Abstract
A curriculum is important to both the students and the school instructors and therefore the two parties should be considered in its development. The physical education is an important part of the school curriculum although it is neglected in most schools. This essay therefore looks at the importance of physical education in the school curriculum.
Secondly, the paper discusses the importance of instructions and the ability of students to follow them as well as the role-played by effective instructions in overcoming constraints by students and school instructors. Finally, there is the incorporation of school’s curriculum with physical education instructions.
Physical education Curriculum
Instructions determine how a learning institution is run and therefore are very important. There are different forms of instructions such as verbal and written instructions and the choice of the mode of instruction depends on their suitability in relation to the parties concerned. Choice of instruction mode also depends on various factors such as the type of instructions, the information, student’s level and student’s abilities.
The most important determinant of the mode of instructions is the subject considering that all other factors are held constant. This implies that the school management and curriculum developers should develop a curriculum that is free from constraints to the students as well as the instructors (Curzon, 1985).
In addition, a curriculum that is free from constraints is beneficial to the students and the instructors because it makes work easier.
In the modern age, the use of technology has increased and therefore schools and learning institutions have embraced technology. In schools, the use of technology comes in as an extra tool and as a teaching aid to instructors. In particular, schools can apply technology as a means of instructions and therefore the student’s ability to follow instructions is determined.
Although technology can be of great benefits to the school instructors and students, most institutions have not fully utilized these benefits. As stated by Taylor (2006), although the emerging technologies have many benefits as a means of instruction their benefits are not reflected in schools. From this statement, it can be concluded that most schools do not benefit from technology due to lack of implementation.
The statement also shows that use of technology contributes to the passing of instructions by the school instructors. Howell (2003) confirms this statement and goes on to give Ontario schools as some of the schools that have not fully applied technology as a means of instructions despite having ability to do so.
This statement confirms that technology can be of great importance in the instructions of students and that most schools have not fully exploited this resource (Usher & Bryant, 1989). Instructions determine the level of success in physical education and therefore physical education instructors should consider applying technology as a means of instructions to overcome constraints.
A curriculum that is free from constraints takes care of all the concerned parties. The curriculum should be more concerned with the students and their potentials, which is determined by various factors such as the learning ability of the student as well as the ability to follow instruction.
Studies have also shown that there is a great difference between the modern students and students from previous years and therefore a good curriculum should consider this factor all the time. In order to overcome constraints curriculum developers should develop a curriculum that takes care of the two categories of students.
Recent research indicates that most schools neglect physical education at the expense of other subjects. These studies also show that there is a close relationship between a school performance and the promotion of physical education in the schools. In most of these schools, lack of clear physical education instructions is the main indicator of the neglect of the subject.
Technology can also be used as an effective means to measure or evaluate the impact of technology use and the level of instruction delivered to the students. As noted by Trucano (2005), the effectiveness or the ability of means of evaluation depends on the applied technology and therefore the ICT technology plays an important role.
This statement implies that in addition to application of technology, schools and school instructors need to evaluate the effectiveness of technology in their schools.
The statement goes on to indicate that the ICT technology is the best measure that should be applied in the evaluation process. The measure of effectiveness of technology use as a means of instructions to the students also determines the purpose of the curriculum to the students and the school.
There are various reasons why it is important to analyze the use of technology as a means of instruction in schools. Any relevant analysis in this field should focus on both the students and the school instructors (Tyler, 1949). A meaningful analysis should focus on students past experiences in the ICT field and the use of ICT technology as a form of instructions to the students.
The analysis should therefore focus on the past use of technology by the students in both schools and homes. The next purpose of the analysis should be to investigate the mode and style of reading instructions and the student’s performance. Although a curriculum is mainly composed of instructions and plans, the evaluation part is important in the curriculum development (Grundy, 1987).
From this statement, Grundy confirms that the evaluation of a curriculum is as important as the curriculum. Grundy goes on to add that the curriculum analysis process contributes or determines the student’s ability to follow instructions and this is important in physical education. According to Lieberman, (2007) theory, educators need to re-structure their definition and interpretation of literate activities and practices.
This theory indicates that the school curriculum should also focus on the practical side of education instead of fully focusing on the theoretical aspect of education alone. An analysis on this theory indicates that incorporation of technology as a means of instruction on physical education characterize modern day education effectively.
As stated by Biggs (2003), any valid analysis on following of instructions in any curriculum should be based or focused on the students and their abilities. This statement implies the importance of curriculum analysis and the importance of focusing on the student in any analysis process. The statement also indicates that analysis on curriculum is important to both the instructors and the students.
In addition to this, curriculum analysis assists curriculum developers in the identification of areas of constraints among students and means of avoiding these constraints.
As mentioned above, even though most schools are well established their system mainly focuses on the theoretical aspect of education at the expense of practical education. Therefore, evaluation and analysis of the school system should be done regularly (Smiles, 2007).
Basic assumption
As praxis curriculum is a process that depends on planning and implementations on top of the set guidelines and procedures that are followed. Planning and implementation requires cooperation between the students and the school, where the students should have the ability to follow instructions.
In addition to that, the students and the school instructors should be at the same level in the understanding and use of instruction, which implies that the school should adopt instructions that correspond to the involved parties. As stated by Hirt (2008), improved communication in a school enhances the instructions used and the student’s ability to follow instructions.
Creswell (2003) goes on to confirm that effective communication at the school level is both important to the students and the school instructors. In the physical education, instructions have an important role as compared to other subjects learned in school and is driven by instructions and therefore communication are vital for its success.
Communication effectiveness in schools indicates that the students and the instructors should be at the same level in terms of communication and use the same means of communication. The ability to communicate also depends on the ability of both parties to use the available and existing forms of technology within the school.
Potential challenges
The success of the proposed curriculum depends on several factors, which are determined by either the student’s abilities or the school environment. In addition to this, the success of the proposed curriculum will mainly depend on the student’s ability to follow instructions. School instructors mainly develop instructions and therefore most instructors will not have major problems in giving out instructions.
The students are more affected by these instructions than the instructors are and therefore as the instructors develop instructions they should consider the students (Kelly, 1999). The instructors should therefore consider that the students are engaged in other learning activities on top of the physical education.
This requires that the instructions developed for physical education are familiar to students and at the same time, they should be friendly (Kelly, 1983). A familiar and a friendly curriculum should be considerate of the other subjects and courses that the students are taking so that they can be flexible.
Learning of instructions by the students is not a simple undertaking and therefore the instructors should design instructions that are easy to learn and follow (Piotrowski, 2000).
In addition to this, the instructors should develop instructions that can be applied in other areas of studies that the students are engaged in. Instructions that are applicable in multiple areas are of benefit to both the students and the instructors since they save the time required for learning and teaching new instructions.
Conclusion
Although most schools are aware of the importance of physical education, most school programs lack this important component. Physical education is very important in the development of the students however; unlike other curriculum, physical education depends mainly on instructions. The suitability of instructions also determines the effectiveness of these instructions.
Although technology has proved to be an important part in school’s development, most schools have not fully adopted the use of technology. Technology plays an important role in instruction process and therefore schools should consider its application in the physical education curriculum. The effectiveness of technology use in schools is determined by the school’s technology level and the student’s ability to use technology.
Suitable instructions are instructions that are easy to learn and implement. In addition to that, suitable instructions should be applicable in a multiple of areas since they save the students the time needed to learn new instructions. Although physical education is highly dependent on instructions, the success of instructions mainly depends on their suitability to the students
References
Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for quality learning at university. Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Creswell, J. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (2nd ed.). California: Sage Publication.
Curzon, L. B. (1985) Teaching in further education. An outline of principles and practice 3e. London: Cassell.
Grundy, S. (1987). Curriculum: product or praxis? Lewes: Falmer Press.
Hirt, M. (2008). Maximum middle school physical education. Illinois: Human Kinetics.
Howell, S. (2003). E Learning and paper testing: Why the gap? Educause Quarterly, Vol. 4, 8-10.
Kelly, A. V. (1999). The curriculum. Theory and practice 4e. London: Paul Chapman.
Kelly, A. V. (1983). Curriculum development: Theory and practice. New York: Harcourt Brace and World.
Lieberman, L. (2007). Paraeducators in physical education: a training guide to roles and responsibilities. Canada: Human Kinetics.
Piotrowski, S. (2000). Issues in physical education. London: Routledge.
Smiles, S. (2007). Physical education: The nurture and management of children, founded on the study of their nature and constitution. Madison: University of Wisconsin.
Taylor, A. R. (2006). A future in the process of arrival: Using computer technologies for the assessment of student learning. Web.
Tyler, R. W. (1949). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Usher, R. & Bryant, I. (1989). Adult education as theory, practice, and research: The captive triangle. London: Rutledge.