PHE is one of the most important subjects in the school’s curriculum, with numerous advantages for physical, emotional and social well-being. But it is only seen as a time to run around and play some games. The question is why PHE is not taken as seriously as it should be. 

Of course, we all have had different experiences as far as PHE goes. And we might have a lot in common when it comes to physical education lessons, comparing different generations. And those experiences may have a huge impact on how PHE is seen in different set-ups. 

In the past, looking at some curricula they did not have PHE, and that may have a huge influence on how PHE is seen today. 

In Mozambique, during the times we went to school PHE only started to be implemented in Grade 6. Before that, we did not have PHE lessons at all. Different countries may have experienced the same thing and this also can contribute to the current situation regarding how people look at PHE. 

Looking at the experience that the students have during the lessons we can find another reason that contributes to the misconception about PHE. It was normal for a teacher to arrive for the lesson and just throw a ball to students and they would play for the entire 45 minutes. It is great that the students are being active, but then how about the knowledge behind that sport? What skills are required to play that sport? How will that sport help us to be better people? How can we build our relationship through that sport? 

None of those points was discussed during the lessons, students would finish playing and go home, and at the end of the term, they would have the same great grade. So parents would never question PHE because students always had amazing grades. 

In the Mozambican context, we could not blame the teachers because they are following the curriculum (content-based). But when I joined the Pedagogical University I would learn a lot of things and explored different subjects, but when it came to practicality mostly we would learn how to do it, not how to teach it. And the assessment was on how well we can perform the skills from a variety of sports, not how we can teach them.  

The learning at the university did not differ a lot from the secondary school when we look at the practical subjects, it was all about the content; how to pass, how to throw, and how to roll. They would rarely link what we were learning with real-life situations. Not because they did not want to, but because the curriculum was not designed that way. This explains why the teachers in primary and secondary schools would just focus on making the students run or play around. Few teachers would link the practical and theory subjects that they had. You could not expect much when the institution that trains teachers is also content based. This is also another point to consider when we talk about misconceptions about PHE.  

During the master’s program, we had a teacher from Brazil who raised the same issue – The misconception about what PHE is. His name is Professor GO TANI. 

He asked us, “How do you look at PHE?” A room of more than 10 professionals in physical education did not have answers because we all knew how our subject is marginalised in the country. 

He started the lecture by telling us that PHE needs to have the same responsibilities, and obligations as any other subject because we are not different. And the fact that we felt a little bit different is because we are being marginalised, and we also marginalised ourselves. 

He also asked us, what does PHE do in a school? What is the identity of PHE? What does PHE do? What is the knowledge that PHE produces? 

We all had to reflect on these questions and if you are a teacher I invite you to reflect on these questions. 

Professor GO TANI explained in a few words during the same lesson how important PHE is for all of us. 

He started by emphasising the promotion of a healthy lifestyle for children and teenagers, socialisation and how motor repertoire affects our future. Human beings are not born with a complete motor repertoire and this is the reason why babies take about 1 year to start walking. 

The lack of physical activity kills, and we need to educate society to be active and share the importance of movements in our bodies. PHE offers that education to our kids so that they can bring changes to the future generation. 

One of the aspects that Professor GO TANI looked at was about ensuring that the students are active and they know the importance of being active, and how to be active. These are questions that need to be discussed in other to bring change into some PHE curricula around the world, 

Looking at the IB Curriculum not only focuses on keeping the students active but also uses physical activities to teach students skills that will be useful for life. The IB curriculum focuses on conceptual understanding. Instead of only focusing on teaching you how to play football, it teaches you how you can use communication or self-management skills to learn football, and by learning how to communicate and self-management skills you will be able to use those skills anyplace, in your house, street, school….. 

From all curricula, I have been exposed to, this {IB} offers the students more than physical activities, making them learn to explore the knowledge behind what they are doing, learn how to plan activities, perform different physical activities and reflect on their actions. And not only educate students but opportunities for parents to learn about the program are also provided. 

Somehow even in this curriculum, you might find students or parents that have misconceptions about PHE, and this makes me think about what can be done to make education stakeholders look at PE as it is, a very important subject that will impact student’s life no matter what they decide to be in future, movements will always be recommended and if you have the knowledge, and know how to plan your activities, across the years that you have been engaged in activities you build a huge motor repertoire that will allow you to play a variety of sports, and you reflect on the impact of those activities or benefits that comes with it, you will have a healthy lifestyle.