Innovative ways of presenting PDHPE content
It is timely now to reflect on the implementation of the Years 7-10 PDHPE syllabus and think about new, innovative and engaging ways of teaching the syllabus content in order to make it relevant and intriguing for students. In this article we provide you with some practical ideas for different ways to present content in order to get students critically thinking about what they are learning.
Think outside the book. PDHPE is a dynamic subject. Information in our Key Learning Area is constantly changing and updating. To rely on textbooks for health information is fraught with danger, as the content can soon become outdated. Research shows that students value PDHPE lessons that provide them with accurate and up-to-date information about issues that are important to them, providing further reason for using up-to date resources.
As is evident from the research presented in the professional reading on Current brain theory and research into adolescent development, it is important to make learning relevant for adolescents. If students can see a purpose for the learning outside of the classroom, then there is more chance that they will engage in the activity.
The best way to make learning relevant is to use their passions and pursuits outside of school as the vehicle for their learning. Following are a range of practical examples of how to bring students’ hobbies and interests into the classroom.
The world wide web provides an excellent vehicle for engaging young people. Most parents of teenagers will attest to the fact that the Internet engages young people in a way that no other medium has before. Young people can be found blogging, chatting, messaging and surfing for hours after school. How can we capture some of that enthusiasm and level of concentration and bring it into the classroom? Here’s a few ideas.
Blogs, chat rooms, MSN messenger and SMS seem to be the main avenue for communication between young people. For those unaccustomed with the lingo, a blog is a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary), that provide a personal commentary or news and information on a particular subject.
In the strand Self and relationships in Stage 4, students explore interpersonal communication and the changing modes of communication for young people. They learn to evaluate these popular mode of communication e.g. blogs, SMS, messaging, chat rooms. This content provides a perfect opportunity for students to develop and design their own class blog on an issue of importance to them. Students as a class, or in smaller groups, can create and manage a blog and then develop strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of this method of communication. The following links will take you to class blogs developed by a Year 6/7 class http://www.cridlandweb.com/6-7blog/ and a Year 3/4 class http://alupton.wordpress.com/. To find out more about how to start and manage a blog, check out the following websites.
EDNA online - http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/pid/4314
Blogger.com - http://www.blogger.com/start
There are some things that you need to consider when creating a blog for use with students. A detailed description of these considerations can be found on the Australian Government’s NetAlert website at http://www.netalert.net.au/02582-How-can-children-stay-safe-using-blogs.asp.
Further information about the use of blogs in PDHPE programs and blogs that already exist on health and physical activity issues can be found on the PDHPE Unit website at www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/pdhpe.index.htm
If students aren’t ‘surfing the net’, many are playing X-box or Playstation games. You can liven up your dance units, particularly for boys, by getting them to choreograph movement sequences that replicate some of the action in their favourite computer games.
Many of your students will be spending their spare time outside of school reading the latest teen magazines, such as Girlfriend and Dolly. Use articles from these magazines for discussion stimulus and to analyse the messages they are giving teenagers.
Magazine makeovers are a great way of getting students to become critical consumers of information and messages contained in teen magazines. Get students to become the publishers of a magazine for teenagers. Students take on the various roles required to design and publish a magazine, such as editors, journalists, graphic designers, columnists etc.
Students make the decisions about the type of magazine, name, target audience (boys and/or girls), and issues that will be addressed in the articles. You could link this in with any of your units of work that explore the influence of the media on health decisions and behaviour (Outcome 5.7), accessing and assessing health information (Outcomes 4.8, 5.8) and the impact of peers and the media on the selection of health products.
This activity provides students with the opportunity to critically analyse the messages and information provided in teen magazines and the accuracy, reliability and bias of this information.
Another favourite pastime of teenagers is watching soapies and DVDs. These shows involve many of the issues that young people are confronting in their everyday lives. Using scenes or snippets to stimulate discussion about a situation is a good way to get students to think about the options in a range of situations. Shows like Home and Away, Neighbours and OC involve adolescent characters that are always in the midst of some sort of personal drama.
Footage from these shows could be used to explore risk, strategies to minimise harm and personal safety in Stage 4 (Outcome 4.7) and challenges and opportunities (Outcome 5.2) and influences on health decision making (Outcome 5.7) in Stage 5.
The sorts of activities you could engage students in whilst exploring this content could include:
Finish the scene where students watch part of a scene, for example where a character is having trouble dealing with a significant challenge in their life. They then write the script for the remainder of the scene.
Play the role takes the previous activity one step further where students take on the roles of the characters to act out the remainder of the scene.
Fast forward is an activity where students watch part of a scene and predict what might happen next. Students then propose what impact their predicted outcome might have on the characters and their relationships e.g. if the scene is a party where two characters are having a heated discussion, a negative response from one character may result in the party erupting into a fight. Get students to script a number of scenes that may occur later in the night and provide different options for how the characters respond in these situations.
Real life role plays build on the previous activities to get students to put some of what they have learnt into practice. It involves students identifying what actions or behaviours they will try to build into their life during the upcoming week to make their interactions with people more positive. Provide an opportunity in future lessons for students to describe the actions or behaviours they implemented and the effect it had on their interactions.
Reality TV is another interest of young people – Big Brother, Survivor, Honey We’re Killing the Kids are all prime time favourites. Each of these shows provide great stimulus for discussion on issues e.g. relating to others, conflict resolution, challenge and risk and influence on food choices. Taking this one step further you could get students to design their own pilot for a Reality TV show. They decide the format, participants, focus of the show, setting etc. Students then develop a “script” of the first episode that highlights or reflects the issues from the syllabus that they are dealing with in their show.
There are also lots of students in our classes that love to watch televised sporting events. This footage can be used to explore concepts around aspects of movement skill development such as anticipation, timing and technique (Outcome 4.4 and 5.4), applying mechanical principles to enhance performance (Outcome 5.4) and appreciating movement composition and performance (Outcome 5.5).
To engage lovers of team sports, you can show footage of a weekend game and pause the video at key points. Students use the still shot to explain aspects of positional play, strategies and techniques in ‘Peter Sterling’style.
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