Ensuring Moral Development in Physical Education

Overview & Synopsis

The physical education setting offers a unique opportunity to educate the whole student. It would seem appropriate then, that physical education teachers place strong emphasis on the aspect of moral development and character building, however, this can be a challenging task. To accomplish this, the purpose of this article is to provide strategies to physical education teachers that can be easily implemented within their physical education classroom. Key strategies include modeling appropriate behavior, incorporating teacher and student led discussions, pinpointing positive as well as negative behavior, creating sporting dilemmas, using indirect teaching styles, creating a task-involving climate, and using principles such as the "hand of fair play" within physical education programs.