The best way to ensure that all Australians become contributing members of our democracy is to work through our system of universal public education, giving as many students as possible the training they require to maintain their optimal health. As part of that effort, we need to reframe our thinking about health and physical education in schools and consider them in the context of overall wellness. Wellness coaching in education is an important part of that vision.
In 2008, “Australia’s six states and two territories agreed to develop common literacy and numeracy assessments aligned with a national curriculum in these subjects.” Following this agreement, Australia created the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), responsible for creating a national curriculum with ongoing assessment and reporting.
By 2014, all Australian states and territories implemented a Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum. One of those eight learning areas was Health and Physical Education, still waiting for final endorsement. An interim agreement makes the curriculum available for state and territory use, however, as of November 2014.
A Report Exploring the Public Purposes of Education in Australian Primary Schools (November 2011) reviews this curriculum project in the context of the history of education in Australia. In that context, the report’s author presents three purposes for education: a democratic purpose, an individual purpose and an economic purpose.
The democratic purpose is public in that it prepares students for “active and competent” participation in a democratic society. The individual purpose is private in that it presents education as “a private good for individual benefits.” The economic purpose is public in preparing individuals to contribute economically to their society, but it also has a private aspect since the same competencies can benefit the individual.
The report’s author argues that, for a variety of reasons, Australia’s educational mission has shifted its emphasis toward the private realm and argues for a shift in emphasis back toward the public agenda.
This emphasis on preparation for active participation in the public sphere, a democratic society, and for preparing students to contribute economically to their country, provides a strong argument for wellness education and coaching. We tend to forget the role of health and wellness in establishing a strong, contributing citizenry, but physical, mental and spiritual wellness are, in fact, foundational.
Consider, for a moment, the lost energy and the lost contributions that result from poor health. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan says, “Because of diabetes and all the other health problems that accompany obesity, today’s children may turn out to be the first generation of Americans whose life expectancy will actually be shorter than that of their parents. The problem is not limited to America . . . ” The cost of these problems is already over-burdening the public realm. Instead of contributing to society, too many young people may prematurely place demands on society.
Since 71% of Australian schools are government schools and more than 65% of Australian young people attend them, this sector is the best avenue to reach young people and have an impact on changing their future and the future of Australian society.
The most effective presentation for nutrition and physical education is as part of an overall wellness project that prepares young people to become active, energetic, contributing members of their democratic society. Only by engaging young people in the idea of wellness and training them to achieve it in their own lives can schools fully accomplish their democratic and economic purposes.
In English, mathematics, science and history, students usually learn as a group in the classroom but also receive individualized and personalized instruction and monitoring. Similarly, physical education and nutrition classes alone are not sufficient to develop the attitudes and skills to achieve wellness. Wellness coaching helps students see the bigger picture and set goals. The coaching provides monitoring and feedback as well as an accountability partner.
We’d like to know what you think about placing physical education and nutrition classes in the framework of wellness education and including wellness coaching as part of the educational experience. Please contact us with your thoughts or questions.