Why is PE important?

Understanding your Student and Physical Education

Ninth Grade Development

The developmental range of high school students is diverse. Students experience numerous physical and physiological changes during their high school years. Ninth-grade boys typically experience a period of rapid growth until about fourteen or fifteen years of age. Then, a slower rate of growth follows until around twenty-one years of age. By ninth grade, girls are already experiencing their slower rate of growth. As adolescents attain maturity, their body proportions become more congruent, increasing their potential for higher skill performance. Some students may not have mastered the standards of earlier grade levels, so differentiated instruction becomes increasingly important in high school.

Ninth-grade students operate using higher-order thinking skills. They evaluate performance, analyze data, reflect on personal goals, and adjust behavior as necessary. Students are now at the cognitive stage when they can synthesize much of what they have learned in the earlier grade levels and apply it to new learning situations.

Ninth-grade students are still very concerned about body image and what other people think of them. They are caught somewhere between adolescence and young adulthood as they continue to mature emotionally. Their personal experiences help to formulate their attitudes and beliefs about the world.

Instruction on the effects of physical activity on dynamic health and the mechanics of body movement is integrated throughout the school year. Year One 1 Physical Education is most appropriate for ninth-grade students or other students taking their first high school physical education course.

Tenth Grade Development

As noted in ninth grade development, the developmental range of high school students is very diverse. However, by tenth grade, most students are experiencing a slower rate of growth. This slowdown in growth rate, along with increases in the length and breadth of muscles, produces a higher level of motor ability and fitness. Students are becoming more interested in their personal development and recognize the value of high-level physical performance for their future lives and careers.

Tenth-graders continue to improve their cognitive functioning. They are experiencing an expansion of their knowledge base; an increase in their ability to absorb, process, and retrieve information; a refinement of their language and communication skills; an increase in their attention capacity; and an increase in their ability to conceptualize, reason, and analyze information. They are moving toward their full intellectual potential, which is usually achieved between sixteen and twenty-five years of age.

As tenth-graders mature, their egocentrism decreases. Through social interaction they learn they are not the sole focus of attention. They are learning to express their emotions in more appropriate ways, and their moral reasoning is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Peer groups and dating activities dominate their social lives. They are ready to assume more formal leadership roles during physical activities.

Eleventh and Twelfth Grade Development

Eleventh- and twelfth-graders are experiencing various systemic changes on their journey to adulthood. When males and females have reached the ages of eighteen and sixteen, respectively, they have grown to approximately 98 percent of their adult height. Final growth often occurs by the age of eighteen for young women and by age twenty-one for young men. As their bodies change and they grow taller, adolescents also put on weight. Girls often gain 35 pounds during adolescent years, while boys gain 45 pounds (Payne and Issacs 1995). Eleventh and twelfth-grade students are often interested in achieving and maintaining optimal levels of fitness if only for the sake of personal appearance.

Eleventh- and twelfth-grade students are also moving toward their full intellectual potential. Their increased knowledge and experience provide them with the ability to select those activities in which they would like to improve. These students like structure and want to know what is expected of them. The teacher should therefore make it a point to share lesson objectives and standards with the students.

Eleventh- and twelfth-grade students are continuing their social development in preparation for adulthood. Their personal system of values is becoming more integrated. They are beginning to adjust their self-concept because of developmental changes and experiences. Their self-esteem is improving as they become more competent.

By the eleventh and twelfth grades, students are prepared to focus on the activities they plan to pursue independently after graduation from high school. They can explain why an individual’s pursuit of excellence in any arena is an evolving process requiring commitment, courage, confidence, initiative, and perseverance. These students design their own learning schedules and are often able to attain high levels of specialized skills if they apply the motor learning principles. They have learned that self-expression through physical activity is of great value in developing and maintaining the healthy mind and body needed to excel in their personal as well as professional life.

Each physical education course has its own unique content and specific standards for students to learn, although there may be some similarities.