Physical and Health Education in Canada: Integrated Approaches for Elementary Teachers

Physical and Health Education in Canada: Integrated Approaches for Elementary Teachers is a comprehensive text for Canadian teacher candidates preparing for responsibilities associated with physical and health education teaching in the elementary grades (K through 8). The book also serves as a practical reference for in-service elementary teachers responsible for physical and health education.

Editors Joe Barrett and Carol Scaini called upon a distinguished group of physical and health education teacher educators, researchers, and field leaders from across Canada&;s provinces and territories to provide expertise for this book. These contributors have synthesized the relevant research on physical and health education teaching, as well as strategies rooted in decades of practical experience, to provide valuable insights from a variety of perspectives.

Integrated and Evidence-Based Approach

Physical and Health Education in Canada offers a comprehensive collection of integrated approaches informed by evidence and designed to support emerging and established physical and health education pedagogies. It includes the following features:

&; Learning outcomes at the beginning of each chapter to help readers focus on the primary concepts

&; Discussion questions at the end of each chapter that help students reflect on and apply the content they have learned

&; Voices From the Field sidebars that provide examples of activities and approaches that work for the teachers, describe why those approaches work, and connect theory to practice

Organization of the Text

Physical and Health Education in Canada is organized into three parts. Part I offers insights on health and physical literacy, long-range planning, promoting safe practices, and inclusion and diversity issues. Part II examines the keys to teaching health education, offering recommendations for health education teachers and outlining a comprehensive school health plan that incorporates contemporary topics such as mental health and wellness. Part III presents numerous strategies and considerations, including team building activities, movement skills and concepts, the Teaching Games for Understanding approach, game design, and curricular integration.

Useful Resources

The book comes with a presentation package available to course adopters that includes key concepts and illustrations from the book. It also offers a web resource with activities, examples, and templates that in-service teachers can use in their efforts to organize and deliver quality physical and health education experiences. The activities range in level from kindergarten through grade 8 and focus on a wide range of topics, including team building, functional fitness, and indigenous games. These web resource materials are laid out in easy-to-use templates that can be used as they are or customized to suit your situation.

Whether you are a new physical and health educator, a generalist teacher seeking proven practices, or a seasoned specialist pursuing variety in your approach to physical and health education programming, the materials in the text and the web resource will help you organize and deliver informed, evidence-based, and effective physical and health educaation teaching experiences for your students.

Joe Barrett, EdD, is an associate professor in the department of teacher education at Brock University in Ontario. His research and service duties revolve around school health policy and health and physical education pedagogy. At Brock University, Dr. Barrett teaches a number of elementary and secondary undergraduate courses that focus on physical and health education curriculum and instruction, as well as graduate courses focused on physical and health education policy and curricula using problem-based learning pedagogies. He has served as the Ontario representative on the Physical and Health Education (PHE) Canada Board of Directors (2013-2015) and as co-chair (2010-2012) and chair (2012-2013) of the PHE Canada Research Council. He served a two-year term as the co-chair (2017-2019) of the PHE Canada National Research Forum.

Carol Scaini, MEd, is an instructor in the department of teacher education at Tyndale University College in Ontario and is an experienced health and physical education teacher with the Peel District School Board. At Tyndale University College, she teaches the physical and health education course for both primary/junior and junior/intermediate teacher candidates. She is well known in the field of health and physical education (HPE): She serves on a number of HPE committees, has taught HPE additional qualification courses at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, and has authored several health and physical education resources. She has earned numerous teaching awards, including the Prime Minister&;s Award for Teaching Excellence, the Ontario Teacher of the Year award, the Dr. Andy Anderson Young Professional Award from PHE Canada, the Ontario Association for the Support of Physical and Health Educators (OASPHE) Recognition Award and Advocacy Award, and an Award of Distinction from the Peel District School Board.