Page 80 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9-12: Health and Physical Education, 2015 - revised

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | Health and Physical Education
various cultures); context (e.g., the beliefs and practices of the time and place in which
a text was created and those in which it is being read or viewed); the background of the person who is interacting with the text (e.g., upbringing, friends, communities, education, experiences); intertextuality (e.g., information that a reader or viewer brings to a text from other texts experienced previously); gaps in the text (e.g., information that is left out and that the reader or viewer must fill in); and silences in the text (e.g., the absence of the voices of certain people or groups).
In health and physical education students who are critically literate are able, for example, to actively analyse media messages and determine possible motives and underlying messages. They are able to determine what biases might be contained in texts, media, and resource material and why that might be, how the content of these materials might be determined and by whom, and whose perspectives might have been left out and why. Only then are students equipped to produce their own interpretation of an issue. Opportunities should be provided for students to engage in a critical discussion of “texts”, including books and textbooks, television programs, movies, web pages, advertising, music, gestures, oral texts, and other forms of expression. Such discussions empower students to understand the impact on members of society that was intended by the text’s creators. Language and communication are never neutral: they are used to inform, entertain, persuade, and manipulate.
The literacy skill of metacognition supports students’ ability to think critically through reflection on their own thought processes. Acquiring and using metacognitive skills has emerged as a powerful approach for promoting a focus on thinking skills in literacy and across all disciplines, and for empowering students with the skills needed to monitor their own learning. As they reflect on their strengths and needs, students are encouraged to advocate for themselves to get the support they need in order to achieve their goals. In health and physical education, metacognitive skills are developed in a number of ways. For example, one area of focus in the living skills expectations is personal skills, such as self-awareness, self-monitoring, and adaptive, management, and coping skills. As students develop these skills, they learn to recognize their strengths and needs, develop coping strategies, monitor their progress, and develop plans for making healthier choices and for healthy living. Similarly, students reflect on technique and monitor personal progress to develop and refine movement skills, and monitor personal progress to help improve personal fitness.
Inquiry Skills
Inquiry and research are at the heart of learning in all subject areas. In health and physical education courses, students are encouraged to develop their ability to ask
questions and to explore a variety of possible answers to those questions. Teachers can support this process through their own use of effective questioning techniques and by planning instruction to support inquiry (particularly in the context of experiential learning). Different kinds of questions that can be used to stimulate thinking include the following:
• simple skill-related questions, which elicit purposeful feedback and develop skill awareness (e.g., How was your head positioned when you landed from the jump? What resources can you use to find information about mental health supports in your community?)
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