Educational Origami

I heard last night and read online that New Zealand is ranked 3rd in the world. That’s Third in the world for OBESITY. Its is a sad day, but unfortunately not an unexpected one. .

The Glory of the fattest nation on earth Goes to…. USA, in silver is Mexico and taking the bronze in third place is NZ.

Its sad as we should not have any excuses, its sad because how many of us will be struck down with diabetes and other illnesses exaserpated by obesity. Dare I mention swine flu and the deaths we have seen that have underlying health issues including obesity?

Some people will argue and debate the definition of obesity, query whether this is correct or incorrect, but the fact is on a snapshot NZ is the third fattest of the 30 countries surveyed.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10584289&pnum=0

http://www.oecd.org/document/24/0,3343,en_2649_34637_2671576_1_1_1_1,00.html

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/2/42672411.pdf

I am a supporter of holistic education. I believe our that there are three aspects to holistic education linked and tied together by values and ethics. These are Academic, Cultural and Sport. Sport is not just formal sporting codes but also includes fitness, outdoor education etc

There is a place, and I suspect a need, for daily fitness within our schools. However, we have seen in the past knee jerk responces to current issues and reports that have seen schemes put in place with out due consideration, process and dilligence.

There is a need, but as a teacher, there must be consideration of how we could fit such a thing into what is already a hectic and crowded curriculum. Some would say well Physical education could should cover this. However, PE is a prescriptive course and has its own encompassing curriculum. It full and busy and rightly so! This is not a solution, its a band aid.

If daily fitness was to become a part of the day in day out routine of students across the spectrum, what will be removed from our full to bursting schedule to make way for this? Would syllabi be cut? Would assessment and reporting be reduced? Would administrivia be slashed? probably not.

Would the school day be increased to start early to include exercise? But wait research has shown that many teenagers do not function to their peak with early starts.

Is there another way? I believe 21st Century teachers are role models, leaders and visionary. We as teachers are hugely influencial on our students. As role models, we must not only profess, but actively model suitable behaviours. This could and should include healthy lifestyle and fitness..

There is much to ponder and consider, this is a bronze medal that we did not want to achieve.