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| STAFF: |
Ms. S. Hunter
Department Head |
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The Place of Health and Physical Educaton in the Curriculum
The health and physical education curriculum has been designed to provide learning experiences that will help students realize their potential in life. Students will develop:
- an understanding of the importance of physical fitness, health, and well-being and the factors that contribute to them;
- a personal commitment to daily vigorous physical activity and positive health behaviours;
- the skills and knowledge they require to participate in physical activities throughout their lives.
The expectations outlined in this document concentrate on the development of personal fitness, competence, skills, attitudes, and knowledge that will help students deal with the variety of personal, social, and workplace demands in their lives. The primary focus of this curriculum is on helping students develop a commitment and a positive attitude to lifelong healthy active living and the capacity to live satisfying, productive lives.
Healthy active living benefits both individuals and society in many ways: for example, by increasing productivity, improving morale, decreasing absenteeism, reducing health-care costs, and heightening personal satisfaction. Other benefits include improved psychological well-being, physical capacity, self-esteem, and the ability to cope with stress. The expectations within this curriculum promote healthy active living through the development of physical, social, and personal skills. This practical, balanced approach will help students to move successfully beyond secondary school.
Many of the expectations in health and physical education courses, such as those related to healthy living, active participation, and movement skills, are fully emphasized only in this curriculum. For example, such expectations as participation in physical activities for sustained time periods, knowledge of guidelines for safe participation in physical activities, and informed decision making related to healthy sexuality are central to this curriculum. The health and physical education curriculum provides students with learning opportunities that will help them make positive decisions about all aspects of their health and encourage them to lead healthy, active lives.
The health and physical education curriculum also promotes important educational values and goals such as tolerance, understanding, excellence, and good health. These values are reinforced in other curriculum areas, as well as in society itself. Parents, schools, health-care agencies, peers, businesses, government, and the media are all vital partners in helping promote these values to students. Working together, schools and communities can be powerful allies in motivating students to achieve their potential and lead safe, healthy lives.
There are clear connections between the expectations in health and physical education and those in other subject areas, such as guidance and career education, science, and social science. For example, all of these subject areas share the goals of developing life-management skills, identifying social realities, interacting positively, working independently and collaboratively, enhancing healthy lifestyles, and examining contemporary social issues. The unique expectations of the health and physical education curriculum help improve student learning in all subjects. Subject matter from any course in health and physical education can be combined with subject matter from one or more courses in other disciplines to create an interdisciplinary course. The policies and procedures regarding the development of interdisciplinary courses are outlined in the interdisciplinary studies curriculum policy document.
Taken from the Ontario Ministry of Education Curriculum 9 - 12 |