Informal Learning and Health- Lecture 8

Question 1

What is the main view about health within physical education and sport?

Answer 1

Health is just one aspect of physical education, sits alongside several other aims and a history of ‘games dominance’.

“Sport and rational recreation are seen as they key medium through which health might best be achieved (Armour and Harris, 2013; Smith, Green and Roberts, 2004. )”

Question 2

Explain the concept of Fitness for Life vs Fitness for Performance?

Answer 2

(Harris and Leggett, 2015)

FfL:
*Draws upon a wider public health message
*Concerned with promoting positive lifestyles that are conducting to good health
*Focuses on participation

FfP:
*Draws upon the wider message from competitive sport
*Concerned with promoting health to enable attainment in sport
*Focuses on performance in sport

Whilst many will claim that they look for a FfL outlook through school participation, its more likely that many within educational systems will move towards a FfP perspective.

Question 3

An example of more holistic health and well-being?
New Zealand

Answer 3

The philosophy of Hauora
* Hauora is a holistic conception of health, encompassing physical, mental, social, and spiritual dimensions (Ministry of Education, 2007). Embraces Maori cultural values -strong focus on family and community (whanau) (see Gerdin et al., 2019)

Question 4

What can be the effect of more performance based heath and sport?

Answer 4

Can lead to the creation of body related hierarchies, create a culture of exclusion within sport and an increase in equalities.
Creates a comparative nature which doesn’t reflect a holistic nature of health.

• PE practices that are aligned directly to improving health tend to privilege certain pedagogies and make assumptions about the body (Fitzpatrick, 2019)

Question 5

Explain the concept of “privileged bodies”?

Answer 5

The idea that when we start to relate sport and health, we may begin to enforce and embody class and economic standing within physical education.

Question 6

Explain the concept of the Overt curriculum vs the Hidden curriculum?

Answer 6

The subtle messages and differentiated curriculum around notions of gender is part of the hidden curriculum.

Question 7

Give an example in Literature of how we can examine discourses?

Answer 7

Discourses are… expressions of particular interests and values. They create and promote particular meanings and they endorse particular ways of thinking about issues’
(Penney, 2000, p. 61)

Techers draw on discourses circulating in public health and media which intersect with their understandings of their own pedagogic practice.

Question 8

What did Goodyear and Armour state in 2021 regarding informal learning environments?

Answer 8

• “In order to be educative, schools need to recognise implicit and explicit curriculum learning experiences across disciplines of knowledge, acknowledging that much of what students learn in schools is in addition to what educators intend, and that extensive learning occurs beyond schools”
  (Goodyear and Armour , 2021; 3)