A Study of Instruction in Track and Field

Teacher's and Schoolchildren's Understanding of Track and Field, and Its Instruction

Abstract

In physical education in elementary school track and field is included in the program components. However for schoolchildren, this teaching material should not be utilized just as a play or a kind of physical activity. The teacher's responsibility and role is to categorize track and field as it is.
Track and field requires several skill- values (characteristics), e.g., run fast, jump long and high, throw far, etc. Since these required skill- values are close to basic motor skills, and simple form of body movement, schoolchildren who have poor physical power and skill tend to lose their interest in track and field. Therefore it is required that the teacher should recognize these factors and try to motivate them to keep their interest in this activity.
It sometimes happens that the teacher changes the learning contents according to his personal interest in track and field. In other words, he may change objectives, teaching materials, skill components, teaching methods, and time distribution. As the result of this, the teacher tends to fail to motivate the schoolchildren to have interest and enjoyment in track and field since the class is managed to meet the teacher's interest not schoolchildren's one. Thus the teacher should prepare teaching program based on the schoolchilren's physical power, skill level, interest in this activity.
When track and field is adopted as a teaching material, the followings are required for the teacher:
1. To recognize and grasp the standard of the grade and the class.
2. To realize and recognize each schoolchild's physical power and skill characteristics in track and field.
3. To understand and recognize the schoolchildren's attitude based on daily classes and learning process toward physical activity problems.
4. To adopt playful factors into learning processes and lead schoolchildren to experience true satisfaction, enjoyment, strictness in play since track and field in elementary program is the fundamental stage which leads to competi tive track and field.
5. To inspire competitive mind in schoolchildren through running, jump, etc. with classmates.
6. To demonstrate running, jump, etc. with schoolchildren in the process of learning, and be friends with them.
7. To understand each schoolchild objectively and recognize their relationships.
8. To ask some schoolchildren to demonstrate and add verbal instruction if the teacher can not demonstrate. In this case slides or videos are useful.
It seems that for making meaningful instruction, understanding of the schoolchildren's mind and bodies, and mutual appreciation between the teacher and them are required. Also it is necessary for the teacher to instruct the schoolchildren with his deep understanding of track and field in order to make the learning effective.