What is Physical Education about?
Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.
Movement is integral to the human experience. It contributes to our hauora and is a means for lifelong understanding of our bodies, and living physically active lives. Movement is affected by and affects who we are and how we experience and interact with others and society.
Physical Education develops social, emotional, intellectual, and cultural capabilities which contribute to the way in which we understand tikanga in movement contexts, ways of participating in physical activity, and the wider benefits of movement to hauora.
At each stage, ākonga experience movement and learning to move by active participation in physical activities. As a result of this taking place in diverse settings, ākonga are able to understand and experience diverse perspectives of movement.
Physical Education allows ākonga to engage with how movement affects themselves, others around them, and their wider communities. They recognise and understand the challenges which affect participation in movement and respond to the barriers which exist in full and active participation in movement. Through their learning journey, ākonga will develop and refine their understanding of what it means to be physically educated and promote physical education throughout their lives.
Big Ideas and Significant Learning
Big Ideas are derived from the Learning Area essence statement and capture the essence of a subject, ensuring coherence rather than fragmentation of learning. At the subject level, they inform the Significant Learning – learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in relation to a subject by the end of each Curriculum Level. This covers knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes and also includes level-appropriate contexts that ākonga should encounter in senior secondary education.
The Significant Learning is collated into a Learning Matrix and progresses across Curriculum Levels 6-8. Teachers can use the Learning Matrix as a tool to construct learning programmes that cover all the 'not to be missed' learning in a subject. There is no prescribed order to the Learning Matrix within each level. A programme of learning might begin with a context that is relevant to the local area of the school or an idea that students are particularly interested in. This topic or context has to relate to at least one Big Idea and may also link to other Big Ideas. The Learning Matrix is designed so that educators have the freedom to create courses that are both flexible and coherent.
There are four Big Ideas for Physical Education – one overarching Big Idea, and three which explore the central strands of Physical Education, in, through, and about movement.
Overarching Big Idea – Movement is integral to hauora
This Big Idea summarises the essence of why we study Physical Education – the understanding that movement is fundamental to our lives, and contributes to the development of individuals and communities.
Learning in, through, and about movement makes a significant contribution to hauora. We learn in movement by developing physical skills and experiencing enjoyment and personal competence. Through our participation in movement, we are able to develop social, emotional, intellectual, and cultural capabilities. By learning about how and why people move, we understand what influences our own and the movement of others, as well as what has an influence on movement settings and trends.
Ākonga will have the opportunity to explore what movement means to them through different models of and approaches to hauora. They will engage in play, games, sport, exercise, recreation, adventure, and expressive movement in diverse physical and social environments.
In Physical Education, hauora is holistic and draws from physical, social, mental and emotional, and spiritual wellness. These aspects of hauora can be influenced by the way in which we move and approach movement. Aotearoa’s unique identity provides ākonga with the opportunity to explore the relationship between movement and whenua, and their connections to place and space, for example through mana atua, mana tangata, and taiao.
Participation in movement enriches our lives
This Big Idea focuses on the importance of taking part in movement and the joy it can bring to people’s lives. This recognises that in taking part in movement and learning to move, we can find enjoyment, enrichment, and make meaning for ourselves by moving. This not only contributes to an improvement in performance but has a positive impact on our hauora. Ākonga will explore their bodies as a taonga to be challenged, nurtured, and developed through movement, making meaning of their actions.
In each element of Physical Education, participating in movement is essential to understanding how it develops. We work with others in movement contexts, reflecting critically on movement, and developing personal and shared meaning of movement. Through this, we understand how the act of physical activity can develop identity and skills, and deepen understanding of how our lives can be enriched by movement.
At Level 6, this focuses on skill development and learning to move, as well as understanding how movement can be a source of enjoyment through engagement. This will progress to looking at improving to move and reflecting on strategies to improve movement at Levels 7 and 8.
Through movement we develop diverse capabilities
This Big Idea focuses on the capabilities and interpersonal skills which we gain through movement. This Big Idea recognises that movement is a powerful means of learning social, emotional, intellectual, and cultural capabilities that support the wellbeing of self, others, and society. These capabilities include effective listening, whanaungatanga, assertiveness, manaakitanga, showing empathy, problem solving, negotiation and compromise, mediation, and giving and receiving feedback.
These capabilities support ākonga to work more effectively with others to respond to new or challenging situations. Ākonga may engage with issues surrounding barriers to participation in movement, but they will also be equipped with skills to engage in issues related to wider social injustice in movement contexts.
At Level 6 ākonga will build their capabilities and gain a sense of how and why they impact others. In building unity, fostering strong relationships, and working collectively though kotahitanga, ākonga will gain skills and build an understanding of tikanga in movement contexts. They will experience and reflect on the ways in which they relate to others, and understand the implications of these interactions. This will enable them to participate more effectively in movement contexts, offering opportunities to explore different roles within a group, collaborate towards achieving shared goals, and manage challenging situations.
This will progress to exploring different leadership roles, reciprocal relationships in gaining and sharing knowledge, and how actions influence others at Level 7. At Level 8, ākonga will focus on future needs in responding to challenges within Physical Education and be responsive when implementing strategies in different contexts.
There are diverse ways of understanding movement contexts and the moving body
This Big Idea focuses on an exploration of understandings about how the body works, and ways to maintain and enhance physical experiences. It also explores the socio-cultural factors that impact movement and movement contexts.
Knowledge about the body and movement is contested and can be understood and critically examined from multiple diverse worldviews. Through criticality, we develop an understanding of tikanga in movement contexts and create meaning which is informed by ākonga bringing their own experiences and understanding and the concerns of their own communities. Ākonga will engage with a range of biophysical, socio-cultural, kinaesthetic, and embodied ways of knowing, through a te ao Māori lens and diverse cultural understandings.
At Level 6, this means exploring how different factors affect movement. Ākonga will explore biophysical aspects such as functional anatomy, exercise physiology, sports psychology, and biomechanics and how these relate to experience of movement and quality movement. Through exploring socio-cultural factors, they will provide criticality on representations of sport and physical activity in different forms of media and cultural settings and they will develop their ability to make sound choices for improving hauora.
This will progress to exploring value systems in communities and tackling barriers to participation, as well as the interrelationship between socio-cultural and biophysical factors at Level 7. At Level 8, ākonga will focus on choosing appropriate ways of engagement to respond to diverse needs and influence change on a systemic level.
Key Competencies in Physical Education
Developing Key Competencies through Physical Education
Ākonga who study Physical Education develop a wide range of skills which enable them to understand what it is to be physically educated and promote physical education throughout their lives.
Students in Physical Education will:
- understand that participation in movement is complicated and can be individualised
- consider appropriate ways of knowing
- reflect upon the impact of their actions
- devise ways of working which encourage all to participate in movement more fully
- understand that the body can be used to express thoughts, feelings, and identity, and learning to move in creative and useful ways contributes to who we are.
Using language, symbols, and text
Students in Physical Education will:
- be able to communicate in a range of ways so that they can manage, and thrive, in the diverse environments that they engage with, by devising and implementing strategies to improve skills, hauora, and knowledge of the subject means engaging carefully with language, symbols, and texts.
Relating to others
Students in Physical Education will:
- be able to understand that everyone has different attitudes and approaches to movement and physical activity
- relate to these differences through direct experiences in movement contexts
- understand the unique challenges and barriers which people face around movement
- formulate joint approaches to encouraging more active participation in movement.
Students in Physical Education will:
- share, reflect on, and understand that self is located within an intricate web of interpersonal, community, environmental, and institutional contexts, which creates complexity and uniqueness in their interpretation of self
- learn to manage self in challenging situations through kotahitanga and the roles they can play in kotahitanga
- adapt in diverse environments, learning that participating in new environments helps to clarify their own role in Physical Education and their approaches to it.
Participating and contributing
Students in Physical Education will:
- have the opportunity to construct environments that encourage people to actively participate in and contribute to setting and challenging narratives which exist in their communities and wider society
- promote and advocate for ecologically sustainable, safer, and better relationships with physical activity
- know that their leadership can positively influence hauora in others.
This section of New Zealand Curriculum online offers specific guidance to school leaders and teachers to integrating the Key Competencies into the daily activities of the school and its Teaching and Learning Programmes.
Introduction to sample course outlines
Sample Course Outlines are being produced to help teachers and schools understand the new NCEA Learning Matrix and Achievement Standards. The draft Course Outlines that were published at the end of Phase 1, Level 1 product development are now being taken down. Work will continue on these, reflecting the changes noted in the SEG responses, and the additional detail that will be provided in Phase 2 products. They will be re-published for the next cycle of feedback on the Phase 2 products in early August 2021. Exemplars of student work will be provided after the Pilot phase in 2022.
Unpacking The Standards
These statements help to unpack the ways in which the Achievement Standards assess the Significant Learning in the Learning Matrix.
1.1 (Internal) Actively explore movement in a range of applied settings
This Achievement Standard assesses the ability of ākonga to move in a range of applied settings. Through learning to move and demonstrating this learning in authentic contexts, the standard ensures that ākonga have the chance to be assessed directly on their movement.
The exploration of movement can take place in diverse competitive or non-competitive settings and draws on many aspects of Significant Learning, such as developing movement, challenging and managing self, and using capabilities in action. Learning and skills which contribute to this Achievement Standard include:
- exploring and refining technical and movement skills
- achieving diverse personal outcomes
- confidence to take risks and try new aspects or movement such as techniques and strategies
- strategic and tactical thinking
- managing challenging situations.
This standard encourages ākonga to express themselves and participate in movement so they can demonstrate in action how movement enriches their lives.
1.2 (Internal) Demonstrate understanding of strategies which enhance kotahitanga in movement
This Achievement Standard assesses the ability of ākonga to understand social, emotional, intellectual, and cultural capabilities, drawing on their ability to work together, manage challenging movement contexts, and incorporate diverse capabilities strategically in movement. It will take place in an applied setting and requires ākonga to show how they devise and implement strategies to improve the functionality and unity of a team. Ākonga will draw from multiple Big Ideas and Significant Learning for this Achievement Standard and show skills including:
- problem solving
- communication and cooperation
- decision making
- managing challenges
- goal setting
- being responsive
- understanding of tikanga
1.3 (External) Explore the relationship between movement and hauora
This Achievement Standard allows ākonga to share a personal interpretation of what movement means to them and how learning in, through, and about movement contributes to hauora.
This standard explores the Big Idea 'Movement is integral to hauora' and ākonga will express themselves by participating in one or more movement contexts over an extended period of time. This will enable them to express how lives are enriched and hauora is influenced by movement over time.
1.4 (External) Demonstrate understanding of influences on movement
This standard assesses the ability of ākonga to understand what influences movement, asking them to consider a range of biophysical and socio-cultural factors. Examples of socio-cultural factors can include gender, scientism, healthism, technocentrism, and the commodification of sport and physical activity. Examples of biophysical factors can include functional anatomy, exercise physiology, skill learning, biomechanics and sports psychology.
Ākonga will show their knowledge and understanding of how these factors interrelate and what contributes to full and active engagement in movement.