Importance Of Physical Education In Primary School

Importance of physical education in primary school

Introduction

Physical education is often associated with sport, and this implies that the subject is only justified with the increase in the time that the child spends, in order to approach the established recommendations. However, this creates a limited vision of its function, so it is essential that both children and parents, understand what physical education is for. Each person has a body and a mind, and will have these throughout their lives. Therefore, it is essential to attend them properly in every way, which needs the acquisition and consolidation of attitudes and habits. On the one hand, this subject is what gives prominence to the body and movement. The movement has the ability to become autonomous, competent and social beings. It allows us to meet ours. (Sotoca, 2018, Para.5) It is evident that this positively influences great problems of today’s society, such as sedentary lifestyle and inactivity; or obesity and overweight. When we move (we not only move doing sports), we improve our physical state, but, in addition, science explains that physical education benefits the functioning of brain activity, attention, motivation and perception, thus favoring health and health and physical, psychic and social well -being (Ureña, 2017).

Developing

As Cagigal (1983) indicated, physical education is above all education, it is an action that affects the whole person, not just the body. Its influence on psychological functions is due to the fact that it helps us to investigate inside, working emotions, abilities, and skills.

It is evident that this positively influences academic performance, since, by benefiting the functioning of brain activity in general, learning is improved. As regards social functions, it is one of the subjects that most encourage teamwork and the relationship with others, since direct contact with people is maintained. Therefore, values ​​related to the personal, such as perseverance, personal achievement, creativity …; But also social values ​​such as respect for others, cooperation, conflict resolution, or communication capacity.

However, there are many families who continue to think that physical education is a less important or necessary subject than mathematics, or language. Surely these families do not know (and that is why they have to explain), that, if children do not have a good body scheme, or good coordination, they can present difficulties in different aspects of their daily life (Nieto, 2017). Cagigal (1981) states: "Man did not become intelligent only speaking, but acting, exercising, moving, manipulating".

Value that students give to physical education in the primary stage

Primary students positively value the subject of Physical Education. In principle this seems a favorable fact, but it is likely that it is not so much. First, because this assessment is compared to physical education, with the rest of the subjects. It is logical that, given this situation, there is the advantage that physical education is a less theoretical subject, which is usually more motivating than rigorously following a book.

Another factor that influences this assessment is evaluation. In primary, no written tests in this subject are usually done, and this makes it considered an easier subject, and that is why you like. The easy concept can be associated with that of less important, and, therefore, this would be negative. Therefore, this assessment really leads us to consider that physical education is not taken enough. At the moment of truth, both parents and children, they show more concern and dedicate many more hours to the other subjects. Children see the subject as an escape route to the classroom, as another recreation, in which they almost demand from the teacher a free time at the end of the class, something unthinkable in other subjects. They like them because they have fun, but do they see the functionality to what they do, or see simple "games"?

Finally, it is interesting to observe gender differences, and some stereotypes that include. These stereotypes attribute different features, attitudes, or behaviors for each genre. In the work on gender, physical activity and school stereotypes (Blández, Fernandéz and Sierra, 2007) it is found that gender stereotypes related to the subject are present at primary education levels . It continues to associate with boys with strength activities, and competitiveness; And to girls with rhythm and expression activities. This shows an incorrect approach to the subject that would be confusing students, since all children should be motivated, to be overcome, regardless of their physical abilities or background.

The improvement of physical education status

More and more researchers, and organizations that defend the importance of physical education, but their space in the school curriculum does not vary, and even decreases over time. Aiming to improve the status of the subject, the main thing is to have time to do so. On the one hand, following what is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2010) children must perform at least 60 minutes daily in physical activities of moderate to vigorous intensity, assuming spending a longer time, something even more profitable for the Health. In this sense, Spain would have an important lack in terms of number of hours dedicated to the subject, especially taking into account that not all the time established is the one that is really used or dedicated. However, this is not established in other countries, which do take into account the information available and the multiple justifications.

To these limitations are added those that exist in terms of space and material. To be able to satisfactorily develop the sessions, adequate facilities are needed that can deal with the various unforeseen events that may arise in the day to day, since the unique characteristics of this subject (in which we will deepen later), make that work possibilities decrease. Likewise, having varied spaces and materials, increases the possibilities of work, as well as their shortage, hinders them. The more the students prove, and the more diversity of experiences experience, the more they will know, and the more they will have to continue doing it in the future.

It is also necessary to mention the fact that it should be mandatory, that this subject was given by a specialist teacher, who knows the subject, and knows how to act. In the opposite case, perhaps due to lack of knowledge, or trust and security, there are erroneous approaches and actions with respect to physical education. Disinformation is synonymous with failure, and if a teacher does not know his subject or does not like it, he is likely to have a wrong vision of this. As a result of this unfortunate performance, many children believe that physical education is playing, running and jumping. On the contrary, evaluate student learning styles and adapt didactic intervention with active, significant, and functional methodologies, supposes great preparation and commitment. In short, as Ureña (2017) said in the Congress of Deputies, physical education should be recognized as a trunk subject, and add to this also the introduction of motor competition and quality of life. In this way, it would be recognized that your contribution is fundamental, and therefore necessary for a professional and personal life.

Differences between physical education and the rest of the curriculum materials

We know that physical education is different from the other subjects by the fact that it develops in a scenario that is not the classroom. However, this is not the only reason, because this fact influences more factors. The established number of hours looks greatly reduced, since you have to move (round trip), and usually there is also a space for personal toilet. If you add the explanations, there is little time to be able to take advantage of. On the other hand, if there is no pavilion (which is common), being outdoors involves exposure to weather conditions that cannot be controlled. In this sense, even the distribution of the hours can harm and must be taken into account, since there are circumstances may not be appropriate to develop a class. So, we must have previously designed and sometimes available alternatives, very different from the usual ones.

Another characteristic feature of the subject is the direct involvement of students. This directly affects the development of the class, since it allows the work of a large amount of theoretical content in a practical way. Unfortunately, this can be a problem, since if it is not clear what you work and why, students may not be aware that at the same time they have fun, they can learn. This is why many times, not being valued, students believe that they can decide what to do in class (free time, football …).

Consequently, it can be affirmed that physical education has the peculiarity of being necessary in all its dimensions, regardless of the path that is chosen in the future. Because your body and mind will always accompany you, and if they don’t teach you to use them, problems appear. Finally, in relation to this, I would like to add a situation that I lived. Some time ago they began to give me panic attacks, for having an extreme anxiety level. All this implies to me a small depression, and two things caught my attention: first, I did not know that it was anxiety, much less that I could have depression; And, secondly, that one of the things that the doctor told me was to do sports, to walk, to move me, to do things, and to relate me. With this I want to demonstrate the ignorance that there is, and how it can affect not having information about something as basic as the body and mind. All this, only this subject teaches you, which deals with the three vital dimensions to be a healthy person, and therefore, happy: physical, psychic and social.

Bibliography

• Blández, J., Fernández, e. And Sierra, M.A. (2007). Gender, physical activity and school stereotypes: the students’ perspective. Curriculum and Teacher Training Magazine, 11 (2), 1-21. Recovered from https: // www.UGR.is/~ recfpro/rev112art5.PDF
• Carretero, r. (2015, April 24). Physical education teachers mobilize to demand more hours of their subject [message in a blog]. Recovered from https: // www.Huffingtonpost.ES/2015/04/24/EDUCATION-PHYSICS-COLEGIOS_7091904.HTML
• Carretero, r. (2015, May 6). 7 reasons why physical education teachers demand more hours of their subject [message in a blog]. Recovered from https: // www.Huffingtonpost.ES/2016/05/05/EDUCATION-Physics-Horas_N_9847110.HTML 
• Garcia, g. (October 30, 2017). Why your children should do more sport. The world. Recovered from https: // www.the world.es/life- health/body/2017/10/30/59f2242C468AEBA67C8B458.HTML
• González, c. (2018, February 23). What do children talk about when they talk about physical education? (2017) Alberto Andrés-Gutiérrez; Carolina Andrés-Gutiérrez; José -ignacio Barbero-González [Message in a blog]. Recovered from https: // carlesgonzalezarevalo.com/de-who-speaking-ninos-when-speaking-of-educion-2017-Alberto-Andres-Gutierrez-Carolina-Andres-Gutierrez-Jose-Iignacio-Barbero-Gonzalez/