Introduction
This program is designed for a Year Three class based on the Education Queensland Scope and Sequence and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority curriculum documents. The health program is developed to respond to the topic of Food and Nutrition as the part of Health and Physical Education (Year Three). The designed program can be discussed as purposeful and helpful to promote students’ health and safety in relation to their healthy food choices and effective nutrition.
Inquiry for Healthy Decision Making (Rationale)
The area of Health and Physical Education (HPE) is significantly changed today according to the tendencies of reforming the HPE curriculum to address the needs of the community and promote healthy habits and healthy lifestyle among students. While focusing on a radically different approach to developing the curriculum, the topic of Food and Nutrition is taught to provide students with the equitable and inclusive experience along with the essential knowledge of the healthy choices and diets (Brooker, 2006; Department of Education Queensland, 2008).
The principles of healthy eating are taught and learnt today to guarantee students’ being healthy within the community, and the program responds to the contemporary socio-cultural perspective to present the practical materials and evidences, following the specific aboriginal perspective (Cliff, Wright, & Clarke, 2009, p. 167). Moreover, the focus on the links between the physical, academic, and intellectual development is observed as the promotion of the healthy lifestyle and eating habits can contribute to the students’ success in the other spheres of life (Rossi, 2006, p. 13).
Thus, the content of the Health Program (Food and Nutrition) as the part of Health and Physical Education in Australia helps students to understand and determine the difference between healthy and unhealthy choices and to make right healthy choices in relation to food and diets to promote their wellbeing (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2013).
The topic of the Health Program is important in the context of Health and Physical Education because students make their choices regarding the food to eat every day, and these choices influence their wellbeing. The Food and Nutrition Health Program is necessary to contribute to the personal and community health because students learn to interpret different types of messages about food to make the healthy choice.
Inquiry Learning Theory
Inquiry learning provides children with opportunities to develop basic decision-making skills related to food choices necessary in their daily life with the help of real-life practices. Focusing on the direct involvement in the process of learning, teachers can use the designed program to teach students make healthy food decisions with the help of active practices (for instance, developing food pyramids, making healthy recipes). While involving students into the active learning according to the principles of learning through the personal experience, teachers can contribute to better learning results and completing the set learning objectives according to the curriculum standards (Department of Education Queensland, 2008).
Adjustments Related to Learning Needs
Students’ learning needs in relation to the designed program are closely associated with their everyday needs to receive the appropriate nutrition, to prevent the development of obesity, to satisfy the physical needs, and to contribute to well-being. The proposed activities presented in the program are effective enough to address the discussed needs in connection to general capabilities such as literacy, critical thinking, personal capability, and others because the development of these capabilities is necessary to use the tools and exercises to satisfy the students’ learning needs. As a result, the program is important to develop students’ skills in relation to critical and creative thinking and decision-making abilities to respond to the needs in indentifying and investigating different messages about healthy habits, diets, and lifestyle.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). Revised Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education. Web.
Brooker, R. (2006). Curriculum knowledge and understanding change: Two significant discourses in Health and Physical Education curriculum making in contemporary school education. Australia: The Australian Association for Research in Education Conference.
Cliff, K., Wright, J., & Clarke, D. (2009). What does a ‘sociocultural perspective’ mean in health and physical education? In M. DinanThompson (Ed.), Health and physical education (pp.165-182). Australia: Oxford University Press.
Department of Education Queensland. (2008). Scope and Sequence: Years 1-9. Australia: Queensland Education.
Rossi, T. (2006).Teaching health and physical education in Australian schools. Australia: Pearson.