Friday, 28 November 2014

Bad Beginning of a (Nice) Adventure - about Physical Education in Polish schools several years ago (and hopefully not now)



fit, healthy, physical education, physical activity, healthy lifestyle


Physical Education was a subject at school that I always hated. Straight A’s from everything else and barely D from PE. I was slim, I was healthy and fit so why? When I think about it now I know it was due to Polish educational system and my teachers. PE wasn’t about being active and having loads of fun, it was about passing tests. I can still remember how at the beginning of elementary school my best friend and I tried to throw a 3kg ball behind us to score A. And however hard we tried, we never managed to achieve that since we were so skinny, we could barely hold the ball above our heads. Or later when we were learning how to play volleyball and our teacher right at the beginning of that school year picked a few girls who were afterwards properly trained to represent our school at tournaments and the rest of us were just given a ball to kill time with. Of course at the end of the semester we had to pass tests from playing volleyball and I guess you know who was not doing well then ;-) And since I did not like the feeling of doing badly, I hated Physical Education even more.

My daughters have been attending international schools and that is why I have had a chance to see a completely different system of physical education. It focuses on making sure pupils are active and engaged. It realizes not everyone is going to be a champion but everyone should be given opportunity to try different sports. It grades students on the basis of approach to the subject and not achievements.  It results in students loving their PE classes and I am sure it also results later in adults treating physical activity and fitness not as a must but as a normal part of a balanced lifestyle.


0 коментара:

Post a Comment