Physical Education Grades 5-8

By Gyula Gergely

In 1999, the Hungarian Ministry of Education approved a project entitled “Improvement of Students’ Mental and Physical Health through the Development of an Assessment and Quality Control System”. The project was completed in June 2001 with a final study conducted by the Centre for Program and Curriculum Development at the National Institute of Public Education, containing recommendations for the “Physical Education Quality Control System” and exact data to assert that such a system would also involve personal and material prerequisites. These figures were used to support a subsequent initiative launched by the Ministry of Education when it became necessary to draft proposals concerning possible subject development.¹ The research data were not of a representative nature, and so could only be used as an informative guide. Consequently, it is impossible to make a professional comparison between the earlier figures and data gathered in 2001, on one hand due to the lack of thoroughness, but also because different sets of questions were used in each survey. It is worth referring back to a few indicators and some earlier conclusions, however.

Conclusions could be grouped in two main categories. In the first, we included all tasks that could be achieved within the framework of short-term strategic development e.g. administrative measures must be taken to improve medical screening procedures and financing as well as to increase the time devoted to physical education in the form of regular lessons and extra-curricular activities. Tasks that require long-term planning involve the improvement of school facilities (the construction of gymnasiums, swimming pools and fitness centres as well as the renovation of existing indoor and open-air facilities). The legislation passed during the two-year interim between each survey served only to create the conditions for an increase in the number of physical education lessons held in primary schools – upcoming research will reveal whether schools actually took advantage of the opportunity to hold four PE lessons a week. At the time the final manuscript was submitted, we knew only that the Ministry of Education had announced a tender for the improvement of school facilities.

The data presented here is based on a survey authorised by the Ministry of Education to assess the current circumstances of physical education in grades 5-8 of primary school.

Personal conditions

The survey included a total of 140 primary schools. Among the teachers who participated, 43.5% are female and 56.5% male; two colleagues did not disclose their gender. Earlier data that comprised both levels of training indicated that 65% of PE instructors are female, which means that the male to female ratio on the upper level of primary school is more positive than the total ratio for both levels. Both surveys indicate that the gender ratio among PE teachers is more favourable than the total ratio for all teachers – 75% and 43% respectively. The average age of participants in the survey was 42.3 years; the youngest teacher was 23 and the oldest 65 years old. The amount of time spent in the field of education ranged from 1 to 40 years (average: 16.52, total dispersion: 10.30). 8.6% of participants were certified primary school teachers, 64.3% were also qualified to teach at the secondary school level, and 24.3% also held university degrees (among the latter, 17.8% had attended universities specialising in physical education); 2.3% did not provide answers concerning their qualifications.

  Figure 1
Qualifications of PE instructors

The total number of weekly lessons held by participants ranged from 1 to 35 (average: 14.6, dispersion: 7.86). The average number of lessons corresponds to the highest number of lessons held by all of the 2,185 teachers who participated in the survey. At the same time, PE instructors held an average of 5 lessons more per week than their colleagues in other subjects, with only a 0.7 dispersion rate between the two.

We were also curious to find out about lesson planning. More than 50% of PE instructors created their local lesson plans by modifying other curricula (earlier data on both levels of training indicated close to 50%). 21% of colleagues used other curricula as an outline for their planning (earlier 20%). There is a significant difference between the number of PE teachers working in the upper grades of primary school who created curricula independently (14.8%) and their colleagues who teach at both the primary and secondary school level (27%). A true comparison will be possible when research currently in progress is completed. We also asked PE instructors to indicate on a scale of 1–5 the extent to which they had to revise their local curricula to meet the conditions of the Framework Curriculum. Their answers indicate that the degree of revision necessary to adjust physical education curricula based on the structure provided by the National Core Curriculum (NAT) was less than average (2.64). At this point, it is also worth referring to the questionnaire conducted by the University of Physical Education. Among other things, PE instructors participating in this particular survey were asked to indicate whether political and social changes justified making alterations to curricula. Based on the 1,164 replies that could be assessed, it was revealed that the majority of participants (86%) felt curricula should remain valid for at least 10 years (with centrally regulated content) as opposed to making frequent changes. In this regard, data indicated an important discrepancy in favour of PE instructors employed at the university level: researchers determined that college and university instructors may have a vested interest in curricular development, which explains why they would justify making changes, even within a ten-year period.²

Teachers would like to see curricular content expanded in the following areas: ball games (19.8%), swimming (18.2%), leisure sports (15.8%), athletics (14.3%), skills-development, self-defence, fitness exercises (6.3%), winter sports (4.7%), physiotherapy and gymnastics (3.9%). Instructors would decrease the physical education regimen for students on the upper level of primary school in the area of fitness exercise (14.5%), and self-defence and contact sports (4.2%). 11.4% would omit the latter from the Framework Curriculum entirely.

Based on the NAT structure, 57% of PE instructors prepared local lesson plans by modifying other curricula, 21.5% by using other curricula as a guideline, and 14.8% independently; 3.7% adapted existing curricula with no modifications (see Fig. 2). The data described above tells us that 8% of those surveyed are certified to teach physical education in the upper grades of primary school. It can be presumed that in smaller communities teachers who specialise in other subjects also conduct PE lessons, which gives us reason to believe that it was primarily teachers in this group who did not take responsibility for creating local curricula in physical education.

Teaching materials from the Framework Curriculum used in making adjustments to local curricula was considered optimal by 79% of instructors, while 11% regarded the material to be “maximalistic” and 10% thought it to be insufficiently planned. The overall requirements of the Framework Curriculum were considered optimal by the majority of instructors (73%), insufficient by 16% and too maximalistic by 11%. Figures show that teaching material and requirements set in the Framework Curriculum for the upper grades of primary school served to meet practical needs. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that 6% of instructors who indicated the teaching materials to be optimal also felt the requirements were insufficient. No doubt, this was compensated for when creating local curricula. We are aware that physical education is a subject that demands many prerequisites. In schools where sports facilities are of a low standard and/or equipment is lacking, the demands stipulated in the Framework Curriculum may seem to be unrealistically high. On the other hand, in places where conditions are good, requirements might be regarded as insufficiently planned. This is not merely an issue of formality, but a determining factor in terms of how well the curriculum can be taught and the quality of skills-development. As a consequence, institutions where conditions are optimal offer a more complex arrangement of skills-development in which activities conducted during PE lessons comprise a system that is far more open to the integration of other activities (forms of movement). In contrast, wherever poor conditions serve to reduce the scope of activities, arrangements designed to enhance the motivation, skill, and knowledge of students within a system of personal development are strictly limited. In such cases, the curriculum may be too perfectionistic. It would seem the situation is much more a case of the above than the curriculum being unsuited to the age-specific needs of the overall population – and figures also confirm this fact.

In response to our question concerning which regulator would best serve to assist local curricular development, 45% of PE instructors cited a combination of the National Core Curriculum and the Framework Curriculum. 29% felt the requirements of the Framework Curriculum to be sufficient and 9% deemed the NAT structure as satisfactory; 17% voted for the old central curriculum. The answers did not reveal which curricula teachers used as guidelines when creating local lesson strategies. We should remember that 21% of those participating in the survey used other curricula as samples when developing a local system of regulation for their work, and there continues to be a strong demand for such guidelines. 89% of teachers stated that a central outline would greatly assist them in creating local curricula, and only 11% believe they are capable of developing PE curricula on their own. This is no surprise considering the fact that 15% managed to create local curricula independently.

The survey also touched upon learning arrangements. Teachers were asked to indicate (on a scale of 1–5) which forms of study they used during their lessons and how frequently they applied these arrangements. In accordance with this scale, various arrangements appear in order of frequency as follows: group-work (4.23), frontal approach (4.1), individual differentiation (3.9), pair work (3.83), teacher experimentation (3.8), student experimentation (3.0), independent work (2.8), project methods (2.7), and field work (2.1). In comparison, I should mention that 2,185 educators put the frontal approach at the top of the list, followed by individual differentiation and independent work; group work is 4^th on the list. These figures also reflect the nature of the subject. The most favoured way of transmitting knowledge is verbal explanation (4.3).

  Figure 2
Learning arrangements used in PE lessons

A large number of instructors (78%) stated that they use teacher’s handbooks in the course of their daily work; 15% indicated that they have no handbook and 7% indicated that their handbooks were obsolete. Among the 140 instructors surveyed, 131 answered our question regarding whether the journal on methodology entitled “Physical Education” assisted them in their lessons. It is surprising that 59% of schools do not receive this journal. In schools that do, 39% answered yes to our question. Only 1.5% mentioned that the journal was of no assistance to them due to its out-of-date content.

  Figure 3
Schools receiving the periodical “Physical Education”

Teacher’s handbooks are a useful aid in developing local curricula (every PE instructor should have one on their bookshelf). The most widely available teaching aid to assist instructors in keeping up-to-date on methodology and in preparing for their lessons is the methodological journal. This not only contains complete instructional material in the form of practice exercises and solutions, but can also serve to inspire new ideas. A solution should be found to provide every school with at least one copy of this quarterly (and it would also help if the journal were published on a monthly basis i.e. 10 times annually for the duration of the entire school year).

Based on the responses to the survey, it is obvious that post-graduate teacher training courses also contribute to the development of teachers’ knowledge of methodology – 43% of respondents gave affirmative answers regarding this issue, 59% stated that such training helps in certain cases and 8% gave negative replies. The questionnaire itself is faulty here in that it makes no differentiation between training courses organised by pedagogical institutes on the county level and those taking place at colleges and universities.³

Teaching aids

Due to the limited amount of space available, this section of our survey concentrated only on teaching aids (the same is true of our surveys in connection with other subjects) and did not examine the current situation of sports facilities, which are also extremely important to physical education. Colleagues considered the current supply of sports-athletic and gymnastics equipment in schools to be average, rated on the usual scale at 2.9, 3.2 and 3.3 respectively. Data from the survey seems to indicate that it would be easier for schools to purchase new sports equipment (3.6) rather than trying to repair the existing supply (2.9). Perhaps the words of economists ring true when they say, “poverty is wasteful”, but it is also possible that very few companies offer services for the repair of sports and gymnastics equipment. Although the questionnaire did not explore this issue, the data we have tells use that most probably the latter is true.

  Figure 4
The supply of teaching aids

Harmony between subjects

The field of physical education and sports is exceptionally complex – and even the subject of physical education on its own. There are two reasons for this. One is the continuous appearance of new types of physical movement and fashionable leisure-time sporting activities that demand to be included in school curricula. It is enough to think only of self-defence, from wrestling on to judo and an endless variety of martial arts originating in Eastern cultures, or different versions of exercise and dance set to music (ex. aerobics). We should also not forget about the re-appearance of folk dancing in the context of physical education. On the other hand, there are also the so-called fundamental branches of sport that comprise a large portion of the activities in PE (athletics, gymnastics, ball games, contact sports and swimming), which are becoming richer in their complexity of movement, including increasingly more difficult techniques and intricate tactical solutions. A direct result of the above is that theoretical knowledge (accident prevention, game organisation, rules of competition, nutrition and training regimens) has come to play a much stronger role in the subject of physical education due to its inherently preventive nature and its connection with physical exercise in leisure time. This leads us to several conclusions. One is that PE is an elaborate set of subjects, embracing many independent and easily separated elements of knowledge (both theoretical and practical). The second is that no single PE instructor is capable of teaching so many subjects. It is worth taking this into consideration when preparing or modifying curricula, and if necessary, to plan for the employment of outside instructors. The third touches on the area of teacher training, which I shall not deal with in this study.

Physical education is the only school subject that performs a health function in addition to its pedagogical role. By its very nature, it can only fulfil this function within certain limits and in connection with external systems, one being preventive (traditional physical education) and the other rehabilitative (light exercise and physiotherapy). The legal framework for public education ensures every student the right to participate in physical education suited to his/her personal state of health. This means that according to the current legal conditions, two subjects exist in schools: one called physical education and the other physiotherapy. If both of these services are to be an integral part of the public education system, their interconnection and the medical screening system must also function properly, which is why we took time to examine health-screening services. Our figures indicate that 15.8% of children are assigned to PE classes that are unsuitable for their health (earlier informative data on public education indicated 20%). This issue is not only about the fact that the rights of nearly 16% of our students are being violated and that the locomotive disorders or other medical complaints of the children in question may be made worse due to improper (not recommended) activity. It also means that a poorly functioning system of connections makes the services offered by schools questionable.

We know from our data that 56.7% of children in need of physiotherapy have been assigned to the proper form of physical education. Further studies are required to determine why 43% of students are not receiving the services they need to improve their general well-being in accordance with their present state of health. Physiotherapy is generally organised in an extra-curricular format outside of school (44.3%) while 28.9% of institutions conduct in-house rehabilitation activities after daily lessons. Swimming is an important element of physiotherapy, and it is unfortunate that only 39% of children take part in therapeutic swimming lessons (30% of all students in public education) since conditions do not allow schools to maintain regular classes at swimming facilities.

Light exercise should be conducted in the form of differentiated activities incorporated into physical education lessons, but it is obvious from the responses to our survey that 49% of schools provide this service to students outside of the normal lesson framework.

All of the above leads us to make the conclusion that despite the lack of material conditions, the present legal framework does allow for the integration of both areas (light exercise and physiotherapy).

Monitoring and assessment

The inherent characteristics of physical education as such dictate that it is possible to measure students’ performance. As early as the 1930s, studies on the physical performance of students were published using mathematical data-processing methods in a comparison with sociological and anthropological statistics, hence the field has a serious and long-standing professional tradition of scientific analysis. The Ministry of Education introduced a centralised locomotive testing system in 1976 as a supplement to the new physical education curriculum established at the time.⁴ The creators of the system set two goals for themselves and for PE instructors. On one hand, the test was designed as a tool to objectively measure “the development of students’ locomotive skills and their progress compared to the national average.” But instructors could also receive feedback on an “important element of their teaching-training work so as to analyse it in the interest of improving the effectiveness of physical education.” This goal has remained the same in spite of the fact that alternative testing methods have also appeared and some PE instructors (13.5%) have also developed a separate testing system suited to their own conditions. A veritable plethora of solutions exists in this area. Nearly 46% of instructors use the central system to measure their students’ performance, 24.9% have adjusted it to meet local conditions, and 15.7% have supplemented it with their own tests, which means that 38% assess performance using modified tools of measurement.

  Figure 5
Measuring locomotive skills during PE lessons

  Figure 6
The general use of performance testing systems

The true purpose of such tests should also be taken into consideration. If the goal is pedagogical, then we might ask why Hungarofit is favoured over Eurofit. The pedagogical nature of performance tests lies in the opportunity for comparison: students can compare their performance with earlier results and those of their classmates and the school as well as the national and European standard. The latter, however, is only possible with respect to Eurofit. Outside of personal interest, it might be in the national interest whether Hungarian students’ level of fitness matches, surpasses or remains below the European average. If the tests serve the purpose of professional research, which they do not, then we should know more about the physical, mental and physiological traits of the given subject. This entails conducting laboratory tests using special instruments and supporting the data with additional background studies on the social circumstances of each subject. In this way, we may find out more about who is producing the results.⁵ Naturally, this can also be accomplished. Nevertheless, the aim in our case is to obtain objective results with the simplest of methods in order to improve students’ performance and to use this as a tool of motivation. Testing systems are suited for this task. Answers to our survey show that 92% of PE instructors use data gleaned from test results in planning their lessons while 87% use them to organise differentiated learning arrangements. It is noteworthy, however, that only a small number of teachers (6.5%) use the results of locomotive performance tests to improve the personality development, self-awareness and self-respect of their students. This figure also proves that there is a need for teachers’ handbooks with up-to-date content, information on methodological innovation and quality post-graduate teacher training.

All of those responding make use of the opportunity to measure performance. The majority does so in keeping with legal regulations (91.3%), conducting tests in both the fall and the spring semesters. 8.7% of instructors test their students either in the spring or the fall, which does not comply with the law. What is the reason for this? We may be able to make presumptions based on the above, but a further detailed study would be necessary to provide a substantial answer to this question.

Physical education in daily practice

The law states that physical education must take place on a daily basis, and it is the responsibility of school authorities to ensure the conditions for this. Earlier studies have examined the personal, material and financial conditions for physical education.⁶ In this study, we have concentrated on the legal framework and solutions for its implementation. Only 5.5% of schools conduct PE lessons every day for 5 days a week. A more common solution is 3 PE lessons/week and 2 sports activities (36.4%), followed by a version that includes 3 PE lessons and 2 popular sports in which all students participate (24.7%). Responses indicate that 9.2% of schools provide students with daily physical exercise in the form of 2 PE lessons and 3 sporting activities/week; only 6.2% provide more than 3 sporting activities as well as 2-3 PE lessons (4.9%). Daily physical exercise is provided to all classes for 15–30 minutes prior to lesson-time in 1.8% of schools, during breaks between lessons in 2.5% and after lessons in 1.2%. This item on the questionnaire received 162 answers from the 140 schools that participated, which seems to indicate that some schools employ more than one of the arrangements listed above. For example, a given institution may conduct 3 regular PE lessons/week as well as 2 additional lessons for groups of students specialising in a particular branch of sport. Therefore, the ratios included here can only be used for extra information.⁷

  Figure 7
Solutions for daily physical education

Preventive gymnastics during PE lessons to improve posture

Osteoporosis is one of the most widespread illnesses today, and many ailments among children can be traced to improper physical posture. Medical studies have proven that the vast amount of time children spend in a sitting position during their school career is increasingly becoming an important source of spinal illness (due to the lack of physiotherapy). For this reason, our survey also examined the instance of preventive exercise during PE lessons. A total of 120 answers to our question show that in keeping with tradition, the first part of PE lessons is regularly devoted to gymnastic exercise designed to strengthen the spinal column. 34 respondents stated that they also plan and implement such gymnastics as the main part of their lessons, and 12 instructors substitute other exercises to strengthen spinal muscles. Whether or not 2 PE lessons/week provide adequate stimulation to improve posture and prevent deformities is a different issue. Since participants had the opportunity to provide several answers, there were more responses (166) than the total number of institutions taking part in the survey, presumably because some instructors employ preventive exercises both at the beginning and during the main part of their lessons.

  Figure 8
Preventive exercise used during PE lessons to improve posture