PE at school. Have they got the methods wrong?

saverholic

I loved PE at primary school and grew to hate it with an absolute passion whilst at secondary school. It put me off exercise for years as I thought I 'wasn't good enough to bother'.

I was never going to be an olympic athlete but being singled out in front of the entire class by the teacher as an example of (in her words) 'how to do it wrong' was hardly necessary and certainly not encouraging. Hearing her call me a 'silly little !!!!!' under her breath certainly didn't help.

PE was an exercise in humiliation nothing more. Our results were posted on a wall in a 'read at a glance format' for the entire school to see. I can imagine the outcry if the maths department decide to put everyone's grades up for the school to see.

Oh and don't bother 'forgetting your kit', you had to do it in whatever was available in the lost property regardless of size, completeness etc so you could find yourself half dressed and in clothes 2x your size and you were automatically given detention.

I agree that PE is an important part of the curriculum I just think that the way it is delivered can be counterproductive in the long run.

Instead of spending 5 yrs trying to teach me the rules of hockey, none of which I can remember now, what would have been more useful was showing me that exercise can be fun and not a chore. Unfortunately I had to learn that by myself as an adult.

balletshoes

aliasojo wrote: »

But that's exactly why schools should re-assess their methods.

It shouldn't be about getting *whatever* mark in their sports assessment. It should be about encouraging kids to enjoy and participate in exercise willingly for their whole life.

If they do it right, the kid's interests will broaden and then they might just be a little less likely to hate PE/exercise and want to xbox instead.

All we're doing now, is discouraging them them, albeit unintentionally.

so what types of PE should we be encouraging in secondary schools?

(I agree with getting rid of communal changing rooms by the way).

I didn't hate PE in high school, wasn't particularly sporty. To be honest I think the activity I disliked most was in the gymnastics hall, vault, tumbles etc etc - I could never get the hang of it, couldn't even really do a forward roll. None of that was competitive, it was just going through the motions.

I liked trying new activities out - we had basketball, volleyball, table tennis, badminton, indoor and outdoor hockey, netball and ballroom dance :eek:! in the first 2 years, indoor and outdoor football, tennis, field and track, and swimming. Through my 5 years at high school I was complete rubbish at track (and cross-country running in the depths of winter, hated hated hated it and used to just hide in the cemetary a mile outside of the school grounds :cool:), football, gym, dance and table tennis. But I was okay at the others, liked a few of them enough to play for the school/compete for the inter-house cup etc.

Lunar_Eclipse

aliasojo wrote: »

I can't help feeling the school PE regime put me off and things might have been different if PE was less regimental and more fun.

then is it not time to look at the methods used?

Totally agree with you. And as much as I hate to admit this, it's why we opted for a single sex senior school, that places a lot of emphasis on sport participation (effort). She does far more sport (daily), most by choice, than she ever did at primary school and is much fitter as a result.

Our children have joined a fair number of local sports teams and love them (netball, hockey, football, rugby, cricket and tennis in the past) so I'd recommend that if you want to encourage your daughter to be more active. We've found that because it's voluntary, for the children and typically the coaches, that the environment is far more positive and encouraging than a typical school environment can be.

balletshoes

Justicia wrote: »

Goalpost...??

(of course, I jest! )

I hated PE at school, except for cross-country (through the fields and over the "green bridge" over the railroad tracks) in the summer months.

your are very lucky - cross-country was always done at our school in either December or January/February - and none of us were allowed to wear jogging bottoms. It could be freezing and there could be snow on the ground - and we'd still be sent off on a 1, 2 or 3-mile run while the PE teacher painted her nails in the staff room.

Lunar_Eclipse

Communal showers? Still? Not at any of our local senior schools.

Person_one

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Totally agree with you. And as much as I hate to admit this, it's why we opted for a single sex senior school, that places a lot of emphasis on sport participation (effort). She does far more sport (daily), most by choice, than she ever did at primary school and is much fitter as a result.

Why does single sex make a difference? PE is almost always done in single sex groups even in mixed schools isn't it? We only had to join in with the boys if staff were off sick!

Person_one

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Communal showers? Still? Not at any of our local senior schools.

Mine still had them in 2001 with no indication of it changing anytime soon.

*Shuddering at the memory*

saverholic

Person_one wrote: »

Mine still had them in 2001 with no indication of it changing anytime soon.

*Shuddering at the memory*

ok and all of a sudden my school doesn't seem so bad lol we had a mix of communal/single stalls. There were always enough stalls for those who wanted them.

Person_one wrote: »

Why does single sex make a difference? PE is almost always done in single sex groups even in mixed schools isn't it? We only had to join in with the boys if staff were off sick!

We only joined with the lads if someone was sick or the staff blatantly CBA. Playing basketball when you are used to the rules of netball always ensured we were roundly thrashed :rotfl:

balletshoes

Person_one wrote: »

Why does single sex make a difference? PE is almost always done in single sex groups even in mixed schools isn't it? We only had to join in with the boys if staff were off sick!

yes, mostly it was single-sex classes for us, but we always had swimming and ballroom dance as mixed classes, and I vividly remember doing mixed hockey when we were in 4th year - wow that was brutal!

Dunroamin

I loved PE, whether games, gym or dance. We had one day a week when we didn't have anything and I found that really depressing. I can't see what all the fuss is about when it comes to doing things in bad weather - you don't put your life on hold just because it's raining!