As in all H&PE courses, the Healthy Living expectations and the living skills must be addressed within every focus course. This is further reinforced by the title of all focus courses where the “Healthy Living and” prefix has been explicitly placed before the “focus” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2015, p. 20).
Course descriptions for all focus courses use the full description for the “parent” Healthy Active Living Education (HALE) course. This indicates that students are expected to demonstrate achievement of the same expectations, including the expectations in Strand C: Healthy Living. As such, where possible, the Healthy Living expectations may be contextualized to the particular focus of the course. This can be accomplished by teachers adopting an inquiry approach to learning.
As outlined in Ophea’s Inquiry-Based Learning in Health and Physical Education guide, the inquiry process can be used as a vehicle through which knowledge and skills can be developed related to the various topics covered in any course. "Students engaged in inquiry-based learning develop higher-order thinking skills (i.e., analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and reflecting) and they become more independent as they take responsibility for their own learning. As students pose their own questions, their curiosity is piqued and as a result they are more engaged in the learning process. Throughout the inquiry process students also learn and practise collaboration and communication skills" (Ophea, 2016b, p.7).
The inquiry framework can work as a tool for teachers to develop an effective strategy for approaching the curriculum to meet the needs and interests of the students in a focus course. The framework will provide teachers with the necessary provocation to raise the questions about how to differentiate content delivery and allow the collaboration needed to develop a solution as a part of the collaborative process within the department. In this way, the learning in a focus course, both at the same grade level and at the next grade level, can be better differentiated (Ophea, 2016b, p. 7-12).
It is also helpful for teachers to consider adopting an inquiry approach to healthy living when teaching blended courses. The teacher might begin by adopting a thematic approach to the concepts such as well-being, making healthy choices or healthy relationships. Students create their own inquiry questions to investigate a specific focus connected to the theme based on the learning goals and co-constructed success criteria established at the beginning of the learning. Ophea’s Ophea’s Inquiry-Based Learning in Health and Physical Education guide provides further support for helping students generate inquiry questions.
This chart provides sample questions for a variety of focus courses offered at the same grade level and at different grade levels. These sample questions are not meant to be an exhaustive list of questions nor are they meant to cover all content within the Healthy Living strand. They are meant to be used by teachers as a guide when planning their own lessons and units using the inquiry approach.
PAI2O | PAI3O | PAI4O |
---|---|---|
Curriculum Expectations: C2.1, C2.2, C3.1 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C3.1 Is genetic modification of crops necessary? |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.1, C3.1 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C2.3, C3.2 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C1.3, C2.1, C3.2 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C2.2, C3.2 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C2.4, C3.3 |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.2, C3.3 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C2.3, C3.3 |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.5, C3.4, C3.5 How important is it that you have a sexual health plan? |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.4 C2.3 C3.4 C3.5 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.3, C2.4, C2.5, C3.4 |
PAF2O | PAF3O | PAF4O |
---|---|---|
Curriculum Expectations: C2.1, C2.2, C3.1 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C3.1 How do we determine our food choices? |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.1, C3.1 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C2.3, C3.2 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C1.3, C2.1, C3.2 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C2.2, C3.2 What makes a school safe? |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C2.4, C3.3 |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.2, C3.3 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C2.3, C3.3 Should Health Canada support e-cigarettes as a means to help smokers quit? |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.5, C3.4, C3.5 How can you know if you are ready to be intimate with your partner? |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.4, C2.3, C3.4, C3.5 How is sexual health just as important as physical, emotional and psychological health? |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.3, C2.4, C2.5, C3.4 In what way can you establish boundaries with your partner? |
PAD2O | PAD3O | PAD4O |
---|---|---|
Curriculum Expectations: C2.1, C2.2, C3.1 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C3.1 |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.1, C3.1 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C2.3, C3.2 Does the stress we experience in the outdoors impact us differently? |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C1.3, C2.1, C3.2 How can a trip with many safety checks fail? |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.1, C2.2, C3.2 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C2.4, C3.3 To what extent would smoking up on a trip impact the rest of your peers? |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.2, C3.3 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.2, C2.3, C3.3 |
Curriculum Expectations: C2.5, C3.4, C3.5 |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.4, C2.3, C3.4, C3.5 How can you be proactive about your reproductive and sexual health while in the outdoors away from medical help? How would you help someone get through a stressful situation while in the outdoors far from home and their regular supports? |
Curriculum Expectations: C1.3, C2.4, C2.5, C3.4 What will you do to continue your involvement in outdoor pursuits? How does my emotional health influence my relationships with others while on trip? "How do we learn to understand and respect diversity in relationships?" (Jay McTighe & Associates, 2013) |
Using the inquiry approach, H&PE teachers may avoid the duplication of material so that students are better able to understand and communicate their learning in the focus course that is most authentic for them.