PDHPE Movement Education

1. The following presentation will explore
the primary health and physical
education approach of Movement
Education.
This presentation will include;
 An overview and direct exploration
of what Movement Education
involves.
 Justification and research behind its
implementation in our primary
health and physical education
program.
 A rationale and discussion on its
importance as a teaching approach.
Movement
Education

2. Movement Education
Approach
A movement approach to physical education involves placing movement at the centre of
learning through primary physical education. Movement education, when used as an
approach to teaching physical education, is integral in promoting a student centered,
autonomous view of learning which highlights the importance of movement in a holistic
education program. Chen furthers this view by suggesting that movement education is
responsible for providing students with problem solving skills, team work, social and
emotional skills as well as an autonomous and continual passion for physical education
(2002).

3. To achieve a successful movement approach to physical education,
motivation for students needs to be a top priority in fostering and
maintaining interest and passion for a healthy lifestyle focused on
wellbeing (Van Aart, Hartman, Elferink-Gemser, Mombarg &
Visscher, 2015). Movement education has two distinct sub strands
that make up its composition which are a Game Sense approach and
fundamental movement skills.
Movement Education
Approach

4. Game Sense involves using games to interact with physical education and using games
as a means to adapt and differentiate for all learning styles and abilities. As supported by
Light and Georgakis, game sense places the students at the centre of their own learning,
encouraging autonomous and intrinsic motivation to pursue physical education (2007).
Game sense is used in our Primary Health and Physical Education program because it
encourages social inclusion and encourages participation in all physical activity (Munk &
Agergaard, 2015). It is important for our Year 3 students to participate in Game Sense
because its focus is on understanding rather than demonstrating skills.
In our school, Year 3 incidentally develops fundamental movement skills by engaging
with a game sense approach. Fundamental movement skills are important as they are the
basis of many activities in physical education, but development of these skills are
undertaking with the holistic approach of modified games.
Approaching Fundamental
Movement Skills through Game
Sense

5. Examples from our Class
Our Year 3 class have used invasion and target games as a means of developing critical thinking
skills and decision making but also in developing fundamental movement skills while working in
a team. Examples of these games are shown below and in every invasion or target game, no
student is ever left out or excluded. Students take on leadership roles in each game and
demonstration and modification occurs before each game, setting every student up for inclusion
and participation.
Team Soccer where
each student must
touch the ball for the
team to score
Poison Ball. Where
students must determine
their own challenge in
teams to hit a designated
target. Completely
student centered.

6. Rationale of the Importance of Movement Education
As stated in the NSW Board of Studies K-6 PDHPE syllabus, in order for students to
maintain a healthy lifestyle, a primary health and physical education program must foster a
holistic, whole-being approach (2014). Movement education addresses this holistic
approach to health and physical education by engaging physical movement with critical
decision making, social inclusion and embodied awareness for an educational experience
that is meeting the varying abilities of diverse students (McMahon & Huntly, 2013). In
addition to Game Sense and Fundamental Movement skills, a movement approach to
education is important as it has a strong focus on wellbeing. As reflected by Thorburn, the
promotion of wellbeing in a healthy movement approach shifts a outcome based approach to
physical education to a participatory approach (Thorburn, 2014).

7. Movement Education Approach as a Teaching Strategy
Movement Education is used in our primary health and physical education program because
of its strengths in supporting wellbeing for our Year 3 students while still promoting a healthy
and active lifestyle. Our program supports critical decision making, by implementing games
that involve invasion tactics and students are consistently changing their course or goal
throughout the games, strengthening their critical decision making process. This idea links to
the NSW Board of Studies PDHPE k-6 syllabus, by using games to become aware of
students “spatial and positional awareness” (BOSTES, 2014, p. 42). Similarly critical
decision making links to the outcome of “uses a range of problem-solving strategies” which
is important across all of Year 3’s key learning areas (BOSTES, 2014, p. 25).
Similarly, by creating a safe and supportive environment,
our program uses participation and team cooperation to
encourage social inclusion, not only in health and physical
education but across all interactions in the school. This is
emphasising that discrimination should be challenged and
each student has the right and the responsibility to maintain
and be proud of their “personal values” (BOSTES, 2014, p.
42).

8. Movement Education Approach as a Teaching Strategy
Most importantly, the strength of using Movement Education in our primary health and
physical education program is that it allows the students to build on an awareness and
discover aspects of the human body and how it can shape our feelings, emotions and
motivation. Through movement and experimentation of movement, Year 3 are
discovering physical body changes, body functions and even “female and male
characteristics” (BOSTES, 2014, p. 42). Using the physical element of movement
rather than academically learning about their own bodies provides Year 3 with context
that is relevant to their own individual bodies, rather than a generalised approach to
body awareness.
In an appropriate manner, students are learning about themselves and how this
functions in their world, while participating in a future focused lifestyle based on
healthy and active choices!

9. References
BOSTES, Department of Education. (2014). Primary development, health and physical education k-6 syllabus. Sydney,
Australia: Author.
Chen, W. (2002). Six expert and student teachers’ views and implementation of constructivist teaching using a movement
approach to physical education. The Elementary School Journal, 102(3), 255-272.
Light, R., & Georgakis, S. (2007). The effect of game sense pedagogy on primary school pre-service teachers’ attitudes to
teaching physical education. ACHPER Australia Healthy Lifestyles Journal, 54(1), 24-28.
McMahon, J. A., & Huntly, H.E. (2013). The lived and living bodies of two health and physical education tertiary educators:
How embodied consciousness highlighted the importance of their bodies in their teaching practice in HPE.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(4), 31-49.
Munk, M., & Agergaard, S. (2015). The processes of inclusion and exclusion in physical education: A social-relational
perspective. Social Inclusion, 3(3), 67-81.
Thorburn, M. (2014). Values, autonomy and well-being: Implications for learning and teaching in physical education.
Educational Studies, 40(4), 396-406.

10. References
Van Aart, I., Hartman, E., Elferink-Gemser, M., Mombarg, R., & Visscher, C. (2015).
Relations among basic psychological needs, pe-motivation and fundamental
movement skills in 9-12-year-old boys and girls in physical education. Physical
Education and Sport Pedagogy, 28(1), 1-20.
Sally Bushell: 1774 0630