What is success in physical education?

I have just read a blog by @ImSporticus about 'What does success look like in physical education' and posted this response on his blog. I thought i'd share it with you.

Every PE program is going to be different in every school and this leaves this discussion wide open. I personally believe that success has to firstly come from the program provided for the students, secondly from the teaching involved with the program and thirdly the success of your students within this program.

Your perception of these three can vary depending on the expectations of the school but I think more importantly the expectations your school has for success in PE at your school. We all know that sometimes PE can be disregarded as a subject by some. I still hear it at times in my school when teachers think anyone can teach PE. They don't really know what our subject involves.

A successful program should allow students to experience a broad range of activities which allows success for every student. Basically a physical education program is not a 'Sports' program. I fully believe when vertically articulating your program a variety of activities should be included as part of your program. In MYP Physical and Health Education at our school we try to do this. Of course we are not perfect but we fully believe we are trying to provide variety for our students using our facilities and faculty the best way we can.

Physical Education practitioners should be competent in a range of activities. When employing our latest PE teachers for this academic year it was important that they not only had the passion to teach but the experience and willingness to teach a diverse curriculum. We not only teach practically but we also include health lessons in our curriculum. Our teachers need to embody the philosophy of the IB MYP curriculum and it's expectations fully before embarking on teaching physical education.

Standards within your curriculum provided you with benchmarks. Assessments then provide you with a way of discovering how your students can reach these standards that your have set. It is essential for you to find different ways to assess your students so they have an opportunity to show you what they can do. Students should always be aware of what is expected of them and how they can achieve success. They should be provided with opportunities to test their knowledge and skills and reflect on their performance. Sufficient feedback should be given after every assessment and students given a chance to understand where they need to improve.

All students can find success in physical education if they are provided with the correct tools to work with. As I said above, I think these tools are a good curriculum, good teaching and successful assessment.