fight to keep languages and physical education on the curriculum

The Age, Farrah Tomazin, 9 February 2008; The Age, Bridie Smith, 11 February 2008

Physical education academics and specialists believe that sport and physical education (PE) should be ‘given the
same weight’ in primary school curricula as literacy and numeracy. The response follows last year’s proposal by
the Australian Primary Principal’s Association (APPA) to cut back the amount of key learning areas in the current
primary school curriculum.

According to the APPA’s draft charter, only English, maths, history and science should be treated as key learning
areas. Subjects such as PE and languages other than English are considered to be supplementary subjects taught
when there is time. APPA President, Ms Leonie Trimper, believes that the ‘capacity of schools vary enormously and
some schools, for reasons beyond their control, totally lack the resources they need’ to teach such supplementary subjects.

Victoria University sports ethicist, Dr Dennis Hemphill, believes that PE should not be cut out of the curriculum, and
argues that sports and PE classes, in addition to maintaining fitness levels, also teaches students skills such as
‘problem solving, teamwork and tactics’. He says that ‘sporting intelligence is not simply athleticism or a conceptual understanding of tactics and strategies. It is also game sense, the ability to adapt readily and perform creatively and effectively to solve game problems’.

Academics and specialists in the field are also concerned that schools may not employ qualified teachers to teach PE classes if it becomes a supplementary subject. They fear that without qualified PE teachers, students would be at risk
‘of not getting the most out of the subject at a time of rising levels of childhood obesity’.

Furthermore, Experts from the Australian Secondary Principals Association (ASPA) and the Asia Education Foundation
are calling for reforms in the hopes that more teachers and students will be encouraged to learn a language at school. Educators believe that learning languages other than English should be compulsory, and that students should receive ‘university-entry bonuses’ if they study one or more languages at VCE level.

Enrolment figures have shown that only 14 per cent of students are currently learning a language in school. To boost
this figure, educators have suggested that students who take on a university teaching degree in languages should
have their HECS debts reduced. Yet others have suggested that learning a language should be compulsory from
primary school to Year 10.

Combined, over 80 different languages are taught in Victorian primary and secondary schools and at the Victorian
Schools of Languages. According to ASPA President, Mr Andrew Blair, one problem contributing to the decline is that schools are offering too many language choices with ‘not enough emphasis on any of them’. He believes that the curriculum should only contain ‘six core languages other than English – Indonesian, Japanese, French, Mandarin,
Spanish and German’.

The future of subjects such as PE and languages other than English will most likely be put before the new National Curriculum Board, which will be established by 1 January 2009.

 

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