activity and lifestyle factors among grade
five students and their parents in the
province of Alberta, Canada. The
objective is to evaluate the impact of a
provincial government initiative implemented by Alberta Health and Wellness
to promote healthy weights among
children and youth (REAL Kids Alberta,
2008), through surveys in the spring of
2008 and 2010. The present paper is
based on data collected in 2008. The
survey employed a one-stage stratified
random sampling design. The sampling
frame include all elementary schools with
the exception of private schools (4.7% of
all Alberta children attend these schools),
Francophone schools (0.6%), on-reserve
federal schools (2.0%), charter schools
(1.7%), and colony schools (0.8%).
Schools were stratified into three geographies: 1) urban: Calgary and Edmonton;
Results
2) other municipalities with more than
40,000 residents; and 3) municipalities
with less than 40,000 residents. Schools
were randomly selected within each of
these strata to achieve a balanced number
of students in each stratum. Of the
184 invited schools, 148 (80.4%) participated in the study. These schools were
attended by 5594 grade five students
who received an envelope with a parent
consent form and survey to take home. A
total of 3758 (67.2%) envelopes were
returned: 3665 parents (97.5%) had
completed their survey and 3645
(97.0%) consented their child’s participation. Of the children with parental
consent, 3407 were present when the survey was conducted, six students declined
to participate, and 20 students who were
absent, completed and mailed their
surveys, providing a total of 3421 participating students (61.2% of total Grade 5
student population in those schools).
Table I shows the extent that parents
agree with policy options for the promotion of healthy eating and active living in
schools. Parents overwhelmingly support
that school should limit the availability of
unhealthy foods. Of all parents of grade
five students in Alberta, 1.9% strongly
disagree and 4.4% disagree with limiting
the availability of unhealthy foods in
school, whereas 38.2% agree and 55.5%
strongly agree (Table 1). Similarly, a
substantial majority of parents support
that schools ban the serving of unhealthy
foods and should discourage students
from bringing unhealthy foods to
schools. Of all parents, 28.5% agree and
10.5% strongly agree with the statement
that schools should not allow students to
bring unhealthy foods to school. Parents
further overwhelmingly (98%) support
the province’s DPA policy.
Table I – Responses of parents of grade five students in Alberta related to policy options for the promotion
of healthy eating and active living in schools
% strongly
% disagree
% agree
% strongly
disagree
agree
Limit the availability of unhealthy foods
such as chocolate, candy, French Fries,
potato, chips and pop in schools
Ban the serving of these unhealthy foods
at school
Only serve meals with foods that come
from the four food groups
Discourage students from bringing
unhealthy foods to school
Not allow students to bring unhealthy
foods to school
Adhere to the provincially mandated
daily physical activity (DPA) initiative
requiring students to be physically active
for 30 minutes each day
1.9
4.4
38.2
55.5
4.0
26.9
33.9
35.2
1.4
18.9
53.9
25.8
2.6
17.3
56.3
23.8
11.5
49.5
28.5
10.5
0.7
1.5
33.0
64.8
Table II – Response of grade five students in Alberta related to health, nutrition and physical activity
% A little bit
% Quite a lot
% Very much
% Not at all
Care about being healthy
Care about eating healthy foods
Care about being physical active
Enjoy Physical Education
Table II shows that the vast majority of
grade five students in Alberta care about
being healthy and healthy eating and that
these students care about and enjoy
physical activity.
Discussion
To our knowledge, this study is the first
in Canada to document the support of
two important stakeholders, parents
and students, for policy options for the
promotion of healthy eating and active
living. The present study shows that
parents overwhelmingly support school
policies that promote healthy eating and
active living. The exception is a policy
that goes as far as forbidding students to
bring unhealthy foods to school, though
a notable 39% would still support this.
The support observed in the present
study is similar to that in a United States
(US) study that reported that a majority
of parents supported policies to disallow
students to have access to unhealthy
foods at school and to offer DPA on a
regular basis (Murnan, Price, Telljohann,
Dake, & Boardley, 2006). Further, the
vast majority of students in the present
study reported to care about health and
healthy eating and to care about and
enjoy physical activity and thus seem to
understand the causes and health
consequences of being overweight. This
comprehension was also observed among
students in the US (Vecchiarelli,
Takayanagi, & Neumann, 2006).
The health consequences of poor nutrition and sedentary lifestyles for overweight and risk for chronic diseases are
generally well understood and are in fact
the primary reason to implement policies
to promote HEAL. However, less well
known are the benefits of HEAL for
learning and self-esteem. Physical activity
for students has been demonstrated to have
0.8
1.5
1.0
0.6
5.9
14.6
9.0
8.8
a positive effect on academic achievement
(Fishburne, 2005; Tremblay, Inman, &
Willms, 2000; Trudeau & Shephard,
2008), to lower stress levels (Fishburne,
2005; Trudeau & Shephard, 2008), to
enable students to exhibit positive attitudes
toward themselves, peers and school
(Fishburne, 2005) and to increase selfesteem (Wang & Veugelers, 2008).
Healthy eating has also been shown to
have a positive effect on academic
achievement and self-esteem (Alaimo,
Olson, & Frongillo, 2001; Florence,
24.8
42.0
34.4
33.7
68.5
41.8
55.7
56.9
a strengthening of the link between
education and health sectors with
the commitment of both health and
education ministries will facilitate this
(Gladwin et al., 2008). School boards
and schools, however, do not have to wait
for governmental policies and programs.
They may decide to take direct action
and, for example, consider a Comprehensive School Health approach as a
method to promote HEAL in schools
(Stewart-Brown, 2006; World Health
Organization, 2008). Comprehensive
The present study shows that parents
overwhelmingly support school policies that
promote healthy eating and active living. The
exception is a policy that goes as far as forbidding
students to bring unhealthy foods to school, though
a notable 39% would still support this.
Asbridge, & Veugelers, 2008; Powell,
Walker, Chang, & Grantham-McGregor,
1998; Symons, Cinelli, James, & Groff,
1997; Tremblay et al., 2000; Trudeau &
Shephard, 2008; Wang & Veugelers,
2008). Activities related to promotion of
HEAL are herewith further justified to
take place in schools as they improve
learning and developmental outcomes
among students.
The overwhelming support for promotion of HEAL by parents and students
may inspire governments to expand
policies and programs. In this respect,
School Health is an approach that involves
parents, community and stakeholders,
and includes supportive policies, programs
and environments. Canada based research
has suggested that Comprehensive School
Health is effective in promoting HEAL
and reducing overweight among students
(Veugelers & Fitzgerald, 2005). Successful
implementation, however, is contingent
on stakeholders support (Stewart-Brown,
2006; World Health Organization,
2008). Where these stakeholders involve
parents and students, it is reassuring to
know that they strongly support the
promotion of HEAL in schools.
In summary, we have shown that promotion of both healthy eating and active
living in schools is overwhelmingly
supported by parents and students. This
support will facilitate the successful
implementation of existing policies and
programs, and should inspire the further
development of policies and programs to
the benefit of learning and future health
of students.
Acknowledgments
The Raising healthy Eating Active
Living Kids Alberta (REAL Kids Alberta)
evaluation is a joint project of the School
of Public Health of the University
of Alberta and Alberta Health and
Wellness (AHW); for more info see
www.healthyalberta.ca. The intent of
REAL Kids Alberta is to help evaluate the
impact of the Healthy Weights Initiative
from Alberta Health and Wellness and
provide some measurable behavioural
and health outcomes for children in
Alberta. Baseline data was collected in
the first phase of the REAL Kids Alberta
evaluation in the spring of 2008 with
the next phase of the evaluation to be
repeated in 2010. The opinions expressed
in the present study are solely those of the
authors who are all affiliated with the
School of Public Health.
The authors thank all grade five students,
their parents, schools and school boards
for their participation in the REAL Kids
Alberta survey. We thank all regional
health promotion coordinators and
evaluation assistants who assisted in the
data collection, and Connie Lu and
Dr. Stefan Kuhle for data management
and processing. n
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DANCE
Dance is Not a Four-Letter Word!
Motivating Teenage Boys to Dance
By Heather Taschuk
B
oys dancing at school and having fun; is it possible? You bet it
is! Finding ways to encourage dance for boys in their teenage
years requires following a few simple guidelines to catch their
interest and motivate them to move. In this article, the following
factors will be explored:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Positive role models
Dynamic movement opportunities
Self-expression
Athleticism
The following activities and dance
compositions are definitely accessible to
girls as well. However, the focus of the
article is to help teachers encourage
reluctant male participants to dance in
ways that are considered “cool” and fun
(while teaching curriculum!).
Positive role models
“Many boys have the desire to dance but are
intimidated by negative stereotypes or discouraged by their parents, who can’t get past
the stereotypes themselves. Create a school
and atmosphere where it’s natural and
expected to see male dancers, and you open
a door for boys to experience the joy that
dance has to offer.”
– Rhee Gold
The bottom line here is that positive role
models for boys in dance are men who
have a positive attitude towards dancing.
In western culture the often-disparaging
attitude towards men who dance is most
effectively confronted by men who
embrace dancing as a valid physical activity and means of expression. It is therefore
important for male physical education
teachers to step forward and teach dance
with their students! The earlier boys have
a positive experience with dance, the
more likely it is that they will have more
success with it. Dancing takes skill. If
boys put as much effort and time into
dance as say, hockey or basketball, then,
naturally, they will be more comfortable
with it.
Another way of exposing male students to
dance is by showing them examples of
male dancers and dance performance
groups where dance is exciting and
engaging. Some excellent examples of
males dancing include Savion Glover (Tap
dancing), Maori dances from New
Zealand and clips from West Side Story
which, incidentally, was also choreographed by legendary male film director,
dancer and choreographer Jerome
Robbins. Please also visit the following
link to see video clips of the above noted
dances: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/
pe/boyswontdance.htm.
No matter your gender, building a safe
and supportive environment in which
your students can experiment is extremely important to the success of dance
lessons. Creating a culture that positively
embraces trying to do new things, reassurance for those who “can’t dance,” and
intelligent conversation about the activities at hand is essential to having success
Heather Taschuk (BFA, B.Ed) has been
teaching dance since the age of 12 and
has been teaching in the public school
system for 10 years. At the age of 8, she
realized that dance was the only subject
that did not get taught at school, so she
has made her mission to change that
fact. Currently, she teaches dance and
drama at Harry Ainlay High School in
Edmonton, Alberta. She is the Chair of
the Dance Education PAC for PHE
Canada, and is in the process of developing the Canada Can Dance project
called “Harmony” which had its inaugural presentation at the HPEC/PHE
Canada conference in Banff in April
2009. The conference workshop will
also be presented at the Dance and the
Child International conference in
Jamaica in August 2009.
with boys in dance. In her interview with
Miranda Johnson, Rachel Hutchinson
makes an excellent observation: boys’
experience with dance is different from
that of girls, so the classroom approach
also needs to be different (Jobbins, 2009).
Building comfort in the classroom,
whether it is an all male class or mixed
gender group involves setting the students
up for success. For example, starting off
with high impact hip hop or break dance
moves, individuals moving on their own,
or African story dances are ways to grab
the attention of boys, while also offering
high interest activities for the girls. The
structure of the lesson is important too.
Having boys volunteer or demonstrate
near the beginning of a lesson or unit
Another way to make dance more accessible
to teenage boys is to elicit the ideas for
movement from them, instead of simply
assigning choreography.
reinforces that they are capable and have
something to contribute, while encouraging them to “buy in” to what you are
doing.
Dynamic Movement Opportunities
Dance is exciting when students get the
chance to move their bodies in dynamic
ways. In my experience, it is easier for
boys to access movement that involves
contrast and changes, than to work with
slow or sustained movement. An example
exercise involves using the student’s whole
body to create the letters in their first
name. My colleague Tara Brodin shared
this exercise with me and it can be found
in many variations. See for example the
Alphabet Dance which was published in
the Spring 2009 issue of the PHE Journal.
Students use multi levels, upper or lower
case letters, and even repeat their name (if
it is very short). The next step is to build
transitions into their sequence. Each letter
pose will be held for three seconds and,
between each letter, students develop
ways to move to the next letter that are
interesting and dynamic. This involves
travelling, changing levels, and using the
Laban efforts of: press, wring, slash, glide,
float, dap, flick and punch. As students
build their name dances, accompany
them with Swing music. The energetic,
upbeat music creates an environment that
is highly conducive to dancing. Students
also enjoy sharing the work that they have
done with each other. One way to keep
the anxiety level low is to have several
students or half the class share their
dances and moves at the same time – the
students will likely perceive “safety in
numbers”. Encourage the audience to
watch for the letters and transitions that
different people use and discuss the
creative solutions they developed.
After the students have shared their work,
you can have them pair up with another
student and teach each other their dances
(teachers will prompt and encourage the
students by ensuring they refer to these
moves as “dances”). Once they have
learned each other’s parts, tell them they
have 32 counts to create a dance using the
movement vocabulary they have created
with each other. They then have the
opportunity to select the letters and transitions they like and put them in any
order they wish. The creative and artistic
expression inherent in this collaboration
will also generate interest. They can work
in unison, each student doing different
things, or alternating. There are many
possibilities. The groups need work time
and they will certainly pose questions
about what they are allowed to do.
Depending on your preference, they can
work on the dance to a final product for
evaluation, or share their creation informally with the class. Again, be sure to
monitor the students’ comfort levels to
determine whether multiple groups need
to present at one time.
Self-expression
Another way to make dance more
accessible to teenage boys is to elicit the
ideas for movement from them, instead of
simply assigning choreography. Creative
dance, modern dance and hip hop are
forms that allow for individual creative
expression in numerous ways. Through
my teaching practicum with students in
Grades 7 – 12, I was surprised by the level
of interest that a junior high school boy
had in the modern dance section of a
unit. In his reflection, he noted that it was
his “favourite part” of the course because
he had the opportunity to dance what
he felt. I believe that obtaining even one
such response to a dance experience at
school validates the importance of having
alternate forms of expressive activities
available for students.
Miranda Johnson’s case study of an 18year-old-male, Thom Rackett, who was
preparing for a career in modern dance,
illustrates some strategies for encouraging
male inclusion in dance. “Thom believes
that what attracts boys to dance can often
be things like street dance and new circus.
However, he says, ‘You need to get off the
whole stereotypical dancer thing to get
boys interested in dance. They have to
become familiar with all aspects of dance.
Street dance gets boys in, but it’s getting
them to move on from that which is
important. Street culture has its own
agenda, like dressing cool, speaking a
language... contemporary dance isn’t like
that’.” (Johnson, 2009)
Athleticism
Generally boys enjoy moving in ways that
are different from girls: showing strength
and power, leaps and jumps, and speed
changes. Rachel Hutchinson states that
boys learn best in a challenging environment. They like to be motivated and
enjoy physicality. (Hutchinson, 2000)
Hutchinson’s background is in physical
education, so many of her teaching methods are action based. “Lots of … running,
jumping, falling, rolling.” (Jobbins, 2009)
One way to channel this difference is to
offer movement opportunities with
which boys can identify. A colleague of
mine, (John Ryan, Spruce Grove
Composite High School, Edmonton,
Alberta) developed a unit with his
students that used Olympic events for
inspiration. They created synchronized
diving and synchronized swimming
routines to music. I tried this same activity
with my grade 8 drama class (Movement
unit), and the results were astounding.
The best work came from the boys. Not
only did the project allow for movement
exploration, but it appealed to their sense
of humour to imitate synchronized swimmers. They chose their own music, used
their rehearsal time well (even practiced
outside of class time), and presented a
polished and dynamic dance that
addressed all of the criteria I had outlined.
Conclusion
There is a need for dance to become more
accessible to boys in schools. The first step
in making that happen is teaching dance
in a positive way. Male role models are
essential in supporting male students as
they experiment with dance in its many
forms, as is creating dance opportunities
that are dynamic and engaging. It is
important to recognize that it will take
time to develop comfort level and
confidence with dance, so teachers must
start with activities that are familiar to
boys. By employing such methods and
using our own skills and creativity, teachers
will be able to prove that dance is not a
“four-letter word”. n
Works Cited:
Brodin, Tara. (2000) Dance warm up ideas.
Interviewed by Heather Taschuk.
Jobbins, Veronica. “Entitled to Dance: Boys in
Schools (An interview with Rachel Hutchinson),”
d=22427&isa=DBRow&op=show&dbview_
id=17860 January 19 2009
Johnson, Miranda. “The Point of Boys’ Dance,”
w w w. c o m m u n i t y d a n c e . o r g . u k / m e t a d o t /
index.pl?id=22438&isa=DBRow&op=show&dbvi
ew_id=17860 January 19 2009
Ryan, John. (2000) Movement projects inspired by
the Olympics. Interviewed by Heather Taschuk.
Active Kids Score Higher:
More Activity Time Adds Up to
Better Learning
Here’s good news for parents, teachers
and legislators who want to help kids
learn and excel: it’s easy as child’s play.
The 2009 Active Healthy Kids Canada
Report Card on Physical Activity for
Children and Youth, released in collaboration with ParticipACTION and the
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Research Institute – Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group
(CHEO-HALO), reveals that children
who are more physically active are also
more academically fit, resulting in better
scores in math and reading, higher
grades, greater perceptual skill and overall academic readiness.
“Being active feeds the brain, giving
active kids an academic advantage over
their peers who are more sedentary,” says
Dr. Mark Tremblay, Chief Scientific
Officer, Active Healthy Kids Canada.
“We’ve always known that physical activity is essential for kids’ health and their
long-term well-being. Now we know
that it also improves school perfor-
mance. A workout for your body is a
workout for your brain.”
Unfortunately, this year’s Report Card
gives most Canadian children a failing
grade for physical activity levels, with
only 13% of Canadian kids getting the
recommended 90 minutes of physical
activity a day. The Report Card also
assigns an F for screen time, as 90% of
Canadian children are still spending too
much time in front of television, computer and video screens. Also distressing
are the grades for active transportation (a
D, as most families live close enough to
walk or bike to school, but do not) and
for school physical education and school
policy, which rate a mediocre C- and C,
respectively.
“Unfortunately, in our eagerness to
ensure academic success, we’ve cut out
time for activity in the school day and
devoted it to sedentary study,” says
Tremblay. “But research shows that
reducing physical activity does not
improve academic ability or test scores.
Kids need to get up and move more to
enhance physical and intellectual health
and success at school.”
The Report Card does note that there is
some reason for optimism, even with the
overall failing grade. The number of
Canadian children who are active is on
the rise—up to 13% from 9% in 2006.
It also offers solid recommendations for
how our society can do better.
Teamwork the Answer to Making
Time and Space for Play
School schedules are packed with heavy
curriculum expectations, parents have
intense work demands that eat away at
family free time, and governments, as
well as individuals, are feeling the pinch
of today’s economy.
All true, agrees Michelle Brownrigg,
Chief Executive Officer, Active Healthy
Kids Canada. But there are solutions.
“Improving opportunities to be active is
not an either-or proposition. It’s an
investment with direct benefits that are
immediate and lasting,” she says. “Helping the 87 per cent of Canadian kids
who aren’t getting enough daily activity
will take a concerted, joint effort.”
“Schools don’t sacrifice academic results
when they devote time to Phys. Ed. The
kids do as well or better than they did
when all their work was at their desks.
Most busy household schedules can find
time for activity by simply turning off
the TV or computer and going outside.
Municipalities can and should invest
money in parks and sport⎯but they
also need to consider policies and bylaws that act as barriers to play in their
“communities.”
Look around, says Brownrigg. See what
you can do.
School:
Recognize the importance of physical
activity. Treat physical Education classes
as any other subject, with devoted time,
skilled instructors and assistance for
children who need extra encouragement
or teaching. Offer an assortment of
activities, from traditional team sports to
individual activities like yoga or martial
arts. Team up with children’s home
supports and local community groups
to ensure that the message of physical
activity is communicated, just as the
importance of homework completion is
emphasized.
Home:
Parents can inquire about the activity
policy in their children’s schools and
insist that physical activity be integrated
into the curriculum and overall school
programming. For example, school
fundraisers can promote movement with
dance-a-thons or laps around the school.
You can also lead the way at home
through modeling active behaviour and
by scheduling time for play. Though
families are feeling the time pinch, TV
and computer time in most Canadian
households far exceeds the recommended limit of two hours per day. For a
better academic outcome for your child,
replace screen time with active play.
Get children ready to learn by having
them walk or bike to school each day. If
your schedule doesn’t allow you to supervise the route twice a day, team up with
neighbours to form a “walking school
bus” or choose a daycare that uses active
transportation. You can also emphasize
the routine of daily play by packing a
skipping rope or ball glove in your child’s
knapsack, increasing the possibility that
recess will be an active time.
Communities and Governments:
Communities are vital partners in
increasing the opportunities for active
play and for creating bridges between
school physical activity and family
activity. Supervising school and public
play spaces in the hours after school can
make investments in park infrastructure
go further by increasing community use,
helping kids and parents feel safe and
encouraged to go out and play.
It’s great when municipalities can
support active play in their communities
through investment in sport infrastructure, but removing barriers to play can
be just as important to improving kids’
health. Eliminating by-laws that restrict
ball playing, road hockey and skateboarding in public areas means that
physical activity becomes an easy
addition to day-to-day living and part
of a community’s culture and selfperception. The results? Safer streets,
knowing your neighbours, higher test
scores in your area and an increase in
community commitment from kids and
all residents.
Governments can also provide leadership in the area of physical play by
putting activity on the public and political
agendas. Active Healthy Kids Canada
applauds the provincial Ministers of
Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation
in Canada, who have collectively set a
target of increasing the number of active
Canadian children to 20% by 2015, and
looks forward to noting their progress
toward that goal.
Active Play the Essential Ingredient
in Better Performance
“When you add up better health today,
decreased health care costs in the future
and increased mental focus and academic
results, it’s clear that being active is not
an extra—it’s an essential ingredient in
raising healthy, intelligent children who
will be able to guide our society in years
to come,” says Dr. Art Quinney, Chair of
Active Healthy Kids Canada. “We all
know that Canada needs people with
good minds. And good minds grow in
active, healthy kids.”
The Active Healthy Kids Canada Report
Card is made possible through financial
support from the Public Health Agency
of Canada, the Lawson Foundation,
Kellogg’s and the Heart and Stroke
Foundation. n
For more information or to download this year’s Report Card, visit
www.activehealthykids.ca
Pour tout complément d’information ou pour télécharger le
Bulletin de l’activité physique chez les jeunes 2009 de Jeunes
en forme Canada, visitez le site: www.jeunesenforme.ca
Scholar’s Address:
Moving Mountains Conference, Banff 2009
By Doug Gleddie
First, let me say how humbled I am to have been chosen to speak
to you today. The list of those who have given these addresses at
past conferences, both the Robert Routledge and the R. Tait
Mackenzie, reads like a who’s who of Canadian HPE. The two
men themselves stand as examples of excellence, dedication,
perseverance and community. I am honoured, privileged and a
little nervous to be addressing my peers in this context. Like those
before me, I will begin with a short history of these men.
Robert (Bob) Routledge was a leader. He
began his teaching career at a rural school and
soon became a provincial recreation supervisor. Returning to PE, he taught at Victoria
Composite High School and was appointed as
the Assistant Supervisor of Physical Education
for the Edmonton Public School Board
(EPSB) in 1958. He was instrumental in the
formation of HPEC in 1962 and served as its
second president. By 1967 Routledge had
become an Associate Professor of Physical
Education at the University of Alberta. Along
with these responsibilities he assisted in the
establishment of the Alberta Schools Athletic
Association as well as the Canadian Federation of High School Athletic Associations.
Continuing his commitment to the national
scene, Routledge was elected Vice President of
CAHPER in 1969.
R. Tait McKenzie was a doctor, physical therapist, educator, and sculptor. He was a force in
the development of PE in North America. He
began his journey through the education of
the physical in 1885 when he entered McGill
University. He stayed for 20 years progressing
to Medical Director of Physical Training and
Lecturer in Anatomy. McKenzie was a boyhood friend of James Naismith, who provided
him with a job assistant teaching gymnastics
to help pay for his schooling—the beginning
of over 50 years in physical education.
Robert Routledge was committed to youth
and believed that sports and athletics was a
critical developmental element. He valued
involvement, courtesy and sportsmanship.
The boys and girls he influenced knew that
their intellectual and emotional growth was
just as important as their health and fitness.
Routledge worked very hard to provide
opportunities for all students and his philosophy lives on in intramural programs across the
province. At just 55 years old, on April 25,
In 1904, McKenzie moved to the University
of Pennsylvania where he tested his theory of
physical education as preventative medicine.
His 1909 book, Exercise in Education and
Medicine, connected physical education and
health and established that both play a beneficial role in academic development. Through
an understanding of that relationship, a student could be healthy, physically proficient as
well as learn the social graces. McKenzie was
also a staunch supporter of amateur sport and
1970 Robert was stabbed to death in an act of
random violence while in Calgary for an
ASAA meeting. His memory is perpetuated in
Alberta in the address and in the hearts of his
colleagues and friends. Perhaps now too, his
memory rests with you.
worked to bring collegiate athletics into the
physical education faculty.
McKenzie began sculpting because he was
unable to find pieces to use in his anatomy
classes. Many of his sculptures involved athletes and movement. He eventually resigned
his academic position to pursue sculpture and
was given a private studio at the University of
Pennsylvania. Some of his early work was
harshly criticized—McKenzie responded by
studying in Europe and continuing to hone
his craft. His pieces are now displayed around
the world including the bronze sculpture,
Brothers of the Wind, at the University of
Calgary Olympic Oval.
In addition to his prolific sculpting, McKenzie
also continued practicing medicine with a
focus on prevention. He published two books
on physical therapy and rehabilitation based
on his First World War experience as a doctor
and also found time to be a member of over
25 professional organizations and clubs. It is
said that McKenzie wanted his heart buried
in front of a War Memorial he created in
Edinburgh, Scotland. Although this request
was denied, his heart now rests in his sculpture
and in the spirit of this address.
Two men. One life cut short—the other
lasting another 20 years longer, but they
shared some things in common. These were
passionate, professional, committed individuals
who stood up for what they believed. If they
were here today, I think they would have some
things to say to us—I would like to give you
my interpretation...
Friends are important. Friends love you.
Friends will tell you when you’ve made a
mistake or if you are travelling the wrong
path. Lawry St. Leger told a story here at the
conference of a large hospital in Australia
where the surgeons, interns, nurses and all
staff associated with the surgeries would enter
a room and discuss the week’s surgery. No
notes. No recordings. Honest. Truthful. These
were friends and colleagues pushing each
other to be the best and who are not afraid to
give and accept constructive criticism. Let’s
enter that room together as health and physical educators. My role today is to be your
friend in that room and talk truthfully and
honestly as I believe McKenzie and Routledge
would. Sometimes we need high fives. Sometimes we need a kick in the pants. Today is
about both.
I believe that you, my friends, are some of the
most passionate teachers on the planet. You
model. You teach. You empower. You love.
Your students are privileged to encounter you
on a daily basis. Your energy and enthusiasm
lifts up your colleagues, energizes your students and carries you through the day. Like a
McKenzie or Routlege, your passion begins in
your subject area, but more importantly, it
extends to encompass children. I often tell my
student teachers’ that if they are passionate
about their subject area and love children
there is no better career in the world. If they
don’t—get out! My friends, you do both and
you do it well. High Five!
Time for a kick in the pants (although this
one will remain figurative)! I am beginning to
see an alarming trend in Alberta—and I think
across the country. Teachers are becoming less
involved. They coach less, run fewer clubs,
and do not seem to step up when things need
to happen. Our provincial organizations
sometimes struggle for participants and members. Sometimes, we can’t even get up the
energy to nominate people for awards.
Friends, we need to be involved in our professional associations. Demonstrate to everyone
that we are committed to the value of HPE
and will not back down in the face of adversity. Follow the examples of our predecessors—
recognize your colleagues, advocate for HPE,
celebrate success, and get deeply involved in
your school community.
There are over 1000 people at this conference.
When I think of HPE people, I think of
people committed to improving practice and
honing their craft. Despite an overwhelming
focus on literacy and numeracy, you still
manage to seek out and attend professional
development opportunities. You are committed to improvement and are willing to work
hard to find it. Workshops, conferences,
books, journals, websites – all are fuel for your
fire. You know that what you do changes lives
the way no other subject area can. I commend
you for your dedication to excellence and
improvement – High Five!
to know that she was doing well, getting good
grades and hanging out with good kids. You
make that kind of difference, whether you
ever get to see the results or not. When you
get back to school, find that kid in the shadows
and begin to do what you do best. High five!
Do you only teach the activities you are good
at? Do you avoid gymnastics and sexual health
because you don’t feel competent? Is your
gymnasium a place where elitism reigns and
varsity team members can train to their hearts
content? A colleague of mine encourages
student teachers to ask certain questions when
they are planning: “For whom are you
planning your program—you or your
students?” Let me put it this way... Say I was
teaching math and I said to my students,
“We really should cover long division, but
Mr. Gleddie here is not so competent and it
actually makes him very uncomfortable, so
we’ll just skip it.” Ask yourself the questions,
“Who is not in my gym?” “Who is not
engaged in my class?” Then go and work on
the problem. Kick in the pants.
Hey,
I’m not a jock
Or a health nut
Haim Ginott (1972) reminds us of a somewhat scary responsibility: “I have come to a
frightening conclusion. I am the decisive
element in the classroom. It is my personal
approach that creates the climate. It is my
daily mood that makes the weather. As a
teacher I possess tremendous power to make a
child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool
of torture or an instrument of inspiration.”
You, my friends, are instruments of inspiration. Your work makes a difference. You may
not always see it today, tomorrow or in a year
but the seeds are there. Last night, Steven
asked us to consider those kids like him—
those on the margin. I received a phone call a
few years ago from a girl that I taught in grade
7. Amy had a rough life with parents in and
out of drug rehab and she spent several nights
on the street. Our school had a policy of linking staff with students at risk. We were to
smile a little more, talk if the opportunity was
there and generally be there for them. Amy
called me two and half years later, thanked me
for the role I played in her life, and wanted me
I’d like to finish with a creed. Tonight’s social
theme is “I Am Canadian”. I’d like you to
focus on: I Am HPE! When the right spot
comes up – please rise and join me...
And I don’t give pushups for punishment
Or yell at kids
Or own a pair of short shorts
And yes, I did forget your name over
the years
But I’m sure you were a really nice
student
I follow the Program of Studies – not
the sport seasons
I teach physical education, not gym
And it’s pronounced HPECer, not
H-P-E-C
I can proudly paint the ABCD’s on
my gym wall
I believe in healthy schools not health
kits
Inclusion, not elitism
And that a man can teach yoga and
still hold his head high
Schlockey is a sport and a grocery bag
is a juggling scarf
And yes, I teach sexual education and
I’m good at it.
Health and PhysEd are the two core
subjects that extend your life
The first choice of students
And the best part of the school day!
My name is “____” and I am H-P-E!
Fundamental Movement Skills Series
PHE Canada’s Fundamental Movement
Skills (FMS) series is designed for generalist, physical education specialists and
community coaches to assist in teaching
fundamental motor and sport skills in an
effective, fun and interactive manner.
PHE Canada’s FMS series of handbooks and accompanying online video platform are valuable teaching tools to
assist in teaching and detecting early, intermediate and
mature skill stages in all basic motor skills. Both tools provide opportunities for auditory and visual learning for
teachers and students alike. By using the online video
platform, along with the print resource, users will
have access to video images as well as the technology
they need to upload their own videos to support analysis
and teaching.
Together the print manuals and online platform create a
user-friendly, multi-sensory teaching tool for both the
teacher/coach and the students.
FMS HANDBOOKS
FMS ONLINE VIDEO TEACHING TOOLS
These handbooks are perfect companions for helping
teachers and coaches to provide detail and recording tools
when teaching Fundamental Movement Skills. Each
FMS print handbook outlines a variety of basic movement skills, including:
The online video teaching tool is a video library designed
to support instruction in all learning environments. The
online teaching tool allows users to:
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Specific movement characteristics;
descriptions of movement patterns;
still photographs;
cue words and phrases;
an assessment/evaluation and a list of games/activities.
Collectively, this information provides the theory and
practice to teach fundamental motor and sport skills in
an effective, fun and interactive manner.
• View each motor or sport skill in video in two
different views (frontal and lateral).
• View each motor or sport skill in early, intermediate
and mature stages of development.
• View still shots of each skill’s key positions.
• Download handouts that profile the key positions,
characteristics and cue words.
Leading the Way S eries
LEADING THE WAY
Bringing out the best in children and youth
Leading the Way is an updated version of the Student
Leadership Development Program (SLDP), originally created
by the Canadian Intramural Recreation Association (CIRA).
The resource was developed to improve youth leadership skills
and to encourage participation in physical activity. PHE
Canada believes that opportunities for physical activity and
recreation not only promote healthier lifestyles, but also
represent ideal vehicles for developing leadership potential
among youth. Such opportunities also foster lifelong learning
habits.
We hope that Leading the Way will encourage young people to
learn how to successfully plan, organize and implement their
own programs. With appropriate training and tools, youth can
develop the skills to become independent, positive leaders who
are able to lead programs with minimal assistance from adult
facilitators.
Goals of Leading the Way
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To promote positive attitudes toward youth leadership, cooperation, and participation in intramural, Health Promoting
School and recreation activities.
To help youths learn to plan, organize and operate their own
programs with increasing autonomy and pride.
To develop youths’ individual and cooperative leadership
skills through participation in organized leadership groups.
To provide resources for youths and facilitators to use while
planning and implementing intramural, Health Promoting
School and recreation activities.
To reinforce leadership skills such as cooperation, trust
building, commitment, responsibility, decision-making, and
problem solving.
To develop lifelong skills through leadership training that will
benefit youths in all areas of their lives.
What’s new in Leading the Way
Since the first publication of the SLDP resource, many groups
beyond the school environment have found it to be both
practical and easy to use. In rejuvenating the resource, the
content has been revised and expanded for a wider audience.
The guide has been developed to support a culture of
cooperation, especially between the community and the school.
New accompanying handbooks, Active Living, After School
and Health Promoting Schools, reflect the importance and
value of these partnerships. Additional handbooks will be
continually added to the series.
S é rie sur le s habile té s motrices fonda me ntale s
La série de documents sur les habiletés motrices
fondamentales (HMF) d’EPS Canada s’adresse aux
enseignantes et enseignants généralistes et spécialistes
de l’éducation physique, ainsi qu’aux entraîneurs
communautaires. Elle vise à les aider à enseigner aux
jeunes les habiletés motrices et sportives fondamentales
de manière efficace, amusante et interactive.
La série de guides sur les HMF d’EPS Canada, ainsi que la
vidéo d’accompagnement en ligne, constituent de précieux
outils pédagogiques qui aident à appuyer l’enseignement et à
déceler les stades d’habiletés précoces, intermédiaires et avancés
liés à toutes les habiletés motrices fondamentales. Ces deux
outils donnent la chance au personnel enseignant et aux élèves
d’enseigner et d’apprendre de manière auditive et visuelle.
Les usagers ont accès à des images sur vidéo, ainsi qu’à la
technologue nécessaire pour télécharger leurs propres vidéos
à des fins d’analyse et d’enseignement.
Ensemble, les guides imprimés et la plateforme électronique
mettent au service des enseignants, des entraîneurs et des élèves
un produit d’enseignement à la fois convivial et multi-sensoriel.
GUIDES SUR LES HMF
Ces guides constituent le parfait compagnon des enseignants et
entraîneurs, puisqu’ils renferment des directives détaillées et des
outils d’enregistrement utiles à l’enseignement des habiletés
motrices fondamentales. Chaque guide d’HMF présente une
série complète d’habiletés motrices fondamentales, dont les
suivantes :
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Specific movement characteristics;
caractéristiques de mouvements particuliers;
descriptions de modèles de mouvement;
mots et phrases clés;
fiches d’évaluation et listes de jeux et d’activités
Ensemble, ces documents contiennent tous les éléments
théoriques et pratiques nécessaires pour enseigner les habiletés
motrices et sportives fondamentales de manière efficace,
amusante et interactive.
OUTIL D’ENSEIGNEMENT DES
HMF VIDÉO EN LIGNE
L’outil d’enseignement des HMF en ligne constitue une
véritable bibliothèque vidéo qui appuie l’enseignement dans
tous les contextes d’apprentissage. Grâce à cet outil, les usagers
peuvent :
• observer sur vidéo des images frontales et latérales de chaque
habileté motrice ou sportive;
• visionner chaque habileté aux stades de développement
précoce, intermédiaire et avancé;
• visionner des images fixes des positions clés de chaque
habileté;
• télécharger des documents à distribuer illustrant les
caractéristiques et positions principales, ainsi que les mots
clés.
Prendre les deva nts
PRENDRE LES DEVANTS
Faire ressortir ce qu’il y a de mieux chez les enfants et les jeunes
Prendre les devants est la version remaniée du Programme de
développement du leadership étudiant (PDLE) mis sur pied par
l’Association canadienne de loisirs intramuros (ACLI). EPS Canada
croit que la pratique de l’activité physique et les loisirs favorisent des
modes de vie sains et constituent des outils de choix pour développer
l’aptitude au leadership des jeunes, tout en favorisant de bonnes
habitudes d’apprentissage qui perdureront la vie durant.
Nous espérons que Prendre les devants enseignera aux jeunes comment
planifier, organiser et instaurer avec succès leurs propres programmes.
Avec la bonne formation et les bons outils, ils seront en mesure de
développer des habiletés et de devenir des chefs de file autonomes
et positifs capables de gérer un programme avec un minimum de
supervision adulte.
Buts de Prendre les devants
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Promouvoir des attitudes positives à l'égard du leadership étudiant,
la coopération et la participation au sein des loisirs intra-muros, et
dans les activités de loisirs et de promotion de la santé dans les
écoles;
Enseigner aux jeunes comment planifier, organiser et diriger leurs
propres programmes avec autonomie et fierté;
Développer des compétences individuelles et de groupe en
leadership chez les jeunes, par le biais de la participation au sein de
groupes de leadership structurés;
Renforcer les compétences en leadership, comme la coopération,
l'établissement de la confiance, la responsabilité, la prise de décision
et la résolution de problèmes et de conflits;
Développer des compétences permanentes chez les jeunes à l'aide de
formation en leadership et desquelles ils pourront profiter dans tous
les domaines de leur vie.
Quoi de neuf au niveau de Prendre les devants?
Au moment de remanier le PDLE, on a revu le contenu, puis on l’a
élargi pour atteindre une plus vaste clientèle. Le guide a été mis
au point de manière à encourager une culture de coopération,
surtout entre la collectivité et l’école. Les nouveaux documents
d’accompagnement, Une vie active après l’école et Promotion de
la santé dans les écoles, reflètent l’importance et la valeur accordées
à ces partenariats. La série continuera de s’enrichir de nouveaux
guides au fil du temps.

phe canada canada celebrates another successful pe day

Transcription

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