Innovation in the 21st Century…Movement!  Humans were born to move. Our bodies are wired sub-consciously and consciously to move.  These movements grow with time, as we experience the world around us. It helps us in our daily lives preventing us from getting hit by a bus or falling down the stairs, feed ourselves and eliminate bodily wastes. Movement helps us to perform runs to the highest peaks, swimming the largest channels, and riding across countries.  And if your crazy enough maybe tri a quick mix of all three in less than 10 hours! #unstoppable

Life is movement. Cradle to your last step before the grave, we are all in constant motion.

Where are we now?

We are a world in crisis, according the the World Health Organization (WHO) 1-4 adults, and 3 in 4 adolescents (aged 11 – 17 years) are not meeting recommended activity guidelines (1). Yes, I said 3 in 4 adolescents! There are a plethora of reasons for this and we all could name a few right off the top of our head that solidify why we didn’t go for that walk, or park a little bit further, or get up in that seminar or missed the gym. And these reasons are costing us a lot of money. According the WHO its estimated that around 68 billion dollars is attributed to inactivity which not only includes the health effects but the lost of productivity (1). #lotsofzeros

Understanding Physical Literacy

The WHO has even put together The Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030.(1) However, if physical activity is the answer why are people not doing it? We all know that “keeping fit and having fun” is better for us, but why don’t we do it? #bodybreak

Let’s think about literacy, numeracy or playing an instrument for a moment.  Over time we develop these skills, first we identify the letters, these letters then help us to construct words, those words the help us to make a sentences, sentences help us to make a paragraphs, paragraphs help us to write stories and stories turn into novels.  If you never learn the letters then your less likely to have the know how to write a sentence or if you never learn how to write a paragraph your less likely to write a book.  And over time, we experience different forms of literacy i.e. web sites, nutrition labels, TV advertisements etc. and become competent in our ability to understand and apply what is being communicated.  The same can be said for movement. There are fundamental skills that need to be taught in order to build a diverse movement repertoire.  Imagine if you only learned the first 10 letters of the alphabet how difficult it would be.  #frustration

Over the last seven years I’ve been studying and participating not only in the curricular development but also the sport development of the concept of physical literacy and its clear delineation from physical activity, physical fitness and fundamental movements.  You see by definition “Physical Literacy is the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge, and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life.” -The International Physical Literacy Association, May 2014.   By definition Physical Literacy is as much about the brain and resulting behaviours as it is about the physicality of movement.  How you feel about physical activity and the enthusiasm associated with it is the affective brain and directly relates to one’s confidence to participate.  The ability to identify the benefits and apply safety features to different physical activity environments is the thinking brain which supports motivation to get it done.  Taking responsibility and valuing lifelong participation is the behavioural brain which again supports long term motivation. Having the ability to develop movement skills and patterns in a variety of settings at different durations and intensities is the physical competence. So physical literacy is a much about the brain and its behaviours as it is about one’s ability to move.(2)

Shifting the Norm.

We can’t stay the same, we know too much about the physical, mental, emotional and social benefits of movement. The Japanese call it ‘Kaizen’ continuous improvement, so over the last year I’ve been working with our administration, staff, students and school community to look more intently at our students physical literacy experience at HSC.  We have done a lot of great things to date to inform, promote, align and create opportunities for students to build their movement repertoire. We are beginning to look more intentionally at our environments – physical education, recess, intramurals, athletics, our equipment,  our scheduling  and instructional practices in order to enhance student movement experiences and increase their competence and confidence to move. The more opportunities we provide to embed and improve student’s movement experiences within their school day, the more they will learn to value it as a part of their everyday life. #PL4Life

On a side note if your thinking about academics…

With the recent release of Participaction Report Card we know that movement matters not only for their bodies (and ours) but their brains as well. So spending a little more time moving more and sitting less might actually make better all around students. #epiphany 

  1. More information about the The Global Action Plan of Physical Activity 2018-2030
  2. Consensus Statement – -The International Physical Literacy Association, May 2014.

1 thought on “Innovation in the 21st Century?

  1. A poweful case for mandatory physical and health education – am I right? At my school, our amazing Phys Ed department are doing all they can to support students in the domain of Physical Literacy. I love this post and your research as well. I don’t know if your school is a part of OPHEA, but we leverage their work and their ‘certification’ to encourage our whole school to get behind it – both as students and as an educational organisation.

    Thanks for this post!

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