W.E. THE NEW P.E. - WELLNESS EDUCATION, THE NEW PHYSICAL EDUCATION

written by John Kilbourne, Movement Science, Grand Valley State University

Ten years ago when Keyspan CEO Bob Catell was faced with making gut wrenching changes at his energy company he did not seek the services of another expert in business. He sought the advice of former Catholic Priest Kenny Moore. Mr. Moore convinced Mr. Catell that what his company needed was a transformation, and that meaningful transformation starts not with a beginning but with an ending.

With Catell's cautious approval, Moore invited four hundred Keyspan executives to a mock funeral service. His hope was that they would all pay their respects to the past and look to the future. Following the funeral the executives served as apostles to go out and talk to the rest of the employees about the need for change. The end result was that the mock funeral service and its after effects were extremely helpful in transforming Keyspan.

Like Keyspan, physical education ("P.E.") desperately needs change. As it presently exists, P.E. is simply not meeting the needs of our nation's youth who are tragically out of shape. The Center for Disease Control reports that the prevalence of obesity among young children aged 6-11 years has more than tripled in the past thirty years going from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008 (CDC: 2011).

Despite the noble and dedicated efforts of many professionals, physical education continues to lose its rightful place in education and beyond. School systems, including colleges and universities, continue to reduce or eliminate physical education requirements and programs. According to a survey by the CDC, only 3.8 percent of elementary schools, 7.9 percent of middle schools and 2.1 percent of high schools provide daily physical education. They also found that 22% of schools do not require children to take any physical education, and that nearly half (46%) of high school students were not attending any physical education classes (ESPN: 2009). At the college or university level one must look hard to find any school, including Grand Valley State University, that requires physical activity or a fitness/wellness class as part of their general education requirements (Kilbourne, 2005).

Adding to the aforementioned reductions and eliminations are the ever present negative feelings and stereotypes that continue to damage physical education's reputation, and dampen our abilities to procure a rightful place in education. For example, while serving as a college professor in Massachusetts my students and I often lobbied at the State House for more quality physical education in public schools. Too often the Senators and Representatives we were speaking with shared the awful experiences they had had in physical education classes as students. More damaging are the present day antics and sadistic personality of the physical education teacher Sue Sylvester on the hugely popular television series Glee. Even Tina Fey in her bestselling book Bossypants (2011), talks about her recurring stress dream where her middle school gym teacher chases her through an airport (Waterstones: 2011).

It is astonishing to witness the lowly place physical education holds in the public debate over the obesity and overweight crisis in America. Each day as we witness hundreds of Americans dying from disease related to overweight and obesity, physical education programs continue to be reduced or eliminated. Simply stated, P.E. desperately needs transformation.

As with Keyspan, might physical education be best served by burying P.E. and focusing our collective energies on a more forward thinking, meaningful, and comprehensive approach to wellness and its rightful place in a democratic society? As a start, the leaders of our national organization, The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), could arrange a mock funeral for P.E. to be held at an upcoming convention. The focus of the convention might be, "Transformation: W.E., the New P.E."

From the funeral will hopefully come an exciting new beginning. This new beginning would simply be called, W.E. – Wellness Education. W.E., like its title, will be an inclusive, comprehensive approach to wellness education in schools. It will include present day physical education teachers open to change, the medical community, school nurses, health educators, school administrators, classroom and university teachers and faculty, parents and guardians, the food service industry, churches, community organizations, the business community, the media, and most importantly students of all ages. Solving the current health and fitness crisis in America will require cooperation with many folks on many levels. No one person or group can do it alone (Schmid, 2004). The W.E. – Wellness Education model would follow the lead of the Let’s Move! Initiative being led by First Lady Michele Obama.

Let's Move! is a comprehensive initiative dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams. Combining comprehensive strategies with common sense, Let's Move! is about putting children on the path to a healthy future during their earliest months and years; giving parents helpful information and fostering environments that support healthy choices; providing healthier foods in our schools; ensuring that every family has access to healthy, affordable food; and, helping kids become more physically active.

Everyone has a role to play in reducing childhood obesity, including parents, elected officials from all levels of government, schools, health care professionals, faith-based and community-based organizations, and private sector companies. Your involvement is key to ensuring a healthy future for our children (Let’s Move!: 2011).

As with any new beginning, efforts must be made to nurture positive growth and development. Colleges and universities will need to restructure their former physical education teacher preparation programs so that the next generation of Wellness Educators have appropriate knowledge and experiences in a comprehensive approach to health and lifelong fitness. In addition, school districts will need to provide the necessary resources to help current physical education teachers learn about and implement this new model.

Present and future teachers will need additional knowledge and experiences in:

1. Health and Nutrition
2. Lifelong Fitness (Yoga, Pilates, Martial Arts, Dance, Conditioning [Aerobic and Anaerobic] & Outdoor Education)
3. Exercise & Sport Psychology (Motivation, Team Building & Leadership)
4. Promotion/Marketing
5. Social Work (Community Outreach)
6. Technology (Kinect, Wii, HopSports, etc)

A day in the life of an elementary school Wellness Educator might include:

• teaching first graders in the gymnasium a playful approach to the fundamentals of locomotor movement,
• introducing short brain-break movement exercises in a third grade classroom,
• meeting with fifth grade teachers on lesson plans that incorporate dance into a unit on Africa,
• collaborating with the school nurse on Individual Wellness Plans (IWPs) for those students who are overweight or obese,
• hosting a local business leader for lunch in the school cafeteria,
• taking a fourth grade class on a nature walk to discuss, with their teacher as the guide, the biology of their neighborhood,
• meeting with the district’s technology person on the creation of a web based W.E. support system,
• and, concluding their day with a meeting after school with parents and guardians about incorporating W.E. into the upcoming school Halloween Party, i.e., movement activities and nutritious food.

As professionals in the Movement Arts and Sciences we should lead this transformation. With our understanding of many of the aforementioned areas, and a desire to expand our knowledge and experiences, we can lead and facilitate an optimistic, forward thinking, comprehensive effort that merges our knowledge and experiences with other professionals and, through W.E. – Wellness Education, MOVE our society gracefully through this next century and beyond. As my former student and mentor Tom Root, CEO and Founder of HopSports (One of the most successful children's wellness programs in the world) recently shared with me, we must bury the past and begin with fresh new models (Tom Root, personal communication: 2011). W.E. – Wellness Education, is that model. As apostles of W.E., Let’s Move forward.

REFERENCES

Biography: John Kilbourne, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Movement Science at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI. In addition to being the first full-time strength and flexibility coach (Dance Conditioning) in the National Basketball Association (1982-84 Philadelphia Seventy Sixers, 1983 World Champions), Dr. Kilbourne is the author of the recently published book, "Running With Zoe: A Conversation on the Meaning of Play, Games & Sport."

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