Faith Steele
Supervisor: Dr. Peter Arthur
City: Kelowna
Occupation: Elementary and Physical Education Teacher
Year: 2027
Subject:
- Curriculum
- Other
Description
“Statistics Canada (2025) reported that in 2022-2024, Canadian youth spent 10.6 hours of the day sedentary (not including sleeping hours). Would this be the same if their teachers had more Physical and Health Education that they could share with students, families, and communities? For teachers to comfortably teach Physical Health Education (PHE) and incorporate it into their everyday teaching, it is important that they feel confident, that they understand the content and its importance, and that they know how to translate the content into teachable contexts for all grades. The better PHE education teachers receive, the better PHE education they give the students. When students are receiving a PHE education that is rooted in physical literacy, nutrition literacy, and sleep literacy, that is taught through the lens of lived experiences and experiential education, they are more likely to be active/healthy for life. To support the development of a more effective PHE curriculum, this paper reviews the findings of relevant scholarship and aims to answer the question “What does the scholarship show about the components of an effective PHE curriculum?” This research question emerged from the author’s experience teaching Physical Health Education in a small rural middle school. The lack of Physical Health Education curricular knowledge and confidence came up in conversation a lot with colleagues. Most teachers admitted that they were omitting teaching health, even though it is in the curriculum, because they lacked content knowledge and confidence. This inquiry focuses on creating a stepping stone to a curricular solution. Rethinking the curriculum and the pre-service teachers’ PHE course can better support teachers and, in turn, support learners’ future healthy and active lifestyles. The end goal would lead to more in-depth learning experiences for teacher educators in this field and increased confidence of educators in physical health education, in turn supporting students’ ability to make informed healthy choices for life.”
Student Biography
My name is Faith Steele, and I am a teacher trained in elementary and physical health education. I am also a kinesiologist with a focus on clinical exercise physiology and pediatrics. When I began my career as a physical health education teacher, I was thrilled to see my two worlds collide; however, I was shocked to see how much my field needed more content knowledge in the realm of health education. I immediately chose to dive into curriculum design and find a way to better support teachers in their learning about PHE and, in turn, better support students to be healthy for life.