Progression Of Work On Handstands And Balance example essay topic

Sally Kendall March 03 "Critically analyse the term 'Progression' in relation to Gymnastics. Select an appropriate theme and skill, at Key Stage two level, to illustrate your answer."Educational gymnastics is a form of movement in which everyone can find meaning and satisfaction and some understanding of their own movement ability". Williams (1987) pg. 11 To support this statement, it is important that we recognise progression as a key feature of a gymnastics lesson. Progressive gymnastics, through it's all round programme, is concerned with the development of the total individual.

Progression often produces differentiated outcomes, and therefore needs to be considered in relation to the individual child rather than to the class as a whole (Williams, 2000). This fits in with the principles of inclusion as set out in the National Curriculum (1999), which suggest three areas to focus on for all children to gain success in a lesson. These are: 1. Setting suitable learning challenges, (giving every pupil the opportunity to experience success in learning and to achieve as high a standard as possible) 2. Responding to pupils' diverse learning needs, (setting high expectations and providing opportunities for all pupils to achieve) 3. Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils, (taking into account the individual's needs and make provision to support them to participate effectively in the curriculum and assessment activities) The learning challenges (principle one) should be adapted to suit the level of the child, for example, saying to the class, "Try to find an interesting and challenging way of getting across the bench using only two parts of your body".

The child would then adapt to suit their own ability to find the most appropriate way of completing the task. This would also meet principle two as above. To meet principle three, the teacher would need to meet the needs of all children, such as those with English as an additional language. Setting suitable tasks that are assessable, such as in the skill area of handstands, they would have to give visual demonstrations and have a work card for the child to refer to. By referring to these inclusion principles, the teacher would ensure that progression was taking place by all children.

Morison (1969) suggests that 'gymnastics is the core of movement education because through it, systematic and progressive experience of movement can be built up'. This indicates that the child will have a greater understanding of development and improvement if they continue to practise gymnastics throughout their education. Gymnastics is one of the six areas of physical education taught at KS 2 of the National Curriculum (the focus of this assignment), however it runs consistently in Physical Education throughout all four key stages. According to Benn and Benn (1992), there are two important classifications of movement in gymnastics. There are five types of actions listed on an activities classification. This encompasses the most basic to the most complex skill-learning in gymnastics.

The activities are: 1. Balancing 2. Jumping 3. Swinging, hanging, climbing 4. Rolling 5. Taking weight on hands The second classification of supporting movements concepts is the means by which gymnastic movement can have infinite variety and development.

These are not action based but can be applied to action tasks to bring about progression and differentiation. The supporting movement concepts are: . Body parts. Shape. Time. Direction.

Level. Pathway By taking one of the activities (i.e. balancing), and varying the supporting movement (i.e. body parts), children will gain experience of for example, balancing on perhaps both feet, progressing to one foot. By introducing more of the supporting movement concepts, such as shape and level, the children would find out for themselves that they are able to progress independently by doing harder balances on different parts of their body, in a different shape on a different level. The multi activity approach to learning has been practiced and is supported by many theorists, such as Benn and Benn (1992), who wrote a useful book on the approach (see references) and Carroll and Gardner (1984). It involves pupils experiencing some aspect of all five activity categories as noted above within every gymnastics lesson. This variety and contrast in movement challenges allows pupils to make good progress in skill learning through short, regular experiences in the different categories.

This type of practice also avoids over-use of muscle groups and fatigue. Progressive skill refinement is nurtured as activity categories are re-visited with increasing task complexity, competence and understanding. The multi-activities approach is also realistic in management terms, as it is likely for primary schools to have large class sizes and limited apparatus. Therefore, the children would work on different stations practicing different activities, such as balancing on a bench, or rolling on a mat.

The children here would be, to an extent, left to a 'laissez faire' type of teaching, where they discover for themselves ways of getting across the apparatus using the designated 'theme' for that specific piece of apparatus, and adapting the supporting movement concepts to suit their level of ability. Smith and Cale (1993) also support the multi activities approach, and suggest that gymnastics can be split up into three imaginary circles, which overlap, and therefore when teaching a skill or theme, the other groups (i.e. rotation, statics and locomotion) will have some involvement. Rotation Locomotion Statics For the purposes of this assignment and discussing a separate theme and skill, now is an appropriate point to put forward my chosen theme as being balance, and the skill being a handstand. These relate to the appropriate activity and supporting movement concept classifications as discussed earlier with work from Benn and Benn (1992). The learning and progression of the handstand and balance fit into the National Curriculum programmes of study in the highlighted statements in appendix one.

The two areas also fit into the QCA schemes of work units 3, 4, 5, and 6. The progression of work on handstands and balance within these units and four strands of learning can be seen highlighted in appendix two. Referring back to work by Smith and Cale (1993), the handstand is seen as a movement within the theme of balance, and therefore both the handstand and balance fall heavily into the circle of 'statics', but also have some aspects of 'locomotion' as well. The children are likely to be at varying ends of the ability spectrum, perhaps due to them attending an out of school gymnastics club, or because of their physiological and anatomical differences. Genetics, puberty, health and nutrition can all have implications for performance of physical activity. This will affect the inclusion of all children and these factors also need to be taken into account when planning and teaching gymnastics, as children will be capable of achieving differing levels and complexity of tasks.

Work from Armstrong and Welsman (1997), Bar-Or, (1983), Gallahue (1993), and Malina and Bouchard (1991) go into greater detail on this area. The handstand is a fundamental skill, and it is most important to learn from the outset how to adjust one's weight and become self reliant (Morison 1969). The first important factor is to ensure that the children have sufficient balancing skills in order to be able to hold the handstand. Therefore, work needs to be done from an early stage to ensure competency in the theme of balance. Williams (1987) recognises a theme as being a particular aspect of movement around which a series of lessons are built. Gradually, through a variety of movement experiences, the element of the theme will be emphasised, showing how it is present in many different situations and how it can be clarified and developed.

Balance is defined by Carroll and Garner (1984) as being, 'any body position where the centre of gravity lies within the base of support'. Actions emphasising balance are broken down into three groups, by Morison (1969)... Actions of 'arriving', which have a double emphasis, to stop moving and hold balance... On - off balance actions, in which the body is launched away from the point of support to fly or tumble through space, before it is caught and controlled, on balance...

Weight bearing, which contains the skill of a handstand and are generally discovered by experiment. The weight bearing activities stress mainly the parts of the body which touch the ground and support the weight and balance is only incidental. The main stress in balancing actions is to gain, maintain, and lose equilibrium. The body is most stable when it is supported on a base covering a wide area, such as when lying down. It is much more difficult to support a balance when the area of support is narrowed. Balance is lost when the body moves so that the centre of gravity falls outside the supporting area.

Work from Schembri (1983) supports this, and suggests that also, the height of the centre of gravity will also affect the balance; the higher the centre of gravity above the base of support, the less stable the gymnast. Morison (1969) supports the theory that progression is made in balance by giving tasks which emphasise using balance, discovering ways of diminishing the base and balancing, and moving from one position to another. After first explorations more specific attention is given to the ways of transferring in and out of position. The child needs to develop the ability to sense how to adjust tension and grip to move and hold themselves as they intend (kinaesthetic sense).

This can be done by practises including lying on the floor and gradually reducing the amount of body parts in contact with the floor through small movements to achieve equilibrium. Excess tension and exaggerated movements need to be corrected at this stage. By lowering the body slowly, the child will gain a feel for control of their bodies. The classifications of movement in gymnastics as noted earlier by Benn and Benn (1992) relate to progression of balance, as by adapting the level of balance, for example, making the centre of gravity higher, the balance will be harder to do. By adapting the base surface area by changing the body shape, the difficulty of the balance will also increase. The teacher needs to take Benn and Benn's (1992) work into account when planning for progression.

Work by Smith and Cale (1993) as seen below (relating to progressional ideas) also suggests ways to move the theme of balance forwards. An important purpose in educational gymnastics is to develop each child's movement powers as far as possible. Gymnastics at this level is about discovery of capabilities, and many children who may be inadequate at other more competitive sports would quickly gain confidence when they realise they are able to choose their own way of doing things and work in their own time. Therefore, as supported by work from Morison (1969), an exploratory approach should be used to introduce the children to a new topic.

The teaching of techniques should follow exploration and they are needed to improve movement and counteract harmful habits. However, the skill of a handstand can become dangerous if taught incorrectly as the child can over balance and land awkwardly. In this learning situation I would either use a multi-activities approach (as explained earlier), so that the teacher could oversee a small group (five or six) of children working on handstands whilst other children are using a 'laissez faire's type of learning, or I would use a command style of teaching, where all children were doing the same thing at the same time. This would only be manageable if enough mats were available. With reference to Williams (1997), the handstand can be taught with the following teaching points; O Hands shoulder width apart O Fingers face forward O Eyes look at hands O Arms straight O Hips over shoulders O Body straight O Toes pointed Williams suggests that the following are common faults in handstand practice; o If hands are too far apart, the handstand will collapse o If the head is looking too far forwards, hyperextension occurs in the spine or there is an inability to invert o If arms are bent, the handstand collapses o If the back is arched instead of straight, a weak position occurs and therefore does not last Finally, Williams also suggests the following steps in progression of teaching a handstand. vs. Bunny hops (testing ability to take weight on hands) vs. 'Kicking horses' vs. Tuck handstand (with support) vs. Hands on floor, walk feet up wall vs. Handstand with support vs. Practice against wall vs. Handstand independently vs. Adding movement to the balance (e.g. walking) vs. Having different starts and finishes (e.g. two footed take off) vs. On and off apparatus Ideas for the teaching points, faults and progressions above are supported by Sabin (1993) and De Carlo (1963). Learning and development in gymnastics depends very much upon the child's individual ability.

Smith and Cale (1993) suggest that there are different ways to enhance progression in gymnastics, supporting the above work. They are practical and very workable and are as follows with specific examples of balance and handstands: . Making the movement more difficult (if this is the only progression used then the child will reach the limit of their ability quickly and will therefore progress no further), for example, moving from handstands on the floor to handstands on a low box top, or balancing on one foot on the floor to balancing on one foot on the bench... Combining movements together (movement memory is taxed and co-ordination demands are increased. More movements can be added to progress further), for example, including a balance on one foot, to a handstand, to a forward roll.

To progress further this could be carried out on low down box top... Taking movements onto apparatus (see above examples for this progression). Combining pieces of apparatus, for example, having a bench, a box top and a mat and therefore being able to practice different balances and a handstand on three different levels. Using another (human) stimulus, for example, performing a symmetrical sequence with a partner involving a balance idea from each person and a handstand either with support, or at the same time. There is no time limit for progression in either a handstand or a balance.

The pupil will constantly be able to improve their performance, by practicing further progressional activities to challenge their abilities and improve their standard and quality of performance. My specific theme and skill will be returned to throughout their physical education lessons. It is the spiral curriculum from Bruner (1960), that involves re-visiting the topics at a higher and more abstract level that will improve the child's ability and develop their skill level in gymnastics. Pallet t (1965), suggests that, "Gymnastics provides for and gives every individual an opportunity to achieve. The lesson should be vital, active and challenging, involving the whole person. Not everyone moves in the same way, so independence and the ability to make decisions in the selection of movement is developed". pg. ix I think that this quote sums up the topic of progression, and therefore I will recall this when planning to teach gymnastics, as it will ensure I am thinking about the differences between children and help me to think about the outcomes I aim to achieve.

Bibliography

Armstrong, N and Welsman, J (1997), as cited in Bailey, R and Jago, R (2001), Teaching Physical Education, A Handbook for primary and secondary school teachers, Kogon Page, London Bar-Or, O (1983), as cited in Bailey, R (2001), Teaching Physical Education, A Handbook for primary and secondary school teachers, Kogon Page, London Benn, T and Benn, B (1992) Primary Gymnastics: A Multi Activities Approach Cambridge University Press Bruner, J (1960) The Process of Education, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Carroll, M and Gardner, D (1984) Gymnastics 7-11: A lesson by lesson approach Falmer Press, Sussex De Carlo, T (1963) Handbook of Progressive Gymnastics, Prentice-Hall Inc.
New Jersey Gallahue, S (1993), as cited in Bailey, R (2001), Teaching Physical Education, A Handbook for primary and secondary school teachers, Kogon Page, London Malina, R and Bouchard, C (1991) as cited in Bailey, R (2001), Teaching Physical Education, A Handbook for primary and secondary school teachers, Kogon Page, London Morison, R (1969) A Movement Approach to Educational Gymnastics, Aldine Press, London Department for Education and Employment (1999) National Curriculum, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, London Pallet, G (1965) Modern Educational Gymnastics, Pergamon Press, Oxford Sabin, V (1993) Teaching Gymnastic Skills, Val Sabin Publications, Northampton Schembri, G (1983) Introductory Gymnastics: A guide for coaches and teachers, Australian Gymnastics Federation Smith, B and Cale, L (1993) Primary Gymnastics Key Stages One and Two;
A resource book for teachers, Ludo e publications, Loughborough Williams, A (1997) National Curriculum Gymnastics, Hodder and Stoughton Educational: London Williams, A (2000) as cited in Bailey, R and Macfadyen (Eds) 2000 Teaching Physical Education 5 - 11, Continuum, London Williams, J (1987) Themes for Educational Gymnastics, Third Edition, A & C Black, London.