Analysing+and+reflecting+on+the+Tasmanian+Health+and+Wellbeing+curriculum+documents

The first time I read the Tasmanian Health and Wellbeing curriculum documents, I was surprised at the scope in which health was covered. The documents identifies five dimensions of health: Physical- which focuses on nutrition, physical activity and safety, drug use and sexual health.  Social-which looks out relationships, feelings, mutual obligation, compassion and empathy.  Emotional- which focuses on managing and understanding emotions in themselves and others and how emotions shape our interactions with others.  Mental -this refers to cognitive and thinking processes and how to express thoughts and feelings and respond constructively to situations.  Spiritual-refers to a positive sense of belonging, through values and beliefs and the way people live their life. I believe that all these five dimensions of health are extremely important in ensuring that our students are well adjusted, healthy, functioning members of our society. It also helps students gain a positive understanding about themselves and others, while building a sense of belonging.  To be honest the first time I heard about this document I thought it would mainly have applied to specialist Physical Education teachers, with some areas being the classroom teacher's responsibility, when in truth, I couldn't have got it any more wrong. But, this is not entirely my fault. I went to primary school in a small country Victorian town and my health education consisted of playing sport and eating an apple a day. No one spoke of emotional, mental or spiritual health and social health comprised of apologising after a physical fight in the playground and getting in trouble when he got home. High school only really touched on the physical health dimension and that was only done in Physical Education. Health education was covered in specialist classes, which were elective subjects. The Tasmanian Department of Education (2012) states that health and wellbeing " focuses on building students’ capacity to live fulfilling lives, shape their future and make informed life choices. This rests on a strong sense of identity, understanding how to maintain personal wellbeing, developing personal autonomy and gaining a positive sense of life, purpose and direction” (p.6). This to me this is a very powerful statement and it makes me wonder why there is not more emphasis placed on health and wellbeing in schools. As educators is it not more important that our students live fulfilling lives with a strong and positive sense of themselves than knowing the square root of a number or the periodic table. Yet, schools achievements and credibility are measured by their maths, literacy and science results.  To cover the five dimensions of health, the Tasmanian curriculum has broken into three strands that interlink and overlap, they are:
 * § Strand 1: understanding health and wellbeing
 * § Strand 2: concepts and skills for movement and physical activity
 * § Strand 3: skills for personal and social development. (p.9)

The curriculum document states that the strands are not intended to be taught separately, as many of the concepts and skills are best developed in more than one strand. I think the most powerful part of this curriculum is that the skills and concepts can be taught and assessed through a range of different learning experiences and through different subject areas. This allows for a more individualised teaching and learning experience, which follows the constructivist approach. It also provides links to other resources and gives examples of how these strands can be integrated and assessed. I believe this document is a well-balanced Health and Well-Being Curriculum; this is due in part to its structure of three strands covering five dimensions of health. The document is broken into five standards and 15 stages and covers kindergarten to year 10. Each year level has a scope across four stages. This is to ensure that each student is working at their level and the content is age-appropriate. For teachers this means regular observations and assessing to ensure their students are working at a just right level.

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