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| Feature | No.65 October 2013 |

Physical Literacy: The Maltese Perspective

Lara Tonna

Abstract

The state of play on the influence, acceptance and application of physical literacy (PL) in Malta is in its infant stage. The perspective of six Maltese physical educators was explored and together with an insight on related documents is reported. Despite the teacher training, there is more that can be done in order to promote PL as an underpinning the philosophical process of PE. The article recommends in-depth local research on PL using an advocacy approach in order to challenge the misconceptions and promote PL as a way forward.

Article

Physical literacy (PL) seems to be a new buzz word being used within the physical educator’s vocabulary, and it is indeed an issue that is deemed by scholars to be important for Physical Education (PE). Why Physical literacy? What role does it play in curricular PE and sport?

Reading through various literature on the subject, one comes across various definitions yet Whitehead (2010) presents it within the nature of an individual who in order to be physically literate must have the “motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for maintaining purposeful physical pursuits/activities throughout the lifecourse”. These components as presented by Whitehead are essential for the individual to embark on this lifelong journey.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the situation in which PL is being adopted and interpreted in the physical educator’s realm in the Maltese context. Unfortunately, there is a lack of local research in the field, thus for the sake of this article, I have taken a “helicopter view” approach as I wanted to investigate and understand the issue of PL from the Maltese point of view. I have looked into the available sources such as the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) published in 2012 and also the new Physical Education Curriculum – The Primary Years (DQSE, 2013) updated earlier this year. The study units offered by the Institute for Physical Education and Sport (IPES) were also analysed in order to examine how PL is being offered to students at undergraduate level. In order to gain a further insight of the topic, a set of questions were put to few local PE Teachers, Student PE Teachers and newly graduated Physical Educators who are about to start their teaching career. Various comments were elictied and included in this report.

In 2010, the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report on Physical Education (PE) and Sport in State primary and secondary schools in Malta. Despite the advancements that have occured in the last years within this field, there are a number of recommendations notably focusing on the practical aspect of the subject. As an academic within the PE world, I feel that a long term vision for the subject is somewhat lacking. On a small island like Malta, with a population of approximately 410,000 it is very important that all those involved in the delivery of physical activity, being educators, coaches, administrators and academics, have to work together and be tuned on the same wavelength in order to make an impact on the delivery of PE in our schools. Having made these claims about the lack of coherence on the vision of PE, I would also like to add that the education system is very much examination oriented and this has had an impact on PE even though it is a basic subject followed in all school levels. In relation to the notion of PL, there is no reference to it in the document.

In the last few years, the Maltese Education System has been through various reforms and in 2012 the “National Curriculum Framework for All, 2012” was finalised and presented after a consultation process with various stakeholders. Alongside this policy instrument which reflects and is “a response to the changing demands of individuals and society” (Ministry of Education and Employment, 2012, p.iii), new curricula for every subject are also being introduced. This new NCF indicates that the educational journey should be innovative and “the range of experiences in compulsory education provides students with key competences necessary for lifelong learning” (ibid, 2012 p,x). This bodes well for the notion of literacy which is an important element in education and lifelong education. Unfortunately in the NCF the only reference there is to literacy is digital literacy. In the new PE Curriculum launched in April 2013, in its introductory paragragh to this document, it is emphasized that “in using this PE Curriculum, the following need to be considered: Enhancing each student to acquire the required physical literacy with particular reference to the main characteristics within each window of opportunity.” (DQSE, 2013, p.2). However, the question arises as to what is meant by enhancing each student to acquire the required physical literacy? What is the required physical literacy? Despite the importance that PL is given in this new curriculum, there is no explanation or even a glossary of terms in order to make reference to what is understood by the “required PL”.

This curriculum will be followed by PE Teachers who are expected to understand the notion of physical literacy amongst other key terms. The majority of PE Teachers in Malta go through formal teacher training at the University of Malta and are supported in their teaching career by the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education for the State School teachers, whilst the Church School Teachers are supported by the Head of Departments within the Christian Education Secretariat. Students wanting to become PE Teachers follow a four year Bachelor of Education Honours Degree at the University of Malta. The course is offered by IPES and students go through initial teacher training in PE and Sports.

Amongst the various study units offered by IPES, there is one unit which specifies “Physical Literacy” in the title. This is MSY 1107: Teaching Physical Literacy through Mini Games. It is also worth mentioning that in another degree offered by IPES, a Bachelors Degree in Sport and Active lifestyles, there is a study unit PHE 1210: Physical Literacy and Movement. The module MSY 1107 is based upon the mini-games philosophy and it introduces the first year students to the fundamental motor skills and movement concepts related to body awareness, space, effort and relations, which according to the study unit description are “the basics for developing physical literacy”. The other module, entitled Physical Literacy and Movement has as one of its aims to “have a better understanding of the concept of physical literacy”. As a matter of reflection and in the wake of so many developments in the concept of PL, one might ponder and reflect whether these two study units do justice to the philosophical underpinning of PL and it’s relevance within the PE programmes. One must ask, since PL can also be described as “a way to become educated and knowledgable about movement” (PHE Canada, nd) how do we intrepet PL within our programmes? Do we have a clear understanding of what the schools of thought are trying to make us understand about the notion of PL in order to be able to make the connection between physical education, physical literacy and other sport participation? What do the key stakeholders make of this concept? Teachers, coaches and school administrators have an important role to play in supporting PL.

In order to gather some data for this report, I set a few questions to six individuals who are either still PE Student Teachers, others who are just graduating and another two who have been teaching for a couple of years. These questions reflected my curiosity in investigating the position of PL in our education system in order to complement the documents and courses discussed above. The main issues that the questions reflected were: the PL concept; PL within the curriculum; the adoption of the PL philosophy in relation to the teacher training undertaken; children being physically educated; active or literate?; frequency of lessons in supporting development of PL; and PL from the teacher training and teaching standpoint.

When sharing their understanding of the term PL, all the respondents made reference to the fundamental movement skills and that a person is physically literate when she/he can have these basic skills and can transfer them to all kinds of sports. Respondent 5 went a bit deeper in the answer and stated that “in achieving physical literacy you achieve the key to be active for life because you understand the importance of being physically active and all the benefits”.

As educators making the connection and adopting a PL philosophy within their PE programme is important since it plays an important role in educating children in order to be considered physically literate. Whitehead (2010) highlights six attributes which should be evident in a physically literate individual. These attributes are developed and the teacher plays an important role in motivating students to participate; educating children through embodiment; understanding and interacting with the environment; developing their self confidence and self esteem; expressing themselves as a result of “embodied capability”; and having the ability to connect and convey with their movement experience. In order for physical educators to fully understand these attributes, it is important that the PL concept is given more importance in our studies and within the implemenation of the programmes. According to the data collected for the purpose of this article, there is a lacuna on what actually is happening in the curriculum and what the theory states. Most of the respondents associated PL with the primary years of schooling, thus the relation with the fundamental movement skills. It was also highlighted that unfortunately our system is moving towards a more game based approached (Respondent 5). Respondent 4 believes that “the real focus should be the physical education and not sport coaching!”. Despite the challenges, most believe that “we as teachers need to make sure that all the students are challenged physically and make sure that all of our children are physical literate” as highlighted by Respondent 6.

Teacher training plays an important role in adopting such a concept within the aims of PE. All the respondents passed through the university course and all commented that PL is tackled in some way or another within the study units. Though one of the respondents felt that it was not yet enough to enable “one to adopt this philosophy. I think that PE teachers are more knowlegeable on the practical and motor aspects of the subject however others like teachers and parents can help form attitudes about being active and healthy and how physical literacy can help the social and emotional well being too” (Respondent 5). It is also worth highlighting that another respondent who has been teaching for some years stated that “experience and intrinsic motivation has made me want to nurture this philosophy but along my teaching career I have been struggling with a lot of barriers such as the educational system.”

Having just two lessons a week or no PE lesson at all might be considered as another barrier. Young people are not exposed to enough physical activity and this is creating challenges both on the individual and for the educator.

“There is too little time for PE in ALL Maltese schools.

Pupils especially in Early Years need to move about naturally.

I feel that they are like monkeys locked in cages (classrooms)

for most of the day”

(Respondent 5)

Another important issue is that in Malta we need to promote participation beyond the school hours. Two PE lessons per week are not enough and thus we must emulate other countries were students are physically active through different activities every day even though most of them cycle from home to school or university. Respondent 1 strongly believes that “a cultural change is the key”.

Changing the culture is fundamental in order to adopt the PL concept within our realities. This is a challenge that can be surmounted. In this article, prominence was given to the role of education, specifically through the physical educator’s point of view. Most of the participants support and accept the concept of physical literacy and most of them believe that although they endorse it they still needed more input from the theoretical perspective of this theory. Some suggestions made by the respondents are highlighted hereunder:

1. The concept of physical literacy is introduced at the start of the course. This makes the teacher in training aware of the upmost importance of this concept and furthermore it gives the teacher in training a period of four years to develop an understanding of this concept and that it should be included in his/her philosophy of teaching. (Respondent 1)

2. From the teacher training perspective, maybe we could have worked more on the philosophical part of the theory. It would have been good to have a credit which directly focuses on physical literacy. This would have been helpful. For example, having a credit focusing on the theoretical part of the philosophy (the aims, the idea behind it, its importance) and then practising ways by which this theory can be put into practice during the lessons. (Respondent 3)

3. By increasing the number of PE lessons and also having in-service courses focusing on physical literacy, would keep teachers up to date so as to be sure to create lessons which give students a beneficial learning experience. (Respondent 2)

4. Quality PE is extremely important to achieve PL. Also teachers must strive to make students realise how important it is for their bodies and their health but most of all what is important is that each and every student enjoy him/herself. (Respondent 5)

After getting and feeling the groundswell of interest in PL and having a brief overview of PL from the educator’s lens, I would like to take the liberty to put forward some suggestions in order to further develop the concept of PL in Malta. This is not a scientific paper, but a brief report on the state of play of PL. I stand to be corrected or challenged on various issues, though I must take the opportunity to state that this is also a journey of knowledge on the concept of PL that I myself am experiencing.

In conclusion, I feel that there are various misconceptions and there is a need to have more clarity in order to remove this lacuna. If we want our educators to accept and adopt the concept of PL, we need to endorse that this is a concept that is gaining acceptance not only within the educator’s reality but also a concept relevant throughout the lifecourse by other professionals besides educators (Whitehead, 2010).

By making PL measurable is another way forward since our educational system is very much examination oriented. People need to see results, thus as stated by Tremblay & Lloyd (2010, p.26) “in order for physical education or physical literacy to gain prominence within the greater education context, it must be measured”. We need to consider what suits the local needs but the model suggested by Tremblay & Lloyd (2010), which includes the core domains of physical fitness, motor behaviour, physical activity behaviours and psycho-social/cognitive factors should be considered.

Local research should be first on the list. It is vital to investigate to what extent this concept is being adopted. This will help both academics and policy makers within the PE field to plan their policies and programmes. A position paper should be written in order to help create awareness to all those involved. Also, I suggest that keynote speakers and experts in the field of Physical Literacy should be invited to give their input in the various seminars and conferences that are organised.

Another approach is advocacy and this should be the way forward. It can be simply defined as to “influence people to take decisions that will improve our lives and the lives of others” and “it is about taking a stand and working for a positve change” (WAGGGS, 2010, p. 9 & p.16). The fundamental question is how the concept of PL can be adopted and implemented, do the stakeholders really believe that it can make a real difference in the lifecourse of an individual through the experiences one encounters. Are we ready to take up this challenge? Are we ready to speak out on the importance of PL; are we willing to do projects to address the topic; and are we prepared to educate in order to influence educators to accept and implement such philosophy in their teaching? The choice is ours. My final question is are we really ready to take up the challenge?

References

1. Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education (2013). Physical Education Curriculum – The Primary Years. Malta:Government Press

2. Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family (2012). A N ational curriculum F ramework for All 201 3. Malta: Government Press.

3. National Audit Office (2010). Performance audit physical education and sport in state primary and secondary schools. Malta: Government of Malta.

4. PHE Canada (nd) Passport for Life Programme. Retreived from

5. http://www.passportforlife.ca/physlitexplain.php

6. Tremblay,M. & Lloyd, M. (2010) Physical Literacy Measurement – The Missing Piece.

7. Peer Reviewed Article. Retrieved from http://www.albertaenaction.ca/admin/pages/48/

8. Whitehead, M.E. (2010). Physical Literacy:Throughout the Lifecourse. London:Routledge

9. WAGGGS (2010) A Toolkit on Advocacy. Supporting and encouraging young people to speak out, educate and take care. London: World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

Contact

Lara Tonna
B. Ed (Hons) (Melit); M. Youth & Comm St. (Melit)
Resident Academic Full Time Assistant Lecturer
Physical and Health Education, Department of Mathematics
Science and Technical Education, Faculty of Education
University of Malta
Msida
Malta
Email lara.tonna@um.edu.mt

http://www.icsspe.org/