In many schools in Quebec, physical education is a discipline that is often little considered and clearly less valued than mathematics, French, English and science. The time allocated to it is often less than that recommended by the ministry, and well below that recommended by experts. However, numerous studies have shown that it contributes to the academic success and overall development of young people.
The ministry recommends 2 hours of physical education per week in elementary school and two periods of 75 minutes per nine-day cycle in secondary school. However, not all schools respect this recommended time, according to Christian Leclair, general director of the Federation of Physical Educators and Teachers of Quebec (FEEPEQ).
“There are very dynamic environments that have implemented a program favorable to the adoption of a healthy and active lifestyle,” he explains. But there are others who have cut periods of physical education to offer them to other subjects. In Quebec, physical education classes have variable geometry because the time devoted to physical education is recommended time. It is not prescribed, obligatory time that schools would not have the choice to include in their timetable. »
In 2014, 31% of primary schools did not offer the recommended 2 hours per week. “Today it’s even worse. And in the majority of schools, it is no longer one hour periods, but rather 54 minutes »underlines Véronique Marchand, director of the Physical and Health Education Network (REPS), which is attached to the University of Sherbrooke.
For students who follow educational programs enriched with sport or music, for example, the ministry recommends reducing the educational time devoted to different subjects, including physical education, by 25%. “Such a reduction so reduces the two periods of physical education that we often end up eliminating one. However, it is not because we have a particular educational program in sport that it can take the place of physical education. Because in physical education classes, we don’t do sport, we follow a socio-constructivist approach,” explains M.me Merchant.
“Physical education provides knowledge allowing you to maintain your physical and mental health,” adds Johanne Grenier, professor in the Department of Physical Activity Sciences at UQAM.
However, physical education clearly contributes to academic success. Many studies have shown this. A meta-analysis of these studies, published in Education Science in 2022, specifies that physical education induces a significant improvement in academic results in mathematics, more particularly. It also reveals that these beneficial effects tend to be greater with high-intensity training programs.
A Spanish study that analyzed the role of frequency and intensity of exercise in academic success highlighted the importance of intensity: significantly greater gains were observed in different cognitive functions (abstract reasoning , numerical and spatial skills) with 4 sessions of 55 minutes per week of intense exercise compared to 2 weekly sessions, or even 4 less intense sessions.
Experiments have shown that during the 30 minutes following intense physical activity – after of course a return to calm breathing and heart rate – “students absorb an incredible amount of information”, reports Mme Merchant. “Teachers also observed an exponential improvement in students’ physical condition after a few weeks of this diet. »
Not a “noble object”
How can we explain that this discipline, although of capital importance, is not better considered? First, “it concerns an object which is a little separate from that of other disciplines, namely the body and its capacities to move and to communicate. It is not a “noble object”, some think. This is not a consideration that is properly valued, even though we are by our body,” points out Jean-François Desbiens, vice-dean for training at the Faculty of Physical Activity Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke.
“Education has a very functionalist perspective. There is little or no effort to create a happy person who feels good in body and mind. We seek to produce a productive worker, someone who will fulfill a social function. However, the mission of physical education does not lie there. Physical education is a discipline that works on the overall development of the person,” he explains.
Another factor that contributed to the disinterest of many students is “the sporting approach which predominated in the 1970s and 1980s and whose objective was to find the talents who would shine at the Olympic Games”. This approach, which established “a climate of performance, created a lot of exclusion. Many people then developed very negative feelings about physical activity and sport,” underlines Mr. Desbiens.
Even though it has been 20 years since we introduced the skills-based approach which respects the student’s pace much more, “there is still a significant number of people who do not understand what physical education is, who don’t understand that it’s not just a release, not just a chaotic environment where children scream and run everywhere,” adds Mme Merchant.
However, it is the governing boards which decide the number of hours to be allocated to each subject. And it is parents and teachers who form the governing council. “If these parents and teachers had a bad experience in physical education in the past, do you think they will be inclined to give more time to physical education? » she points out.
And to obtain the secondary school diploma (DES), students can fail the physical education course as long as they pass the Ethics and Religious Culture (ECR) course in 5e secondary, or the reverse. “This means that physical education teachers are faced with students who don’t care about this subject, because they don’t need it to succeed,” explains M.me Merchant. “This is not a good message we are sending to young people,” adds Mr. Leclair.
A necessary increase
Experts are calling for an increase in the time allocated to physical education. “The current regime clearly does not meet the needs of growing and developing human beings, such as children and adolescents,” says Mr. Desbiens.
Research by professors Sylvain Turcotte and Félix Berrigan, from the Faculty of Physical Activity Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke, shows that to observe a notable impact on both learning and the physical condition of students, one hour per day is required.
According to studies, increasing the number of hours of physical education, which implies taking away hours from school subjects, does not absolutely harm these disciplines, quite the contrary.
Professor François Trudeau, director of the Department of Physical Activity Sciences at UQTR, demonstrated that this arrangement either had no impact on the academic results of students, or better, it improved them, especially in mathematics.
In an article published in theInternational Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Mr. Trudeau also indicated that adding time to school subjects, time that had been taken away from physical education, did not improve results in these disciplines. “We will have to deconstruct this idea that if we give more time to French or mathematics, young people will necessarily become better,” underlines Mr. Desbiens.
There is an urgent need to act, experts say, because today, more than 20% of students are active only during physical education periods. “It’s a catastrophe that has repercussions all the way to the university,” says M.me Merchant. In the fall of 2022, university professors raised the need to develop the motor skills of their baccalaureate in physical education students. Because these students who, in principle, have a good interest in physical activity showed a significant deterioration in their physical condition.