Introduction: Systemic Approach in Physical Education
The Systemic Approach in school Physical Education is also known as the sociological approach, as it is based on sociology and philosophy and has been developed as a way forward for school Physical Education by teacher Mauro Betti:
“Basketball, volleyball (dance, gymnastics, games…) should be taught with a view not only to the present student, but to the future citizen who will share, produce, reproduce and transform the cultural forms of physical activity. That’s why, in school physical education, sport should not be restricted to a mechanical ‘doing’, aimed at a performance that is external to the individual, but should become an ‘understanding’, an ‘incorporating’, a ‘learning’ of attitudes, skills and knowledge that lead the student to master the values and standards of sporting culture.”
(BETTI, 1991 p.16).
Concepts and principles of the Systemic Approach in Physical Education
Open System in Physical Education
The essence of the Systemic Approach in School Physical Education is that Physical Education is an open system that is influenced by society and at the same time influences society.
These influences are in a hierarchical system, with higher levels (such as government education departments) and lower levels (such as school boards and teachers). The higher levels are more flexible and less predictable in their decisions, while the lower levels are more limited, more predictable and mechanical.
The specificity of school physical education
Within the systemic approach to school physical education, the specificity of the lessons revolves around the body and movement, which are the means and end of physical education lessons.
The systemic approach in school physical education has a complex and open adaptive system with four levels of hierarchy:
- Education policy
- School
- Objectives of Physical Education
- Teaching-learning process
In the systemic pedagogical approach to school physical education, these hierarchical components of the system will interact and produce different educational objectives.
The principle of non-exclusion
One of the principles of the Systemic Approach to School Physical Education is non-exclusion, i.e. no activity can be exclusionary. The Physical Education teacher must promote activities that ensure that all students have access to the class.
The Diversity Principle
Another principle of the Systemic Approach in School Physical Education is the principle of diversity. The principle of diversity argues that activities in physical education classes should not be restricted to one type of sport, such as soccer, nor should they be restricted to sports-only content.
The principle of diversity means that sports, dances, fights, games, gymnastics and other content that revolves around the body and movement should be part of PE lessons.
Objectives of the Systemic Approach in Physical Education
The aim of the systemic approach in school physical education is to include students in the culture of physical activities or body culture, so that they can share, enjoy, produce, reproduce and transform forms of body culture autonomously, thus developing their citizenship.
In the systemic approach to Physical Education, the objectives cannot be restricted to teaching motor skills or developing students’ physical conditioning, although motor learning and physical development can also be one of the objectives of the classes.
Systemic Approach Methodology in Physical Education
In a school physical education class with a systemic or sociological approach, the teacher must first choose content from body culture and adapt it in such a way as to enable all students to access the activity (principle of non-exclusion).
After this, the teacher must contextualize and explain what the content is for, how to practice it correctly, what its benefits are, what precautions should be taken when practicing that form of body culture, how to organize yourself to practice that activity and how to enjoy that form of body culture in your free time.
Another important methodological factor within the systemic approach in school physical education is experience, i.e. the student must try out the movements, practise them in different situations, so that in addition to motor learning, the student will be promoting cognitive knowledge and socio-affective experiences derived from the experience of the movements.
It is possible to identify that the systemic approach in school Physical Education promotes a good relationship with the dimensions of content: conceptual (knowing), procedural (knowing how to do) and attitudinal (knowing how to be).
Evaluation Systemic Approach in Physical Education
Assessment within the systemic approach in school physical education is based on systematized observation according to the objectives proposed in this approach.
Lesson Plan: Systemic Approach in Physical Education
- Themes: Running, athletics, fitness, physical and mental health, organizing a space for running and quality of life.
- Objectives: to experience running as a physical activity that promotes health and fitness, to learn about the benefits of running for physical and mental health, to learn about endurance running as a form of athletics, to learn about spaces that can be used for running, to understand running as a promoter of quality of life.
- First part: the teacher gathers the students in the classroom or on the court to talk about the benefits of running for health and fitness. This part of the lesson can be based on the students’ research into the topic.
- Second part: the teacher takes the students to experience a 12-minute endurance run. Before the activity, he explains the intensity at which the run should be done and all the precautions related to practicing this activity.
- Final part: after the running activity and hydrating the students, the teacher should hold a discussion about how the students experienced the activity and how and where they can make use of this activity in their free time, providing health, quality of life and citizenship.
Other pedagogical approaches to school physical education:
The Importance of the Systemic Approach in Physical Education
The Systemic Approach in Physical Education makes important contributions to the pedagogical practice of Physical Education teachers, and the principle of non-exclusion and diversity are paths that should be followed by all Physical Education teachers.
Finally, Mauro Betti’s words about a Physical Education lesson:
“It’s not enough (for the student) to run around the court; you need to know why you’re running, how to run, what the benefits of running are, what intensity, frequency and duration are recommended. It’s not enough to learn the specific motor skills of basketball; you need to learn how to organize yourself socially in order to play, understand the rules as an element that makes the game possible (and therefore students also need to learn how to interpret and apply the rules themselves), learn to respect your opponent as a companion and not an enemy to be annihilated, because without them there is no game; in short, students need to be prepared to incorporate basketball and running into their lives, in order to get the best out of them.”