Primary Physical Education: The Concept Curriculum

Primary Physical Education: The Concept Curriculum

Written by Lee Sullivan @Lee_Sullivan85

“The development of fundamental movement skills can provide the foundation from which children move with increasing complexity, variety and versatility in a range of activity areas. Whilst developing these skills children are also able to build on social, affective and cognitive learning opportunities.” (Griggs & Randall, 2022)

Introduction

Physical education (PE) has a unique and significant role to play in nurturing physical literacy. PE should provide every student with the opportunity to build a strong relationship with physical activity. It should be a positive and meaningful learning environment within which every young person feels included and valued. Yet, for so many, PE is doing the opposite. It is a humiliating, alienating and a demotivating experience that is turning many away from the life-long benefits of physical activity and the joy of movement. We must evolve from the traditional sport-specific, technique-driven, performance obsessed PE delivery for the sake of our subject and for our young people’s future.

ABC (and D) of PE

When reflecting upon the purpose of PE especially in relation to the aims of the National Curriculum we must consider the ABC’s of being:

Active for sustained periods of time,

Building positive relationships with PEPASS

Competence in a range of activities and environments

and, we also have an opportunity to add a D by:

Developing character, knowledge and understanding through physical activity

The D should not replace anything from our ABC’s, but can be used to enhance our offer and build stronger connections to our subject and physical activity.

Conceptual Learning in PE

PE has an opportunity like never before to re-examine how we get every child off to the best possible start and lay the foundations for a physically active life.

A concept is a powerful idea that can co-exist alongside a performance focused objective and therefore enable all to succeed in their own way. Students can develop intra and inter-personal skills, gain a better understanding of their body and minds as well as explore the world around them, all through conceptual learning and engaging in physical activity. Therefore, the sport and physical activity become the vehicle for learning. Delivered alongside engaging and meaningful physical activities, a concept curriculum can better enable an inclusive environment to ensure that PE also stands for Positive Experiences.

By introducing a conceptual learning objective, we are offering an inclusive hook to students that might previously have felt alienated by a less relevant or achievable lesson focused solely on acquiring or replicating a sporting skill or technique. PE is not just sport and sport is not just skills, techniques, rules and competition. It is important to note that conceptual learning does not replace the physical or competency development of a PE lesson. It is time we looked to harness the full power of sport and physical activity to deliver a more meaningful and positive learning experience.

Introducing Know, Grow, Show

In the Primary Concept Curriculum, we are introducing three lesson objectives created by Becky Bridges (@becky_bridges): Know, Show and Grow.

Firstly, the ‘know’ learning objective is designed to focus on the cognitive domain and declarative knowledge. This objective aims to develop young people’s understanding of what safe and successful movement looks like, the rules, conventions, regulations, strategies and tactics for participation in different activities and what health and fitness mean in context.

The ‘show’ learning objective focusses on the physical domain and procedural knowledge. Within this objective young people will develop fundamental movement and activity specific skills, such as knowing how to perform safe and effective movement, how to perform the rules, conventions, strategies and tactics in a sport and know how to participate in an activity.

The final learning objective, ‘grow’, focusses on the affective domain and conditional knowledge with a link to an overarching concept to develop young people holistically.

With the inclusion of this learning objective, the lesson is not purely focused on the performance of skills within an activity, but knowing why they are performed, when they are performed and what holistic characteristics can be applied and developed through the activity and beyond the PE classroom.

Having this blend of know, show and grow learning objectives lends itself naturally to increased inclusivity and engagement.

The Primary Concept Curriculum

The Primary Concept Curriculum was written to get children off to the best possible start in our subject. In early years children discover, explore and practice fundamental movement through immersive stories and engaging activities. All whilst learning important concepts that will help them on their journey in PE and beyond. From age 7, the aim is to create healthy achievers, confident creators, mindful communicators and motivated movers. With a clear lesson framework, explicit instruction, inclusive lesson objectives (know, show, grow) and thorough teacher resources, the Primary Concept Curriculum looks to build teacher confidence and enhance the student experience. 

The Secondary Concept Curriculum

Research has shown that students find meaning when they find the learning personally relevant and can connect the learning from the lesson to other aspects of their lives (Beni, Fletcher, 2022). The students that find learning in movement personally relevant, will continue to do so. However, the addition of the inclusive ‘grow’ objective aims to engage students that are not motivated by developing movement competence alone. As with the Primary Concept Curriculum, the purpose is not to create more resilient students, better leaders or stronger communicators. Although I strongly hope this transfer occurs, the aim is to provide an inclusive hook to engage all so that we can meet the aforementioned A, B and C of PE. 101he Secondary Concept Curriculum lessons have been designed to work alongside existing sport/activity schemes of work and each unit, comprising of 6 lessons, can be delivered in the order the teacher decides best work with the practical activity. Each year group has a focus and the concepts for that year group relate to the respective focus. The curriculum map identifies the conceptual learning element as well as the activity the concept will be delivered through.

Summary

This article has aimed to highlight an innovative approach to primary and Secondary PE delivery. One which shifts the focus from a purely sport-specific and performance focused form of delivery to one that offers inclusive hooks and explicitly looks to develop character through physical activity. Primary PE is a vital part of the physical literacy journey and one that can build the foundation for a lifelong relationship with physical activity. 

To find out further information around the Primary or Secondary Concept Curriculum and to access the full resources visit the PE Scholar website. 

For any questions related to the Primary and Secondary Concept Curriculum email Lee Sullivan at Lee@PEScholar.com or Direct Message on Twitter @Lee_Sullivan85

About PE Scholar

Outstanding resources, expert-led courses, bridging the gap between theory and practice. Helping physical education thrive.

PE Scholar Is a website and professional community that aims to promote high quality, meaningful and positive PE experiences. We offer a range of resources, courses, research, insights, and contact with experts all aimed at supporting PE teachers become the best possible educators. Please visit www.pescholar.com to find out more.

References

S. Beni, T. Fletcher, et al. (2022) Meaningful PE. Routledge 

G. Griggs & V. Randall (2022) An Introduction to Primary Physical Education (Second Edition). Routledge: London. 

What's next?

Back to content page - 2023 SPEA Newsletter Issue No.1 (June/July)

Click here for previous issues of the newsletter. 

Keen to share any ideas or practices, comment on key issues or contribute to the news letter? Click here for more details.

Be part of the community. Join SPEA as a member. Enjoy members' benefits! We like to thank our partners for their generosity and continual support. 

Stay connected with us at

SPEA NOTES Instagram Page

SPEA Facebook Page (Under Construction)