Page 75 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9-12: Health and Physical Education, 2015 - revised

events at the school. Schools may consider offering assistance with childcare or making alternative scheduling arrangements in order to help caregivers participate. Students can also help by encouraging and accompanying their families, who may be unfamiliar with the Ontario school system. Special outreach strategies and encouragement may be needed to draw in the parents of English language learners and First Nation, Métis, or Inuit students, and to make them feel more comfortable in their interactions with the school.
In implementing the active living and movement competence strands of the Healthy Active Living Education curriculum, teachers should ensure that students are exposed to a wide range of activities and skills that appeal to both male and female students. Sports and games should be balanced with small-group, individual, and recreation activities, including exercises for physical fitness and activities for stress reduction, such as simple yoga techniques.
Teachers must also provide accommodation for students from various faith communities, consistent with the board’s religious accommodation guideline – for example, in some cases, segregated swimming classes for male and female students and same-sex partnering for small-group activities might be required – and be aware of clothing restrictions that might exist for some students. In addition, teachers may need to provide accommodations for students who are fasting for religious reasons.
The physical activity component of the curriculum should also take into account the range of student abilities and the diversity of their backgrounds and needs. Teachers should familiarize themselves with strategies that would allow them to involve all students in an appropriate way. Introducing games and activities that have roots in
a particular community, for example, can make the learning environment more relevant for students from that community as well as promote cultural awareness and respect among all students. Lacrosse, with its origins in games played by the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois nations, is a good example of a culturally relevant activity that will also appeal to students from all backgrounds. When introducing these kinds of activities into the program, teachers should make the connection to the cultural heritage explicit in order to build understanding, awareness, and respect.
The Healthy Living expectations contained in this document provide teachers with
the opportunity to address a number of key issues related to equity, antidiscrimination, and inclusion. Among these are gender issues in the area of healthy sexuality, including the existence of differing norms for sexual behaviour and different risks associated with unprotected sexual activity. In addition, food choices and eating habits may be influenced by personal beliefs or by religious and cultural traditions (e.g., vegetarianism, religious fasting, traditional foods), and these should be addressed in instruction relating to healthy eating. The issue of body image and the detrimental effects of homogenized standards of beauty and physical appearance promoted in the media also have implications for equity and inclusiveness that may affect students. The use of steroids and drugs to enhance athletic performance and appearance, and harmful diets to achieve impossible standards of beauty, should be examined.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAM PLANNING
73