Introduction
The educational landscape involves an evolving field specifically involving Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) that aims to ensure that all students with special needs have appropriate educational facilities. These students, in particular, require unique services tailored to meet their needs and various adaptations. To achieve this milestone, Adaptive Physical Education (APE) should be incorporated, which plays a crucial role in the curriculum.
The APE establishes its mode of organization and adaptation relative to that of the high school education system that would ensure that students with physical needs are included. Hence, the research paper aims to showcase the essence of adaptive physical education in the high school context, relating to the physical education curriculum. The article will also provide some modifications to the physical classes to meet the needs of students with physical challenges.
Goals of Adaptive Physical Education
APE forms part of an integrative part of learning modified to meet the needs of students with physical challenges. It is tailored to ensure that these groups of students feel included and have equal participation in the activities in which the other students are engaging. All these will promote an equitable approach to creating opportunities in these physical education classes for all involved. Hence, the inclusive approach is crucial in promoting each student’s well-being and overall confidence (Franklin, 2020). An environment of diversity is also embraced in this manner, as all the students will be involved in the shared type of activities present.
Adaptive physical education will also need the presence of educators who are adaptable to provide the necessary environment during on and off sessions. Educators, hence, have a role in the educational landscape they will offer their students, particularly those with physical disabilities. These instructors have an ease towards adapting the teaching methods concerning the type of students they have and their needs (Franklin, 2020). In an environment of diverse students, they thrive and ensure they have explored all ways to make their students comfortable with the rest of the students concerning physical education.
Methods the Schools are Meeting APE
Implementing APE in the current school system happens in several ways, and it is reinstated in most high schools. The schools have an outline that indicates all students with disabilities have an IEP indicating their specific goals and needs (Horvat et al., 2019). They are then assigned adaptive physical education instructors who plan to meet their needs.
The high schools are also meeting the adaptive physical education curriculum by enrolling certified PE educators since they are better suited to handle the students regarding their specialization in the area. There is also the presence of professional development of these instructors, allowing them to learn about some of the latest strategies created in APE. The training programs of these instructors thus allow for regular updates in the specialization that would better cater to the needs of the diverse students.
Different Modes of Adaptive Physical Education
Modified Equipment with Activities
Students with physical activities may sometimes have a limited range of PE engagements during the sessions. In this manner, some of the equipment incorporating the kind of activities that the educators teach and involve the students might prevent these students with challenges from participating. Hence, they need modified equipment to participate in the program and some activities (Horvat et al., 2019). Accommodating these particular groups of students would mean unique kinds of help, such as modified wheelchairs used in sports racing.
The main aim of this modified equipment is to ease the work these students will have to face due to their difficulty in participating willingly during physical education activities. The students with upper body strength challenges might use Velcro balls or foam balls. These balls are lightweight and would enable the students to participate in wheelchair basketball and, in other cases, engage in seated volleyball. Lightweight rackets enhance the ease with which these groups of students participate during the physical education session.
Inclusive Team Sports
The prospect of this modification bases its foundation on the involvement of every individual during the activities, regardless of the conditions of the students. Inclusive team sports can hence be adapted in these high schools to ensure that the type of sport the educator comes up with can have all the students participate (Fernandez-Rio et al., 2020). Traditional genres of sports, such as soccer and basketball, are some of the sports that can be adapted to these scenarios to promote inclusivity.
The students with physical disabilities can hence play games that involve less running and movement, which would be strenuous for them to participate in. The rules can also be modified to allow all the students to participate and have an easier time during the entire time. An example of how this can be accomplished will relate to promoting teamwork for the students who play soccer on wheelchairs in cases of passing to avoid much movement. In this manner, the students collaborate, and harmony increases with increased levels of social interaction.
Swimming and Aquatic Therapy
Some activities are done during physical education, which might prove challenging to modify to accommodate students with physical disabilities. Another form of adaptation that can also enhance their active participation would be related to swimming and aquatic therapy. These water-based activities have some attractive advantages that would be useful in PE. They provide a unique chance for the students to exercise and mainly focus on developing their motor skills.
While there is a need for more supervisors during this kind of session, it is essential to note that aspects such as buoyancy would enable the students to reduce their physical limitations (Muñoz-Blanco et al., 2020). The sessions are therefore present to offer improvement on the muscle strength of these students while at the same time offering flexibility in the range of motion. They, hence, get to experience cardiovascular fitness just like the rest of the students, making aquatic therapy and swimming sessions a good fit for the adaptive prospects of the PE curriculum.
Individualized Goals
The students having physical challenges might face various cases, making having uniform targets and goals difficult. The main idea of an adaptable curriculum in physical education would hence allow for the modification of targets to individualized goals. These would relate particularly to individual students with diverse problems, making it easier to nurture and assess the level of involvement of each student (Hutzler et al., 2019). The individual goals relate to each student’s ability to accomplish specific tasks and also based on their current needs.
A particular example that might relate to this adaptation would involve a student with cerebral palsy who may have individualized goals indicating balance improvement. The students might also have their physical activities curriculum tailored towards coordinating movements through specialized exercises to facilitate easier participation with focused goals. The personalized approach to physical education allows the students to make progress at their own pace, which would lead to much success in the physical education quest.
Need for APE Programs
There are various significant reasons why implementing adaptive physical education in high schools would be essential. It is first highly reasonable to note that the students in high school take an interest in physical activities as a manner of asserting dominance and hence have increased interest in PE. The need to have these adaptable programs in physical education relates to inclusivity in the education curriculum.
Having an equity mindset in the form of cooperation of the students during the sessions helps to improve their overall achievement in terms of physical and mental health (Franklin, 2020). Their motor skills also improve, strengthening their overall physical fitness and enhancing the self-esteem of this particular group of students. Their academic performance increases, and they have better social integration just like the rest of the students, as there will be reduced stigma.
Conclusion
Adaptive physical education thus represents a modification of physical activities in which students are involved from their high schools. The curriculum generated plays a significant role in allowing for inclusivity and further addressing the various needs of those with physical challenges. Modifying these activities would include swimming and aquatic therapy, peer support with other activities, and modifying the equipment to allow for equal participation.
The need for these modifications relates to improving motor skills ranging from enhanced mind and body fitness to reducing stigma levels. Adaptability is, hence, a critical concept that instructors need to consider in the adaptive physical education curriculum. Some high schools are also already implementing APE in their curriculum.
References
Fernandez-Rio, J., de las Heras, E., González, T., Trillo, V., & Palomares, J. (2020). Gamification and physical education. Viability and preliminary views from students and teachers. Physical education and sport pedagogy, 25(5), 509-524. Web.
Franklin, M. (2020). TEACHERS CHANGING THE GAME: How Teachers Enthusiastically Build Powerful Student Relationships and Amazing School Culture. Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print US.
Horvat, M., Croce, R., Pesce, C., & Fallaize, A. E. (2019). Developmental and Adapted Physical Education -Making Ability Count. (6th ed.). Routledge.
Hutzler, Y., Meier, S., Reuker, S., & Zitomer, M. (2019). Attitudes and self-efficacy of physical education teachers toward inclusion of children with disabilities: a narrative review of international literature. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 24(3), 249-266. Web.
Muñoz-Blanco, E., Merino-Andrés, J., Aguilar-Soto, B., García, Y. C., Puente-Villalba, M., Pérez-Corrales, J., & Güeita-Rodríguez, J. (2020). Influence of aquatic therapy in children and youth with cerebral palsy: A qualitative case study in a special education school. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(10). Web.