Philosophy of Physical Education
By:
Kim Moss
PEMJ 575
Spring 2005
Philosophy of Physical Education
Physical Education is the study and practice of the science and the art of human movement. Physical Education gives individual the opportunity to learn to perform efficiently all the motor skills they need for every day living. Physical Education is also found in recreational activities in which students will become physically fit and know the relationship between physical fitness and health. Students improve their skills, knowledge, and attitudes which will help them lead active healthy lifestyles as adults. Teaching Physical Education is what I do and I enjoy it. Physical Education should be both “physical” and “educational”. We need to teach our students to lead a fit lifestyle. I want my students to enjoy activity and understand the importance of this in their lives. My classes are child centered, worthwhile, exciting, fun, and meet the needs of all my students. Children should be treated with respect and dignity. My students look forward to coming to class. My classes are challenging for all my students.
My philosophy of physical education is to encourage all students to develop an interest in being physically active now and for a lifetime. There are many ways in which I can encourage children in to being physically active. Three main areas that I choose to focus on are effective teaching strategies, modeling my own passion for being physically active, and using updated methods including interdisciplinary methods. One effective teaching strategy I firmly believe in is making sure all students can have a success rate of around 80% during class activities. Many students become turned off to PE if they do not have success. I will work on improving skills to many types of movements, activities and sports, use lead up games, to make sure students are successful at this reasonable rate. I understand that all children cannot have the same physical ability level so I create an option to make a task easier for a child or more difficult for a child so that they do not become too frustrated or bored while still learning the same idea. This helps meet the needs of each child. I believe in teaching with different methods such as command style, guided discovery, practice, and self-check to name a few. By using various methods, students may find other ways to learn that they may not have been able to learn previously in other styles. One way that I try to do this is cooperative learning/ education. Cooperative learning is extremely important for young children. They have to work on teamwork. I try to include some kind of teamwork building in my lessons. I also feel that critical thinking is extremely important. At the closure of each class period I ask them “what if” questions. They have to then respond after thinking critically to me how they would have changed the given situation. This seems to really engage them in both a positive and constructive way.
