Physical Education in Finnish Schools Miina Mäkinen

• Uniqueness of each pupil and right to a good education • Cultural diversity as a richness • Humanity, general knowledge and ability, equality and

democracy • Necessity of a sustainable way of living

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Values behind our national core curriculum

• takes care of the safety and wellbeing of each and every member of the community • systematically promotes versatile working approaches, cooperation and interaction • is aware of different languages and sees culture as a richness •promotes participation and democracy • promotes equity and equality

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• takes responsibility for the environment and focuses on a sustainable future •understand the relationship and interdependencies between different learning contents • be able to combine the knowledge and skills provided by different subjects to form meaningful wholes • be able to adopt and use these in collaborative learning

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Aiming for

transversal

competence

A Short History of Physical Education in Finland• After declaring independence from Russia in 1917, Finland added a

military objective to the school PE curriculum. • Transformation from an agrarian society to an urban society after

World War II further improved the role of school PE toward fitness and health, prevention of sedentary habits was mentioned first time, too

• 1970`s: support the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that facilitate a physically active lifestyle, working ability, health, and cooperation.

• 1994: to support the enjoyment and positive experiences of PE, enhancement of self-esteem and healthy lifestyles. Health education was integrated with PE. 2002 health education is independent subject.

• 2004: PE has a general, lifelong educational objective to promote students’ physical, psychological, social, and ethical growth and well-being, and to guide them toward lifelong PA

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Museoviraston Kuvakokoelmat https://www.kuvakokoelmat.fi/

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Museoviraston Kuvakokoelmat https://www.kuvakokoelmat.fi/

Tasks & Aims of the PE today (curriculum 2014)

Aims • guide the pupils in adopting a physically active lifestyle and to

educate them through physical activities. • to influence the pupils` well-being by supporting their physical,

social and psychological functional capacity and a positive body image

• positive experiences

PE as a tool to promote (values behind the national core curriculum) • equity, equality, togetherness, cultural diversity

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Features of the Finnish PE lessons

• Do together! • Try! • Do your best! • Joy!

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Do together!

Try!

• Importance of the sense of physical competence. ( I can do it!) • Development of different skills instead of different sports. • Pupils participate in planning the work and take responsibility for group`s activities. • Versatile, encouraging and instructive feedback and assessment, self-assessment

and peer review

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Principles to implement PE• Safety • Based on different seasons • Utilise local conditions • Uses facilities of schools, neighbourhood sport facilities and nature • 2-4 h / week

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…different seasons….…nature…

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let´s move

hiihto / ski

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Importance of the sense of physical competence. “I can do it!”

We still need more physical activity at schools, because…

Only one-third of the children and adolescents achieve the national and global recommendation on physical activity (1, 5 h / day) . Physical activity still declines rapidly with age.

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Physical activity & Sedentary time All day

4.0

5.3

6.5

7.8

9.0

0

18

35

53

70

Grades 1‒2 Grades 5‒6MVPA (min/day)Sedentary time (h/day)

8.477

7.2407

6.04755.3352

44.5

58.601260.529269.1416

5.33526.0475

7.2407

8.477

Tammelin et al. 2013

Over 60 min/day 30-59 min/day Under 30 min/day

32% =26 min

36% = 18 min

42% = 11 min

Physical activity during a school day is most meaningful for those who move least

At school

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P.a. recommendation

Tuija Tammelin et al. School makes you move and sit still. Finnish Schools on the Move research results 2010 to 2015.

Risks if sedentary time still rises...

• obesity • type 2 diabetes • cardiovascular diseases, • musculoskeletal disorders, (msd)

-> Treating these illnesses is expensive for society

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Physical exercise during the school day promotes learning

• After 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity, 8th graders achieved better results in the mathematics test than they did after 20 minutes of sitting still. (Phillips et al 2015. JTPE)

• After a 10 and 20-minute break of vigorous physical activity, 4th and 5th graders achieved better results in the mathematics test than they did after 10 minutes of sitting. (Howie et al. 2015. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport)

• In six months, physically active academic lessons improved the academic engagement of primary school students. Children’s time-on-task was higher during the lesson that followed physically active lessons compared to lessons that followed regular lessons.(Mullender-Wijnsma et al. 2015. BMC Public Health)

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Physical activity has a positive effecton learning and cognition

• Physically active 5th and 6th graders achieved better grade point averages than their inactive peers. (Syväoja et al. 2013 Med.Sci. Sports Exerc)

• Physically active children achieved better results in the attention test. (Syväoja et al. 2014. PloS One)

• Weak motor skills correlate with weaker reading and arithmetic skills.(Haapala et al. 2014. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc)

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• Physically active children had higher academic achievement scores at the age of 16. Motor skills at the age of 8 predicted physical activity and academic achievement at age 16. (Kantomaa et al. 2012. PNAS)

Schools on move, The Aim of the Programme• more movement – less sitting • student participation • learning

• The Schools on the Move programme is carried out by the Finnish National Board of Education and the Ministry of Education and Culture

Finnish schools on move!

• Physical activity during other (all) lessons and less sedentary time • Activities planned by students • PA during the breaks (school yards ) • PA events: sports day, skiing days, games • After school clubs, clubs of the schools • Journeys to school • PE lessons

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Examples for Schools on the Move activities

▶ Challenge students to come up with fun activities for school breaks ▶ Recess activators: students organize activities for their peers ▶ Add a long activity-based school break to your school schedule ▶ Utilise activity-based methods during classes ▶ Facilities and school yards that encourage physical activity ▶ Standing workstations, gym balls instead of chairs ▶ Active school commutes

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Classroom and school corridors

Students organize activities for their peers – sport hall is open between lessons

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Physical active schoolyards

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Schoolyard Renovation with pupils

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X-breikki

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A B

A) 80

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Finland had just independence day. How old is Finland?

B ) 100

A) Helsinki

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The capital of Finland is?

B) Tampere

A) blue and yellow

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Colours in our flag are…

B) blue and white

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A B

A) skills

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In Finnish PE it is important to develop different

B) sports

A).. to make as many olympic winners as possible.

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The aim oF Finnish PE is…B).. to make pupils adopt a physically active lifestyle

A) by training very hard on PE lessons

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And we think we achieve our goal…

B) by joy and encouragemet

Using technology that inspires students to get moving and learning

• ActionTrack; mobile game that brings digital world to physical environments. ActionTrack brings you interactive maps with checkpoints that can contain multimedia, information, interactive challenges, questions, route choices and much more.

• X-break • Sprintgame; Player, download the app: SPRINTGAME http://www.sprintgame.fi/index.php?lang=en • GoNoodle ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ9q4U2P3ig • Pidä breikki • etc..

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Digital evaluation: How to learn, analyze and evaluate your own physical activity

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Take a picture of something animate and inanimate, and send it.

sources: Finnish National Board of Education. 2016. National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014 Finnish National Board of Education. 2012. Finnish National Board of Liikunta ja oppiminen. Tilannekatsaus lokakuu 2012. Muistiot 2012:5. Authors: Heidi Syväoja, Marko Kantomaa, Kaarlo Laine, Timo Jaakkola, Kirsi Pyhältö and TuijaTammelin. English summary http://www.oph.fi/download/145366_Physical_activity_and_learning.pdf Kokko, S & Mehtälä, A (toim.) 2016. LASTEN JA NUORTEN LIIKUNTAKÄYTTÄYTYMINEN SUOMESSA LIITU-tutkimuksen tuloksia http://www.liikuntaneuvosto.fi/files/438/LIITU_2016.pdf (english summary 90-95) YLI-PIIPARI, S. 2015. Physical Education Curriculum Reform in Finland https://liikkuvakoulu.fi/english https://www.likes.fi/en/research https://liikkuvakoulu.fi/sites/default/files/liikkuvakoulu_activebody_activemind.pdf

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