Why does our senior course in NSW have no movement?

I have been looking with interest at the Stage 6 Dance syllabus. It really leaves the PDHPE Stage 6 course for dead when we look at the content. The main reason? It actually assess movement and student's use of movement.

One of the biggest weaknesses of the PDHPE syllabus in NSW is that we study and assess concepts related to movement, well, sitting down. One of the key elements of the syllabus is assessed through pen and paper. In Dance, the students get to choreograph, they get to costume, they get to study history, they examine the elements of biomechanics and physiology in depth and most importantly, they get to dance. They have a key assessment component involving movement. It is the same with music, the students get to perform!


Why don't we have this in PE? Maybe we have not resolved the issues of how to assess the movement components as it is related to the isolated way we teach games and sports and that there is a large amount of expertise developed outside the learning time in schools. Still that has not affected the area of dance or music. Nevertheless, whatever the reason, we are short changing one of the unique and mots valuable areas of the subject and as a result, students don't really have to have done junior PE to do well in senior in NSW. It also means that the range of PE skills in our tertiary students doing Physical and Health Education are like having Year 3 Maths students in a course with those who have done extension mathematics.

Here is my ten cents worth for a Senior course to be added to the National Curriculum. We can call it Games and Sports and the course would revisit each of the game categories and then Principles of Play for each. We then look at the underlying principles of strategy and tactics, decision making, communication, reading the game and relate to each of the categories. We then look at energy systems, biomechanical principles, ways of improving motor skill and look at some of the specific elements that are similar and different in each of the categories. Students can then look at an individual sport in each of the categories as their key area of elected study, developing both observational skills and analytical skills in each of the areas through play and through observation but the play would be in a specific sport as their elective but in more generic games that allow the representation of the elements by the students in the Core. They can then be assessed on the areas and of game play using the resources that they have, just like a dancer uses the resources of their dancers when they choreograph. The choreographed piece would however be in game play and the adaptations the players make. The elements of the game play can then be examined in the theory component of the exm as well as the psychomotor and training elements.

Its fairly embryonic and needs development but its a start. Still a number of elements to resolve to develop assessors and assessment but its worth starting the conversation.

What do you think?

Greg