Physical Education Of and Through Fitness and Skill

Abstract

Fitness and skill are embedded constructs that have been the primary foci of the field of physical education. The emphasis of one of these constructs over the other is a matter of context that cannot, given their embedding, lead to the exclusivity of one in the education of and through the physical (Williams, 1930), particularly as we seek to develop more efficacious school based systems of physical education that transcend into a lifespan perspective for the individual. The NASPE national standards for physical education and sport provide a broad, integrated, and age-related plan for fitness and skill within physical education but the degree to which the goals of this plan are actually realized in schools is in question. It is proposed that a lifespan agenda for fitness and skill will be more appropriately and effectively realized by emphasizing and exploiting in practice: a) a balanced and integrated approach to the knowing how and knowing that of physical education; b) the macro level constructs associated with physical activity, such as joy, meaning and values; and c) the time scales of influence to movement and physical activity in an integrated healthy lifestyle.