Physical Literacy — The Passion for Movement
When we see an adult enjoying a novel or scanning a newspaper, we sometimes forget how much practice it took to reach that level of literacy. During the early stage, the reader was into the process of understanding literacy. He had to recognize individual letters of the alphabet, associate those letters and letter pairs with sounds, and then string those sounds together into meaningful words.
The essence of physical literacy is to learn the basic skills first (fundamental movement skills and fundamental sports skills) and then combine them into meaningful movement patterns.
The development of physical literacy is a key component of Long Term Athlete Development as well.
Q-1: What are the building blocks for the development of physical literacy?
Ans: Learning and Practicing age-appropriate movement skills.
Q-2: Why is physical literacy considered a critical component of child development?
Ans:
- They are critical for feeling confident in physical activity for fun
- For health
- For competing
- For pursuing excellence later in life
- For the development of self-awareness and self-confidence
Definitions of Physical Literacy:
- The motivation, confidence, physical competence, understanding and knowledge to maintain physical activity at an individually appropriate level, throughout life. (Whitehead & Murdock, 2006)
- Motivation, Confidence, Physical Competence, Knowledge and Understanding to value and take responsibility to remain physically active for life- International Physical Literacy Association (IPLA)
- The ability and motivation to capitalise on our movement to make a significant contribution to the quality of life.
- Individuals who are physically literate move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities that benefit the healthy development of the whole person (Balyi et al, 2005)
- The combination of basic human movements, fundamental sports skills necessary for engaging in health-enhancing physical activity, the pursuit of excellence in sport, or both. It is the combination of the successful completion of the Active Start, FUNdamentals, and Learn to Train stages. (Long-Term Athlete Development — Istvan Balyi, Richard Way, Colin Higgs )
Benefits of Physical Literacy:
- An individual who is on a journey to physical literacy moves with balance or poise, caution and confidence in a wide variety of physically challenging situations
- The individual can perceive all aspects of the physical environment (snow, water, sand, plains, hills etc), anticipating movement needs or possibilities and responding appropriately to these, with aptitude and creativity.
- Such an individual has a well-established sense of self. He can reliably build up the inspiration and capacity to comprehend, convey, apply and investigate, different types of movements. Integrating this through real interaction with the environment promotes positive self-esteem and self-confidence.
- Awareness of our embodied capacities leads to fluent self-expression, demonstrate a variety of movements confidently, creatively, and strategically.
- Make healthy and active choices to benefit the whole self, others as well as the environment.
- Understanding of definitions of PL can also help practitioners fight childhood obesity and rising inactivity among children (if unaddressed at an early age may lead to chronic health problems such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke, high blood pressure, sleep and respiratory problems, certain types of cancer)
Need for Physical Literacy:
For the population to be active and healthy, all children need a sound foundation of movement and sport skills to build on later in life.
How to bring the understanding of PL into practice?
- Help all children develop their physical abilities using various supportive environments that foster a positive attitude towards physical activity and avoids early specialization in a single sport. Provide opportunities for children to express themselves through movement — Children love being creative. We can allow them to explore their expressiveness through mime, dance, adventure, interactive activities, fun competitions, fitness routines, or free-play etc.
- Make physical activities fun and provide adequate opportunities to children
- Help children fit into their communities using culturally appropriate activities (be aware of the cultural importance of physical activities)
- Be aware of the physical capacities and limitations of the children — chronic health problems or disabilities
- Do not marginalize differently-abled children
- Build self-esteem and self-confidence by setting tasks within their ability and challenging them accordingly
- Teach children about the importance of exercise, nutrition, and sleep, and question them to evaluate their understanding of what they are doing and why.